March 16, 2015
App Helps 1099 Contractors Better Track Business Expenses
Sloppy record keeping is costing many of the smallest small businesses and individuals a lot of money when it comes to their taxes. How much? It's in the billions.
March 14, 2015
IRS Warns About New Obamacare Income Tax Scam
Reports are popping up around the country that unlicensed and crooked income tax preparers are telling taxpayers that they need to make the Affordable Health Care Act's individual shared responsibility payments directly to the tax preparer. Obamacare is..
March 13, 2015
Find a Little Extra Time for Your Clients, Even in the Middle of the Tax Season
It’s the middle of income tax season and the last thing on most practitioners’ minds is how to engage even more with even more clients. Not that you don’t want to. But with the usual chaos surrounding this the busy season, plus the added stress of new laws, courtesy of the Affordable Care Act, time...…
March 10, 2015
IRS Looking for Volunteers for Taxpayer Advocacy Panel
The Internal Revenue Service says it is seeking civic-minded volunteers to serve on the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP), a federal advisory committee that listens to taxpayers, identifies major taxpayer concerns and makes recommendations for improving IRS s
March 10, 2015
How Taxpayers Can Prepare for Their Annual Tax Meeting
As a long-time tax practitioner, I’ve conducted thousands of client interviews over the years. I’ve learned that when a client comes prepared for their interview, it results in less need for post-meeting follow-up calls and document gathering, which ...
March 8, 2015
ADP Offers Accountants and Small Business Clients Free Access to HR Services During Tax Season
Accountants are eligible for the promotion, and they can select as many as five of their small-business clients with fewer than 50 employees to also participate free of charge through the end of April. ADP’s HR HelpDesk is staffed by HR ...
March 8, 2015
Is it Better for Couples to File Joint or Separate Tax Returns?
Sometimes the “easiest” tax return decisions aren’t so simple after all. Take the basic choice of your tax filing status. Usually, it’s a no-brainer for a married couple to file a joint return, but there are a few notable exceptions. When you dig a ...
March 5, 2015
How to Increase an Investment Interest Deduction
It’s rare when tax return preparers advise their clients to look a gift horse in the mouth. But it might happen when a taxpayer is affected by the limits for deducting investment interest expenses. Depending on the situation, it may make sense to elect preferential tax treatment for certain long-term capital gains or qualified dividends...…
March 5, 2015
Common Taxpayer Scams Get IRS Attention
The IRS compiles annually The Dirty Dozen, listing a variety of common scams taxpayers may encounter any time during the year. Many of these con games peak during filing season as people prepare their tax returns or hire someone to do so. Some of the more
March 4, 2015
How Deducting Actual Vehicle Expenses Instead of IRS Standard Rate Can Save a Tank-Full
With a little work and some stick-to-it-iveness, you might be able to save a client hundreds or even thousands of tax dollars on a 2014 return.
March 4, 2015
1, 2, 3 … The Tax Breaks for Higher Education Expenses Can Really Add Up
Thanks to the new tax extenders law passed at the end of last year – the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014 (TIPA) – parents with children in college have not one, not two, but three tax breaks to choose from on their 2014 returns. But some of your upper
March 4, 2015
The Kiddie Tax: Is It Worth It To File A Separate Return?
Under the “kiddie tax,” if unearned income of a dependent child who is under age 19 or a full-time student under age 24 exceeds an annual threshold, the excess is taxed at the top rate of the child’s parents. The threshold on 2014 returns is $2,000.