A Senate bill that would hold certain S corporations liable for payroll taxes failed on May 8 to garner the needed 60 votes to prevent a filibuster, falling by a vote of 52 to 45. The Stop the Student Loan Interest Rate Hike Bill of 2012 (Sen 2343) won the support of all Senate Democrats, [...]
News
May
01
Cyber criminals have been using stolen identities to file tax returns and obtain fraudulent refunds. Tax preparers have reported an increase in e-file rejections because the taxpayers’ or their children’s SSNs have already been used in a previously e-filed return, which results in the e-filed return being rejected. Generally, identity thieves use personal data to [...]
May
01
Now that you’ve completed your taxes for 2011, you are probably wondering what old records can be discarded. If you are like most taxpayers, you have records from years ago that you are afraid to throw away. To determine how to proceed, it is helpful to understand why the records needed to be kept in [...]
Apr
02
Just a reminder to those who have not yet filed their 2011 tax return that April 17, 2012 is the due date to either file your return and pay any taxes owed, or file for the automatic six-month extension and pay the tax you estimate to be due. Normally the deadline is April 15, but [...]
Mar
02
If you paid expenses to adopt an eligible child in 2011, you may be able to claim a tax credit of up to $13,360. Here are six things the IRS wants you to know about the expanded adoption credit. 1. The Affordable Care Act increased the amount of the credit and made it refundable, which [...]
Feb
29
Canceled debt is normally taxable to you, but there are exceptions. One of those exceptions is available to homeowners whose mortgage debt is partly or entirely forgiven during tax years 2007 through 2012. The IRS would like you to know these 10 facts about Mortgage Debt Forgiveness: Normally, debt forgiveness results in taxable income. However, [...]
Feb
25
The IRS has reminded taxpayers that those who did not file a 2008 return, but who may be entitled to a refund if they do so, have until April 17, 2012, to file their returns. Unclaimed refunds from 2008 exceed $1 billion, but to collect the money, a taxpayer must file his or her 2008 [...]
Feb
23
A couple was not entitled to claim a dependency exemption for the husband’s child from a prior marriage because they did not satisfy the qualifying child requirements, the qualifying relative requirements or the special rules for claiming the exemption. The child did not live with the couple for more than one-half of the tax year [...]
Feb
23
A number of woodland parcels of property, which was transferred to a family limited partnership (FLP) were not includible in the decedent’s gross estate under Code Sec. 2036(a) because the transfer was a bona fide sale for adequate and full consideration. It was the desire of the decedent and her husband that the woodland property [...]
Feb
23
The inventory of cases for the IRS Appeals Office rose to 148,000 cases in fiscal year (FY) 2011, the highest it has ever been, Sheldon Kay, deputy chief, Appeals, stated during a February 22 webcast presented by Big Four accounting firm Deloitte LLC. Inventory has risen almost 50 percent from the FY 2007 level of [...]