Lots of people are taking off early and getting ready for 4th of July in advance. Others are taking a long weekend next week – including my Lulu. Can you imagine – she’s off to a beach party for the 4th of July in a nice secluded cove. It actually looks really nifty. They seem to have developed the old Jim Rockford beach quite nicely. I hope you have some fun and safe plans for the coming holiday next week.
Meanwhile, for a change, there’s a lot of news on the tax front. We have a Supreme Court decision upholding President Obama’s Health Care plan. You’ll be seeing a lot of news, courses and guidance on that in the coming weeks and months. There was a Circuit Court decision on an estate tax issue for a same-sex couple – in favor of the same-sex marriage. In fact, the Court ruled DOMA as unconstitutional. Although the decision is being appealed by the United States, it opens up some fascinating tax opportunities and issues for same-sex couples. Stay tuned for my MarketWatch article on this next week. It will be a how-to article about how people can preserve their potential tax refunds if the United States loses. I got some excellent insights and guidance from a variety of top tax professionals who deal with these areas.
And today, IRS News contains two articles I wrote this morning, summarizing the information from yesterday’s IRS Stakeholder Liaison meeting in Los Angeles. (None of the participants’ names are included, only to preserve their privacy. I wish I could list them for you – some of the best people from IRS and from the tax professional community were in attendance.) The first article is about the 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. The other article summarizes all the other issues – original documents being sent it with ITIN applications, trying to submit large batches of tax returns to the IRS counter, a new procedure being tested by Revenue Officers (tax collectors), more about the IRS Fresh Start Iniative…etc.
In fact, this makes me want to set up a session to discuss the VCSP with you all. What do you think? A free 1-hour webinar for TaxMama Family members and students on Monday July 15th at noon pacific? Cost $25 for non-members. Let me know what you think. Do NOT reply to this email – send a note to mailto:taxmama@taxmama.com?subject=VCSP_Webinar
Money Funnies this week gives you a fun perspective on numbers and unit of measure. Enjoy!
This week’s Equifax Blog topic helps your teens understand what happens to the money taken out of their paychecks. Hey, you might want to know, too.
And the ItsaWAHMThing article explains a bit about the issues work at home businesses face when they don’t put employees on payroll.
If you want to see all the TaxQuips from earlier in the week, drop by here. There are some interesting topics.
Reminder for your calendar – Coming in July – Ask the Expert Interview coming up with iShade – you don’t want to miss THIS one! July 10, 10:00A-12:00P Pacific – Eva Rosenberg, EA with Rob Nance, interviewer. What an EA Can Do to Help Improve Your Accounting Practice. (It’s not showing on their list yet – but will be – meanwhile the other upcoming interviews look interesting, too)
We have more classes coming up soon . There are no CPELink classes next week (at least not mine), but the following week, we’ll be teaching about the current issues that tax practitioners when representing clients. 2 hours of ethics!
At TaxMama’s EA Exam Review Course we will have our first Final Review session tomorrow. FOUR HOURS! With students taking over the mike and explaining the answers to the exam questions.
Susan Holtgrefe, EA is back from the IRS Tax Forum in Florida and back as TaxMama’s Study Guide and Super Enabler; while Mike Reed, EA and Super Quiz Man, is off on vacation. He fixed up more clear summaries and quizzes before leaving.
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!
MarketWatch
https://www.marketwatch.com/Journalists/Eva_Rosenberg
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 yesterday)
https://taxmama.wpengine.com/?p=11430
You can find daily TaxQuips into YouTube videos
https://www.youtube.com/taxmama1 https://www.youtube.com/taxmama1#p/u
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-648
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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06/30/2012 File Form TDF 90-22.1 – Report of Foreign Banks with $10,000 anytime during year
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
—————————————– SPECIAL DEALS —————————————–
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They do a gorgeous job. CHEAP!
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EA EXAM NEWS & SOLVING THE TAX PUZZLE
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Take TaxMama®’s 2011 EA Exam Review Class
I’m geting notes from people who are passing their exams. How exciting!
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Everything You Wanted to Know About the EA Exam
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