Seniors who are thinking of converting to a Roth IRA should note the Medicare tax trap:  The extra income from converting can raise the Medicare Part B premiums.

It’s Not What You Earn, But What You Keep, After Taxes.™

IRS has issued a detailed, 80-page document discussing and rebutting many of the more common frivolous arguments made by individuals and groups that oppose compliance with federal tax laws.  An accompanying news release reminds taxpayers that under Code Sec. 6702, the penalty for frivolous tax returns is $5,000, and applies when a person submits a tax return or other specified submission, and any portion of the submission is based on a position that IRS identifies as frivolous.  IR 2010-18

It’s Not What You Earn, But What You Keep, After Taxes.™

On February 1, the President issued his FY 2011 budget proposals, accompanied by the Treasury’s release of its “General Explanations of the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2011 Revenue Proposals” (known as the Green Book).  The budget and the Green Book reveal that the Administration has a robust agenda of tax proposals it will push Congress to enact.

It’s Not What You Earn, But What You Keep, After Taxes.™

The IRS has announced the release of the revised Form 5405,First Time Homebuyers Credit and Repayment of the Credit, that taxpayers need to use to claim the first time homebuyer credit (FTHTC) in 2009.  Processing of these returns will

It’s Not What You Earn, But What You Keep, After Taxes.™

IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman recently commented that he is optimistic that Congress will enact legislation this year to make it clear that personal use of employer-provided cell phones will not be subject to taxation.

It’s Not What You Earn, But What You Keep, After Taxes.™

In a Chief Counsel Memorandum (CCM), IRS has recommended that its Collection employee not access any IRS database to determine whether a taxpayer’s authorized representatives are in compliance with their own filing and payment obligations.

It’s Not What You Earn, But What You Keep, After Taxes.™

A new Govenment Accountability Office (GAO) report addresses S corporation noncompliance and makes specific suggestions for correcting the problem.  Noncompliance issues include misreporting of income and or expenses, mistakes in calculating shareholder basis, and failure to pay shareholder employees adequate wage compensation.

It’s Not What You Earn, But What You Keep, After Taxes.™

As of November 2009, the IRS was looking for over 107,000 taxpayers who have not received their refund checks for 2008 because the checks were returned as undeliverable.  If the taxpayer has moved without notifying the IRS or Post Office, the check will be returned to the IRS.  The IRS will mail out the refund check as soon as it receives an updated address.

If you did not receive an expected refund, you can check on its status by going to the “Where’s My Refund?” page at www.irs.gov or by calling 1-800-829-1954.  You can also go to my website at www.sboyarcpa.com and get the “Where’s My Refund” link on the Tax Resources page.

It’s Not What You Earn, But What You Keep, After Taxes.™

Many Important tax changes go into effect in 2010 apart from the numerous changes that apply due to inflation indexing.  These non-indexing changes result from various laws that were enacted and regs and othe guidance issued over the past few years.  See you tax advisor to find out how these changes affect your business tax situation.

It’s Not What You Earn, But What You Keep, After Taxes.™

For Charges that you make with a Retail Store credit card, you are allowed to claim the deduction for the item only in the tax year in which you pay the bill.  For transactions made with a Bank credit card, you take the deduction in the tax year that you charged the goods, even though you pay the bill next year (2010)

It’s Not What You Earn, But What You Keep, After Taxes.™