19. October 2011 by admin.

IRS statistics now available for 2009 tax returns.

The highest earning 1% of all U.S. individual taxpayers paid 36.7% of all federal income taxes.

The highest earning 5% paid 58.7%.

The bottom 50% paid only 2.25% of total federal income tax.

Posted in Newsletter Topics, Retirement Accounts, International Taxation, Sub S Corporations, Income Tax, LLC's, General | 1 Comment »

5. September 2011 by admin.

The Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002 (JCWA) provided an additional depreciation deduction in the placed-in-service year that is equal to 30% of the adjusted basis of the qualified property placed in service after 9/10/01. This law is reflected (for the most part) in IRS Code section 168(k).

The Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 (JGTRRA) amended the bonus depreciation provisions of the Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002. For qualified property placed in service between 5/6/03 and 12/31/04, the bonus depreciation increased from 30% to 50%.

The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 allows 50% bonus depreciation for qualified property placed in service between 1/1/08 and 12/31/08.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 allows 50% bonus depreciation for qualified property placed in service between 1/1/09 and 12/31/09.

The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 allows 50% bonus depreciation for qualified property placed in service between 1/1/10 and 12/31/10.

The Tax Relief Act of 2010 allows 100% bonus depreciation for qualified property placed in service between 9/9/10 and 12/31/11 and 50% bonus depreciation for qualified property placed in service between 1/1/12 and 12/31/12.

Posted in International Taxation, Newsletter Topics, Sub S Corporations, LLC's, Income Tax, General | 1 Comment »

31. August 2011 by admin.

Posted in Payroll Tax, Newsletter Topics, International Taxation, Sub S Corporations, Income Tax, LLC's, General | 1 Comment »

19. August 2011 by admin.

Background: “Enrolled” means EAs are licensed by the federal government, while “Agent” allows appearance in place of the taxpayer before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Only EAs, attorneys and CPAs may represent taxpayers before the IRS. The EA profession started in 1884 when, after questionable claims had been presented for Civil War losses, Congress acted to regulate persons who represented citizens with the Treasury Department.

EAs were created by legislation signed into law by President Chester A. Arthur to handle these claims. At the time, some individuals with legitimate claims were cheated by their representatives in Washington while on other occasions; the government was being defrauded by false claims. EAs were the trusted individuals to represent petitioners in the US Court of Claims. Eventually their work expanded to focus on tax practice.

Professional Competency. The EA designation is awarded to individuals who successfully demonstrate expertise in the field of taxation by passing a tough enrollment test. EAs account for less than 10% of all individuals currently practicing in the field of taxation.

Continuing Education. EA is the only professional credential issued at the Federal level in taxation and requires considerable continuing professional education yearly.

Posted in Payroll Tax, Newsletter Topics, Retirement Accounts, International Taxation, Sub S Corporations, Income Tax, LLC's, General | 1 Comment »

26. July 2011 by admin.

IRC § 61 states all income from whatever source derived is taxable, unless specifically excluded by another Code section.

IRC stands for Internal Revenue Code.  If you ever tried to read it, you’ll know why they call it code!   § is the symbol for Code section.

Posted in International Taxation, Retirement Accounts, Sub S Corporations, LLC's, Income Tax, General | 1 Comment »

25. July 2011 by admin.

• Alaska
• Florida
• Nevada
• South Dakota
• Texas
• Washington
• Wyoming

Tennessee and New Hampshire tax only dividend & interest income.

Posted in Retirement Accounts, International Taxation, Income Tax, General | 1 Comment »

1. July 2011 by admin.

Posted in International Taxation, Sub S Corporations, LLC's, Income Tax, General | 1 Comment »

28. June 2011 by admin.

We have had a scrolling notice on our main website www.USATaxHelp.com for well over a year about this issue.  Here is the latest posting on the State of Florida website……..

CONSUMER ALERT!   Arvitas, LLC is a private company sending e-mails to businesses in Florida offering to file annual reports.   ARVITAS IS NOT AN AGENT OR REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE FLORIDA DEPT. OF STATE, DIVISION OF CORPORATIONS.   Arvitas is acting on its own to solicit business for its own company.   It is offering to file annual reports for business entities in Florida at an inflated fee.   They do not offer any additional service than what is available to the public on sunbiz.org.   The Attorney General´s Office, on behalf of the Dept. of State, is currently pursuing legal action against Arvitas.  

Posted in International Taxation, Sub S Corporations, LLC's, Income Tax, General | 1 Comment »

28. June 2011 by admin.

Congress has announced that the 0.2% FUTA surcharge will not be extended before June 30, 2011.  

Employers have been required to pay a flat rate of 6.2% on the first $7,000.00 of each employee’s annual wages for FUTA. The 6.2% FUTA rate included a temporary 0.2% surcharge that was first added in the 1970’s. The FUTA rate will be reduced from 6.2% to 6.0% effective July 1, 2011.  Employers will still receive the 5.4% credit for paying state unemployment on time, reducing the FUTA rate to .6% on wages paid up to the annual FUTA limit of $7,000.00.

The IRS is currently revising Form 940 (Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return) to accommodate the two different FUTA rates for calendar year 2011. 

Posted in Payroll Tax, Sub S Corporations, LLC's, General | 1 Comment »

11. May 2011 by admin.

The only way for the IRS to get after NON-FILERS is to take the documents filed with them: 1099s and W2s, .e.g., and create returns WITHOUT any deductions.  IRS doesn’t know about your all your deductions… so they have assume none.

 These returns are called “Substitute for Returns” or SFRs.

If you are self-employed, of course, you don’t receive any normal business deductions like mileage or fuel.

If you are married or have dependents the IRS files the return you as a single person. The point is: “SFRs” are big time wake up calls. You should file and pay your taxes.  Even if you cannot pay you are far better off to file and discuss an installment agreement.

 The SFR created liability is the same as any other liability.  IRS job is to COLLECT.  Remember, IRS does not write the laws.  IRS is the collection arm for the U.S. Treasury.

 Strategy… FILE CORRECTLY for past due returns.  Don’t let it get to the point of levy or U.S. Tax Court.

Posted in Income Tax, General | 1 Comment »