Tax

(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…

Pension Subtraction While warmer weather or more sunshine may be a big factor in picking a place to retire, considering state taxes on retirement benefits and other financial factors are significant steps in making such a major decision. Tax treatment of retirement benefits varies widely from state to state. For example, some states exempt all…

Few people pay exactly the correct amount of income tax during the year. When you filed your return for 2014, you probably discovered that you paid too little (and owed more tax) or paid too much (and could request a refund). Typically, refunds are due to employees who have too much tax withheld from their…

Many grandparents would like to help their grandchildren with the steep costs of higher education. That’s often a laudable goal, but some methods of providing this assistance might be more effective than other tactics. Grand gifts The simplest tactic is to give money to youngsters before or during their college years. In 2015, the annual…

The end of the year typically is a time for making charitable donations. If that’s your practice, consider contributing shares of appreciated stocks or stock funds instead of cash. As long as the shares have been held longer than one year, you’ll get a full tax deduction in 2015 for the appreciated assets, and the…