Monday, May 16, 2011

A Belated Farewell: 1099 Reporting Mandate is Eliminated

I could come up with a number of excuses how I missed this story... On April 14th, 2011 President Obama signed H.R. 4, the “Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011," putting an end to the pending requirement mandating all businesses 1099 any other business (Sole Prop, LLC, Corporation, etc.) they purchase goods and/or services from. You may recall our initial article about Section 9006 of H.R. 3590 where we outlined the mandate that many believed added undue financial burden to businesses throughout the country through extra data collection and accounting procedures.

Well I am happy to report that there is no more need to be alarmed, since, for now, this requirement has been officially repealed.

To learn more about the repeal and H.R. 4, please visit the links below:
White House Press Release on H.R. 4
Article from Forbes shortly after Congress agreed on the repeal

Friday, April 29, 2011

We're Back! Top-Three News Stories I Missed Because of Tax Season

It has been a very busy tax season, but I am happy to report that our blog is back and I'll be posting away. After sifting through the hundreds of Google Alerts (and thousands of news stories held within) in my inbox, I am ready to unveil my top news stories I neglected during tax season.

#3: Justice Dept. Goes After HSBC To Name Possible US Tax-Dodgers In India
It appears as though the Justice Department is ready to move on from UBS and start courting HSBC, who is apparently helping many US Citizens/Residents invest money in India and take advantage of they very high interest rates. That said, it does appear as though the IRS may start focusing more of their energy on higher bank account balances (see this story). The way the law is currently written, the Department of Treasury wants anyone with more than $10k invested abroad to be reporting their accounts annually via the TDF 90-22.1.

#2: AICPA's Call for AMT Repeal, Simplification Strikes Chord With Lawmakers
It seems like every year, I get to sit down and have that "fun" conversation with more and more clients about the Alternative Minimum Tax and how their deductions will provide them with no benefit. And while we try to tell our clients stories about how someday congress will get it right, we never see any progress. Well, the AICPA is lobbying hard, and they may have a few more people on board this year. Are we expecting much to come from this? Not really. But we can only hope some change is on the horizon.

#1: IRS Commissioner Seeks Changes in Annual Tax Filing Process
Are we getting closer to pre-filled 1040's? Possibly. Commissioner Shulman is trying hard provide taxpayers with up-front information so they can prepare their tax returns knowing that they have covered all of the bases. While Commissioner Shulman feels this is a step in the right direction for lowering the massive amounts of letter audits sent every year, many others believe this may actually increase the tax gap even further. While taxpayers are required to report ALL income earned during the year, many people often report income because they don't want to be caught forgetting an item the IRS may already know about. So what is going to happen when taxpayers know from the beginning how much income the IRS is expecting them to report?

Friday, January 21, 2011

The IRS Announces Processing Date For Delayed Returns

You can finally mark the date on your calendar the IRS has announced that they will begin processing tax returns, that were delayed to accommodate last minute changes to the 2010 tax law, on February 14th. This comes as a relief to many people who anticipated they may not be able to file early this year.

To find out if your filing will be delayed until the 14th, please read this article.