Tax

As fraud expands, thieves have more opportunities to steal your financial identity. The Federal Trade Commission reports that as many as half a million Americans have their identities stolen annually, costing them money and affecting their credit ratings. Identity thieves make their money by co-opting your name, Social Security number, credit card number or other…

Colorado Department of Revenue Extends Income Tax Filing and Payment Deadline The Colorado Department of Revenue announced Thursday that it will extend the individual income tax payment and filing deadline. The new deadline will now be May 17, 2021 instead of April 15, 2021, giving individuals an additional 32 days to file and pay. This…

The IRS has introduced a new Form 1099-NEC, Nonemployee Compensation. It’s a sibling to Form 1099-MISC and replaces it for certain purposes. You must file it for each person in the course of your business to whom you have paid at least $600 during the year for the following: Services performed by someone who is…

Now due on July 15, 2020: 2019 Form 1040 2019 Form 1040 Balance Due Payments First Quarter Individual 2020 Estimated Payments Second Quarter Individual 2020 Estimated Payments Taxpayers were granted additional, broad tax filing and payment deadline relief by the IRS late on Thursday, in line with relief requested by the AICPA over the past…

(Journal of Accountancy, By Sally P. Schreiber; Published September 2016) The IRS notified tax practitioners and taxpayers who use many IRS e-services that it is strengthening the authentication process for identifying users and that the new, more stringent procedures will require existing users to re-register (Oct. 24 is the target date for the start of…

BiggsKofford, P.C., announces the promotion of Angela Lindblad, CPA, to Manager, in the firm’s tax department.  Lindblad joined the firm in January 2012. Lindblad is a graduate from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, where she earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting. Lindblad earned her CPA certificate in January of 2015. In addition…

The IRS has announced that it is working to correct erroneous failure-to-file penalty notices triggered by a programming error. The error caused some monthly and daily deposits of payroll taxes that were made timely by April 18, but after April 15, to be considered as paid late even though April 15 was a federally observed…

(Journal of Accountancy By: Sally P. Schreiber; Published March 1, 2016) Payroll and human resources departments should beware of an email phishing scheme in which cybercriminals pose as company executives (including CEOs) and ask for confidential employee information, such as Forms W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, and employees’ Social Security numbers, address, date of birth, and…

(Journal of Accountancy By: Paul Bonner; Published February 26, 2016) Another 390,000 taxpayer accounts have been identified as potentially accessed by thieves that hacked into the IRS’s “Get Transcript” online application, the IRS said Friday, bringing the total number of accounts affected to approximately 724,000. The breach was discovered last May, when the IRS initially identified…

(Journal of Accountancy By: Sally P. Schreiber; Published February 17, 2016) Every year, the IRS releases a list of what it calls the worst tax scams of the year. Beginning Feb. 1 and ending on Feb. 17, the IRS issued a news release each day highlighting a scam. These “dirty dozen” scams can be encountered at…

(Journal of Accountancy By: Sally P. Schreiber; Published February 10, 2016) The IRS revealed on Tuesday that it discovered and stopped an automated cyberattack on its e-filing personal identification number (PIN) system last month. According to the IRS, the cybercriminals used information stolen “elsewhere outside the IRS” to generate e-file PINs for stolen Social Security numbers…

Renting out residential property can be a great investment considering real estate market trends and favorable tax rules. Being able to take advantage of many tax deductions, which are not available for other types of investments, could make it even more lucrative.  However, it can be stressful, challenging and involves additional financial obligations. Furthermore, there…

Unfortunately, the tax credit for buying a hybrid car is gone. However, if you are ready to switch to a plug-in hybrid or electric car, you might be eligible for up to $7,500 in Federal and $6,000 in Colorado tax credits. This combination can reduce the cost of such models; however, there are several things to…

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced that the due date for providing the following 2015 forms have been extended from February 1, 2016 to March 31, 2016: 2015 Form 1095-B – Health Coverage 2015 Form 1095-C – Employer Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage Also, the IRS has announced that the due date for…

Many people today are not tethered to a job location, so they can choose where to live. Those in this category range from retiring Baby Boomers, ready to relocate, to new graduates about to enter the work force. Others who can pick their place of residence include certain self-employed individuals and people who are employed…

The IRS has announced the official mileage rates for 2016.   The IRS mileage rates for 2016 for the use of a vehicle are: 54 Cents per mile for business use down from 5 cents in 2015. 19 cents per mile for medical reasons or moving purposes down from 23 cents in 2015. 14 cents per…