Dear Family,

This is SuperBowl Weekend. The world will come to halt while sports fans eat, watch, and cheer for their favorite teams. This event is one of the highest grossing events for advertising revenue – while the show’s sponsors try to outdo each other with the best SuperBowl ads. They are such works of art, the ads themselves have fans. Do you want to see them? Someone has archived the last 14 years worth of SuperBowl ads.

Courtesy of the IRS.  For more information, see the Special Identity Theft Enforcement Efforts – 2012 page.
See related article about IP PIN at MarketWatch.com this weekend.

WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service and the Justice Department today announced the results of a massive national sweep cracking down on suspected identity theft perpetrators as part of a stepped-up effort against refund fraud and identity theft.

Working with the Justice Department’s Tax Division and local U.S. Attorneys’ offices, the nationwide effort targeted 105 people in 23 states. The coast-to-coast effort took place over the last week and included indictments, arrests and the execution of search warrants involving the potential theft of thousands of identities and taxpayer refunds. In all, 939 criminal charges are included in the 69 indictments and informations related to identity theft. 

Paychex, Inc., one of the nation’s leading providers of payroll, human resource, and employee benefits solutions for small and medium-sized businesses, today released its top 12 in ’12 list, containing the top 12 potential regulatory changes that America’s small businesses need to know about in 2012. Paychex works closely with the IRS and other government agencies on issues of importance and is constantly monitoring regulatory and compliance-related matters that impact its 564,000 clients.

You may remember the story – the one about the woman who shook her son awake in the morning. “Get up and get ready for school,” she urged.  “You’re going to be late!”

“Ah, Mom,” he pleaded “I don’t want to go to school. The kids don’t like me. The teachers are against me. Even the custodian hates me. Give me three good reasons to go.”

 Dear Family, 

Earlier today, IRS announced that electronic refunds are on target. People can expect to find them in your bank accounts within about 10 days. But, some refunds will be delayed. IRS is beefing up the fraud detection system. Returns with Earned Income Credits, American Opportunity Credits and other refundable credits will take a little longer. That’s good news, believe it or not. Last year, IRS releases millions of dollars of fraudulent refunds, despite safeguards. Hopefully, beefier security will cut that down.

Your kids can be helpful at tax time. That doesn’t mean they’ll sort your tax receipts or refill your coffee, but those charming children may help you qualify for some valuable tax benefits. Here are 10 things the IRS wants parents to consider when filing their taxes this year.

Courtesy of the IRS

[TaxMama note: Read this in conjunction with today’s MarketWatch article – How to file your taxes for free

WASHINGTON — Over 12,000 free tax preparation sites will be open nationwide this year as the Internal Revenue Service continues to expand its partnerships with nonprofit and community organizations providing vital tax preparation services for low- to moderate-income and elderly taxpayers.

The IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program offers free tax help generally to people who earn $50,000 and less. The Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) Program offers free tax help to taxpayers who are 60 and older.

Dear Family, 

Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’ into the future… Are you feeling that way? It was just Monday – and pow! The week is nearly over. I got a ton of work done. But it feels as if I’ve done nothing. 

Clearly, I need to take this month’s celebration seriously, and indulge in the joys of Gourmet Coffee International Month. Yes, in fact, Lulu has actually been bringing in coffee in the mornings. The good, strong stuff you get at Coffee Bean and Subway. Oh, did I say Subway? Yeah, she found this terrific deal – coffee and breakfast sandwich for about $3. That’s cheaper than I could make them. 

Courtesy of IRS.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today released a new set of tax gap estimates for tax year 2006. The tax gap is defined as the amount of tax liability faced by taxpayers that is not paid on time. 

The new tax gap estimate represents the first full update of the report in five years, and it shows the nation’s compliance rate is essentially unchanged from the last review covering tax year 2001.