Banks and Bankers

I have a client experiencing difficulties with their bank.  Their relationship to their bank was testy at times, but then the bank was absorbed by another and things just went from bad to worse.   The bank now insists on a 48 hour hold on all deposits, even if...

S Corporate Basis Again

S corporation owners who guarantee the firm’s loans don’t get a tax break: Guarantees don’t boost their tax basis in the firm.   S company shareholders can deduct their share of corporate losses only up to their investment in the company, including advances made...

IRS screws up

The IRS had to pay a penalty for disclosing a couple’s tax information.   In spite of minimal damages the Service needed pay only $1,000 to each of them.   After the IRS audited the couple, an employee unintentionally mailed pages of the report detailing the...

Basis is an ongoing issue

S corporation shareholders may soon be getting a form to assist in figuring their tax basis.   Owners of S corporations can deduct losses only up to their stock basis and loans they make to the firm. But the IRS knows that taxpayer compliance in this area is...

Too distracting

I have a client who had an employee leave because they thought the office was too distracting. This is a creative company who has movies or music playing constantly in the background.  While apparently finding this too distracting the employee apparently ignored this...

Box People

This year we were hired to prepare the final return for an investment club.  Once hired for the investment club return,  we were asked by a couple members to prepare their individual returns, we offered to do any members personal return for our minimum fee. There were...

The problem with Kickstarter.

In 2014 when Oculus VR was sold to Facebook for $2 billion, some asked: What if the people who backed the virtual-reality startup two years earlier on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter had received shares instead of T-shirts or VR headsets? The answer to the question...

$100 Bill

“The Fed has long known most of the $100 bills aren’t in America. It doesn’t take great insight to realize they are being used to finance illicit activities,” Alan Blinder, Princeton University economist and a former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, said in an...

Employment taxes

It has been deemed that IRS agents cannot proceed with a levy that creates economic hardship.  But this rule does not apply to levies against corporations, according to the the Tax Court.   After a corporation that ran a nursing home did not pay its quarterly...

Employer taxes

A firm that runs a limousine transportation business recently received bad news from IRS. It found out that it was liable for payroll taxes that were not paid by an employee leasing company.   The taxpayer leased its workforce from the leasing company and...

Form 1098

With the new boxes on Form 1098, the IRS is collecting more data on home mortgage interest.   Lenders must now report the amount of principal outstanding at the start of the year, the mortgage origination date and the address of the property securing the loan....

The Rich don’t pay enough!

I was having a discussion with one of my kids and somehow we got onto the topic of taxes.  Since this was in the middle of tax season I don’t think I brought it up.  It may have stemmed from a news story on the radio.   But my some was taking the stance that the...

Sam’s vs Costco

Costco’s returns have been weaker lately, so they are increasing their membership fee to compensate.  The analysts are ecstatic; they love Costco more than Sam’s Club.   I have a client that raves about the superiority of Costco verses Sam’s while only having a...

Consolidation of US Banks

Last week one of my client’s bank statements came into our office.  They use our office as their address of record for their home based business.   But what was startling was that the First Merit Bank statement came in as Huntington Bank.  So the consolidation of...

Portfolio holdings and prospectuses

When was the last time you reviewed your portfolio holding?  Unless you own individual stocks have you read the prospectus to see what you holding actually contains?   So what does your portfolio hold?  Is it a derivatives portfolio of is it a Buffet portfolio?...

No or low money down mortgages

No or low money down mortgages, no it’s not 2006.  But it is looking that way through certain prisms.   It looks like there are a few programs from the government that have no money down mortgages.  FHA, VA, and USDA have programs that allow new or repeat home...

ATM Cards

The futurists predicted that ATM cards will soon be a thing of the past, and they were correct.   Banks and ATM service providers are racing to deploy new technology machines that will offer bank customers cardless access to their cash.   JPMorgan Chase has...

Alimony

Are you paying alimony? Make sure to verify the language in your divorce agreement.  The instrument cannot say the amount is nondeductible.   Two taxpayers who were required to make payments to ex-spouses learned this lesson the hard way.   The IRS reversed...

Form 1098

With the new boxes on Form 1098, the IRS is collecting more data on home mortgage interest.   Lenders must now report the amount of principal outstanding at the start of the year, the mortgage origination date and the address of the property securing the loan....

Off the hook

It was determined in a recent court case that the IRS cannot collect back payroll taxes from a business owner’s father, at least in this case.   The father, who informally helped out at a restaurant that was owned by his son, took it upon himself to sign four...

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