Those Gold Sales May Be Taxable

If you took advantage of the escalating gold and silver prices and made any sales of gold, silver, gems, jewelry, or the like during 2011, you are required to report the sales on your tax return. Whether or not the sales are subject to tax, and at what tax rate, depends upon the type of item sold and your tax basis for the item. Determining Basis— Generally, your tax basis is what you originally paid for the item, assuming that you can recall the amount. It may be difficult to remember how much you paid for an item; however, if the cost was significant,...

Read More

Schedule Cs in the IRS’ Bull’s-eye

Schedule C is the form that unincorporated sole proprietor businesses use to report their income and expenses as part of their individual tax returns. Schedule Cs have been center stage in recent IRS “tax gap” estimates. The tax gap is defined as the amount of tax liability faced by taxpayers that is not paid on time. This past January they released the tax gap figures for 2006. You might say that 2006 was quite a ways back, but you have to remember returns are filed in the subsequent year and then the information must be compiled and analyzed....

Read More

Don’t be Scammed by Tax Season Cyber Criminals

Now that tax season is upon us, so are the e-mail scammers pretending to be the IRS. Most of these scams fraudulently use the IRS name, logo, and/or website header as a lure to make the communication appear more authentic and enticing. They lead you to believe you had a refund of some sort coming and request personal information. The goal of these scams - known as phishing - is to trick you into revealing your personal and financial information. The scammers can then use your information - like your Social Security number, bank account, or credit...

Read More

It’s Not Too Late

It’s not too late to make an IRA and/or SEP contribution or undo a Roth IRA conversion for 2011. Generally, after the close of the year you can no longer take steps to alter the outcome of your tax return. However, both IRA contributions and SEP contributions can be made for a year after it has closed, and if you converted a traditional IRA into a Roth IRA, you can undo that conversion after the close of the year. Here are the details: Traditional IRA Contributions - IRA contributions (tax-deductible and non-deductible) for 2011 can be made...

Read More

New Reporting Requirement for Individuals with Foreign Financial Assets

New for 2011 is a requirement for any individual who, during the tax year, holds any interest in a “specified foreign financial asset” to complete and attach Form 8938 to his or her income tax return if a reporting threshold is met. The reporting threshold varies depending on whether the individual lives in the U.S. and files a joint return with his or her spouse. For example, someone who is not married and doesn’t live abroad will need to file Form 8938 for 2011 if the total value of his or her specified foreign financial assets was more than...

Read More

Nominees Have 1099 Reporting Requirements

Candidates seeking political offices aren’t the only individuals who are “nominees.” For tax purposes, if you receive, in your name, income that actually belongs to someone else, you are also a nominee. Being a nominee means you must file with the IRS a 1099 form appropriate to the type of income you received and give a copy of the 1099 to the actual owner of the income. However, if the other person is your spouse, no 1099 filing is required. The most common nominee situation is where a taxpayer and one or more other individuals have a joint...

Read More

February 2012 Business Due Date Reminders

February 10 - Non-Payroll Taxes File Form 945 to report income tax withheld for 2011 on all non-payroll items. This due date applies only if you deposited the tax for the year in full and on time. February 10 - Social Security, Medicare and Withheld Income Tax File Form 941 for the fourth quarter of 2011. This due date applies only if you deposited the tax for the quarter in full and on time. February 10 - Certain Small Employers File Form 944 to report Social Security and Medicare taxes and withheld income tax for 2011. This due date...

Read More

February 2012 Individual Due Date Reminders

February 10 - Tax Appointment If you don’t already have an appointment scheduled with our office, you should call to make an appointment that is convenient for you. February 10 - Report Tips to Employer If you are an employee who works for tips and received more than $20 in tips during January, you are required to report them to your employer on IRS Form 4070 no later than February 10. Your employer is required to withhold FICA taxes and income tax withholding for these tips from your regular wages. If your regular wages are insufficient...

Read More