This article in AccountingToday by Roger Russell talks about people stealing the identity of dead people and then filing false tax returns to get money from the IRS. Everyone has heard of death and taxes as the two things that are inevitable, but death and tax refunds? You be the judge: http://www.accountingtoday.com/news/death-and-tax-refunds-70161-1.html This scam is harder to unravel as the people whose identity have been stolen normally don’t complain about someone filing on their behalf (they rarely file themselves), so the IRS had better stay on the ball on this one. This is one of those items that is not a dead giveaway, after all (sorry about that.) For financial, accounting and tax musings, You can count on us to count for you! Email: bstonercpa@sbcglobal.net Phone: 818-317-6035 Website: www.briantstonercpa.com Android and the IPhone: Has been Featured On https://twitter.com/bstonercpa
CPA Tax Musings: Two Tax Credits Help Pay Higher Education Costs
This tip from the IRS discusses the tax savings of two education credits: The American Opportunity Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit. See the details in the link below: http://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USIRS/bulletins/acc774?reqfrom=share The American Opportunity Credit is harder to qualify for, but gives you a larger credit (plus part of it is refundable, so if you have low taxes you may actually be able to get some cash back!) To qualify for either credit you need to have form 1098T from the qualified school you went to. Most schools have online access to this form through either your student account or the billing area of their website. Call the school admin if you are having trouble finding it. For financial, accounting and tax musings, You can count on us to count for you! Email: bstonercpa@sbcglobal.net Phone: 818-317-6035 Website: www.briantstonercpa.com Android and the IPhone: Has been Featured On https://twitter.com/bstonercpa
Tax Musings of a Burbank CPA: Supreme Court Rules Severance Pay Can Be Taxed
Here is a new one – the Supreme Court ruled that the severance a large company paid to its employees after closing its doors and laying everyone off were paid wages subject to FICA and Medicare tax. Duh! See the details in this article by Greg Stohr of Bloomberg and carried by AccountingToday: http://www.accountingtoday.com/news/supreme-court-rules-severance-pay-can-be-taxed-70142-1.html?utm_campaign=daily-mar%2026%202014&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter Now, I don’t really know why this was ever considered anything else, especially considering how the money was paid to the employees, but I guess there was some question (????) Anyway this will keep a lot of other big companies in the same situations from trying to get back refunds of social security (claiming the severance was a form of unemployment compensation.) They would have to structure the payout differently to even have a chance after this ruling. For financial, accounting and tax musings, You can count on us to count for you! Email: bstonercpa@sbcglobal.net Phone: 818-317-6035 Website: www.briantstonercpa.com Android and the IPhone: Has been Featured On https://twitter.com/bstonercpa