Want to sign up for the Hobby Loss Call Tonight?
Comments (3)My web server is down – so not good. There is still room on the call tonight and you can still sign up by going directly to my shopping cart
Audits coming – are you ready?
Comments (2)I’m sounding the alarm for the first time in my career. Why? IRS now has an astronomical budget to go after tax cheats. I’m sure there are plenty of tax cheats out there to find, but I am worried for the many businesses out there who don’t cheat on their taxes. Audits are just no fun, even if you have all your paperwork in pristine condition. Audits are expensive and time consuming.
One of the areas IRS will be looking at are businesses with losses. There are many perfectly legitimate reasons your business could have losses. If you are experiencing losses in your legitimate business, the last thing you need is a challenge by IRS that your business should be reclassified as a hobby. If you are wondering what you need to do to prove that what you have is a business and not a hobby, there are many resources available on the internet for you to research. One of the best free sources is www.irs.gov If you would rather just spend one hour of your time and $29.95, take a shortcut and learn from a CPA with years of experience in this area, you might want to consider signing up for my new course. You’ll find more about it here:
www.deductiondiva.com/HotTopics.html
If you receive an audit notice, you will have very little time to prepare. Why not go ahead and be ready now? You’ll be very glad you did.
Is Cash for Clunkers a good idea?
The U.S. government has set aside 4 Billion dollars for the cash for clunkers program. In a nutshell, you would trade your old car that gets bad gas mileage for a new car that gets good mileage. If the vehicles meet all the qualifications, you could get up to $4,500 for your old car. So is that a good deal? Like so many financial planning or tax planning questions, the answer depends on the individual.
For individuals who always buy new:
If you always buy new cars and are thinking that you’re ready to buy, now is probably the best time to do that. This is especially true if your old car is worth less than $4,500. You can check Edmunds to see if your car meets the criteria by clinking on this link:
http://www.edmunds.com/cash-for-clunkers/eligible-vehicles.html
The new car has to meet certain fuel efficiencies greater than the car you currently drive. Fortunately, the car companies have set up websites to do the math for you. You enter your make and model and then enter the replacement model and the site will tell you what your rebate will be. These sites also show you what other incentive programs are being offered by the auto makers. Here are a few sites:
www.Toyota.com/cashforclunkers
For individuals who like to save money:
If you like to save money and get the best deal on a car, you will probably be better off buying a used car. Used car sales average almost $10,000 less than new car sales, which average $27,000 according to the Edmunds website.
Finally, don’t forget that when you drive a car for business, there are tax consequences of a trade-in or sale that cannot be ignored. It’s a good idea to check with your tax professional prior to making a decision about a car purchase.
Wildfire Rally Starts Soon
I am so excited to be a part of this rally. I’m talking about tax (of course!) but am going to listen to every word from the other speakers – all 17 of them! all FREE
You owe it to yourself to check it out: http://budurl.com/sagn
IRS, Hobby Losses & You
(Sign up for the class at the bottom of the post)
IRS’ Newest Hot Button – Businesses with Losses
9 Key Points
Live Call August 16th at 8:00PM Central Time
Results from the newest National Research Program have prompted IRS to intensify its audits of small businesses. Congress has increased IRS’ budget by $600 Million for 2010 – bringing the total enforcement budget to 5.5 BILLION dollars annually. Friends, that pays for a lot of audits! You see, IRS believes small businesses like yours are a major part of the tax gap, and they aim to get those tax dollars paid.
Now more than ever, businesses with a profit intention need to be mindful of the documentation you have to support your profit intention.
Do you:
Have a home based business?
Work hard to make a profit but still have losses?
Worry about how the hobby loss rules may impact your business?
Wonder if your business is a potential target of IRS, but don’t know what to do about it?
Think it might be easier to quit your business rather than deal with taxes?
Believe you should pay your fair share of taxes, but no more than that?
Would $29.95 and 60 minutes of your time feel like the best bargain ever, just to get these items off your worry list? Wouldn’t you like to move on and make money? If so, sign up now.
Live Call August 16th at 8:00PM Central Time
What you will learn:
6 main types of small businesses audited by IRS
9 Key Characteristics IRS uses in making a determination of a business or hobby
3 Main IRS Examination Techniques used
4 Types of information likely to be requested
3 Key Rulings and Laws that support taxpayers
What happens to your deductions when the business is reclassified as a hobby
Format:
1 hour teleclass
Handouts
Bonus Materials: Business Plan Template; MP3 Download of the class
Note: We cannot guarantee you won’t be audited and we cannot guarantee results. We can show you what types of documentation you need to have in the event you are audited.
Best DIY Tax Preparation Software
Filed under: online tax preparation | Tags: inexpensive tax software, online tax preparation, tax software
Leave a Comment I talk a lot about the benefits of having a tax professional prepare your income taxes. I do know though, that sometimes the professional services are not within your price range. Maybe you’re a die-hard do it yourselfer when it comes to tax preparation. If you absolutely insist on doing it yourself, Deduction Diva has a fantastic program for you. It’s called Complete Tax and you can find it by clicking on the link http://www.internet-taxprep.com/plindex.asp?welcome=PE1391668&page=pllogin.asp
Here’s why it’s special
- very user friendly
- fast
- e-filing at no additional charge
- on sale until March 15
- ask a question feature
- lots of resources, calculators and tools
There are many tax software products on the market. We have tested them all and are proud to present Complete Tax to you.
Online filing begins on January 16th. Why wait to file, especially if you have a refund coming? Get started now by clicking on the link below.
http://www.internet-taxprep.com/plindex.asp?welcome=PE1391668&page=pllogin.asp
Cash-for-clunkers Program broke already
Well that didn’t take long. Congress allocated 1 Billion dollars for this program (which was to run until November, by the way). Only several days into the program, the entire budget has been spent. 250,000 cars have already been traded. Time to hang on and wait – Congress is now making the determiniation of whether to add more money to the program or let it end now.
We’ll keep you posted . . .
Burn your house for charity?
I came across this article today from the Columbus Dispatch and wanted to share. It seems that some people donate their old homes to local fire departments for firefighting practice. IRS goes case by case on this and there are some lawsuits pending – still, I wanted to share this. Please note, I am NOT advising this as a tax strategy! (until further notice)
I would love to hear some comments from you on this!
Do You Want to be my Client?
I have been getting LOTS and I mean LOTS of calls about having my firm’s availability to take on new clients. We CAN take on new clients BUT – we are giving priority to existing clients, so new clients will get extensions at this point. We will start preparing new clients again after April 15th.
70% of those surveyed are NOT done with their taxes yet
The results of my online poll have been amazing. So far, 30% have not prepared their taxes, 30% have not prepared them AND feel guilty about that and 10% say “done? are you kidding?”
With approximately 3 weeks to the deadline, where do you stand and how can we help?
