James P. Ventriglia CPA Inc.

11/18/2022

Thought you might find this interesting . Received today from DataPay, a payroll processing company

Questions not to ask during an interview

An employment interview is stressful for everyone involved. And although you are looking to hire a top candidate, you still need to be mindful of what questions you are asking.

Top questions to avoid asking a job candidate:

1. Are you married?
2. Are you pregnant?
3. Do you have any disabilities?
4. Do you have any military obligations that would require you to miss work?
5. Do you have or plan to have children?
6. Did you need reasonable accommodations for your past jobs?
7. Have you ever been arrested or convicted of a crime?
8. How many sick days/PTO days did you use last year?
9. What is the origin of your name?
10. Where did you grow up?
11. Where is your accent from?
12. Who is responsible for your children's care?
13. Would you need to leave work if your child's school closed due to an emergency?

As always, we recommend getting advice from an HR pro or legal professional who knows HR-related laws in your state.

11/18/2022

4 tax changes that may reduce your 2023 refund
38 second read time

Due to several changes in tax legislation, you might not see the same kind of tax return as last year. Here is why:

• Tax reporting for third-party payments above $600 - The IRS will mandate in 2022 that all tax returns must disclose income over $600 annually if you use third-party payment apps like Apple Pay, Venmo, Zelle, and PayPal.

• No more stimulus payments - In contrast to 2020 and 2021, legislators have not proposed any further stimulus checks for 2022.

• No above-the-line charitable deductions - Taxpayers could deduct up to $600 in charitable donations from their income during COVID. But in 2022, this deduction will be subject to pre-COVID rules, which will prevent taxpayers who take a standard deduction to make an above-the-line deduction for charitable donations.

• Pre-COVID tax credits - A number of tax credits, including the Dependent Care Credit, Earned Income Tax Credit, and Child Tax Credit, will return to their pre-COVID levels.

07/06/2021

I THINK WE HAVE MORE PRESSING TAX ISSUES THAN THIS

Congress introduced bipartisan legislation aimed at changing the estimated tax payment deadlines to a uniform, quarterly schedule.

Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Arizona, and Bradley Schneider, D-Illinois, introduced the Tax Deadline Simplification Act on Tuesday. The legislation would set the estimated tax installment deadlines to 15 days after the end of each quarter, moving the deadlines to Jan. 15, April 15, July 15, and Oct. 15. It would affect individual taxpayers, small businesses, estates, and trusts.

Estimated tax payments are made each quarter to the Internal Revenue Service by those whose income isn’t subject to tax withholding, but the current laws set the estimated tax payment deadlines at uneven intervals that don’t necessarily coincide with calendar year quarters, which can lead to confusion. This past year, when the IRS delayed the traditional tax filing deadline of April 15 until May 17, that led to difficulties for the taxpayers who still had to make a quarterly tax payment on April 15.

“Under current law, tax payment deadlines are set at uneven intervals, which can cause confusion and negatively affects gig economy and self-employed workers,” Lesko said in a statement Tuesday. “By changing these deadlines to occur on an even basis, this legislation will help our nation’s hardworking taxpayers better calculate their net income, save appropriately for their tax payments, and better comply with due dates.”

07/01/2021

The Internal Revenue Service's backlog of tax returns more than tripled over last year, according to a new report, as it stretched to enact last-minute tax legislation and provide much-needed stimulus payments earlier this year.

The delay could affect many Americans still waiting on tax refunds.

“The 2021 filing season was the quintessential definition of a perfect storm,” National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins wrote in her mid-year report to Congress. “This filing season has been challenging for tens of millions of taxpayers and anything but normal for the IRS and its employees.”

At the end of the 2021 tax filing season, the agency held 35.3 million individual and business tax returns for manual processing, a 230% increase from last year when 10.7 million returns were backlogged. The volume is also up 377% from the 2019 filing season.

08/27/2020

Attention small business owners. Discover what Dunkin Donuts franchisees have known for 30 years- when you bundle tax, accounting ,financial and payroll services together you incur lower professional fees and get timely and accurate financial information. For the first time in 30 years I am now offering my proven system to small business owners. Direct message me today so you can begin to receive timely financial information so you can make informed business decisions.

03/17/2020

Treasury Secretary Mnuchin has announced that major programs will be taking effect to assist the American public during the COVID-19 crisis. Briefly, the Treasury Department will try to send checks to Americans immediately, within the next two weeks, and people who will owe or currently owe the IRS can defer those payments (without interest charges) for 90-days.

01/07/2020

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced that tax season will open on Monday, January 27, 2020. The IRS will begin accepting paper and electronic tax returns that day.

10/26/2019

Just relaunched the website....check it out at www.jpvcpa.com.....let me know what you think about it....

James P. Ventriglia CPA, Inc.

08/22/2019

Today, the Internal Revenue Service and its Security Summit partners warned taxpayers, accountants, and tax professionals about a new IRS impersonation email scam spreading across the nation.
This week the IRS became aware of this new scam as taxpayers began notifying [email protected] about unsolicited emails from IRS imposters. The email subject line may vary, but recent examples use the phrase "Automatic Income Tax Reminder" or "Electronic Tax Return Reminder."
The emails have links that show an IRS.gov-like website with details purported to be about the taxpayer's refund, electronic return or tax account. These scam emails contain a "temporary password" or "one-time password" to "access" the files to submit the refund. However, when taxpayers try to access these, they turn out to be a malicious file.
Tax professionals and their clients should be aware that the IRS:
1. Does not send unsolicited emails
2. Does not email taxpayers about the status of their returns
3. Does not initiate contact via text messages or social media channels
4. Does not call to demand immediate payment using prepaid debit cards, gift cards, or wire transfers.
The IRS will usually send a bill to a taxpayer

08/08/2019

This is why I NEVER open up an email if I don't know the sender0

The Rhode Island Division of Taxation has issued an advisory regarding phishing emails. The Security Summit partners urge tax professionals to beware of the continuing threat of phishing emails, which remain the most common tactic used by cybercriminals to steal sensitive data. Common spear-phishing scams seen by the Security Summit include thieves posing as prospective clients and sending unsolicited emails to tax professionals. After an exchange of emails, the thief sends an email with an attachment, claiming it contains the tax information needed to prepare a return. Instead, it contains spyware that allows thieves to track each keystroke. Another technique used by thieves is known as ransomware in which data is encrypted. Once the thieves encrypt the data, they demand a ransom in return for the code to unencrypt the data. The Federal Bureau of Investigation warns users not to pay the ransom because thieves often do not provide the code.