Tag Archives: tax advice

Tax Tips for 2011 – 6 Last Minute Tax Saving Tips

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This time of year, clients call for last minute tax guidance that will help them maximize their returns. While we advise our clients on a year round basis – not just at tax time – here are a few last minute tips you might find helpful.

Here are a few things you can do in the next couple of days that may save you some 2011 tax dollars:

1) Make a charitable contribution.
If the last minute contribution is for more than $250, it must be documented by a contemporaneous acknowledgement from the donor organization.

2) Make a contribution to an IRA, 401(k) or other retirement account.
Most retirement plans actually give you up until April 15, 2012 to make a contribution as long as you designate that the contribution should apply to the 2011 Tax Year.

3) Fund a Health Savings Account or a Medical Savings Account.
The money put into these accounts is tax deductible up to certain limits and is not taxed when it is taken out as long as it is used for medical expenses. Any funds put into either of these account types before December 31 can be counted as a tax deduction for 2011 even though will not used for medical expenses until 2012. At the end of each year, money in these savings accounts that has not been used to cover medical expenses during the current year can be rolled over for use during the next calendar year.

4) Pay your 2011 State Income Tax.
Although the deadline for paying your 2011 State Income Taxes is April 15, 2012, the State Income Tax Deduction can be claimed a whole year earlier if the payment is made before December 31.

5) Consider selling investments that are down if you have sold investments that have shown gains in 2011.
Although the entire amount of capital gains is taxed during the year they are realized, the maximum yearly deduction for capital losses is $3000. However, any capital gains realized during a calendar year can be offset by capital losses posted during the same year. This tax law essentially allows you to increase the allowable capital loss deduction by the entire amount of any gains realized during the same year.

6) If you own a small business, consider making equipment purchases.
A special tax code makes it an advantage to purchase business tools and equipment before the end of 2011. Although the cost of a capital expenditure usually must be depreciated over the predicted life of the equipment, a special tax code allows you to deduct the full amount of a purchase, up to certain limits, in the calendar year it is made. (https://boxmining.com/) This amount is $500,000 for 2011 but will drop to $139,000 in 2012 and then to $25,000 per year.

If you need tax advice, contact us at (877) 889-6527 or by email at info@protaxres.com for a free, no obligation consultation with a CPA today.  If you already owe a tax debt or are simply trying to avoid incurring tax debt in the future, our experienced professionals can help. Click the links for more information about our tax planning and preparation and  tax debt resolution services.

IRS Tax Code and Money Earned Abroad – Could it Change?

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Money earned abroad by American corporations is free from U.S. taxes until it is returned to the United States. However, once these foreign earnings are repatriated, they are taxed at a rate of 35%. The current tax code allows multinational companies to avoid this tax, but only if they invest in certain domestic assets such as bank deposits, stocks and bonds. If the foreign earnings are reinvested into the companies themselves, they are taxed at the corporate tax rate of 35%. Currently, a group of multinational companies who have joined together to form what is called the Win America Coalition, is lobbying Congress to reduce the tax rate on earnings they bring home from overseas. This group of companies, which consists mainly of the Silicon Valley technology giants together with some pharmaceutical companies, is asking for the tax rate on repatriated foreign earnings to be reduced from 35% to just over 5%. They claim that a reduction in the tax rate would increase hiring and stimulate job growth by allowing companies to invest in themselves. While some members of both major political parties are in favor of such a tax cut, others are against it. The pros and cons are outlined below.

Reasons for favoring a tax cut on repatriated foreign earnings:

• Due to a flawed U.S. tax code, profits of U.S. companies continue to be invested around the world instead of at home.

• Even though companies are allowed to keep funds earned abroad in U.S. banks, they are not able to put the funds to work in the U.S. economy without being subjected to a 35% tax rate.

• Reducing the tax rate for repatriated funds earned abroad would inject billions of dollars into the U.S economy, thus creating jobs.

Reasons for opposing a tax cut on repatriated foreign earnings:

• Domestic companies that do not have overseas operations say it is unfair to give multinational companies a lower tax rate.

• Some analysts say that job growth created by a tax cut would be lower than some estimates predict because foreign earnings are already invested in U.S. stocks and bonds and deposited in U.S. banks.

• Independent tax analysts have said that when a similar tax cut was initiated in 2004, most of the repatriated funds were spent on shareholder dividends, stock buybacks and executive pay rather than on any type of expansion that would have created jobs.

According to recent report by the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, large multinational companies are already investing nearly $250 billion in United States financial institutions in order to avoid paying the 35% tax rate on repatriated foreign earnings. The question is whether a reduction in the current rate would promote changes in the distribution of these funds that would be beneficial to the economy.

Do you have a tax planning or preparation question?  Are you thinking about your 2011 taxes and want to avoid owing the IRS a tax debt?  Call for a free, no obligation tax consultation with our CPA’s today (877) 889-6527 or email us at info@protaxres.com

Start of 2012 with clear and accurate tax advice – contact us today!

 

Back Taxes and Small Businesses -Tips to Avoid Tax Debt

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Back Tax Issues for Small Businesses

What back tax issues are commonly encountered by small businesses?

Due to the complexity of tax law, many small business owners do not know how to use available deductions to reduce their lax liability and therefore end up with tax balances that are more than the business can afford to pay.

With the current state of the economy, many small businesses have cash flow problems. When this is the case, they may use available cash to fund operations rather than making tax payments.

What types of tax payments are small businesses responsible for?

Small businesses are responsible for paying sales taxes (often to multiple states), payroll taxes and quarterly tax payments.

What are the consequences when small businesses do not make their tax payments on time?

The IRS has the power to impose harsh penalties when small businesses fail to meet their tax deadlines. The reason for the delinquency is usually not taken into consideration.

One of the harshest penalties is imposed when a small business fails to meet its payroll tax deadlines. The penalty is called the Trust Fund recovery Penalty and is equal to 100 percent of the payroll tax balance. This penalty does not take into account the reason for the delinquency and can assign blame to anyone who was, in any way, responsible for the payroll tax debt.

What solutions are available to small businesses with back tax issues?

The best way for a small business to deal with a back tax issue is to face it head on rather than to wait for the liability to increase due to the compounding of interest and penalties.

Many states offer voluntary reporting programs and, while no such program is currently offered by the IRS, they due offer numerous tax debt settlement options.

While small business owners may rationalize that they will clear up their tax debt issues down the road when business is more profitable, this is usually not a wise decision. The IRS is more likely to approve a settlement agreement when business income and profits are low, not to mention that he legal and financial consequences of not addressing a back tax issue can be severe.

Due to the complexity of tax law, especially as it applies to small businesses, the best approach to resolving back tax issues is often to enlist the help of a qualified tax professional.

If you are a small business with unresolved tax debt, our experiences professionals can help you resolve your back tax issues. For more information about our tax debt resolution services, call us by phone at (877) 889-6527 to receive a free, no obligation consultation.

IRS Innocent Spouse Relief – A $1,200,000 Tax Settlement Success Story

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Mrs. M. was referred to us by a local attorney. Her husband had recently passed away and, shortly after his death, she became aware of an outstanding IRS tax liability in the amount of an astonishing $1,200,000.

Mrs. M. had had no knowledge of this tax debt before her husband’s death.  A few months later in our initial meeting with her, we learned that her personal tragedy was even worse than the death of her husband and realization of this massive IRS debt.  She informed us that she had hired a very large tax settlement firm to resolve the issue and had already paid them a whopping $25,000.  She came to us after six months, when she had no indication that the tax settlement company she had employed was making progress towards resolving the issue. Now skeptical that a firm might really be able to help, she did her research and read all of our credentials and reviews before arranging our initial meeting.

We immediately started working on her case and during our initial conversation with the IRS Revenue Officer assigned to Mrs. M’s file, we were brought up to date on the details of the case.  Unfortunately due to the inaction of the previous tax settlement company, the IRS had already levied the client’s insurance and financial accounts. Even more alarming was the fact that the IRS was also in the process pursuing other aggressive collection techniques to the extent that Mrs. M actually risked the immediate seizure of her additional assets to settle the outstanding liability. After assuring the revenue officer that we were working towards a resolution, we were granted a 90 day hold.  This time interval gave us the opportunity to resolve the case in manor that was acceptable to the IRS and still allowed Mrs. M to keep her assets.

After reviewing all of the relevant information and consulting with our client, we felt that she qualified for Innocent Spouse Relief. Innocent Spouse Relief is an IRS tax settlement option available to taxpayers who owe the IRS for tax amounts incurred by their spouse.  While it is an excellent tax settlement alternative for a spouse who meets the qualifying criteria, it is definitely not a blanket solution for anyone with a marital tax debt. The acceptance criteria for Innocent Spouse Relief are very explicit and must be well documented. After careful analysis, we determined that Mrs. M’s situation met these criteria and felt that her application would be accepted by the IRS

After gathering all of the relevant information and documentation, we were able to prepare and file the application for Innocent Spouse Relief.  Although there was a wait of several months after the request was submitted, the IRS granted the Innocent Spouse Relief for our client’s half of the $1,200,000 tax liability.

This was excellent news. However because the husband was deceased, this is not the end of the story. While this was the best result that anyone could have hoped for, the IRS did not relieve the husband’s estate for its share of the outstanding tax debt. Therefore to complete the resolution process, we continued our efforts.  We were able to negotiate a settlement contract for the estate with the IRS. The terms were that Mrs. M. would sell one of her residences and whatever the sale of the home produced as an asset, the IRS would accept 50% of the net equity from this sale as a final settlement of the debt.

This is truly a remarkable success story and Mrs. M. is finally able to move on and heal after a tumultuous year.

Here is a Recap:

  • Total Deceased Husband/Wife Total IRS liability            $1,200,000
  • Wife’s portion of this liability                                                $600,000
  • Wife’s liability after Innocent Spouse Relief Ruling          $0  a 100% Reduction!
  • Husband’s Estate IRS Liability                                             $600,000
  • Tax Settlement (50% of Net Equity from Home Sale)      $300,000   a  50% Reduction!

 

This example is an excellent illustration of how Innocent Spouse Relief can be used to settle large IRS tax debt.  In Mrs. M’s case the joint $1,200,000 tax debt was settled for just $300,000!  The wife’s personal liability was reduced by 100% and the total estate settled for just 25% of the original liability!

 

If you have an unresolved tax debt, visit us today at www.professionaltaxresolution.com for more information about our customized tax settlement assistance. The CPAs and tax professionals at Professional Tax Resolution use their extensive knowledge of the tax code to provide taxpayers with the best settlement option available. Contact us by phone at (877) 889-6527 or by email at info@protaxres.com to learn more about our services and to receive a free, no obligation consultation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IRS Tax Debt – Don’t Just Ignore It – Resolve Tax Debt Before the IRS Collects

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Most people who have IRS debt do not find themselves in that situation due to an unwillingness to pay their fair share of taxes. It is much more common that taxpayers find themselves owing the IRS either due to a mistake on a previously filed income tax return or some unavoidable circumstance such as a lost job, a decrease in earned income or an illness. While the initial IRS debt may have been the result of an unfortunate turn of events or a simple mistake or unreported item, it has often been compounded over time by the addition further taxes, penalties and interest. It is not uncommon for penalties and interest, which are often applied retroactively when the IRS or state tax agency makes an adjustment to a return from a prior year, to account for as much as 50% of an outstanding IRS debt balance. 

 

Resolving an IRS Debt

The first and most important thing that a taxpayer should do to resolve an IRS debt is to stop avoiding the issue. Taxpayers often think they can simply ignore their IRS debt because collection efforts begin mildly with letters simply stating the outstanding balance. Generally, the IRS has 10 years from the date a tax return is filed to collect an IRS debt. While collection efforts begin with passive techniques such as sending an IRS letter or IRS notice, as the 10 year collection period progresses, the methods get more aggressive. Collection attempts eventually lead to the possibility of filing a lax levy on bank accounts, wage garnishments or the filing of a tax lien. Any of these actions can have a drastic effect on a taxpayer’s credit rating and financial wellbeing. When faced with an IRS debt, a taxpayer may be best served by contacting a tax settlement professional to help resolve the issue.

 

How a Tax Debt Settlement Firm Can Help

The most obvious way to avoid an escalating IRS debt is to not incur the debt in the first place. While this may seem obvious, it is easier said than done. Mistakes are made and life events occur that are sometimes unavoidable. However once an IRS debt is incurred, it may be a good investment to enlist the help of a qualified professional to resolve the issue. Without professional help, individuals often find themselves overwhelmed by the barrage of letters from the IRS and confusion over how to proceed.

 

Why Professional Tax Resolution is a Good Choice

There are many different types of tax settlement firms and some, unfortunately, make promises they can’t keep and resort to unethical practices. For this reason, it important to research a potential tax resolution firm in order to select one that is reputable and has had a history of success settling IRS debt issues. To insure that a firm meets these qualifications, it is a good idea to verify their current licensure with the state certification agency and the Better Business Bureau. It is also advisable to review references if any are available. At Professional Tax Resolution, we encourage you to check our licenses, memberships and reviews. Our licensed CPAs and Enrolled Agents represent our clients before the IRS and state agencies from start to finish. We work with our clients to prepare all un-filed tax returns, confirm and correct balances as reported by the IRS and provide our clients with the best tax settlement option available. Call (877) 889-6527 for a free, no obligation consultation today.