Don’t Mix Business & Personal Bank Accounts!

Whether you are working on your business part-time, operating as a sole proprietor, or starting a business with a more formal structure (such as a partnership or corporation) – it’s vital that you keep your business banking separate from your personal finances.

Keeping the two separate not only provides your business with credibility, it reduces your personal liability (a must if you are incorporating your business as a distinct and separate legal entity under its own name) and helps you to manage your taxes, bills, and other payments. Click here to read more and download the full PDF!

The Internal Revenue Service recently announced a special voluntary disclosure initiative designed to bring offshore money back into the U.S. tax system and help people with undisclosed income from hidden offshore accounts get current with their taxes. The new voluntary disclosure initiative will be available through Aug. 31, 2011.

Each United States person who has a financial interest in or signature or other authority over any foreign financial accounts, including bank, securities, or other types of financial accounts, in a foreign country, if the aggregate value of these financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year, must report that relationship to the U.S. government each calendar year. This is done by filing Form TD F 90-22.1 on or before June 30 of the succeeding year with the Department of the Treasury.  No extensions of time to file are available.  The income from the accounts must also be included on the owner’s tax returns. (more…)

The 2010 Tax Relief Act provides a limited-time 100% bonus depreciation allowance for qualified property which allows taxpayers that buy a new heavy SUV and use it entirely for business to write-off the entire purchase price in the placed-in-service year.

Heavy SUVs are vehicles with a gross vehicle weight (GVW) rating of more than 6,000 pounds which are exempt from the luxury auto dollar caps because they fall outside of the definition of a passenger auto. To deal with this “SUV tax loophole,” several years ago, Congress imposed a limit on the Sec. 179 expensing of heavy SUVs.  Thus, not more than $25,000 of the cost of a heavy SUV placed in service after Oct. 22, 2004 may be expensed under Sec. 179.  These rules apply, with some exceptions, to SUVs rated at 14,000 pounds GVW or less. (more…)

If you changed your name as a result of a recent marriage or divorce, you should take the necessary steps to ensure the name on your tax return matches the name registered with the Social Security Administration (SSA). A mismatch between the name shown on your tax return and the SSA records can cause problems in the processing of your return and may even delay your refund.

Here are some tips for recently married or divorced taxpayers who have a name change. (more…)

If you are in business for yourself, or carry on a trade or business as a sole proprietor or an independent contractor, you generally would consider yourself self-employed, and you will need to include on your tax return your income and allowable business expenses to determine your net profit. Your net profit is subject to both income tax and self-employment tax.  

Here are some things you should know about self-employment: (more…)

An IRS tax audit can come in a number of forms.  The most demanding are the face-to-face audits, which require sitting down with an auditor and reconciling income and deductions.  Others are the less demanding correspondence audits where the IRS has reason to believe that the taxpayer failed to include reported income or has overstated deductions.

Correspondence Audits – Employers, banks, lending institutions, schools, brokerage firms, escrow companies and others all feed data to the IRS, which the IRS, in turn, matches by computer the information reported on your tax return.  If there is a significant discrepancy, the IRS will correspond with the taxpayer.  Sometimes these discrepancies will result in additional tax liability, while other times a simple explanation will satisfy the IRS and make the problem go away.  Here are some examples of typically-encountered discrepancies: (more…)

A question that comes up frequently is whether income you received is taxable or not. Generally, most income you will receive is considered taxable, but there are situations when certain types of income are partially taxed or not taxed at all.

To help taxpayers understand the differences between taxable and non-taxable income, the Internal Revenue Service offers these common examples of items not included as taxable income: (more…)

Have you received your W-2?  These documents are essential to filling out most individual tax returns.  You should receive a Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, from all of your employers each year.  Employers had until January 31st to provide or send you a 2010 W-2 earnings statement either electronically or in paper form.  If you have not received your W-2, follow these steps:=

1. Contact our office – And let us know you are missing a W-2.  If your appointment is in the near future, we will advise you whether to keep the appointment or change it to another time.  Generally, when a W-2 or 1099 is missing, it is best to keep the appointment.  We can complete everything else for the return, except for the missing document, which you can mail or drop by the office at a later date.  That way, we can finish your return as soon as the W-2 or 1099 is available.  This will speed up your refund if you are receiving one. (more…)

If you already filed your federal tax return and are due a refund, you can check the status of your refund online.

Where’s My Refund? is an interactive tool on the IRS web site at IRS.gov.  Whether you split your refund among several accounts, opted for direct deposit into one account, or asked the IRS to mail you a check, Where’s My Refund? will give you online access to your refund information nearly 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

If you e-file, you can get refund information 72 hours after the IRS acknowledges receipt of your return.  If you file a paper return, refund information will be available within three to four weeks.  When checking the status of your refund, have your federal tax return handy. To access your personalized refund information, you must enter: (more…)