Ask TaxMama Issue 649 – Happy 13

Dear Family,

Happy Friday the 13th! It will be a nice day – I’ll make sure of it. Since, it is my husband’s birthday. So, I’ll be devising delightfully cute ways to torment him. (His personal preference is to hide under the bed on his birthday…so anything I do to get him out from under will be excruciatingly irritating.) 

How knows, I may even drive him to drink? Or since you might choose to take solace from Friday the 13th shenanigans with the help of your local bartender, this week’s Money Funnies provides some Bar-moticons (emoticons for the Bar) to help you.  

Today, in  IRS News we focus on students and shoeboxes. First, IRS provides some guidance for students working summer jobs. While you’re reading about that, perhaps you might also want to point your teens to some tips on how to interpret their paycheck stubs.

The other article is about overcoming your aversion to keeping records. There IS a way to deal with it – even if you use a shoebox or drawer for your records.  

Last week, we had an article about about IRS’s Clarification of the Voluntary Classification Settlement Program for Employers (VCSP). This is your opportunity to come in out of the cold if you are paying your employees as freelancers. You’ll get some guidance on how to decide if it’s time or not.   

As a result, I decided to schedule a TaxMama conference to discuss the VCSP with you all. It will be a free 1-hour webinar for TaxMama Family members and students on Monday July 16th at noon pacific. Members will be getting invitations on Monday morning. 

This week’s Equifax Blog topic focuses on the tax tsunami frenzy. Should you rush to sell off your assets and harvest your capital gains right now – before the IRS rates jump from a maximum of 15% to 35% or whatever, next year? We’ll also spend an hour talking about that with KFWB’s master of Money 101 Bob McCormick on Wednesday morning at 9:00 am. Call in (888) 539-2980 [888-KFWB 980] or listen live online or on your radio at KFWB 980.  

Today’s ItsaWAHMThing article provides tips for you on how to deal with plethora of paperwork piled on your parquet (OK, enough with the silly Ps). Really, it’s about how to save yourself time and preserve your expense report reimbursements and keep your taxes low – by letting Shoeboxed.com take over your paperwork burden.    

If you want to see all the TaxQuips from earlier in the week, drop by here. There are some interesting topics.  

Our  Ask the Expert Interview coming at iShade – was very interesting –   What an EA Can Do to Help Improve Your Accounting Practice.  If you missed it, you can read all the details here.  

We have more classes coming up soon . Our next CPE Link class next week is about what do to after you WIN your audit or collections offer! It’s not over yet – there are things people often overlook in the rush of joy when it’s all over. 

At TaxMama’s EA Exam Review Course we will have our third Final Review session tomorrow. FOUR HOURS! With students taking over the mike and  explaining the answers to the exam questions. Students are loving the experience – kind of like a game show – a cross between Jeopardy ® and Who Wants to be a Millionaire? ®. Join the fun!  

Incidentally, the following week, NAEA will be holding NTPI and the National Convention. The courses at NTPI are THE best training for tax representation there is. Perhaps even a little better than my own Tax Practice Series – because you’re there, in person, and have time to walk through cases, on the spot. Incidentally, you will also have the opportunity for a Special Enrollment Exam cram session for three days.  

Remember to follow TaxMama®’s Tweets – https://twitter.com/TaxMama    

Have you grabbed the TaxQuips Widget for your phone, social networking page, website, or…? You’ll get the TaxQuips as soon as they published – about an hour before they are distributed in by e-mail. It’s a fun gadget. Just pick up the code and paste into your site or phone app. https://www.widgetbox.com/widget/taxmamas-taxquips-daily-tax-podcasts

Let’s address a few tidbits of news – and go back to work!  

Weekly Equifax blog is still going strong.
https://blog.equifax.com/tax/
Filing Taxes: Paperwork For Your Tax Professional
Avoid Paying Penalties on Estimated Taxes
Learning from Your Tax Filing Mistakes
After Filing Taxes: Responding to Letters from IRS
Tax Tips: How Long Should You Keep Records?
Using Standard Mileage Rate for Business Deductions
Making Estimated tax payments
Free Money Coming Your Way Due to Tax Mistakes
Using Your Home Renovation to Maximize Tax Benefits
Money Management: Explaining Paystubs to Your Teen – NEW!
Harvesting Capital Gains Now—or Later

MarketWatch
https://www.marketwatch.com/Journalists/Eva_Rosenberg
Ruling poses tax issues for same-sex couples

BizFilings

What is the Best Entity for Your Business?
The Non-Profit as a Business Model
Tax Issues Regarding Copyrights and Trademarks
Business Licenses You Need and Trust
Now That You Have an LLC, it’s Time to Make Tax Decisions

ITS A WAHM THING

Home Based Business Accounting Software Options
Writing off your Family’s Vacation
TaxMama’s 10 Tips for Success
Writing off summertime parties.
Vehicle Deductions Driving You Crazy?
Are You Classifying Your Workers Properly? – New
(note – this links to TaxMama overview of Stakeholder liaison discussion)
https://taxmama.wpengine.com/?p=11430
The Ins and Outs of Shoeboxed.com

You can find daily TaxQuips into YouTube videos
https://www.youtube.com/taxmama1 https://www.youtube.com/user/taxmama1/videos

As always, we love your feedback, opinions and ideas.

You are what makes all this fun – and interesting!

https://taxmama.wpengine.com/asktaxmama/ask-taxmama-issue-649

TaxNerd gear makes a bold statement year-round.

Hugs from your favorite TaxNerd,

Eva Rosenberg, EA

Your TaxMama® www.TaxMama.com

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TAX CALENDAR

https://taxmama.wpengine.com/tax-calendar/

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07/16/2012 Employers Make Monthly Payroll tax deposit on the 15th of each month
07/31/2012 2nd Quarter Payroll Taxes Due
07/31/2012 Deposit FUTA tax if more than $500 was paid through June 30th
07/31/2012 Employer’s Deposit Federal Unemployment (FUTA)
07/31/2012 Employers File Annual Return for Employee Benefits Plan 5500
07/31/2012 Employers File Annual Return for Employee Benefits Plan 5500-EZ
07/31/2012 Employers File request for Extension filing Employee Benefits Plan Return
07/31/2012 2nd Quarter Federal Excise Tax Return & Payment Voucher
08/15/2012 Employers Make Monthly Payroll tax deposit on the 15th of each month
08/30/2012 Time for businesses to consider setting up retirement plans

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EA EXAM NEWS & SOLVING THE TAX PUZZLE

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