The Internal Revenue service, or the IRS, recently announced a special voluntary disclosure initiative that was designed to help bring offshore money that should be in the US tax system back. The initiative is a means at giving taxpayers a second chance to disclose income that they have hidden in offshore accounts and bring this ... Read More
Tax Law Changes
IRS Interest Rates Raised Q2 2011 on Late Payments & Underpayments
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will be raising interest rates for the second quarter and the new rates will go into effect come April 1, 2011. According to the IRS website, the new rates will be as follows: four (4) percent for overpayments (three (3) percent in the case of a corporation); four (4) percent for tax ... Read More
IRS Eases Up On Taxpayers Who Owe Taxes or Back Taxes
Last Thursday, IRS commissioner Doug Shulman announced a new set of initiatives to help taxpayers struggling to pay their taxes or pay off back taxes in this lackluster economy. Sometimes IRS enforcement actions (e.g. tax lien) can bury the taxpayer further which lessens not only their ability to climb out of the hole they are ... Read More
Tax Filing Deadline for 2010 Taxes is April 18th, 2011
If you like to wait until the last minute to file your tax return, you are in for some good news. This year you will have an extra three days to procrastinate. The IRS has made it official that taxpayers do not have to prepare and file their tax returns for 2010 until April 18th (be aware that some states are still April 15th, ... Read More
IRS Tax Liens Grow, Data Does Not Justify Enforcement Action
The Taxpayer Advocate Service is an independent organization within the IRS whose duties include resolving tax problems and making sure they don't happen in the future. Yesterday, the Taxpayer Advocate Service released an annual report with many administrative and legislative recommendations. IRS Tax Liens Grow Among other ... Read More
Making Work Pay Tax Credit for 2010
President Obama introduced the Making Work Pay Tax Credit in an attempt to reduce the tax burden on middle class Americans, but this tax credit is scheduled to expire at the end of 2010, attempts were made to extend but it only applies to 2010 income now. Although this tax credit essentially means that average tax payers are ... Read More
Texas Pursues Amazon for Sales Taxes
The state of Texas has a two year budget deficit estimated at $21 billion. As they look for ways to recover from the shortfall, they begun hunting Amazon for sales taxes they say they owe. Texas sent Amazon a bill for $269 million to cover sales taxes it says the company owes from online sales made between 2005 and 2009 to Texas ... Read More
Ever Hear of the Inflation Tax – Your Taxes Could be Raised Indirectly
There is little doubt that we are a country in trouble, despite the fact that the government may try to convince us otherwise. American consumers are finally waking up and realizing that we must pay closer attention to what is happening in our country. After seeing retirement and savings accounts almost wiped out in recent years ... Read More
Understanding How the New Wealth Taxes Will Affect You
The upcoming health care reform bill passed in March 2010 included new taxes to help pay for the changes to the health care system, which is designed to expand access to reliable and quality health coverage, all while helping tens of millions of Americans pay for it. The new taxes will begin in 2013. The new wealth taxes will ... Read More
Tax Preparers Must Be Registered in 2011
Beginning in 2011, the Internal Revenue Service will be changing the rules for tax preparers who are paid to complete and file an individual or a business tax return. The IRS will require all paid tax preparers to register with the agency and take tests of competency and pass successfully. The only caveat is that two competency ... Read More
How the FTC Wants To Tax and Subsidize Journalism
Journalism is not what it used to be and the Federal Trade Commission is exploring ways to reinvent the craft. The FTC proposed that the US government should be the hub of a media overhaul but some are worried it is not the right course of action. Concern now is that the Internet has changed the way things are being done. The ... Read More
The state of Pennsylvania has extended to its taxpayers a limited time offer to resolve delinquent state taxes without fear of persecution. The 2010 Pennsylvania Tax Amnesty program is available from April 26, 2010 through June 18, 2010. This special period of amnesty is the result of Act 48 which was signed into law on October ... Read More