The latest straight from the IRS — new rules, deadlines, guidance, and announcements explained in plain English.
The IRS has (finally) announced a formula for determining the refund for businesses and tax-exempt organizations to estimate their federal telephone excise tax refunds. As noted before, the prospect of searching through years and years of telephone records was not particularly appealing for business owners in exchange for a small refund. To request a refund,…
IRS Commissioner Mark Everson has announced the appointments of Kevin Brown and Linda Stiff as deputy commissioners beginning December 1. Brown and Stiff replace outgoing deputy commissioners John Dalrymple and Mark Matthews. Brown was the Commissioner of the IRS Small Business and Self-Employed (SB/SE) Division. He will become Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement, which…
As if Tom Brady and Curt Schilling aren’t enough, Massachusetts has given some taxpayers yet another reason to be thankful: Patriots Day. The holiday, which honors the battles of Lexington and Concord during the Revolutionary Way is observed on the third Monday in April. Yeah, April. So you know what that means… Tax Day! The traditional Tax Day is…
As previously reported, the IRS appears to be on a fee raising binge… And they’ve struck again! According to the IRS, as of the first of the year (January 1, 2007) fees for installment agreements will increase as follows: The fee for new direct debit installment agreements, where payments are deducted directly from a taxpayer’s…
With gas prices on the rise, it’s no surprise that the mileage rates as determined by IRS were a little higher this year than in years past. For the calendar year 2007, the standard mileage rates will be: 48.5 cents per mile for business miles driven; 20 cents per mile driven for medical or moving…
As previously announced, the IRS will be handing out refunds for those taxpayers who use long-distance service. The refund will be available on the 2006 federal income tax return for individuals and businesses. Responding to concerns that the tax refund might require taxpayers to dig through old phone bills to claim the tax, the IRS…
Matter, that is. The IRS has announced that, within the next few weeks, it will turn over thousands of taxpayer accounts to three private companies for debt collection (slated to increase to ten companies by 2008). These accounts are those with outstanding amounts owing of $25,000 or less. Ostensibly, the idea for this move towards…
The IRS will never ask for information from you via an unsolicited email. Never. Ever. It’s important to keep this in mind. There has been a recent increase in scam emails claiming to be from IRS in an effort to obtain personal and financial information that could be used in identity theft cases. Many of…
As reported previously, the IRS will be stepping up efforts to curb election year campaign activities from nonprofit organizations following a particularly active 2004 election season that saw all manner of controversy ranging from targeting church speeches to the infamous Swift boat ads. The IRS released a statement reminding charitable organizations that, as a rule,…
It’s tax cut-apalooza on Capitol Hill. No wonder. It’s an election year, and a majority of Americans are not happy with the current state of affairs, including the economy. What’s a lawmaker to do? Cut taxes. So, tax packages are rolling in, purporting to offer “relief” to taxpayers. Most are, in my opinion, targeted at…