If you need to still efile your 2013, 2014 and 2015 individual and business tax returns, be aware that the IRS has finalized the Me-F efile production shutdown and cutover schedule for 2016-2017. Shutdown begins on Wednesday, November 30, 2016, at 11:59 a.m. in order to prepare the system for the upcoming Tax Year 2016 Filing Season. You need to transmit returns by 10:00 a.m. and receive acknoledgements by the 11:59 a.m. After that, the system cannot be accessed again until MeF reopens for 1040 MeF Production for Filing Season in 2017. You are also unable to efile 2013 after the shutdown and must paper file those returns. For more information, call or email me and we can discuss 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 AWARDED BEST ACCOUNTANT IN BURBANK, CA BY BEST BUSINESSES 2016, 2015 AND 2014! Android and the IPhone: Has been Featured On https://twitter.com/bstonercpa
Burbank CPA Tax Musings: Remember Your Auto Mileage Log or You May Regret it Later
If you are self employed or if you have a job where you drive a lot and don’t get reimbursed for mileage by your employer, make sure you keep a log of your automobile mileage each year. You need to calculate your business miles as a percentage of total miles annually, then use either the business miles at 54 cents a mile in 2016 or use the percentage to calculate your actual auto expense. If you get audited, your auto log (complete with beginning and ending odometer readings and the purpose of all the business travel daily) is the only piece of taxpayer prepared information that the IRS auditor is supposed to accept (but it doesn’t hurt to give the auditor a couple of auto repair bills that tie to the odometer readings that are in the log). I have been involved in many IRS audits where the automobile expenses were looked at by the auditor and I am pleased to say that to date I have never had a change to taxpayer auto expenses because of the mileage percentages (once we had a problem with some of the actual auto expense documentation, but if the taxpayer took the standard [...]
Tax Musings of a Burbank CPA: Will You Owe Income Tax When You Sell Your Residence?
So you are planning on selling your residence and you are going to make money on the sale. Are you going to have to pay income tax on the gain? Well, the quick answer is maybe (you are thinking, thanks a lot! right now.) After calculating the gain on the sale of the residence (you can check on my previous blog post on how to do this – check my July 5 blog), you have to answer some questions. Did you own and live in your residence for at least 2 out of the last 5 years? If so you probably can exclude up to $250,000 in gain (up to $500,000 if you are married). You may or may not be required to report the sale on your tax return if you can exclude the gain (I always recommend including the sale if the form 1099S that the escrow company sends you is more than the applicable exclusion amount; it can save a letter later on.) Generally you may only exclude your residence gain only once every 2 years (there are some exceptions.) Also if you own more than one home, you can only exclude the sale of the [...]