Tax Relief Blog

FTB Cash for Clunkers Tax Rules

September 1, 2009 | Mike Habib, EA

Clarification of the “Cash for Clunkers” Tax Rules

September 2009 – The federal “Cash for Clunkers” program has generated a lot of interest among consumers and we have received many inquires about the tax implications of this popular program. As a result, we are clarifying state tax rules for people who trade in their used vehicle under the “Cash for Clunkers” program.

The “Cash for Clunkers” program, Federal law, H.R. 2346, The Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save Program, allows qualifying consumers to receive a $3,500 or $4,500 voucher from the federal government when they trade in qualifying old vehicles and purchase or lease a new one. This federal law provides the value of the voucher received by the consumer is not considered as gross income of the purchaser for purposes of the federal income tax.

IRS May Mine Mortgage Data To Flush Out Tax Cheats

September 1, 2009 | Mike Habib, EA

IRS May Mine Mortgage Data To Flush Out Tax Cheats

Source: Dow Jones

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The Internal Revenue Service might scrutinize mortgage interest data more closely to help catch tax cheats, after prompting from an IRS auditor.

Who said the IRS is not generous?

August 26, 2009 | Mike Habib, EA

IRS Sends $122,783 Check by Mistake

House Cleaner Sensed it was an Error and Returned Check; IRS won’t Comment

SOURCE: CBS

IRS & UBS agreement

August 24, 2009 | Mike Habib, EA

IRS to Receive Unprecedented Amount of Information in UBS Agreement

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Justice today announced the successful negotiation of an agreement that will result in the IRS receiving an unprecedented amount of information on United States holders of accounts at the Swiss bank UBS.

As a result of this agreement, the IRS will receive substantially all of the accounts that it was interested in when it initiated the John Doe summons against UBS.

Tax Relief KY

August 24, 2009 | Mike Habib, EA

Kentucky Severe Storms and Flooding Victims May Qualify for IRS Disaster Relief

Indianapolis — Victims of recent severe storms flooding in Kentucky may qualify for tax relief from the Internal Revenue Service.

Following severe storms, flooding and straight-line winds on Aug. 4, 2009, the President declared Jefferson county a federal disaster area qualifying for individual assistance.

California FTB – Personal Income Tax: 2009 Tax Rate Schedules Released

August 21, 2009 | Mike Habib, EA

California – Personal Income Tax: 2009 Tax Rate Schedules, Exemption and Other Amounts Released

According to figures obtained from California Franchise Tax Board’s Tax Practitioner Liaisons Office, there will be decreases in the indexed 2009 California personal income tax rate schedules, return filing thresholds, standard deduction amounts, itemized deduction limitation amounts, personal exemption amounts, credit amounts, and alternative minimum tax exemption amounts. These figures are based on the negative 1.5% inflation rate, as measured by the California Consumer Price Index (CCPI) for all urban consumers from June of 2008 to June of 2009.

Tax Rate Schedules

Watchdog Growls At IRS’ Audits By Mail

August 21, 2009 | Mike Habib, EA

Watchdog Growls At IRS‘ Audits By Mail

Source: forbes.com

A new report from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration lends support to growing complaints about the Internal Revenue Service’s big audit-by-mail program.

It’s easier to raise taxes if you don’t pay them

July 28, 2009 | Mike Habib, EA

Morality and Charlie Rangel’s Taxes

It’s much easier to raise taxes if you don’t pay them.

Source: WSJ

IRS Urgent Letters and Notices

July 23, 2009 | Mike Habib, EA

IRS Urgent Letters and Notices That YOU MUST ATTEND TO

Mike Habib, EA

IRS Audit & Examination Letters

Letter 525 – General 30 Day Letter

This letter accompanies a report giving you a computation of the proposed adjustments to your tax return. It informs you of the courses of action to take if you do not agree with the proposed adjustments. The letter explains that if you agree with the adjustment, you sign and return the agreement form. If you do not agree, you can submit a request for appeal/protest to the office/individual that sent you the letter. The letter or referenced publications explain how to file a protest. You need to file your protest within 30 days from the date of this letter in order to appeal the proposed adjustments with the Office of Appeals.

Tax Relief

July 20, 2009 | Mike Habib, EA

Tax Relief

No one looks forward to the tax filing season. This period is associated with endless paperwork and sorting through receipts and other documents to get your tax accounts in order. And even with the use of tax programs, you are still at risk of encountering errors that can get you in the spot light as far as the IRS is concerned. Your problem grows worse once you have the misfortune of owing the IRS monies or getting your return picked out for audit. You can only pray that you have managed to get every entry properly accounted for.

So what should you do?

In case you do find yourself and your tax return subjected to inquiry by the IRS, you need to get proper representation to help you get tax relief. The concept of using a licensed tax representative has risen in popularity over the years as more and more individuals and businesses are beginning to find it more difficult to justify the entries in their tax returns for some reason or come up with the monies to pay their mounting tax debts.