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10674400_s (1)Did you know that when you marry, you get to change your income tax filing status?  June has always been a popular month for weddings. Why? There are many different reasons. One is that the month of June is named for the Roman goddess, Juno. Juno is the goddess of marriage and would bring much happiness and prosperity to the marriage. The American “Tax Gods” of the Internal Revenue Service like that prosperity part. Did you know you are born with an income tax return filing status? We all start life as single. Even is you are a twin, you are a Single taxpayer. Can a baby be a taxpayer? Did you ever hear of the Gerber Baby? The answer is “Yes.” And as an American citizen, your taxable income includes your WORLDWIDE income. Your filing status is determined by your marital status on the last day of the calendar year. When you marry, and are married as of December 31st, you will generally choose Married Filing Jointly. What else could you choose? You could choose Married Filing Separately. You might qualify for Head of Household. When you file a joint tax return, your taxable income includes the worldwide income of both husband and wife. One of my clients asked, “You mean if I get married on December 31st, I am treated as I was married ALL YEAR?” And the answer to that question is YES. Maybe you want to marry on December 31st, but wait until after midnight to say “I DO!” and sign the license on January 1st. With planning, you can choose the year you begin your joint return. One thing I want you all to know is, “When you marry the person, you marry their tax troubles, too.” So be sure you know all the facts and enter into this new partnership, this new joint venture, with you eyes open. Traditional married couples, one man and one woman, file a joint return. Same-sex couples now also file a joint FEDERAL income tax return. Their state return will depend on where you were married and whether or not the state where you live recognizes same-sex couples. California recognizes same-sex marriage. Same-sex couples who are married and living in California, file both federal and California tax returns using the filing status of Married Filing Jointly. Arizona does not recognize same-sex marriage. If you live in Arizona and were married in California, or any other state that recognizes same-sex marriage, the couple will file ONE federal return as Married Filing Jointly and TWO Arizona state returns as Single. If you live in Arizona and are Registered Domestic Partners or celebrated a Civil Union ceremony, the Internal Revenue Service will still expect a separate Single income tax return from each of you. You are not married, so you cannot use Married Filing Jointly. Do you know what filing status to use? Have I generated more questions than answers? Taxes are not easy. Life if not always easy. Sometimes we get unmarried. Next time I’ll be talking about Head of Household and Qualifying Widow or Widower. Special tax rules come into play with each of these choices.
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taxMedical Expenses are not the deduction I want you to have. But medical expenses are deductible if you itemize your deductions. Here are 8 tips direct from the Internal Revenue Service and one more from me.

“If you plan to claim a deduction for your medical expenses, there are some new rules this year that may affect your tax return.  Here are eight things you should know about the medical and dental expense deduction:

  1. AGI threshold increase.  Starting in 2013, the amount of allowable medical expenses you must exceed before you can claim a deduction is 10 percent of your adjusted gross income. The threshold was 7.5 percent of AGI in prior years. .
  2. Temporary exception for age 65.  The AGI threshold is still 7.5 percent of your AGI if you or your spouse is age 65 or older. This exception will apply through Dec. 31, 2016. .
  3. You must itemize.  You can only claim your medical and dental expenses if you itemize deductions on your federal tax return. You can’t claim these expenses if you take the standard deduction. .
  4. Paid in 2013. You can include only the expenses you paid in 2013. If you paid by check, the day you mailed or delivered the check is usually considered the date of payment. .
  5. Costs to include.  You can include most medical or dental costs that you paid for yourself, your spouse and your dependents. Some exceptions and special rules apply. Any costs reimbursed by insurance or other sources don’t qualify for a deduction. .
  6. Expenses that qualify.  You can include the costs of diagnosing, treating, easing or preventing disease. The cost of insurance premiums that you pay for policies that cover medical care qualifies, as does the cost of some long-term care insurance. The cost of prescription drugs and insulin also qualify. For more examples of costs you can deduct, see IRS Publication 502, Medical and Dental Expenses. .
  7. Travel costs count.  You may be able to claim the cost of travel for medical care. This includes costs such as public transportation, ambulance service, tolls and parking fees. If you use your car, you can deduct either the actual costs or the standard mileage rate for medical travel. The rate is 24 cents per mile for 2013. .
  8. No double benefit.  You can’t claim a tax deduction for medical and dental expenses you paid with funds from your Health Savings Accounts or Flexible Spending Arrangements. Amounts paid with funds from those plans are usually tax-free.”
And here’s the extra tip from Nellie. If you wonder if your disability insurance is deductible. Yes it is. But I encourage you NOT to deduct this insurance. If your disability insurance premium is about $800 each year and you have enough medical expenses to exceed your AGI threshold, you could deduct this $800. For easy math, if your tax bracket is 25%, this deduction could save you $200 of tax. But if you ever file a claim and collect on this disability insurance, those insurance benefits will be income taxable. And when you are out of work due to disability, do you want to add to your tax bill?
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irs tax auditMarch Forth. March Fourth. Time Marches on. Beware the Ides of March. In this, the month of March, business owners must be aware of the calendar and their tax deadlines. The Internal Revenue Service made us wait until the very end of January before we could file our tax returns electronically. And our tax filing deadline is still April 15th. But there is a little “grace” period for us this week. March 15th is the Ides of March. This year it falls on a Saturday. What’s the big tax deal about March 15th? That is the day corporations, large and small, must file their tax returns or request an extension of time to file before September 15th. March 15th is also the due date for employers to pay their trust fund taxes. Trust fund taxes are those taxes withheld from their employees’ paychecks. Employees trust their employers to send their money to their tax accounts at the IRS. What’s so important about this date being on Saturday? Many businesses are open on Saturdays, but the government is closed. That means we have two extra days to meet the March 15th deadline. IRS is giving us extra days this time. The next time the 15th falls on the weekend is in June. That is another payroll deposit date. It is also the due date for second quarter estimated tax payments. When the 15th is on a weekend or other holiday observed by the federal government, we have until the next business day to meet that day’s obligation. So mark your calendars not for March 15th, but for March 17th. Before you raise too many glasses to Saint Patrick, be sure you get your 1120 returns or extensions filed. Be sure you get your payroll deposits made. If you use the electronic payment service of EFTPS, remember you need to make that payment one day before the due date. EFTPS (Electronic Federal Tax Payment System) allows you to schedule payments whenever you want, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can even schedule a payment as far as 365 days in advance. But remember this: To reach the IRS on time, payments must be scheduled by 8pm ET at least one calendar day before the tax due date. Even individuals can register to receive a pin number  that will allow them to pay their individual taxes by EFTPS. Many people who owe tax to the IRS pay by  check. Did you know you can have the IRS debit the amount you owe directly from your bank account? It’s like direct deposit in reverse. And you choose the day you want this debit to happen. Taxes can also be paid by credit card. Understand that the IRS does not pay the merchant fee that most other businesses who accept credit card payments do. The taxpayer pays what is called a convenience fee. If you choose to pay your taxes by credit card (maybe you get airline miles or some other benefit) you will know how much the convenience fee is before you actually pull the trigger on your credit card payment.
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25159487_sWhat does this have to do with taxes? You’d be surprised. .. Here in the United States, we have four time zones: Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific. Living in Arizona, we are one of the few places that does NOT observe Daylight Saving Time.  Most cities and towns in Arizona stay on Mountain STANDARD time all year long. .. In the Spring, the rest of the country “Springs Forward” advancing their clocks one hour. They change their clocks from 8am to 9am and experience more daylight in the evening hours. Since the clocks in most of Arizona remain unchanged, we effectively “fall back” an hour. We are neighbors to California and I say to others that during Daylight Saving Time (DST) we are now on Pacific Time. .. Pacific time is three hours behind Eastern time which makes a difference when we are trying to contact businesses located east of us. When it is 8am in Phoenix, it is already 11am in New York and Washington, DC.   When it is 8am in Phoenix, it is already 10am in Chicago and St Louis. And when it is 8am in Phoenix, it is already 9am in Denver and Las Vegas. Wait a minute, Phoenix and Denver are both in the Mountain Time Zone. But when it is DST, Denver is Mountain DAYLIGHT Time and Phoenix is Mountain STANDARD Time. And now when it is 8am in Phoenix, it is 8am in Los Angeles and San Diego. .. The Internal Revenue Service has always been aware of the differences in our time zones. That is why their Customer Service offices are open past 5pm. But they are not open 24/7. .. Now that they have developed a “modernized” electronic filing process, the IRS processes our e-filed tax returns continuously around the clock. But what happens on April 15th? A return filed after midnight will be considered LATE. But which midnight must I pay attention to? My midnight or IRS midnight? .. March 15th is important for businesses returns. Corporation returns are due March 15th. Like an individual, if a corporation cannot file their return by the due date, they can request an extension of time to file. But this request must be filed by March 15th. .. When it comes to these time sensitive and very important deadlines, I do not wait until the last possible minute. I want to file at least one day before. If I can’t be one day early, I want to get as much as I possibly can get done before 6pm on that deadline night. .. Everyone else who waits until the last possible minute is risking a bottleneck of electronic paperwork. And it you are delayed by this bottleneck, your tax return or your request for more time could be delayed. .. Uncle Sam doesn’t just want you. Uncle Sam wants your money. And when you owe money and you pay that money late, Uncle Sam wants even more money. .. So watch that clock. Time is a-ticking and it waits for no man.
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irs tax auditWhen our Congress shut down the government last fall, even the program developers at the Internal Revenue Service had a couple of weeks of involuntary vacation. I say vacation because they were ultimately paid for these layoff days.  I thought these people would have been considered indispensible.

The Internal Revenue Service is the ONLY branch of the government that actually brings money IN. I thought, certainly, their tax return form designers and processing system programmers would be considered essential. The Internal Revenue Service claimed that this interruption of work made it impossible for them to be able to accept any tax returns before January 31st. We used to start filing returns electronically the second Friday of January. The government has shaved three weeks off our already time-compressed income tax season and while the start date was extended, the due date was not.  

Individual 1040 series tax returns are still due April 15th. Corporation returns are due March 15th. Partnership returns are due April 15th. What if YOU need more time? That is why we have the ability to request an extension to file. These requests are never turned down. The IRS automatically says YES to your request for more time to file, but you MUST file the paper to let them know you are extending your tax return due date. The extension only gives you more time to send in the paperwork. The extension does not give you more time to pay any tax that might be due with your tax return. So it is important that you estimate how much you expect your taxes will be. If you don’t have enough federal income tax withheld from your paycheck, you can make an Estimated Tax Payment. I’ll talk more about Estimated Tax Payments in my next blog. Who signs your tax return?  You sign your tax returns under penalty of perjury. You are swearing your return is correct. If  you paid someone money to prepare your return, they must also sign your return. They are stating they have done everything they can to apply the tax laws properly. They are attesting they have prepared an  accurate return.  If you pay them and they don’t sign the return, then they are breaking the law and you need to find a reputable advisor. The IRS will want to put them out of business because you deserve someone on YOUR side. You certainly do not want someone working to put you on the INSIDE – inside the “tax jail”, that is. Just because you pay someone to prepare your return, and just because they sign your return right under where you sign, YOU are still the one responsible for paying your correct tax.  YOU are the one the IRS will call to collect the tax. So take the time you need to collect your tax data. “Haste makes waste” and can cost you interest and penalties. Be sure to report all of your income. Take the deductions you are allowed to take. Don’t guess about your numbers. Be accurate. Double check your numbers. Review your return. File electronically.
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irs tax auditAre you ready to file these required forms? The LAST thing any employer wants is to be delinquent in the employer’s tax filing requirements. What is required and when? .. December 31st marked the end of the fourth quarter of the calendar year. Fourth quarter employers’ reports due by January 31st. You must give your employees their W2 forms by January 31st. You must also give any independent contractors their Forms 1099 Miscellaneous by January 31st. Caution: Do NOT make the costly mistake of treating an employee as an independent contractor! Attention Employees – the next blog is devoted to YOU! .. In addition to the W2 forms given to the employee, you must also send a copy to Social Security Administration (SSA) with the transmittal Form W3. If you withheld state taxes for the benefit of your employee, you must send a W2 copy to your state (with your state’s W3 equivalent). Form W3 must be filed with SSA by the last day of February. I tell my employer clients there is no penalty for filing early. If you file the W3 at the same time as you issue the W2 forms, you are more likely to file it on time. There is no real benefit in waiting to file these forms. .. Most employers file the quarterly report Form 941 to report the taxes withheld from the employees’ paychecks. The taxes withheld include the employees’ federal income taxes, Social Security taxes and Medicare taxes. PLUS the employer matches the Social Security and Medicare taxes. If you are self-employed you are considered both employer and employee and you pay the full 15.3 percent of earnings. .. You may be a small employer that has been given permission from the IRS to file an annual Form 944 instead of the quarterly Form 941. Form 944 is due by January 31st for the preceding calendar year’s wages paid. .. In addition to Form 941 (or Form 944), Forms W2/W3 and state equivalent forms, you must also file (and pay) by January 31st, your 4th Quarter state income tax withholding report, file (and pay) your 4th Quarter state unemployment tax report, and file (and pay) your annual federal unemployment tax report Form 940.  Only the first $7000 of wages paid to a covered employee is generally all that is subject to Unemployment tax. Remember to take into account any deposits you made during the earlier quarters for federal unemployment taxes.

To recap:

By January 31, 2014:

1. File Form 941 for the 4th quarter 2013 OR Form 944 for the whole year 2013

2. File your state’s 4th Quarter 2013 income tax withholding tax reports

3. File your state’s 4th Quarter 2013 unemployment tax report

4. File Form 940 for the whole year 2013 federal unemployment tax report

5. Give Forms W2 to your employees

6. Give Forms 1099 to your independent contractors

By February 28, 2014 :

1. Send Form W3 with Copy A of all Forms W2 to Social Security Administration

2. DO not mail the W3/W2 to IRS, it goes to SSA

3. Mail Form 1096 with IRS copy of Forms 1099 to the Internal Revenue Service.

4. 1096 is the form that goes to IRS

5. I’s OKAY to file these transmittal forms in January. You don’t have to wait till February 28th.

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taxes2For those that can file the simplest of tax forms, you may have your W2 and are ready to file. Last week I talked about W2, W2-G, 1099-G, 1099-Misc and K1 forms. Today I talk about more of the common forms you need to complete your proper tax form. 1099-R is used to report distributions paid to you from your pension plan, your retirement plan or our Individual Retirement Account or IRA. If you have a distribution that is not taxable, it must still be taken into account in filing your proper tax return. 1099-INT is sent to you when you earn $10 or more interest on a bank account or certificate of deposit. You should get one of these forms for each account that generated $10 or more of interest. If you have more than one account at a single branch, they may report each account separately on a single, or consolidated, statement. Some banks show each account and provide the total earnings for all accounts. Whether or not you withdrew the interest, or had it in your hot little hands, this is taxable income that must be reported. If you earned less than $10 you are still required to report the interest earned, you just won’t get the Form 1099-INT to remind you. In this case, you’ll need to check your account statement that includes December 31st. 1099-DIV reports to you earnings of $10 or more in dividends paid on stocks, bonds and mutual funds. Like 1099-INT, you are responsible to report all earnings even if you had less that $10 and do not get this form. 1099-DIV also includes capital gains paid on these investments. These capital gains are for activity within you account, not for the sales of stocks from your account. Both ordinary dividend and capital gain dividend numbers are important in calculating your proper tax. Your tax professional will see that you don’t overpay your tax.  1099-B reports your sale of stocks, bonds or mutual funds. You receive Form 1099-B from your broker or mutual fund company. This form can be one page or multiple pages depending on the size of your account. For each sale this report will tell you the name of the stock or fund account, how many shares were sold, the date of the sale and the sales price. Some brokers issue a preliminary report to meet heir February 15th deadline to issue this Form 1099-B, but they will tell you to expect a corrected or final statement later in the tax season. Provide EVERY page of this report to your tax advisor. 1099-C reports Cancellation of Debt income which must be reported on your tax return. This income may or may not be taxable to you. It can be issued because you were unable to pay a debt, perhaps credit card or mortgage debt. Be sure to share this information with your trusted tax advisor.  The US Tax Code states all income is reportable except that which is specifically exempt from tax. Protect yourself from IRS audit by reporting all of your income.
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padpaperThe tax industry is ever changing. Tax professionals are subject to various federal and state regulations. The Internal Revenue Service was sued to stop them from requiring all tax return preparers to take a test to prove their competence to properly apply the tax laws. Enrolled Agents (EAs), Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) and Attorneys have already demonstrated their competence by passing other comprehensive tests. Some in this group of un-enrolled preparers have been writing tax returns for many years. Some are brand new to the tax business. They all were to take a test to demonstrate their knowledge and level of competence. No one could use the designation RTRP, Registered Tax Return Preparer, until they passed this test. The IRS is appealing the lawsuit’s decision. I see nothing wrong with the IRS protecting their tax-paying public (YOU) by ensuring that all tax return preparers show some level of competence. No single person can know everything. There are many areas of specialty within the tax code and ever-growing procedures, regulations and rulings. I help individuals and small business owners. Big corporations and partnerships are outside my area of expertise. Anyone can make a mistake. Yes, we learn from our mistakes, but wouldn’t  you rather that I learn from someone else’s mistake?  The IRS does and they want EAs and CPAs to keep up with the ever-changing tax laws. We do this by taking required annual continuing professional education (CPE). I like the medical doctor’s Hippocratic Oath, “first do no harm.” I follow that in my tax business. I always want to do my best for you. These brief descriptions give you a glimpse of what these professionals can do. An EA, Enrolled Agent, is licensed by the Department of Treasury to represent taxpayers nationwide at all levels of the Internal Revenue Service. A CPA, Certified Public Accountant, is licensed by their State’s Board of Accountancy to perform accounting services in that state. Those same Boards of Accountancy limit the use of the word “accounting” to their recognized CPAs. Some CPAs also practice tax. Some EAs also offer bookkeeping services. Attorneys are admitted to their State’s Bar. Attorneys who are admitted to the Tax Court can represent taxpayers at that level of IRS Appeal. Here are 7 questions you can ask to help ensure you find an experienced, trustworthy tax advisor:
  1. How long have you been in the tax business?
  2. What licenses or designations do you have?
  3. What tax issues do you specialize in?
  4. Do you have the knowledge and experience to handle my tax situation?
  5. Do you outsource any of your work?
  6. What’s your privacy policy?
  7. How do you charge your fee; how much will it cost?
It is important that you establish a comfort level with your tax advisor. You want to feel safe (and you want to feel your information is safe) when you share your important and confidential tax return information with your trusted advisor.
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Odometer2What are you going to do different this year than you did last year? If you use your car for business I hope you remembered to write down, yes on paper, your odometer reading. If you didn’t do this before you got behind the wheel on the first day of the year, it’s not too late to start this process today. What good is this Beginning of the Year Odometer Reading? This is just one step on the “Prove It!” scoreboard if you are ever in a contest with the Internal Revenue Service. This contest is also known as an IRS TAX AUDIT! This audit can be started by the IRS, but they work hand in hand with the states and this audit can also be started by your state’s Department of Revenue. By working together, these agencies  are sharing the workload AND they are sharing the results with each other. Most state tax returns begin with the results of your federal return for that same year. If the IRS makes an adjustment on your federal tax return, you can be darn sure they will tell their counterpart at your state’s tax office. And if your state makes an adjustment, corrects a mistake, disallows (throws out) a deduction, adds income you failed to include (ignored or didn’t even remember you received), you can be sure they will tell “the feds.” Record-keeping is your safety net and YOU must keep the documentation you need to prove the position you take on your tax returns. Because in an audit, you are considered guilty until you prove yourself innocent. CAUTION:  Do not  throw away old tax returns just because we turned another page on the calendar. ALWAYS keep your copy of the tax returns you filed FOREVER!  Why that long? Why not just three or five or seven years? You never know when you need to look back at an earlier year’s return. In 2013, I was amending a 2009 tax return. It had a tax benefit that was to be carried BACK two years to 2007. Since I was the preparer on both years, I had the preparer copy of both years’ returns. But if you were my new client, would you have that 2007 return for me? Another client is inheriting an IRA from her mother. Is all of that IRA taxable to her? Did her mother ever deduct her IRA contributions? Did Mom keep her copies of those earlier year returns that have now become so important to her daughter? Do yourself and your family a favor and KEEP  your tax returns forever. So, back to your New Year’s auto log. It’s never a bad habit to keep a little diary for your car, whether you want to deduct your mileage or not. If you want to sell it later, this odometer reading record helps to prove the condition of your vehicle and could get you a better sales price. Keep a record of your vehicle maintenance. When was the oil changed? When were the tires rotated? When were old tires replaced with new ones. Keep track of things like that. If you want to deduct the business use of your vehicle, the IRS does require a log of your total miles AND a log of the miles you drove for business. If you don’t want to be bothered by keeping this timely (at-the-time driven) log. you don’t have to. But if you do not keep the log, you do not get to claim the deduction. It’s as simple as that.
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clockDo you hear that tax clock ticking, ticking, ticking? There are certain things to keep in mind as we come to the close of another tax year. December is the LAST month in the LAST quarter of the year. What should you do before time runs out? Tax laws change every year. Moving from 2013 to 2014, we are going to experience some major changes. Some of the deductions we are used to taking are being adjusted, changed, or even eliminated. If you are a classroom teacher, your $250 ‘above the line” or 1040 front page, deduction goes back to the Schedule A for itemized deductions.  You may or may not remember that it started there. Chances are, you’ve made your purchases already this year, but if your total is under $250, now is the time to take full advantage of that little benefit. With only a few weeks left in the year, do you have any medical expenses you need to pay for in 2013? We can include in our itemized deductions unreimbursed medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of our adjusted gross income. That’s pretty technical. What you need to know is that in 2014 that “floor” rises to 10%. That just means that we will be deducting a little less.  As I mentioned in a previous article, medical is NOT the deduction I want you to benefit from… I want you to be healthy. Speaking of healthy, 2013 is the year that the Affordable Care Act, commonly referred to as “Obamacare” kicked in. There is a provision for a Premium Tax Credit to help low income taxpayers pay for heath care coverage.  However, there is also a “Shared Responsibility Penalty” for anyone who fails to maintain a minimum essential health care coverage.  Medicare counts as qualified coverage. The IRS is charged with allowing the tax credit or imposing the tax penalty. What does that mean to your tax return preparer? We will be looking to confirm your coverage. SO, 2014 is only a few weeks away. Keep your coverage and keep track of your payments. Check into getting coverage if you don’t already have it. I’ll be learning more, too. If you are used to deducting sales tax instead of state income taxes paid, that sales tax deduction will not be a choice for your 2014 tax return. Most of the big ticket items that created a big sales tax deduction were vehicles. IF, and I say IF, you need a new car, this may be the month to buy it, but DO NOT BUY IT just to take advantage of the sales tax deduction. You are still out of pocket thousands of dollars for that new car. My parents always told me, “Watch your pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.”  So I tell you to watch your expenditures.  Take advantage of what will benefit you, but don’t lose sight of the true cost of your deductions.  
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