Rod's Blog

With the personal deadline passing I find a majority of people have questions on why their filing status matters. We have found that Married Filing Separately (MFS) is one of the most misunderstood filing statuses. There are many legal and personal reasons why you might choose to file separately. However, the IRS prefers you to file Married Filing Joint (MFJ) and shows preference to this by allowing certain credits only when MFJ. These include the Earned Income Credit, education credits (AOC and LLC), full child credit, dependent care credit, and the adoption credit (on the year adoption took place). They also allow MFS to amend to MFJ within the allowed amendment period. But if you filed MFJ and afterwards decided to amend to MFS, if it is past the April deadline it is not allowed.

Tags: Tax Return, Tax, Tax Deductions, tax extension, Tax Help, Tax Law, Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Wedding

There is nothing scarier than going to your mailbox and seeing a notice of the IRS’s intent to levy you. Owing taxes can be scary enough, but when you add in the stress of being levied or having a lien placed on your property, it can be too much. If you have received notices from the IRS or you have been talking about possible problems with your taxes, you may have come across the terms Tax Levy and Tax Lien. The two are types of collection action used by the IRS to collect on an unpaid tax debt. They have some similarities and they both have stark differences you need to be aware of.

Tags: Tax Return, Tax, Tax Deductions, levy, tax extension, Tax Help, Tax Law, Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, CDP, Liens, Tax Court, Tax Levy, Tax Lien, IRS Tax Lien

The IRS is giving businesses back a break they thought they had lost due to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The agency announced that companies can still deduct 50% of meals while entertaining clients and customers. The announcement cleared up confusion about whether the tax law changes had completely eliminated the benefit of writing off taking clients out to a meal.

Tags: Tax Return, Tax, Tax Deductions, audit help, Audit, levy, tax extension, Tax Help, Tax Law, Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act created hundreds of changes to the U.S. tax code and will affect every taxpayer in America. The changes range from eliminating or lowering exemptions and special tax credits to increasing the standard deduction. The new tax law also re-did the tax brackets and changed the tax rates for some people and businesses. One of the changes most people don’t know about is the 20% Qualified Business Income Deduction. This is a provision meant to benefit businesses with pass through income and is effective from 2018 until 2025.

Tags: Tax Return, Tax, Tax Deductions, tax extension, Tax Help, Tax Law, Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Tax Court

When people think of big tax breaks on a tax return for individuals, they typically think of the credits for having children or dependents or the deduction home owners receive for mortgage interest paid over the course of the year. If you don’t have a child or dependent and still are working to buy your first home, you would not qualify for these tax breaks. But not to worry! There are other tax breaks out there that you might qualify for!

Tags: Tax Return, Tax, Tax Deductions, tax extension, Tax Help

So you filed your tax return and you later realize that you made a mistake!! If you made a mistake on your tax return after you filed it, the IRS will allow you to prepare and file an amended return to fix the errors in the originally filed return. A lot of taxpayers tend to choose the wrong filing status or notice mathematical errors on their returns. It’s important that if you do realize you made a mistake on your federal tax return, that you file an amended return as soon as possible.

Tags: Tax Return, Tax, Tax Deductions, tax extension, Tax Help, Tax Law, Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

n important tax deadline is coming up and missing it could cause you to collect some IRS penalties. 3rd quarter estimated tax payments (ETP) are due Monday, September 17th. Estimated tax payments are a method of paying the tax on income that is not subject to withholding tax. This can include income from self-employment, business earnings, interest, rent, or other sources. The IRS requires these payments to be made quarterly. If you underpay your estimated tax payments, you will end up having to write a bigger check to the IRS when you file your tax return. If you overpay, you will receive the excess amount as a tax refund once you file. If this is your first time making an estimated tax payment or you aren’t sure if this applies to you, the process is simple.

Tags: Tax Return, Tax, Tax Deductions, Tax Help, Tax Law

One of the biggest struggles we see with our clients is them trying to deal with a revenue officer by themselves. A revenue officer is an IRS civil enforcement employee who works cases that involve an amount of money owed by a taxpayer or a delinquent tax return.  Their job is to collect tax debts on those cases the IRS has deemed significant. Usually individuals who owe more than $250,000 to the IRS will be assigned a revenue officer.

Tags: Tax Return, Tax, Tax Deductions, tax extension, Tax Help, Tax Law, Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Liens

Graduating college can be one of the greatest moments in your life. One of your not-so-great moments is when you get your first student loan payment. If you are paying back student loans it can be overwhelming.  Before you make your first loan payment or try to apply for loan forgiveness, make sure you’ve done your research and you know the tax consequences of repaying or not repaying.

Tags: Tax Return, Tax, Tax Deductions, Tax Help, Tax Law, Student Loans

It’s that time of the year when everyone seems to be tying the knot and probably the last thing on the mind of a newlywed is their taxes. If you plan on getting married this year, here are some tax tips to help you have a long prosperous marriage and hopefully avoid some tax trouble.

Tags: Tax Return, Tax, Tax Deductions, Tax Help, Tax Law, Identity Theft, Tax Court, Wedding