by Leif Jensen | Apr 11, 2017 | General |
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...
by Leif Jensen | Apr 10, 2017 | General |
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?...
by Leif Jensen | Apr 5, 2017 | General |
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...
by Leif Jensen | Apr 4, 2017 | General |
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...
by Leif Jensen | Apr 3, 2017 | General |
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...
by Leif Jensen | Apr 2, 2017 | General |
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....
by Leif Jensen | Mar 29, 2017 | General |
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...
by Leif Jensen | Mar 28, 2017 | General |
I have written about Bitcoin in the past. How it is the currency of choice used in the marketplace for the dark web and other illicit online activities. But it seems that the odds are in favor a green light for retail trading of bitcoins on a major exchange....
by Leif Jensen | Mar 27, 2017 | General |
Do you use any of the preventive measures that are built into your smartphone to protect you from hackers? Since they are built into the mobile devices they do not cost you any extra money. First amongst them is the ability to use a PIN or fingerprint to lock...
by Leif Jensen | Mar 22, 2017 | General |
We just signed a new client. They were a referral from our banker. Apparently they were given two names and numbers, but the other CPA, could not even give the prospect the curtesy of a return call to let them know that they are not taking on new clients. They were...
by Leif Jensen | Mar 21, 2017 | General |
Those ads that claim you can pay the IRS pennies on the dollars are not really true. But that should be no surprise to most. The advertised Fresh Start program from the IRS has three components; it addresses tax liens, installment agreements and finally OIC....
by Leif Jensen | Mar 20, 2017 | General |
The Dirty Dozen represents the worst of the worst tax scams. Compiled annually, the “Dirty Dozen” lists a variety of common scams that taxpayers may encounter anytime but many of these schemes peak during filing season as people prepare their returns or hire someone...
by Leif Jensen | Mar 15, 2017 | General |
College students across the United States continue to be targeted in a common employment scam. Scammers advertise phony job opportunities on college employment websites, and/or students receive e-mails on their school accounts recruiting them for fictitious positions....
by Leif Jensen | Mar 14, 2017 | General |
In a recent court case, it was confirmed that legal fees paid in a job-related lawsuit are not deductible business expenses. After a bank executive was fired, the bank filed suit against her to recover a bonus it had paid her earlier in the year. She then...
by Leif Jensen | Mar 13, 2017 | General |
According to the Tax Court, a 100% penalty for failing to collect or pay payroll taxes isn’t deductible. Federal penalties are never deductible. After an S corporation did not pay its employment taxes and later went out of business and had its corporate...
by Leif Jensen | Mar 8, 2017 | General |
I am currently working with a couple who both lost parents last year. The differences between the couple’s two parents are striking. For the first one the family knows where all of the assets are and the documents are current. But there are special...
by Leif Jensen | Mar 7, 2017 | General |
The simplest way to help protect yourself from tax-related identity theft this tax season is to file your tax return early. Thieves who are using stolen identities to seek refunds on fraudulent returns typically file the fake returns early in the filing season...
by Leif Jensen | Mar 6, 2017 | General |
An employee who earned an MBA degree gets good news from the Tax Court. The cost can be deducted as an employee business expense on Schedule A. A man who worked as a product marketing manager decided to get an MBA degree with a focus on management and finance....
by Leif Jensen | Mar 1, 2017 | General |
A taxpayer has a scheme to avoid paying overdue taxes backfires for a corporation. On the day a company that owed back payroll taxes decided to close shop, its president and 40% owner formed a new firm to conduct the same line of business with the same workers....
by Leif Jensen | Feb 28, 2017 | General |
In a recent tax court case it was revealed that taking a large bad debt deduction leads to IRS scrutiny in this case. Through his S corporation, an investor advanced funds to small companies in return for financial control and a minority equity interest. (I am...
