Who Can Represent You Before the IRS? Many people use a tax professional to prepare their taxes. Anyone who prepares, or assists in preparing, all or substantially all of a federal tax return for compensation is required to have a valid Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN). All enrolled agents must also have a valid PTIN.…
Two New Tax Scams to Watch out For Although the April filing deadline has come and gone, scam artists remain hard at work. As such, taxpayers should be on the lookout for scams that reference taxes or mention the IRS, especially during the summer and fall as tax bills and refunds arrive. The two new…
What to Do if You Receive an IRS CP2000 Notice An IRS CP2000 notice is mailed to a taxpayer when income reported from third-party sources such as an employer, bank, or mortgage company does not match the income reported on the tax return. It is not a tax bill or a formal audit notification; it merely…
Deducting Business-Related Car Expenses If you’re self-employed and use your car for business, you can deduct certain business-related car expenses. There are two options for claiming deductions: Actual Expenses. To use the actual expense method, you need to figure out the actual costs of operating the car for business use. You are allowed to deduct the…
Your Canceled Debt Could Be Taxable Generally, debt that is forgiven or canceled by a lender is considered taxable income by the IRS and must be included as income on your tax return. When that debt is forgiven, negotiated down (when you pay less than you owe), or canceled you will receive a Form 1099-C, Cancellation…
IRS Ends Tax Transcript Fax and Third-Party Services Due to ongoing efforts to protect taxpayers from identity thieves, the Internal Revenue Service no longer offers tax transcript faxing service and third-party mailing of tax returns and certain transcripts. These measures are effective June 28 and July 1, 2019 respectively, and affect individual and business transcripts.…
Recordkeeping Tips for Small Business Owners Avoid headaches at tax time by keeping track of your receipts and other records throughout the year. Whether you use an excel spreadsheet, an app, an online system or keep your receipts organized in a folding file organized by month, good record-keeping will help you remember the various transactions…
How the Sharing Economy affects your Taxes If you’ve ever used–or provided services for– Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, Etsy, Rover, or TaskRabbit. then you’re a member of the sharing economy and it could affect your taxes. The good news is that if you’ve only used these services (and not provided them), then there’s no need to…
Filing an Amended Tax Return: What you Need to Know What should you do if you already filed your federal tax return and then discover a mistake? First of all, don’t worry. In most cases, all you have to do is file an amended tax return. But before you do that, here is what you…
Choosing a Legal Entity for your Business If you’ve decided to start a business, one of the most important decisions you’ll need to make is choosing a legal entity. It’s a decision that impacts many things–from the amount of taxes you pay to how much paperwork you have to deal with and what type of…