Business
If you’re a taxpayer who has not yet filed their 2019 tax return, you may be getting ready to do so now. One of the first things you will need to do – before visiting your tax preparer – is to gather all of your year-end income documents. Doing so ensures that your tax return is complete and accurate.
Here are some of the documents taxpayers need to have on hand:
Taxpayers with net operating losses (NOLs) form a business are provided tax relief under the CARES Act. Tax relief for partnerships filing amended returns is provided as well. Let’s take a look at three key points:
Taxpayers should be on the lookout for calls and email phishing attempts regarding the Coronavirus, or COVID-19 that could lead to tax-related fraud and identity theft. Because criminals take every opportunity to perpetrate a fraud on unsuspecting victims during times of need, taxpayers should also be skeptical about text messages received and websites and social media attempts to request money or personal information.
Offering to lend money to cash-strapped friends or family members during tough economic times is a kind and generous offer, but before you hand over the cash, you need to plan ahead to avoid tax complications for yourself down the road.
Take a look at this example: Let’s say you decide to loan $5,000 to your daughter who’s been out of work for over a year and is having difficulty keeping up with the mortgage payments on her condo. While you may be tempted to charge an interest rate of zero percent, you should resist the temptation.
Here’s why:
Small business owners are reminded to review the rules for filing two commonly-used employment tax returns: Form 944, Employer’s Annual Federal Tax Return and Form 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return.
A small business files one or the other; these two forms are not interchangeable and the employer should never flip-flop between the two forms on their own. They should always file in accordance with their designated filing requirements. Let’s take a look at the differences between these forms.
It’s January and tax season is right around the corner. For many people that means scrambling to collect receipts, mileage logs, and other tax-related documents needed to prepare their tax returns. If this describes you, chances are, you’re wishing you’d kept on top of it during the year so you could avoid this scenario yet again. With this in mind, here are seven suggestions to help taxpayers like you keep good records throughout the year:
There’s never an off-season when it comes to scammers and thieves who want to trick people to scam them out of money, steal their personal information, or talk them into engaging in questionable behavior with their taxes. While scam attempts typically peak during tax season, taxpayers need to remain vigilant all year long. For example, gift card scams are currently on the rise and there are many reports of taxpayers being asked to pay a fake tax bill through the purchase of gift cards.
