Archive for the ‘Taxes’ Category
Get It Fast!
Tax help, that is. The IRS has invested some time and money in keeping people off their backs so they can deal with their form* problems by updating and upgrading their online resources for tax payers.
Read more here. Or, check out IRSe Publication 17 for yourself.
Like accountingweb, we here at OffAssist want to remind you that the only place for legit IRS info on the web is their website, IRS.GOV. Sites that look similar but end in anything else (.com, .net, .info, et cetera) are scams, so make sure the .gov is there before you ask questions and remember the real IRS will never ask for personal information over the web or via email unless they have already been in touch with you regarding a specific issue.
*Yes, karma came for me after I spouted about how I would not be affected by the tax form problems/delay this year. Apparently, if you or a spouse went to college at all last year and are taking advantage of the lifetime learning credit, well those forms were among those affected.
Don’t Waste My Time!
That’s what the IRS is telling tax payers. The IRS has a number of things they consider “frivolous” when it comes to tax returns. Taxpayers filing “frivolous” returns are fined $5,000–raised from $500 by Congress in 2006.
The newest additions to the list of things you can put on your tax return if you want to pay a hefty fee include “misinterpretation of the 9th Amendment regarding objections to military spending” as well as certain specific invalid deductions related to meals.
Accounting web has the details here. Embedded in the story are links to PDFs of the other things the IRS has ruled “frivolous” in the past. I have to say, honestly, a number of them LOOK on the surface like legit reasons not to pay taxes, things like the fact the IRS Tax Code is not an actual law, etc. Both my practical and cynical sides know that these arguments are fruitless, Big Brother will win.
I am curious, though, as to the answers to these objections. I could see something like “I don’t have to pay taxes because I’m a brunette–If blondes have more fun then we brunettes ought to have less taxes,” being ruled a frivolous reason to not pay taxes, but the objections based on quasi-legal stances, those I’d like to see answered. I would also like to know why the IRS gets to decide what is a frivolous reason. That seems a slippery slope…
What if somewhere down the line they make a frivolous ruling–who will be able to stop them? For example, say the IRS decides to rule that since most people lie on their taxes they are going to rule all Americans liars and automatically add 10% to the tax amount shown on the return?
How do you argue with someone who gets to both make the rules and enforce them?
*sigh* I’m waxing political. But, just in case, better go make sure none of your favorite deductions are on any of the frivolous lists.
Alternative Minimum Fuss
New Form 990 for 2008
Form 990 is the tax return that charities and tax-exempt organizations are required to file each year.
When tax exempt organizations file their taxes in 2008, for the 2007 tax year, they will be using the old form. The new form will be used in 2009 when filing 2008 taxes.
Money for Miles
The IRS has updated standard mileage rates for 2008. The new rates, effective for mileage incurred on or after January 1, 2008 are:
(1) Business 50.5 cents per mile
(2) Charitable contribution 14 cents per mile
(3) Medical and moving 19 cents per mile
That’s on page 2 of the excruciatingly long and grossly detailed IRS document on the subject–found HERE. You have to skim to the end, page 29 (of 30) to find the effective date. Look at all the reading time I just saved you!
Uncle Sam Doesn’t Want You…
…to give him your opinion in exchange for a credit on your tax account. This is apparently the latest phishing scam using the IRS name & logo to try to defraud people, according to accoutingweb.
So, for the record:
A) The IRS does not ever send taxpayers unsolicited emails. That means they will never contact you via email as a first contact–they will only email you after you have been dealing with some matter and authorized them to contact you via email regarding it.
B) If you’re not sure your IRS email is legit, check out their official page on e-mail scams that use their name, found here.
C) If you do get an unsolicited email from the IRS offering you a refund on your credit card as a result of their internal records audit (um, yea, riiight..) and choose not to check it out on the IRS page above, if it is like the one I got this morning, that told me to click on the below address, it is probably not legit.
“w3.tehran.agri-jahad.ir:84/IRS…”
The words in red ought to send up a red flag, even if they are spelled wrong.
(yes, the end of the link has been cut off and no, it is not clickable, just in case someone cruises by who hasn’t had their coffee yet this morning)
Fighting Taxes – One Dollar at a Time
Really, I just don’t know what to say.
Check out the article for yourself, about Cary Malchow of Muncie, Indiana. In a gesture of protest at rising property taxes, he paid his tax bill, all $12K + of it, in person. In coins and one-dollar bills.
There’s another article here, detailing how his protest cost his county because employees were kept late counting the cash (overtime) while under guard by sheriff’s deputies (security costs) and could not make the nightly deposit (an estimated $1100 lost in interest-for that ONE day!).
Okay, so I can think of lots of things TO say, but I think I’ll hold my tongue. I own a home in one of the most expensive (property tax-wise) places to do so. And I pay those taxes happily in lieu of a state income tax.
It is tempting to start saving change for the IRS, though. Have you SEEN the self-employment tax rate?
Lucky Catch?
Maybe not.
The 21-year-old college student who caught Barry Bonds record-breaking home run ball may be in for a world of trouble with the IRS.
Tax lawyers fall squarely around the issue, some going with the common sense approach that, although the ball is estimated to be worth over $500,000 at auction, the ball is not income until it is sold.
Others claim the ball is taxable immediately, the same way treasure found diving in U.S. coastal waters is.
Still others claim that it is both immediately taxable (for approximately $210,000 in taxes based on estimated worth of $600,000) and subject to long-term capital gain taxes if the young fan waits more than a year to sell his prize.
Then there’s the question of how to determine the initial investment value of a ball the man caught for free…
For more on this silly (yet scary, and the IRS is refusing to comment thus far) tax question, check out the articles below:
WSJ Law Blog: Barry Bonds’ Ball
WSJ Journal Online: The Big Catch Could Have a Big Catch
TheStar.com: Mets fan could face big tax bill for snagging Bonds’ ball
Tell Me Your Tax Problems
That’s what the IRS is saying according to this article from accountingweb.
The gist of it that the IRS is asking businesses to report frequently disputed or controversial tax issues to their Industry Issue Resolution (IIR) Program.
The important fact is that the deadline for submitting an issue for the fall reviews is August 31, 2007. More information can be found on the IRS website. The program has been in use since 2000 and has resulted in 25 determinations – decisions helping clarify how tricky tax situations should be handled.
IRS Seeks In-Depth Info
The IRS is proposing changes to how corporations and partnerships report their taxes. As I understand it, they are basically asking for more in-depth ownership information from these types of business entities.
As I understood it, the gist is that the government wants to know the names and numbers of anyone who owns more than 10% of the stock in a corporation and more than 10% interest in a partnership. They also want to know from the corporations and partners what businesses or assets they (they being the corporate or partnership entity) own more than 10% of.
To my non-tax person’s eyes this looks like a way to clean up dodgy tax reporting and offshore tax shelters since the new forms will require reporting of both foreign and domestic ownership.
The good news is that these new forms appear to only apply to large, complex entities. There are income thresholds involved, both for those who would have to use the new forms, and a new minimum that will (slightly) decrease the amount of tax paperwork smaller businesses have to file.
After a bit of digging around on the IRS website I was unable to find the original press release. I’m sure there was one because the two articles I read on the subject, at accountingweb and at smbiz.com, read identically, nearly word-for-word.
Both the above linked articles have links to the proposed forms on the IRS website. If adopted, these forms would kick in for tax years ending on or after 12/31/08. The IRS is accepting public input and commentary on the new forms until 9/14/07.
IRS Tax Info for Partnerships Page
IRS Tax Info for Corporations Page
Both of the above have links to the new forms, too.