Monday, August 31, 2009

Uh-oh. There's goes another tax break?

Congress has been quiet this summer, or so you thought. Quiety, they've been think about eliminating or reducing a valuable deduction.

Owen S. Arnoff, EA
Admitted to Practice Before the Internal Revenue Service
http://www.betterbusinessventures.com
Sacramento Tax Consulting
Sacramento Tax Preparation
Sacramento Tax Representation
IRS Tax Help, Bookkeeping Services, Payroll Services

People are leaving clues for the IRS to find

You'd think at first glance that this wouldn't raise any eyebrows, but it does. No income reported by third parties and the IRS will usually leave you alone. Not anymore. Now, if they see a 1098 (mortgage interest paid) and no tax return, they'll probably investigate according to this report.

Owen S. Arnoff, EA
Admitted to Practice Before the Internal Revenue Service
http://www.betterbusinessventures.com
Sacramento Tax Consulting
Sacramento Tax Preparation
Sacramento Tax Representation
IRS Tax Help, Bookkeeping Services, Payroll Services

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Statistics, Statistics, Statistics

OK. I must admit that I do love numbers, but the latest stats showing enforcement stepping up at the IRS means more revenue agents will be stepping up and examining more returns. Ouch!

Owen S. Arnoff, EA
Admitted to Practice Before the Internal Revenue Service
http://www.betterbusinessventures.com
Sacramento Tax Consulting
Sacramento Tax Preparation
Sacramento Tax Representation
IRS Tax Help, Bookkeeping Services, Payroll Services

Friday, August 28, 2009

MySpace & Facebook

Tweet anyone?

Well, if you use MySpace or Facebook or other social networking sites, be careful about what you say because the tax man may be watching you.

Owen S. Arnoff, EA
Admitted to Practice Before the Internal Revenue Service
http://www.betterbusinessventures.com
Sacramento Tax Consulting
Sacramento Tax Preparation
Sacramento Tax Representation
IRS Tax Help, Bookkeeping Services, Payroll Services

Thursday, August 27, 2009

The "Turbo Tax" Defense

This is really making the rounds today for us tax guys, but I thought it was interesting nonetheless that a taxpayer tried to use the "Turbo Tax" Defense, the same one a cabinet member used in testimony before Congress, and lost.


See also: NY Daily News

Owen S. Arnoff, EA
Admitted to Practice Before the Internal Revenue Service
http://www.betterbusinessventures.com
Sacramento Tax Consulting
Sacramento Tax Preparation
Sacramento Tax Representation
IRS Tax Help, Bookkeeping Services, Payroll Services

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Phishing down?

There's a need to still be careful, but for some reason, statistics show phishing has gone down.

Owen S. Arnoff, EA
Admitted to Practice Before the Internal Revenue Service
http://www.betterbusinessventures.com
Sacramento Tax Consulting
Sacramento Tax Preparation
Sacramento Tax Representation
IRS Tax Help, Bookkeeping Services, Payroll Services

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Did you ever get one of these?

Apparently, the IRS made a little boo-boo.

Owen S. Arnoff, EA
Admitted to Practice Before the Internal Revenue Service
http://www.betterbusinessventures.com
Sacramento Tax Consulting
Sacramento Tax Preparation
Sacramento Tax Representation
IRS Tax Help, Bookkeeping Services, Payroll Services

Safeguard your records

Recently, the IRS posted information about safeguarding your records during a hurricane, but it applies no matter whether the wind is blowing or not. In short, they recommed several key points:
  • Create a Backup Set of Records Electronically
  • Document Your Valuables
  • Review Emergency Plans Annually
  • Check on Fiduciary Bonds
  • Count on the IRS
The deatils of these items can be found here. Good advice.

Owen S. Arnoff, EA
Admitted to Practice Before the Internal Revenue Service
http://www.betterbusinessventures.com
Sacramento Tax Consulting
Sacramento Tax Preparation
Sacramento Tax Representation
IRS Tax Help, Bookkeeping Services, Payroll Services

Those pesky little cell phones

The IRS wants to hear from you. Yes, you. You know who you are. You use a cell phone for business? The IRS wants to hear from you about the rules that have been in place since 1989. They really don't apply any more. So it would be best if you helped them understand how you use them in your business. Read all about it.

Owen S. Arnoff, EA
Admitted to Practice Before the Internal Revenue Service
http://www.betterbusinessventures.com
Sacramento Tax Consulting
Sacramento Tax Preparation
Sacramento Tax Representation
IRS Tax Help, Bookkeeping Services, Payroll Services

If you think kids need help managing money

It seems as though there's not enough information being provided to kids these days which will teach them practical things related to managing money. Kiplinger, a good source of financial information, also thinks there's things parents can do to teach their kids.

Owen S. Arnoff, EA
Admitted to Practice Before the Internal Revenue Service
http://www.betterbusinessventures.com
Sacramento Tax Consulting
Sacramento Tax Preparation
Sacramento Tax Representation
IRS Tax Help, Bookkeeping Services, Payroll Services

If you're out of work ...

... there are actually some tax breaks you might want to keep in mind.

Owen S. Arnoff, EA
Admitted to Practice Before the Internal Revenue Service
http://www.betterbusinessventures.com
Sacramento Tax Consulting
Sacramento Tax Preparation
Sacramento Tax Representation
IRS Tax Help, Bookkeeping Services, Payroll Services

IRS Getting with Social Media!

Well, well, well...the IRS is posting on YouTube and iTunes. Check it out.

Owen S. Arnoff, EA
Admitted to Practice Before the Internal Revenue Service
http://www.betterbusinessventures.com
Sacramento Tax Consulting
Sacramento Tax Preparation
Sacramento Tax Representation
IRS Tax Help, Bookkeeping Services, Payroll Services

Monday, August 24, 2009

Delays for Amended Tax Returns

Those who have recently filed Form 1040X to amend a prior year's return know the frustration of not hearing anything for a long period of time. The IRS is experiencing a higher than expected number of such returns (mostly due to the home buyer credit) and has informed tax professionals that the time frame for processing has been increased to 12 to 16 weeks from 8 to 12 weeks.

They say a call to IRS to check on the status is not necessary, but this tax professional has found that some returns have been lost in the shuffle. A call to a qualified tax professional can help to find out where your 1040X may be in the system.

Owen S. Arnoff, EA
Admitted to Practice Before the Internal Revenue Service
http://www.betterbusinessventures.com

NOL Carryback Election Deadline

Admittedly, Net Operating Loss (NOL) carrybacks can be complicated. And if you plan on using one for 2008, you only have a short period of time to make your election. There was an expanded carryback provision in the ARRA of 2009 that allows for a 5 year carryback instead of the usual two.

Small businesses that had expenses exceeding their income for 2008 can choose to carry the resulting loss back three, four or five years. That means that a business that had a net operating loss in 2008 could carry that loss as far back as tax year 2003.

The deadline is September 15, 2009 for corporations and partnerships and October 15, 2009 for individuals.

Owen S. Arnoff, EA
Admitted to Practice Before the Internal Revenue Service
http://www.betterbusinessventures.com

Correspondence Audits

The IRS watchdog group known as TIGTA says the complaints about the trend towards correspondence audits is legit.

Owen S. Arnoff, EA
Admitted to Practice Before the Internal Revenue Service
http://www.betterbusinessventures.com

The Home Office Deduction

Could a change be coming in the way the Home Office Deduction is figured?


Owen S. Arnoff, EA
Admitted to Practice Before the Internal Revenue Service
http://www.betterbusinessventures.com

With the Recession Almost Over (They Say) Business Should Re-Position and Be Ready

This article from Business Week has some good suggestions:


Owen S. Arnoff, EA
Admitted to Practice Before the Internal Revenue Service
http://www.betterbusinessventures.com

New Home Credit

Apparently, this new home credit is working. Actually, it's a great idea for those who haven't owned a home in the past three years. You are considered a new home buyer for purposes of the credit. Assuming you fall into the right adjusted gross income area and you buy a house over a certain amount, you may be entitled to an $8,000 gift from Uncle Sam!


Owen S. Arnoff, EA
Admitted to Practice Before the Internal Revenue Service
http://www.betterbusinessventures.com

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Technorati Will Find Us

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AllExperts

For those of you that don't know, I am one of the few specially-selected "experts" on the AllExperts web site, which is a division of About.com. You can check out my designated area by clicking here.


Tax Tips

I'm not going to do it here on my blog, but if you check my web site at http://www.betterbusinessventures.com you will see a link called "Helpful Information" where I plan on regularly (I hope) updating useful tax tips for individuals and small business owners.

Tax Preparer Regulation

As you may be aware, there is a new push for tax preparers to be regulated. You'd have thought they were, but they aren't. Only California, Oregon and Maryland have state-specific "registrations" with various levels of requirements to be registered. Oregon is said to be the toughest, with California right behind that. Enrolled agents are the only Federally Authorized Tax Practitioners. This is a license which give us the ability to represent taxpayers before all administrative functions of the IRS.

One would have thought that tax preparers would have to be licensed, but not so. Almost anywhere in the US, all someone has to do is to say, "I'm a tax preparer," and that's it, they're a tax preparer. Congress has tried to regulate tax preparers for about the past 10 years, but it has gone nowhere. Now, the push is on and it is accelerating fast. the Commissioner of the IRS has stated that he wants to have a proposal on the President's desk by the end of this year; that's a very ambitious plan. To achieve these results, the IRS is holding a series of public forums on this issue. One was done at the end of July and two more are scheduled in September.

If you want to comment on this, the IRS has issued a notice on how you can particpate.

We'll keep you posted.

Death & Taxes

OK, so here's something I came across the other day. It's an interesting wall photo of where federal tax money goes. You can even buy the poster for $24 if you want a copy to hang on your wall.


First Post

This is the first of what I hope to be an ongoing blog about federal income tax issues. I hope to update this blog as often as I can. It is my hope that visitors will visit this site regularly to find out the issues that affect us as regards federal income taxes.
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