It’s that time again, Tax Filing Season! And with it come endless questions and articles about how to avoid a costly, nerve wracking, and time consuming audit from IRS. In my many years of dealing with IRS exams it is apparent that you cannot bullet proof any tax return from selection, but there are [...]

Well, Christmas has passed, and that means that the next big thing coming is…. the final throes of the 2012 tax planning period. Never mind parties, football, and the Rose parade. Who can think of anything else while there is still time to do a few things that will lower your income taxes for [...]

Each year, just in time to take the fun away from the Holidays, we reach out to our clients and attempt to project tax liabilities and recommend strategies to reduce their tax burden. It’s particularly important to think about this now, before year end, while you still have time to make changes to your [...]

Do you know that old saying that figures don’t lie, but liars can figure? Well, much hyperbole came out of the election regarding who is in the top 1% of income earners, and who pays what in taxes. A lot of the stats were misused or misquoted. Here are the latest figures that IRS [...]

I have not posted a tax blog since last Spring not because there was nothing noteworthy or entertaining in the tax world, but because I just can't seem to find the time to do it. Some court cases and pronouncements would make great fodder for discussion, but it seems there is always something a [...]

This one came across the news wire today and I’m sorry, but I just can’t resist a snarky comment. An H&R Block manager was arrested in Van Nuys, CA in February for identity theft. Apparently he was using client’s information to prepare bogus tax returns on their behalf and obtain refunds using the H&R [...]

As we close in on April 15, the traditional tax filing hysteria with all the media attention helps spawn another side industry – tax scams. This time of year criminals use the fear of IRS to prey on victims and get them to disclose valuable info to steal identities and money. The IRS issued [...]

Usually whenever any political body starts tinkering with taxes it is another Right To Work act for accountants. Virtually every “tax simplification” or “tax reduction” act that comes along only serves to make compliance more difficult for the taxpaying public.Given that tax accountants are arguably the only constituency that will always benefit from any [...]

If you operate a business or are a sole proprietor you mayhave noticed a few new lines that appeared on your tax forms for 2011. In 2008Congress passed a tax law that requires all businesses to separately disclosethe amount of their gross revenue that was collected via credit cards. Thisamount was to be reconciled [...]

I didn’t expect to have time to update my Blog today, but asI write this our server is down and the phone system is dead due to a poweroutage (thanks So Cal Edison!) so it looks like it will be kind of quiet for aMonday morning… Tax season is in full swing here and [...]