The Tax Preparation Blog

Archive for August, 2006

Question: how can i learn how to do taxes on my own?

i just recently completed the 60 hour course and registered with ctec(california tax education council) but i don’t have any on the job training. i am unable to leave the house, so i wanted to know if there is a way i can learn from home

Answer: Dear I: First order IRS Pub 17 and read it completely. Also goggle Kaplan and Gleim for further study. You maybe able to get hooked up with a CPA or other tax service that will let you do taxes at home or on line. Congrats!!

This advice was prepared based on our understanding of the tax law in effect at the time it was written as it applies to the facts that you provided. Click on my profile to read more. Errol Quinn Enrolled Agent Master Tax Advisor

New IRS Proposal to Regulate Tax Preparers Shows Similarity to California Requirements

SACRAMENTO—-Today Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Doug Shulman issued the results of a six-month study that will impose new requirements for paid tax preparers to help reduce fraud, improve compliance and close the tax gap.

CTECrenewals.com – 20 hour CE Course

Ever since the State stopped assuming that your only house is your primary residence, property tax bills shot up for everyone. Yes, if you have not declared the fact that your only residence is your primary residence ready yourself to cough up more in property taxes. The simple solution is to send in the Homestead Tax Credit Application or file an appeal.

This is turning up to be a new wave for tax assessors across the country to tackle. The figures are a deep matter of concern for the State itself. In other states in the country for example, The Wall Street Journal reported that in St. Tammany Parish, La., 15,000 residents — instead of the usual 500 — requested a review of their 2008 tax bills. Similarly the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that Cuyahoga County, which sees approximately 1,300 foreclosures a month, faced three times as many appeals in 2007 compared with previous tax cycles.

On the other hand, while prices of residential properties dipped to 27% from the 2006 peak to the end of 2008, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Index, while the amount municipalities collected in property taxes climbed to 12% from 2006 to 2008. These figures are a clear indication why more and more people are opting for re-assessment of their property taxes.

Of late, due to the dip in sales prices, the assessments on houses are higher for the sales price than they used to be earlier. The point here is that you possess the right to contest that your property needs to be re-assessed so that you eventually end up paying lesser taxes. For people who haven’t bought a property recently but have been staying in the same property since sometime now, the taxes soared with the incline of property rates too.

Your options:

Smart Steps

The State reviews hundreds or probably thousands of such applications on a regular basis and you need to hit bulls-eye when your case comes up. Seek advice from neighbors or friends in your area who have beaten the same path for small tips to improve your proposition. Once done, happy tax savings are just at arms length.

TurboTax Gives Sneak Peek into the Future of Tax Prep

Filing your taxes could be as simple as point, shoot and submit with a new iPhone application from TurboTax®, the nation’s best-selling, No.1-rated Tax Preparation Software from Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU). Consumer technology enthusiasts can test drive the company’s latest mobile offering for the upcoming tax season at the Intuit booth at the 2010 ShowStoppers @ CES show in Las Vegas.

# 1 – GRNBAR Educational Seminar – Housing Stimulus Package

Freedom is on everyone’s mind these days. But over 90% of civilization is still looking for it or have given up on it. I was feeling trapped in the rat race, my job. I didn’t see myself retiring until I am too old to enjoy life. Seems like society is telling us we have to work later in life. Where is the Freedom in that? How do you get to truly enjoy life if you work until you stop living?

Before you seek freedom, you must determine what freedom is for you. For some it is just doing the kind of work that they absolutely love rather than settling for a particular job. My grandfather used to work for the railroad. They were really long hours. But one day when he got to retire, he was able to work his real passion… woodworking. I used to love watching him work in the shed. Whatever he could imagine a piece of wood, it became the fruit of his imagination. That was Freedom for him. He didn’t make it a second career, but he would have been very happy to do so had he needed to.

Others may want total freedom from their job and completely retire, no matter what age they are at the time. I have two kids, both boys, the oldest being almost ten now. Those ten years have gone very fast. I feel like I have missed out on so much, not seeing them grow. I didn’t get to enjoy much time with them or my wife. Even when you get those tiny two weeks holidays every year, you don’t feel free. You know it all ends soon. For me Freedom is more time with my family to enjoy the things we love, like hiking for instance.

Once you have determined what Freedom represents for you, the net step is to determine what you are willing to do for that Freedom. Don’t think it doesn’t come without a price. That price doesn’t always have to be huge, but it still exists. For example, if you decide to start a business to create cash flow to retire early and give you the Freedom of time, you will need to spend more time today working that business which will give you that Freedom later in life. But what you gain later is usually much more than what you give now if built properly. I will touch more on where to find Freedom in part two of this article.

BRING HOME THE CITY COUNCIL POLITICIANS Rally – Oct. 3 @ 12-1pm in Greensboro, NC

Question: Can anyone check and ammend my letter?

I am trying to obtain an extention for filing deadline for my friends revised Company return. The provisional return was submitted sometime ago. The deadline for submitting the final return is this month 31.3.08. There is only one director.

Will be grateful if some one can check and ammend my letter. Thks

HM Revenue & Customs

Date

Dear Sirs

Company Name Tax Ref

We refer to the above named company and would be grateful if you could grant us an extention of 30 days period for the filling of the final Corporation Tax return to replace the provisional return which was submitted on. The reason being the company director has just return from abroad is not in a position to sign the return due to ill health.

We will be grateful if you could grant the required extension.

We look forward to your reply in due course.

Yours faithfully

Answer: take out the word period after 30 day extension comma after tax return comma after reason being returned or arrived instead of return (before abroad) and write out all the numbers like thirty numbers should be written in words if that makes any sense.

3 tax mistakes made every day

You probably don’t mean to violate the law or invite hassles with the IRS, but ignoring simple, common-sense guidelines could get you into trouble.

“Minnetonka Today” Wednesday, April 15, webcast: Today is Tax Day

Question: Who here thinks that any of the following are high: mortgage rates, taxes, inflation, gasoline, GDP & income?

Feel free to add any other financial factors that you think are high.

I ask only one thing: please explain why you think they’re high and, above all, give some historical perspective. That’s a fancy way of saying: THEY’RE HIGH COMPARED TO WHAT OR WHEN? As opposed to: they’re high ’cause I don’t like the price. Or, they’re high ’cause I can’t afford ‘em. That sort of thing.

Answer: I’m not sure about mortgage rates (although home prices are high historically…they grew too fast and now we are seeing a correction to stabalize prices) as i don’t really follow mortgage rates, but keep in mind that all my answers take inflation into account…a dollar just ain’t worth what it used to be worth.

you should add interest rates for bonds as well as the short term interest rates as market indicators/predictors. short term rates are controlled by the SEC in an effort to prevent recessions (negative GDP growth) and unsustainable positive GDP growth which leads to inflation.

short term interest rates are high for recent years, but low historically. the lowest is actually 0%…this is used in dire circumstances such as the stock market crash of 1986…worse than the one that caused the great depression. thank you, allen greenspan. it has been around 20% in the past when GDP growth was too high like in the late 70′s and early 80′s. almost every single time, however, the fed has kept interest rates too high for too long leading to recession. this is due to the SEC mostly looking at past data as it becomes available rather than forward looking data.

although taxes are low due to tax cuts (and they’re lower for everyone who pays income taxes…the “tax cuts for the wealthy” is political spin), tax revenue is at historic highs. see, when people and businesses have their own money to invest, with the goal of investment being profit….people and businesses are making more money today which means the government is able to take more even though rates are relatively low.

inflation is low today…yet Bernanke, the current SEC chairman, is stubborn to admit victory…it’s even low by recent history as it was much higher in 2000. the fed overreacted then, raising rates to over 6%, which lead to the recession you always hear about bush inheriting when he took office. people blame clinton…but it’s practically all on the overreaction of greenspan’s SEC. i believe it’s presently at less than 2% inflation and has been higher than 4.5% in the past 6 yrs…and MUCH higher in the 70′s and 80′s.

gasoline price at the pump is the highest it’s ever been. it is higher this summer than it was immediately after katrina which is the first time prices broke through the previous record during the 1970′s US led oil embargoes…which hurt the US economy sending it into a recession. the fact that we are not in a recession at these prices is another testament to the strength of the economy today. nothing can stop the US consumer it seems.

GDP is pretty average currently. It was as high as 4% in recent years which was worrisome because when the economy grows too fast, inflation rises to problematic rates. It’s about 2% now which is very nice. the economy is not too hot for inflation to be a worry and not too cold that a recession is likely. as GDP is very strongly tied with short term interest rates which are controlled by the SEC, historically, GDP growth goes between -1% to about +5%.

personal income is at historic highs. both mean and median income are higher than ever…meaning the average person earns more than ever and the middle class earns more than ever.

you should also consider unemployment rates which are at 50 year lows. we have about 4% unemployment meaning 96% of the workforce is employed.

all in all, the economy is amazing right now…though you rarely hear the media discuss it. i don’t know if they just don’t want any credit given to this administration (it’s the only thing they seem to have gotten right it seems). they would have you believe we’re in the crapper even though most numbers are better than they’ve been in decades if not better than ever in US history. it takes big events like Dow 13,000 and new daily record highs for most media to report on good economic indicators (it took years to get from 11-12, and it took just 6 months to go from 12 to 13…we’ve already gone over 13.5 k….we’ll be over 14,000 sometime near the end of the year…and much higher if the fed does what investors are begging for and declares victory on inflation so they will lower the interest rates).

Pervasive Software Updates Guidance for the December Quarter

analytics , today announced updated guidance for financial results for the second quarter ending December 31, 2009, providing a more narrow range than that of guidance provided October 20, 2009. …

History of income tax vlog-BTW, did you pay your taxes? I did!