The Tax Preparation Blog

Archive for November, 2009

Question: Car expenses and working to claim on taxes?

I already know you cannot deduct you actual travel To and FROM work. But my husband’s job requires him to travel to different job sites (construction/maintenance) They always tell me I can’t deduct it either way but have been reading differently. It is his personal car and it does not use a business logo. The company also gives him $40/week for gas which is not taxed on his paystub. He spends more than $40, more around $60. I can’t find the information that shows if you “qualify” for a deduction and I also want to prove to the darn tax preparer that he indeed can deduct if he can. (Last year she said no, we couldn’t). Can someone please point me in the right direction or recommend a tax preparer that actually trains their preparers. We use Jackson Hewitt

Answer: Any miles that he drives for his employer during the work day are deductible. As you are aware commuting miles are not.

To take a deduction requires that he keep a written log of all business miles driven at the time that he drives them. He may then either deduct the actual costs of operating the vehicle apportioned between business an personal use OR take the standard mileage rate for all business miles driven. He must subtract any employer reimbursements.

These expenses are reported on Form 2106. The total then flows to Schedule A as a miscellaneous itemized deduction subject to a 2% AGI floor. This is where your tax pro may be telling you that it’s not deductible. If you’re not already itemizing deductions you would need a large number of miles to exceed the $10,900 Standard Deduction before you’d start getting any benefit at all.

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Bookkeeping and Tax Preparation: Start and Build a Prosperous Bookkeeping, Tax, and Financial Services Business $18.95 All the techniques and information for turning a flair for figures into a highly profitable, well-rounded financial services career. The book considers the advantages and disadvantages of self-employment, looks closely at entrepreneurship, reviews the nuts and bolts and costs of start up, presents the legal requirements, and tells how to acquire adequate computer equipment to do the job right. To …

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Boomer’s Blueprint: The future of tax preparation

On my first trip to India over six years ago, I witnessed innovative tax return processing strategies. These involve concepts foreign to many tax partners and staff involved in the preparation of individual and business tax returns.

Roni Deutch Income Tax Business Video

Question: I’m a tax accountant and saw lots tax job openings require SOX 404 experience.what’s the relation btw tax&404?

Answer: Wow! You are an accountant? Do you practice in a cave?

SOX 404 = Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, Section 404
Section 404: Management Assessment Of Internal Controls.

Requires each annual report of an issuer to contain an “internal control report”, which shall:

(1) state the responsibility of management for establishing and maintaining an adequate internal control structure and procedures for financial reporting; and

(2) contain an assessment, as of the end of the issuer’s fiscal year, of the effectiveness of the internal control structure and procedures of the issuer for financial reporting.

Each issuer’s auditor shall attest to, and report on, the assessment made by the management of the issuer. An attestation made under this section shall be in accordance with standards for attestation engagements issued or adopted by the Board. An attestation engagement shall not be the subject of a separate engagement.

The language in the report of the Committee which accompanies the bill to explain the legislative intent states, “— the Committee does not intend that the auditor’s evaluation be the subject of a separate engagement or the basis for increased charges or fees.”

Directs the SEC to require each issuer to disclose whether it has adopted a code of ethics for its senior financial officers and the contents of that code.

Directs the SEC to revise its regulations concerning prompt disclosure on Form 8-K to require immediate disclosure “of any change in, or waiver of,” an issuer’s code of ethics.

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Time spent unemployed grows to new lengths

Unemployment is different this time: It’s taking people much longer to find jobs.

Hiring Technical Editors – Tax & Accounting, a business of Thomson Reuters

Question: Who do I contact for Free Tax Preparation online?

State and federal

Answer: IRS.GOV. They have a bunch to choose from. They all have different guidelines so you will need to make sure you fall within the guidelines. That is the beat place for a variety for preparers

E-filing saves paper, time: R.I. to mail out fewer tax forms

R.I. won’t mail as many tax forms, will save on processing; a look at changes on jobless benefits, auto purchases

Michigan Earned Income Tax Credit – Free Tax Preparation available

Question: TAX SOFTWARE FOR 2003 — PLEASE HELP?

does anyone has the software download for 2003 i am willing to send anyone gift or part of refund for this software i can not go online to purchase software as to no monies now and i got a deadline to do taxes for 2003 by next week and i really need this download can anyone help me please,,,,,,,,, waiting here,,,,,,

Answer: if you can’t go online, how did you make this question?
go to isohunt.com

Online giving is growing in popularity

With today forecast as the biggest day of the year for online giving, growing numbers of donors are beating the tax deadline while doing their bit for charity.Contributors made 13.2 times more online gifts last Dec. 31 than the daily average for the rest of 2008, according to national figures for charities using software by Convio, a company in Austin, Texas.The firm also reported the charities …

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