Category: Taxes
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After an audit: don’t let IRS scare you away from proper deductions
This seems to be an increasingly common scenario: IRS audits a self-prepared tax return and discovers errors taken on deductions1. The taxpayer is assessed additional taxes and penalties. This increases the probability that the following year’s tax return will be audited for the same issues. On the following year the taxpayer typically takes one of three…
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Tax Preparation Fees for 2017 Tax Returns
This post and pricing information is now out of date. “How much do you charge for tax returns?” Of course this is a common question from new and prospective clients during tax season. The answer is that I simply use the published national average fee for tax services as a benchmark. Those rates are published…
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Everything you need to file your income tax return.
About half of us file our own returns and half get professional help. Of the options remote professional tax service is fast, efficient, safe and economical. No matter what method, now is the time to check to e sure you have the information necessary to file. Today is February 4 and you should have everything needed…
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Today’s adventures with IRS
CLIENT #1 – My first telephone call to IRS this morning was dropped at 2 minute 10 seconds while I was on hold before I reached any person. The second call was answered at 32 minutes. I sent a fax to the agent that took another 13 minutes to transmit and confirm. The total call…
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IRS issued more guidance on wage tax withholding
Yesterday the IRS issued more guidance on wage tax withholding rules in response to changes triggered by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Notice 2018-14 provides guidance to both individual taxpayers and employers on tax withholding requirements for wages. One of the most significant changes is the default rate of withholding on bonuses or supplemental wages is…
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We Fix TurboTax Returns
Over the past few years we’ve noticed acceleration of a trend that is confirmed by other tax accountants. Most of the audit notices from IRS are based on errors in TurboTax returns. This is not to say that there is anything wrong with TurboTax or that IRS is targeting these returns but rather that it…
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Watch out for these two latest online scams
Scams always require two components: the media and the message. CPAs are indoctrinated with specific education and are required to maintain an attitude of “professional skepticism”. As a result, I tend to be more likely to notice and document emerging dangerous trends. Based on this experience, I’ve covered online consumer finance scams1 in this blog for…
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IRS launches audits of bitcoin holders
Bitcoin is the largest and oldest cryptocurrency so it makes sense that IRS would take enforcement action against these account owners first. Some owners may have heard incorrect information that their transactions were not taxable or that IRS could not get their account information. Both of these are false. IRS announced last year that it…
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Encrypted Email, Secure Messaging and Secure File Transfer
“Encrypted Email”, “Secure Messaging” and “Secure File Transfer” are three terms that most people doing business online should know about today. This seems like a good time to review the options as we begin the tax filing season. While these security measures are probably not needed for most people most of the time, I include…