Taxes By Beau

03/19/2023

Just wanted to share a quick story. I was contacted by a gentleman who had prepared his own return, 2 days after submitting it he got a W2 for sick pay he had received. He was looking for guidance on amending his return. The W2 was reporting a significant amount of income with no federal withholdings - that seemed odd to me so I asked if he or his employer paid for the disability benefit, he said he didn't know, so I encouraged him to contact his HR department and find out. Well, after some back and forth, it turned out he had paid for that benefit and as such it should have been a tax free payout. The insurance company not only corrected the W2, but also refunded him the excess Social security and Medicare tax that they had withheld - over all, it saved this man over $5300 in taxes.

It was a great win, and I was happy to be able to help. A little reminder that getting help from a professional could make a big difference.

10/08/2022

IT'S TAX TIME!!! NEED HELP?
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01/17/2021

It is HIGHLY likely that the "Individual Mandate" requirement of the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obama Care) will be put back into effect once the new administration takes office. This means that you will be required to carry minimum essential health care coverage either through your employer, or by purchasing a policy through an exchange.

01/17/2021

The IRS has postponed the start of tax season to February 12, 2021. There has been no date given for when they will begin accepting returns that contain Earned Income Tax Credit, Additional Child Tax Credit, or American Opportunity Credit.

02/28/2018

Newest tax scam taking place this year is a real humdinger. Tax scammers are filing fraudulent returns, even having those refunds deposited into your bank account, then the scammer, posing as an IRS agent, will call you, tell you that the deposit was made in error and that you need to wire transfer the money to them. If you get a deposit from the IRS that you are not expecting - contact the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) at 1.800.366.4484 or at www.tigta.gov. You can file a complaint using the FTC Complaint Assistant; choose “Other” and then “Impostor Scams.”

TIGTA: promoting integrity in the administration of internal revenue laws. The United States Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) was established in January 1999 in accordance with the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 (RRA 98) to provide independent....

08/11/2017

This is good news - unfortunately several copy-cats have sprung up. Remember: THE IRS WILL NOT INITIATE CONTACT VIA A PHONE CALL!

http://money.cnn.com/2017/04/09/news/tax-scam-india-arrest-ringleader/index.html

Indian police arrest allege mastermind behind bogus IRS call centers

03/21/2017

Just a reminder to everyone that the IRS will never initiate contact with taxpayers via a telephone call, email, or social media. If you get a call from someone identifying themselves as an employee of the IRS and claiming that you owe taxes, DO NOT GIVE THEM ANY INFORMATION. Even if the caller ID appears to be coming from the IRS, even if they have some identifiable information about you, DO NOT GIVE THEM ANY INFORMATION - and DO NOT PAY THEM ANYTHING. Demand that they provide their name, badge number and phone number. The REAL phone number for the IRS is 800-829-1040 - You can report any suspected fraudulent contact by contacting the Treasury Inspector Generals office at 800-366-4484. If you receive an email, or contact via social media, DO NOT REPLY!

01/26/2017

Did you know that if you are disabled you might be able to qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit? An estimated 1.5 million disabled Americans are not collecting this credit because they fail to file a return - most because their earned income falls below the filing threshold.

To qualify for the credit, you must have earned income. Usually, this means income from a job or from self-employment. But if you retired on disability, you can count as earned income any taxable benefits you receive under an employer’s disability retirement plan. These benefits remain earned income until you reach the minimum retirement age.

Note, Social Security benefits or SSDI do not count as earned income. Additionally, you may claim a child with a disability or a relative with a disability of any age to get the credit if the person meets all other EITC requirements.

Ask your tax adviser if you qualify, and don't miss out on this valuable credit.

01/07/2017

This commercial, while kinda funny, is actually INCORRECT tax advice. In truth, you can claim anyone as a dependent as long as they meet the residency and support requirements, which is that they must reside with you for the entire year and you must provide more than 50% of their support. Wonder what other bad advice Turbo Tax gives...hmmmmmmmm

The moving deduction advice is also bad considering none of the requirements that qualify for a moving deduction were identified...just sayin'!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxYuHVDnL8o

https://turbotax.intuit.com With TurboTax, taxes aren't scary. Relax, There's TurboTax. TurboTax 2017 TV Commercial "Kathy Bates Scary Dependents" (Official ...

12/12/2016

Tax time is coming up quickly, a quick year-end review can help you avoid any unpleasant surprises.

12/12/2016

A few tips for holiday charity:
1.) if you make a cash donation but don't get a receipt, no problem, just write down the date, amount and location and put it with your donation receipts.
2.) if donating toys to a toy drive, document which items were donated on the receipt and to what organization.
3.) if volunteering at a local charity, keep track of your volunteer miles.

04/14/2016

Since we cannot control these types of situations, consider the following in protecting your identity
1.) obtain and use a tax ID number instead of your social security number if you receive any kind of 1099 income
2.) register with a credit monitoring service that provides active monitoring and alerting, as well as identity protection
3.) do not ever give out your information to someone who calls, emails or texts you asking for "verification" - The IRS does NOT call, email or text - EVER!
4.) use prepaid debit/credit cards for online purchases - many banks offer these cards free of charge to their customers.
5.) if you get a call, email, text or letter that seems suspicious (or too good to be true), search the internet for any reported scams on the individual/company.


http://tinyurl.com/zxubj96

The Internal Revenue Service failed to redact Social Security Numbers and Employer Identification Numbers from hundreds of its Offer in Compromise files that are available to the public, according to a new report.