Tax news March 2013

Tax

IRS Employees Need More Training in Dealing with Troubled Taxpayers

Many IRS workers don't have sufficient training in dealing with potentially dangerous taxpayers, despite several programs developed to address such situations, according to a report issued March 12 by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA).
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Tax

Stephen Baldwin Takes Plea Deal for Tax

A few months ago actor Stephen Baldwin was arrested – and released – on charges of failure to pay his New York State income tax for three years. Based on those charges, he could have faced four years in prison. In early March he returned to court and entered a plea agreement to resolve the issue.
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Tax

Crime Watch: March 15, 2013

A federal court has permanently barred Crystal Ireland of Detroit, who does business as Master Mind Preparation, from preparing federal tax returns that claim the earned income tax credit. According to the complaint, Ireland fabricated businesses and reported fake business income on her customers' tax returns in order to claim the maximum credit for them.
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Tax

Strip Club Tips Rain Tax Deductions for Rapper

Canadian Rapper Drake may have found an interesting loophole he believes will allow him a hefty deduction for tips at a strip club. That includes $50,000 in what he called "making it rain" money he spent at a club in North Carolina.
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Tax

H&R Block Gaffe Affects 600,000 Tax Returns

So you think you've got headaches this tax return season? They're probably nothing compared to the migraines the folks at H&R Block are experiencing after the nation's largest tax preparation firm admitted to botching more than 600,000 returns.
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Tax

EcoTaxFile.com Combines Tax Return Preparation with Energy Audit

Helping save the planet while filing your taxes sounds like a bit of a stretch, but EcoTaxFile.com says it has a good way to start. The company combines tax preparation services with an energy audit to identify a taxpayer's carbon footprint and then suggests ways to cut costs and greenhouse gases.
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Tax

Need More Time to Submit WOTC Forms? You Got It

More than two months after Congress authorized a retroactive extension of the Worker Opportunity Tax Credit, the IRS has finally issued transitional rules for claiming the credit for recent job hires.
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Tax

Crime Watch: March 11, 2013

On March 8, the IRS announced that its Office of Professional Responsibility obtained the disbarment of enrolled agent Lorna M. Walker for stealing a client's tax payments and for preparing tax returns with false deductions for multiple clients.
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Tax

IRS Makes 8.7 Percent Sequestration Reductions

On March 4, the IRS announced it has been forced to trim awards paid to whistleblowers, to reduce refundable credits for certain types of tax-exempt bonds, and to reduce the refundable portion of the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit for some small tax-exempt employers – all by 8.7 percent.
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Tax

Is This the Year for Tax Reform?

Is 2013 shaping up to the year of tax reform? "There are more proposals this year than we have seen in the last five years, and an unprecedented number of major state tax reform proposals," said Harley Duncan, a managing director at KPMG.
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Tax

Taxing Dividends and Capital Gains Income Fairly

The tax rates and policies on income from dividends and long-term capital gains lead to some unintended negative consequences. In trying to help stamp out fraud in financial reporting and add more fairness into the tax system, closer examination of these policies is warranted.
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Tax

No Fallout at IRS from Sequester . . . Yet

Now that the federal government's "sequester" has taken hold, what will the effect be on federal income tax refunds? None, according to an internal memo from Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller.
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Tax

IRS Now Accepting All 2012 Returns for Processing

The IRS announced March 4 it has finished updating all its forms and its tax-processing systems so that all individual and business taxpayers who may have been forced to postpone filing while awaiting revised forms are now able to file their 2012 federal income tax returns.
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Tax

Crime Watch: March 4, 2013

Appearing before US District Judge Margaret M. Morrow, a Los Angeles woman was sentenced February 25 to three years in prison for her role in a scheme whereby she used the identities of others to defraud the federal bankruptcy and tax systems.
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IRS Opens Window Longer for Sandy Victims

The IRS is throwing yet another life preserver to taxpayers who were victimized by Hurricane Sandy. Under a new Notice, these taxpayers now have until October 15, 2013, to deduct their disaster-area losses on a 2011 or 2012 return.
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Hollywood Hands Michigan an Empty Bag

A few years ago, with giant auto manufacturing plants sitting empty and the economy dragging, Michigan threw open its doors, literally inviting Hollywood to come in and produce films economically. The bait was federal film credits, which movie producers covet.
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Voice of the Editor

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Gail Perry, CPA
Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, AccountingWEB
editor@accountingweb.com
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