As a business owner, you are responsible for everything including recordkeeping – a task that small businesses sometimes don’t do very well. The IRS has released a very helpful recordkeeping FAQ webpage for small business and the self-employees that emphasizes the benefits of and reasons for good recordkeeping. Here are six practical FAQ’s the webpage highlights:
· Why should I keep records?
· What type of records should I keep?
· How long
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Tax scam emails that appear to be from the IRS run the gamut from almost believable to incredibly bad. Thanks to a Forbes article by Tax Girl Kelly Phillips Erb titled: “Phony Emails Purporting To Be From IRS Popping Up Again,” we have two fine examples of email scams that run the good and bad spectrum.
Email scam example #1 – really bad.

A few points mentioned in the article demonstrate how
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This was a short, yet busy week for tax relief news. Stories ranged from celebrity tax woes and prison sentences for tax evaders to tax tips and benefits for military personnel.
Actor Chris Tucker Pays Nearly $1 Million toward Tax Debt – Chris Tucker has been in the spotlight over the last few years, not so much for his talent but sadly, for his huge $12 million tax debt. A recent
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Memorial Day gives us a chance to honor military personnel for their service and sacrifice. It also allows tax professionals the opportunity to remind service members of the tax benefits they are entitled to. A recent article from Don’t Mess with Taxes titled,”Memorial Day 2013: Remembering those who gave all, offering some tax help for those still giving“ provides tax tips using the IRS Publication 3, Armed Forces Tax Guide. Here are
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Happy Friday! Countdown to tax day: 4 days
Last minute tax filers take note: the most common reasons for refund delays are because of preventable mistakes on the tax return. I thought information from this previous post and interview archive from the Midday Sunday Fox 11 with host Tony Valdez program could provide some help for those still scrambling to finish their tax returns. The trick to avoiding errors on your
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Just ten days until April 15! On the run up to tax day, we do our best to provide tax relief tips for last minute taxpayers. The tax news topics covered this week include: the annual IRS Data Book release, the official release of the 2013 IRS Dirty Dozen List, a little tax relief humor at Uncle Sam’s expense, tips on filing and tax payments.
Tax Help Tips on Filing and
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Reminder: 18 days left until Tax Day!
Here’s a review of the tax relief news covered this week. Featured topics include: IRS releases 2013 Dirty Dozen Tax Scam/Scheme List, businessmen guilty of tax evasion and filing false returns, IRS apologies for expensive Star Trek training video and hiring a tax professional versus tax preparation software.
IRS Releases 2013 Dirty Dozen Tax Scam-Scheme List – as well as a video to remind taxpayers
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Some of you may still be deciding whether to hire a tax professional or purchase tax preparation software. In this informative video, (one part of a series that came from my appearance on the Midday Sunday Fox 11 with host Tony Valdez program), I offer the following tax help tips:

When tax preparation software works
Know when it’s time to hire a tax professional
When it’s time to hire a tax resolution specialist

(Below
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It’s Friday, and that means it’s time for a round-up of tax news we reported on this week. Here are some tax related stories that were particularly interesting:
Tax Help Tips
Eleven Tax Changes to Know before Filing
Now that tax season is here, I wanted to let people know that the recent changes to the tax code could affect their wallet! A Forbes article provided the eleven important changes that
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If you are facing IRS tax issues, you may think your seemingly insurmountable IRS problems can never be resolved. But what you don’t realize is that others, often with similar situations and anxieties to yours, have successfully resolved theirs and are sharing their stories.
In a recent episode of the national network television show, TaxMan, I interviewed a former client and business owner, Stuart, who was blindsided by an IRS letter
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A Barron’s article titled Tax Refund Delays Could Trigger Recession reports on how the tax issue surrounding the delayed refunds could actually send our already weak economy into recession in 2013.
As I stated in a previous post, without a “patch” by Congress to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), 33 million or 1 in 5 taxpayers will see their tax liabilities increase. The re-calculation of these tax liabilities means that the
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The fiscal crisis has dominated this week’s news. Surprisingly absent in the current conversation is how going over the “fiscal cliff” will affect the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) and increase tax liabilities for tens of millions of Americans. A Newsmax Money News Article titled Alternative Minimum Tax May Play into Cliff Talks was one of very few articles to explain to ordinary taxpayers what it means if lawmakers don’t address
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Lately, there have been weekly warnings coming from the IRS that caution taxpayers about tax scams or identity theft schemes. Because of their pervasive nature, I feel it’s important to mention each and every one so that taxpayers can stay alert and avoid becoming victims.

The latest announcement can be found on the IRS’s Problem Alerts Page where the following text is posted:

October 2012
Don’t Fall for Phony IRS Websites
The IRS warns
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Recently laid-off employees who collected severance pay will want to understand their tax obligations to prevent any payroll tax problems from occurring. A recent Wall Street Journal article by Laura Saunders titled “When Severance Pay Is Subject to Payroll Tax” discusses two conflicting federal court rulings over whether severance pay should be subject to payroll taxes and if both employee and employer are entitled to claim a tax refund. For
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The May 21st IRS announcement offering flexibility to the Offer in Compromise Program (OIC) is BIG NEWS as it could provide tax relief to many financially distressed taxpayers like never before. The erecent Forbes articles Are Tax Collectors the New Men in Black? and New IRS Offer in Compromise Policies discuss the IRS changes of two criteria: the financial analysis used to determine who qualifies for an Offer in Compromise
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