If you work in a service where you get tips, guess what? The IRS expects you to report them and pay taxes on them.

Your Tip Earnings and Taxes

The internal revenue service takes a very simple approach to tips. It views all tips you make in your job as taxable income that must be reported and for which taxes must be paid. Put another way, the IRS has a simple but brutal view towards taxes

Now tips come in different forms. Some are received directly from customers while others are automatically added to the customer’s bill. The IRS takes the position you must report and pay taxes on both amounts. This also includes taxes you earn through any group splitting where all tips are collected together and then split amongst the employees. On top of this, the IRS also takes the view that any non-cash tips such as tickets to something are also income that should be reported and taxes paid on. Put another way, the internal revenue services gets you coming and going.
Read more…

Are you in the middle of a disagreement with the IRS? One of the guaranteed rights for all taxpayers is the right to appeal. If you disagree with the IRS about the amount of your tax liability or about proposed collection actions, you have the right to ask the IRS Appeals Office to review your case.

During their contact with taxpayers, IRS employees are required to explain and protect these taxpayer rights, including the right to appeal. The IRS appeals system is for people who do not agree with the results of an examination of their tax returns or other adjustments to their tax liability. In addition to examinations, you can appeal many other things, including:

1. Collection actions such as liens, levies, seizures, installment agreement terminations and rejected offers-in-compromise,

2. Penalties and interest, and

3. Employment tax adjustments and the trust fund recovery penalty.

Internal IRS Appeal conferences are informal meetings. The local Appeals Office, which is independent of the IRS office, can sometimes resolve an appeal by telephone or through correspondence.
Read more…

Practically every small business has receivables that it cannot obtain from clients. If your small business doesn’t have any such receivables, consider yourself lucky. For those small businesses that suffer from uncollected receivables, solace can be taken from the fact you can claim a tax deduction.

Bad Debt Tax Deduction

A small business can write-off bad debt losses if it meets nominal requirements. To claim such a tax deduction, the following must be shown:

A. The existence of a legal relationship between the small business and debtor;

B. The receivables are worthless; and

C. The small business suffered an actual loss.

Proving there is a legal relationship between the small business and debtor is fairly simple. You must simply show that the debtor has a legal obligation to make a payment. Most businesses issue invoices or sign contracts with debtors and these documents suffice to prove the legal relationship. If you are not putting your business relationships in writing, you should begin doing so immediately.
Read more…

When it comes to filing your tax return, spending 39 cents could be the biggest mistake you ever make.

Millions of taxpayers make the mistake of putting their income tax return in a regular letter-sized envelope, sticking on a 39 cent stamp, and placing the envelope in the mailbox.

And millions of taxpayers “get away” with this mistake year after year.

Why do I say that putting your tax return in the mailbox is a mistake? Let me explain.

Every year, a small percentage of mail doesn’t get delivered. The U.S. Postal Service doesn’t like to admit this, but it’s true.

Furthermore, even if your tax return gets delivered to the IRS, every year a small percentage of tax returns get lost by the IRS.

Don’t believe me? I’ll never forget the day one of my clients showed me a letter he received from the IRS:

“We regret to inform you that we received your return…. but have lost it.”

Believe it or not, this actually happened!

So my question to you is this: What are you doing to do if this happens to you?

If your tax return doesn’t get delivered, or if it gets delivered but is subsequently lost inside the mammoth IRS, what are you going to do to prove that you actually mailed the return?

Just calling the IRS and saying, “Well, I mailed it on time. I know I did!” isn’t going to prove anything. And the burden to prove you mailed the return on time will rest on your shoulders.

You have two ways to solve this potentially dangerous problem:

OPTION #1: File your return electronically.

There are many benefits to e-filing:

– Accuracy. In order for a return to get e-filed it must pass several strict accuracy tests, thereby significantly reducing the chance of human error. E-filed returns are subject to this level of scrutiny at the point of origination.

– Security. The filer creates his own electronic signature, resulting in a truly paperless experience.

– Speed. If you’re due a refund, it can take 6-8 weeks with a paper return. Combined with direct deposit, your e-filed return will generate a refund in as little as 10 days.
Read more…