Category: IRS
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Sample Tax Services Agreement
This page is outdated. A more recent version is available: Sample accounting services engagement agreement 2021 Each year I’ve modified my tax services engagement agreement as circumstances and technologies change. This is the current version of the individual tax service engagement agreement. The primary goal of the engagement agreement remains the same: to document our mutual understanding…
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Signs of further division in tax practice
I recently resigned from a large online group of tax professionals that I had grown to rely upon for daily advice and news. My past work in the tax field has primarily focused on political forecasting (efforts that were not so successful lately, by the way) and small business lobby efforts. My future plans revolve around…
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Trump sparks tax protest plans
Over the past month I’ve heard and read about a number of tax protest plans. Some are idiotic, others are criminal. Some might actually work. Some taxpayers want to take advantage of imagined tax reductions promoted by scammers. Other refuse to support the federal government led by Donald Trump and are looking for the safest…
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The tax madness has begun
Yesterday, still a few days before the IRS officially begins accepting 2016 tax returns, an accountant shared this advertisement found by a client: Of course, the tax client wanted to know how to double their tax refund.
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Free tax return preparation services
Some independent tax preparers are in a panic this month that the largest national tax preparation firm is offering to do tax returns for free through its network of retail stores. The big company has been losing money, its stock price is down, and consumer reviews have been terrible. The free service deal is apparently…
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Warning to small businesses about 1099 filing requirements
Facebook Live video added. Based on a handful of disturbing conversations and online exchanges over the past two days, I feel compelled to send this message to my small business clients: “This year the Internal Revenue Service has moved forward the deadline for filing information returns for payments that businesses made in 2016 to its contractors. Form…
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Two changes to tax preparation fees for 2016
The only two significant changes to tax preparation services from 2015 to 2016 stem from changes the IRS implemented to hold tax preparers financially responsibility for tax fraud. IRS knows that a significant amount of fraud comes from two types of tax returns: People who file for refundable tax credits like Earned Income Credit, Child Tax Credit or American…
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Four good reasons to use an ITIN
If you do not have a social security number, perhaps because you do not have legal immigration status in the US yet, then I strongly recommend that you obtain and use an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). Here are four key points: No fear of INS – An ITIN is not used as an immigration enforcement tool. Many millions…
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Why small business taxpayers must use QuickBooks
Note: Throughout this post the term “QuickBooks” means any electronic accounting system, not specifically the brand name product. There is evidence, as cited in the story, that the market dominance of the branded product has caused the term to be used to describe a class of electronic accounting products. I am accredited with QuickBooks and several other accounting…
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The myth of the ‘correct’ tax return
I occasionally have a conversation with a client, a potential client or another accountant on the topic of the accuracy of a tax return and IRS action. The comments might sound something like one of these: “The last two accountants messed this up and it needs to be made right.” “I am very particular about my…