by Leif Jensen | Jun 6, 2011 | General |
The first person to collect Social Security benefits was Ernest Ackerman. He received a whopping payment of 17 cents in January 1937. Social Security began collecting money January 14, 1937. This was a one-time, lump-sum pay-out—which was the only form of benefits...
by Leif Jensen | Jun 6, 2011 | General |
In Brazil the cost of a bikini wax is going up. This is a cause of concern for many; mainly because in Brazil a bikini wax is part of the gauges that measures inflation in Brazil. So as the costs rise, the leading indicators of inflation are also triggered. As...
by Leif Jensen | Jun 3, 2011 | General |
I was looking up something and I found this article on the SSA website. I thought is was amusing so I thought I would share it. The most misused SSN of all time was (078-05-1120). In 1938, wallet manufacturer the E. H. Ferree company in Lockport, New York decided to...
by Leif Jensen | May 14, 2011 | General |
It appears that the Internal Revenue Service plans to scrutinize 1042-S forms. The 1042-S is used to report payments made to nonresident aliens, along with any tax withheld. The crackdown is in response to a report issued by Treasury inspectors last year criticizing...
by Leif Jensen | May 14, 2011 | General |
A foundation doesn’t qualify as a public charity, an Appeals Court states. When its operating documents don’t identify the charities it plans to support. The foundation in the case was set up to aid charities that promote and perform public health or Christian...
by Leif Jensen | May 14, 2011 | General |
The Internal Revenue Service is looking to address two issues involving tax-exempt organizations: Payment of fringe benefits and treatment of unrelated business income. The agency is concerned that charities aren’t including the value of fringe benefits when figuring...
by Leif Jensen | May 14, 2011 | General |
Taxes shown on IRS-prepared late returns (returns prepared with only the second party information sent to the IRS; 1099’s,, 1098’s W-2’s) will not be discharged in bankruptcy, a court says. When a couple fails to file tax returns, the Service audited them and assessed...
by Leif Jensen | May 8, 2011 | General |
The Illinois Small Business Job Creation Tax Credit gives small business owners an extra boost to grow their business over the next year. After creating one or more new, full-time positions that meet the eligibility requirements, small businesses can register here to...
by Leif Jensen | May 8, 2011 | General |
On May 18th, the Illinois CPA Society (ICPAS) has its annual Estate and Gift Tax Conference. As a purely biased member of the committee that plans this event, I strongly encourage any one who deals with these issues to attend. We have Susan Bart , Elliott Friedman ,...
by Leif Jensen | May 2, 2011 | General |
The Internal Revenue Service paid a slew of bogus claims for the homebuyer’s credit, according to Treasury inspectors. They uncovered payments for the credit to filers who reported buying a house before the credit took effect and to taxpayers who listed post office...
by Leif Jensen | May 2, 2011 | General |
It appears that the IRS can not grab an LLC’s assets for taxes owed by its sole member, according to the agency. Even if a one-member LLC is disregarded from its owner for federal tax purposes, that status does not apply for tax collection purposes because the member...
by Leif Jensen | May 1, 2011 | General |
How difficult is it for someone to get your bank account information from your company? If someone calls up stating that they want to wire money into your company’s bank account will your people give them all the information they need? Will they let them know which...
by Leif Jensen | May 1, 2011 | General |
Bad news for entities that are disregarded for federal tax purposes: Owners must be bankrupt or insolvent to exclude income from waived debts, proposed IRS rules say. Some solvent taxpayers claimed they could use the exclusion if their disregarded entities were under...
by Leif Jensen | May 1, 2011 | General |
Based upon the most recent IRS data from tax year 2007, the 400 filers with the highest Adjusted Gross Incomes (AGI) paid 2% of all federal income taxes. To be in this group, filers needed to have an AGI of at least $138,815,000. Over 65% of their AGI was derived...
by Leif Jensen | Apr 25, 2011 | General |
Being a life long resident of Illinois, we are known for many things. Right now it seems to be corrupt governors, Blago’s second trial is getting under way and George Ryan was in the news over the holiday’s for his illegal passes from jail to visit his dieing wife....
by Leif Jensen | Apr 25, 2011 | General |
I was just read about the scam known as “less cash deposit” or “split deposit”. How it works is that a scammer gets their hands on someone’s deposit slips. Then the scammer forges a check out to the name on the deposit slip. The present the forged check for deposit...
by Leif Jensen | Apr 23, 2011 | General |
One question that we always like to discuss with our clients is their control over their cash. Now we are not just talking about their petty cash account or even their cash sales. These are important and procedures and internal controls should be reviewed to make...
by Leif Jensen | Apr 18, 2011 | General |
Saturday I met with a client who is just starting a new business. I was going over the typical basics; record keeping, banking, financing, business plans. But when we got to the location, we got into a more detailed discussion of what may well be the road for this...
by Leif Jensen | Apr 18, 2011 | General |
Full-time workers continue to have a hard time meeting the test to be a real estate pro, as a recent Tax Court case demonstrates. The passive loss rules don’t apply to losses of folks who spend over half of their working hours and more than 750 hours per year...
by Leif Jensen | Apr 18, 2011 | General |
A break for small firms on reporting the value of health coverage on W-2s: The IRS won’t require it for 2012 W-2 forms, either. The Revenue Service already suspended the reporting rule for 2011 W-2s that will be filed in early 2012. That relief applied to all...
