With 14 days left in the Congressional House Sessions, you would think the US Congress would be working on the looming fiscal cliff, Taxmaggedon and Sequestration, the automatic budget cuts the Super-Committee agreed to, but did not think would happen. Yet the news is filled with the Benghazi investigation, and [...] Read more »
Hiring Your Spouse Without Running Afoul The IRS.
On the advice of a CPA a farmer hired his wife who had worked on the family farm for years without pay. All the farm and personal expenses were paid from the same joint checking account (this is called co-mingling of funds). The rational for suddenly hiring his wife and [...] Read more »
NOLs — Why You Should File Even If You Do Not Owe
Tax day is tomorrow a short 3 hours away Phoenix local time, tomorrow most individuals, sole-proprietorships and partnerships have to either file their 2009 tax forms or file for an extension. Either way the deadline to pay taxes for 2009 without penalty is tomorrow as well. In this timely note [...] Read more »
Refunds of FICA Taxes Paid On Severance Pay
(Quality Stores D.C, Mich.) A retailer went bankrupt, closed all its stores, and let its staff go. The District Court disagreed with the IRS’ position that severance avoids FICA tax only if it is tied to unemployment. The IRS will most certainly appeal, but this court specifically repudiated a previous [...] Read more »
Casual Gambling Winnings & Losses Must Be Netted Daily
You are not a professional gambler, but you gamble a little. Over the long haul odds are that you are not a winner overall. The natural tendency for casual gamblers is to net their winnings and losses over the year and report the difference, if any, as income. What the casual [...] Read more »