2 minutes read
The State of Arizona is taking the first crack at trying to collect sales tax from amazon.com–the biggest online discount retailer. According to a filing with the SEC, Arizona calculated that Amazon owes the state & various cities $53 Million in uncollected taxes from March 1st, 2006 through December 31st 2010.
3 minutes read
The IRS recently released a list of 5 tax tips for taxpayers who have recently married or divorced, and are planning on filing their taxes with a different last name than in years past. If you fall into this category, it is important to ensure that the name on your tax return matches the name registered with the Social Security Administration. A mismatch between the name shown on your tax return and the SSA records can cause problems in the processing of your return and may even delay your...
4 minutes read
Fellow tax professional Dave Ramsey recently preformed a survey of 2000 taxpayers; about half of who prepared their own returns, and the other half who had them prepared professionally. This is what he found:
4 minutes read
Citibank recently sent out 1099 forms to thousands of it’s clients indicating that their redeemed airline miles are taxable to the tune of 2.5 cents per mile and listed as miscellaneous income. This of course caused an immediate uproar not only because Airline miles could cost additional money in taxes, but also because if they’re not reported on your income tax return, the chances that the taxpayer will get hit by an Audit increases (not to mention additional penalties...
2 minutes read
The State of Connecticut has indicated that it will stop issuing paper refund checks and instead will use Chase Bank debit cards. These cards will need to be activated before they can be used. CT taxpayers can opt-out and receive their refund by direct deposit, however they will not have the option to receive a check unless a taxpayer’s refund in exceeds $10,000, one is collecting refunds on behalf of the deceased or has an offshore bank account.
8 minutes read
Republican candidate Mitt Romney recently bowed to pressure last week and released his 2010 tax return. What it showed is that Romney paid a little less than $3 million in taxes on $21.6 million of income. This equates to an affective tax rate of less than 14%–far below what the average taxpayer pays.
3 minutes read
If you are one of the millions of taxpayers who filed early this year, the IRS has emailed tax professionals that they may be delaying the release of refunds by about a week (or even more).
2 minutes read
According to the Tax Foundation–a Washington D.C. based research firm–New Jersey & New York Sates were ranked the worst climates in the United States for business.
2 minutes read
The name “Watson”–the IBM supercomputer that beat human Jeopardy champions handily–has become a fixture in today’s lexicon. So much so that the New York State Department of Taxation has partnered with IBM and is using the same technology developed for Watson to review tax returns. Thomas H. Mattox, the tax commissioner explained that their new systems incorporates the use of “business analytics” to determine the merit of tax returns. In other words, Watson is helping NY to catch cheaters.
5 minutes read
Mr. Dennis Grogan–one of R&G Brenner’s Senior Tax Consultants & an Enrolled Agent at our Midtown Manhattan location–was recently interviewed by the NY Daily News. Here’s what he had to say about this upcoming tax season: