by Leif Jensen | Jul 2, 2011 | General |
According to Congress things are running smoothly and all is fine in the world. From a technical standpoint we left the recession in June of 2009. Unfortunately for many it just does not feel like it. In a recent discussion with a client, she stated that we were in...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 2, 2011 | General |
Those who have been non compliant of with their Qualified plans beware! The Internal Revenue Service has finally become more adept at identifying retirement plans that may violate tax laws, according to a new government report. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 2, 2011 | General |
The IRS test for tax preparers will not be as hard as the exam to become an enrolled agent, according to IRS. While they do not expect that the test will be overly easy (I do,look at any mass government exams), they note that it will be designed to ensure only a...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 1, 2011 | General |
Have you been receiving e-mails purporting to be from the IRS? Actually an employee here has received four in the past two weeks so they are out there again. I have copied the following from the IRS website stating what it is and how to deal with it. I hope this...
by Leif Jensen | Jun 28, 2011 | General |
I prepare the payroll for one of my clients along with my other responsibilities. As I was doing their weekly bank reconciliation I noticed that a bonus check had not been cashed. Now it wasn’t a huge amount, but it was a noticeable amount. So I contacted the...
by Leif Jensen | Jun 26, 2011 | General |
The IRS is increasing the standard mileage allowance upward for business vehicle usage. The new rate will be 55.5¢ a mile for the final six months of 2011, The mileage rate also increases for medical and moving expenses also increases by 4.5¢ to 23.5¢ a mile. But the...
by Leif Jensen | Jun 26, 2011 | General |
According to the Tax Court, a preparer’s omission of income from a return won’t excuse a penalty. A couple had hired a preparer fill out their complex return, they gave him more than 160 information returns. The final completed return was 115 pages long and showed...
by Leif Jensen | Jun 26, 2011 | General |
Apparently the IRS needs to do a better job of tracking its own employees’ compliance. According to Treasury inspectors the computer program used to detect workers who didn’t timely file or pay taxes or who understated their taxes, allowed over 100 employees who were...
by Leif Jensen | Jun 26, 2011 | General |
Internet Crime Complaint Center Highlights Of the complaints involving financial harm that were referred to law enforcement, the highest median dollar losses were • found among investment fraud ($3,200), overpayment fraud ($2,500), and advance fee fraud ($1,500)...
by Leif Jensen | Jun 24, 2011 | General |
51% of households owed no federal income tax for 2009! According to a study by the nonpartisan Joint Tax Commission. In fact, about 30% of all households got back a check for their full income tax bill and more due to refundable tax credits…the earned income credit,...
by Leif Jensen | Jun 23, 2011 | General |
Not paying income taxes shown on filed returns won’t preclude bankruptcy relief. Unpaid taxes can still be discharged in bankruptcy, according to an Appeals Court: in the case of a doctor who timely filed returns showing the proper amount of tax due but didn’t send in...
by Leif Jensen | Jun 23, 2011 | General |
The IRS has issued information on disclosure of uncertain tax positions: The agency isn’t planning on extending the regime to pass-through entities, an IRS official says. So partnerships, limited liability companies and S corporations don’t have to worry about filing...
by Leif Jensen | Jun 23, 2011 | General |
Owners of unreported foreign accounts can get a disclosure extension, according to the IRS. Under the agency’s most recent voluntary disclosure program, taxpayers generally have until Aug. 31 to fess up about their offshore accounts to qualify for lesser penalties...
by Leif Jensen | Jun 14, 2011 | General |
I had lunch the other day with a couple of bankers. It was a lively discussion and one of the topics was the benefits of investing in a traditional IRA or a 401K plan verses a Roth IRA or just non qualified savings. We were discussing the current and future tax...
by Leif Jensen | Jun 14, 2011 | General |
The IRS is issuing new rules are coming for preparers of returns with the earned income credit. Preparers are going to have to file a due diligence checklist along with the returns,according to a key IRS official. The checklist will detail the procedures the preparer...
by Leif Jensen | Jun 14, 2011 | General |
The IRS is reaching out to assist unemployed workers. The new IRS Publication 4128 covers the basics on common tax issues, such as retirement plan payouts, unemployment compensation, severance pay and deducting job hunting expenses. But there is a problem tapping an...
by Leif Jensen | Jun 14, 2011 | General |
WASHINGTON – A federal court has permanently barred a Chicago tax preparer from preparing any additional federal tax returns for others, the Justice Department announced. The civil injunction order, to which consented without admitting the allegations against...
by Leif Jensen | Jun 14, 2011 | General |
“The Dirty Dozen represents the worst of the worst tax scams,” IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said. “Don’t fall prey to these tax scams. They may look tempting, but these fraudulent deals end up hurting people who participate in them.” The IRS works with the Justice...
by Leif Jensen | Jun 14, 2011 | General |
According to the Tax Court, a student loan settlement leads to taxable income. After his college graduation, a taxpayer fell behind on his student loan. After trying to collect, the lender let him pay off the debt at a $28,000 discount. This amount is discharge of...
by Leif Jensen | Jun 14, 2011 | General |
The hammer has fallen and the IRS has revoked the tax-exempt status of 275,000 charities that didn’t file their tax returns for three consecutive years. A list of these unfortunate organizations are published on the IRS website. Small groups with annual gross...
