The Blog

A current survey after the 2012 United States tax season showed that a majority of taxpayers were in favor of a tax system where everyone pays the same percentage of their income in taxes. Think about it: After another stressful tax season, in which, decent and fair Americans rush to get all of their information together and out of the door by mid-April, it seems that these taxpayers would like to trade their system in for a more efficient and easy system. How would this work? The United States tax law is currently 72,000 pages. It is a complicated and always evolving system. One of main factors of the confusion for the taxpayers is all of the deductions and exemptions and tax codes. For this … Continue reading →

The Senate just passed a bill that will make certain large retailers charge sales tax to online shoppers.  The bill will allow states to collect sales tax from goods sold via the internet. If it passes the House of Representatives and is signed into law, this law will mark the end of an era where large retailers such as Amazon and EBay benefit from a twist in the system that allows them not to collect sales tax from goods ordered online. The U.S. Senate, overwhelmingly and with strong bipartisan support, passed the Marketplace Fairness Act of 2013 by a vote of 69-27. This bill will benefit states by allowing them to collect sales and use taxes on sales made to customers over the internet. Many … Continue reading →

Tax season has come to an end and now audit season is about to commence. People always fear that they will be audited, but in reality the chance of being audited is fairly low. About 1 out of 100 people are actually audited. Read below on how to endure an audit. However, if you do happen to be one of the unlucky people, here are a few easy steps to take to make the process go smoothly: Don’t Ignore Mail From the IRS – Although it may be frightening, it is always best to open mail from the IRS. It is best to face the problem head on and resolve the issue. You are usually given about 30 days to respond to the letter. Keep … Continue reading →

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We would like to take a moment and think about the people in Boston affected by the Marathon bombing on April 15, 2013.  The IRS made this announcement following the explosion:  “Our hearts go out to those affected by the terrible tragedy. Boston-area taxpayers need time to finish their tax returns without worry. The IRS will be providing individual tax filing and payment extensions.”  The IRS later on reported that it would give Boston taxpayers and others affected by the explosion a three month tax filing and payment extension.  The relief will include all individual taxpayers that live in Suffolk County, Massachusetts. It will also include the victims of the bombing, their families, the first responders, and any tax preparers affected.  The new relief will … Continue reading →

April 15, 2013 is here and upon us! If you have already filed your taxes you can breathe a deep breath and take advantage of the following offers. If you still are in the process of filing your taxes, you only have a few more hours to go. Or you can always file for an extension………Here are today’s Tax Day Freebies! Here are a few Tax Day Deals for today: 15% off of food at PF Changs Two free cupcake bites at Cinnabon Buy one drink and get one drink free at Jamba Juice Get a free taco at El Pollo Loco Kids eat free at participating IHOP. Arbys’s is having its 3rd annual free curly fry day! Panda Express-Get a free Samurai Surf & … Continue reading →

    The fiscal cliff was the big story in the news recently. One of the major debates was that the wealthy were to be taxed more. Prior to January 1, 2013 it had been proposed that if the wealthy were heavily taxed that this would stop the economy from moving forward. A recent poll shows that this may not be the case. A new poll is showing that most of the Americans that make $500,000 or more a year (this is the group that is paying the higher income tax rate) have said that the tax increase has not affected their spending. It seems this group is still spending the same amount on charitable contributions, investment plans, and overall spending. The poll was reported … Continue reading →

  The IRS started the 2013 tax year on high alert for fraud. The previous years have shown an increase in identify theft and taxpayer fraud.  To keep the public better protected, the IRS issued its list of the top fraud offenses for 2013. They have aptly named the list “The Dirty Dozen Tax Scams.” Tax fraud occurs year round but the IRS sees higher spikes of cases during tax season.  The types of tax fraud range from identify theft to tax preparer fraud.  Here are some of the scams that the IRS is warning the public about. Identity Theft: Identity theft has been an ongoing issue for the IRS with recent spikes over the last few years. As a result of increased cases, the … Continue reading →

  Currently in the United States there are about 9.8 million people employed with the federal government. A growing percentage of these employees are delinquent on their taxes.  It seems workers including Social Security Administration, Homeland Security Administration, U.S.Postal workers, Departments of the Navy, Army, and Defense, among others owe the government about $3.5 billion in unpaid taxes for the year of 2011. This number is up from previous years. On March 8th the Federal Employee/Retiree Delinquency Initiative (FERDI) released the information that about 312,000 workers owe the government a total of $3,519,410,517. The U.S Postal service owes the most at $215.2 million of unpaid taxes. Congressional staffers owe a $10.8 million dollar debt; meanwhile there are 40 employees of the Executive Office of the … Continue reading →

One thing is certain besides taxes….you probably will want to stay on IRS’s good side! Here are some common items you may come upon this tax season. These are a few terrible tax surprises and how to handle them!  Alimony Collected Now that you made it through the divorce you will also have to accept the fact that the IRS is going to take some of your alimony. It is important to know that alimony is completely taxable. Alimony and other similar payments of the type from your former spouse are taxable the year that you receive them. Child support money on the other hand is not taxable. It is important to make your IRS payments on alimony and other untaxed income via estimated filings … Continue reading →