by Leif Jensen | Feb 26, 2012 | General |
It’s has been a long while since I took some hacking classes for CPE. It was interesting to crack passwords by throwing the dictionary at it. But times have changed and symbols are now in play. Because it is now more important than ever to come up with intricate...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 25, 2012 | General |
Electronic pickpocketing, this is a concern of bankers. Or at least one that I had lunch with a few months ago. Banks typically the issuer of credit cards have more at risk than the consumers. A quarter of us now carry at least one credit card that transmits data...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 19, 2012 | General |
I found this again and thought I would put it somewhere I can find it. You Might Be From Chicago If: The ‘living room’ is called the ‘front room’. 2. You don’t pronounce the ‘s’ at the end of Illinois . And, you become irate at people who do. 3. You measure distance...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 19, 2012 | General |
Who pays taxes in the United States? Individual Returns Stats • Top 1-percent adjusted gross income (AGI) break (TY 2009) $343,927 and above with 36.73% of the total taxes paid • Top 5-percent AGI break (TY 2009) $154,643 and above with 58.66% of the total taxes paid...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 18, 2012 | General |
The President will be looking to passing some significant tax increases this year, for a 2013 start. I expect these to actually go into effect if not this time, it will happen sooner or later. Taking the current top two brackets 33% and 35% tax brackets and raising...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 18, 2012 | General |
Apparently a client who relied upon an attorney to file an estate tax return won’t avoid a penalty, according to a district court. An executor hired a lawyer to do the estate’s return, but the attorney had a mental illness and the 706 was filed over three years late. ...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 18, 2012 | General |
If you one of the people who purchased a home in 2008 and received the first-time home buyer credit, beware the IRS is no longer mailing letters to remind you about the recapture of the credit. For home buyers in 2008, the credit was in reality an interest-free loan...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 18, 2012 | General |
Partnerships can furnish K-1s to their partners electronically, according to the IRS. But there are some prerequisites that need to be met. The partners must approve the e-delivery first and the partnership are required to inform its owners that a paper form will be...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 18, 2012 | General |
The IRS has created a new form to assist taxpayers in filing a complaint against tax preparers. It’s an interesting form. It is unfortunate that we need to have such a form.
by Leif Jensen | Feb 18, 2012 | General |
Here are the projected levels for the Social Security wage base for 2013 $114,000, up $3,900 from this year’s ceiling. This is President Obama’s official budget forecast, based on data from the Social Security Admin. The long range estimates are: $119,100 for 2014...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 13, 2012 | General |
This joke has been floating around on the internet for quite a while. They sent my Tax Return back! AGAIN!!! In response to the question: “List all dependents?” I replied – “12 million illegal immigrants; “3 million crack heads; “42 million unemployable people...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 12, 2012 | General |
I have just read that the stats for individual audit tax return done during 2011 were the same as in 2010, 1.11% Now when you look more closely those numbers do change a bit. But, it is my understanding that these numbers do not include the hash audits that are...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 12, 2012 | General |
I took on a new client a couple of weeks ago. What was interesting is that he had conversations with an accounting firm. One question that he had asked was if there was a problem would they be able to address it with the IRS or IDOR. At least they answered...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 11, 2012 | General |
Starting in 2013 a second surtax boosts the top rate on capital gains and dividends to 18.8% from the current15% nominal maximum rate that we expect will be in effect for 2013, plus an additional 3.8%. An ugly example of this surtax is if you sell your primary...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 11, 2012 | General |
Springfield seems unable to solve its long-running financial problems. Who would have thought increasing taxes and spending simultaneously would cause a bad situation to get worse. Last month we were given the lowest credit rating of any state in the country by...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 11, 2012 | General |
Starting in 2013 there is a special 3.8% Medicare surtax on unearned income of single filers with modified adjusted gross income over $200,000 and joint filers above $250,000. Modified AGI is defined as AGI plus any excluded foreign earned income. The new surtax will...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 11, 2012 | General |
Did you know that individuals can e-file their federal returns at no cost, no matter their income. If your adjusted gross income was $57,000 or less in 2011, you can prepare and e-file without charge by going to http://www.irs.gov/freefile and selecting a tax...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 11, 2012 | General |
The IRS has added an additional hoop for tax preparer to jump through this year. They insist in wanting to know if self-employeds, farmers, landlords, partnerships, regular corporations and S firms who made payments that must be reported on 1099s are reported. If so,...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 11, 2012 | General |
There has been a lot of discussion recently about the potential threats to the designation “Certified Public Accountant” (CPA). The IRS, in an attempt to identify all who are preparing any and all tax returns for a fee, has implemented a program that requires everyone...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 24, 2012 | General |
2011 ended up with a U6 unemployment rate of 15.2% The U6 unemployment rate counts not only people without work seeking full-time employment (the more familiar U-3 rate), but also counts “marginally attached workers and those working part-time for economic reasons.”...
