Tax Carnival Ecstasy – January 22, 2013

Welcome to the January 22, 2013 edition of tax carnival ecstasy. In this edition we start off with an article from Bill Smith on the IRS delay in tax filing acceptance until the end of January, a delay caused by the late tax law changes passed by congress. There is also an article from John Schmoll who looks at 4 Helpful Free Investment Tools that you can use. Hope you like all the articles, tweet our carnival on Twitter, share with your friends, bookmark and come back next time.

Brian McKay presents Mortgage Debt Cancellation Relief Extended Until December 31, 2013 posted at Bank CD Rates, Mortgage Rates, Savings Rates, Banking Reviews, saying, “Homeowners facing a foreclosure, a short sale or reduced loan principal by their lender after December 31, 2012, faced owing taxes on any mortgage debt that was forgiven by the mortgage lien holder. Home owners had rushed to complete short sales or debt reduction before the end of the 2013 because it looked like the fiscal cliff tax issues wouldn’t be worked out in Washington.”

Taxes
Taxes (Photo credit: Tax Credits)

swapnil presents Share Market: Tax Structure in India posted at Share Market.

filing

Bill Smith presents Free Tax Filing for 2011 Taxes posted at 2011 Tax, saying, “Each year, thousands of taxpayers fail to file their federal income taxes. Some individuals willingly forgo this action while others run into special circumstances.”

Bill Smith presents Processing of Tax Returns to Begin on January 30 posted at 2012 Tax – Free Tax Filing Options, saying, “Earlier this week, the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced that electronic filing of tax payments for the year 2013 will commence on January 30.”

retirement

John Schmoll presents 4 Helpful Free Investment Tools posted at Frugal Rules, saying, “Investing in the stock market can be a challenge for the seasoned investor, much less a newbie investor. By using some free investment tools you can make more informed investment decisions that will benefit your portfolio.”

taxes

Bill Smith presents Eliminating State Income Taxes Could Spur Economic Growth posted at 2012 Taxes – Free Tax Filing Options, saying, “While Washington continues to struggle with attempts at major changes to the federal tax system, individual states have no such problem.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of tax carnival ecstasy using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

More Sharing ServicesShare | Share on facebook Share on myspace Share on google Share on twitter

Technorati tags: tax carnival ecstasy, blog carnival.

H&R Block- Small Business Tax Software Review

H&R Block- Small Business Tax Software Review

H&R Block is one of the best tax preparation software packages used worldwide. Today more than 500 million clients mainly in Australia, the U.S., and Canada use H&R block. With almost 50 years of small business experience H&R Block system understands the requirements of their clients and creates, sustains and implements such systems to support the franchisee in their business growth. Take a look at Small Business Tax Software options.

Not only experience, but the H&R block tax preparation services has very strong recognition, making itself a house hold name all over the world. H&R Block is one of the leading and top selling products in tax preparation and continues to use it every year; that has built its own reputation on popularity, reliability and simplicity. Millions of people today use H&R Block to prepare their State and Federal income tax returns each year as they trust the professionals.

Small Business Tax Software

Various features include Tax Tips, along with a knowledge center that offers useful information on how to increase your refund. FREE Tax Calculators and Tax Estimator for various purposes help in computing your tax figures easily. Online help from the H&R Block professionals is at your fingertips at any point of time, and uncomplicated forms with step by step assistance ease you through the tax return process.

Tax Liability Of An Annuity – Does It Exist?

Tax Liability Of An Annuity

Everybody is interested in avoiding taxation legally because no one likes to pay taxes. There is generally no tax liability in case of annuities and this is what makes it so popular. After all, ‘a penny saved is a penny earned’ therefore why not invest in these since they do not require you to pay tax? The tax-deferred growth that one can enjoy from an annuity is probably one of the most attractive features about it. The government isn’t going to tax you on any of the earnings as long as the money stays inside the annuity. Thus, if you were filing for 2009 taxes then your annuity wouldn’t come under it.

However, it cannot remain like this forever since all good things should come to an end. Therefore your deferred annuity will get taxed in its later stages. To understand this, it is necessary to take a look at the two stages of a deferred annuity. The accumulation phase is the first phase and during this phase the annuity is allowed to grow and there is no tax liability on it.

In the second phase, i.e. the distribution phase, the annuity is paid out and the payment can be made in a single lump sum or it can be segregated into a series of payouts at fixed intervals over a lifetime or a pre-determined period of time. It does not matter which mode of payment is opted because the income tax will be due on each of the annuity payment which the recipient receives.

Tax Evasion: Celebs under the radar of IRS?

The end of the United States tax year has been and gone, so it is surprising to some that there are still a large number of celebrities who are believed to still owe the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) a great deal of money. But are the IRS oblivious to this? Are the celebrities in the US entirely under the radar?

Because there is a considerable amount of money still owed at such a late date by celebrities, it may seem easy to jump to the conclusion that the answer is most definitely ‘yes’. However there have been many highly publicized cases of celebrities being singled out for owing large sums of money, usually due to them not taking enough responsibility for their own tax preparation. One such example is former NFL athlete Warren Sapp, who in April of this year filed for bankruptcy due to his past failure to pay tax catching up with him. The bankruptcy documents indicate that Sapp owes $942,000 in taxes to the IRS which date back to 2006, which he is now unable to pay. Cases like this indicate that celebrities are not free to evade the tax they owe to the IRS. However it is extremely hard for celebrities such as Sapp to pay back money that they owe when they do not have any money to give – usually because they are past their heyday and no longer have a steady income.

The IRS have made it extremely clear that celebrities are far from under the radar. Back in 2007 an Issue Management Team was formed with the specific goal of retrieving unpaid income tax returns from athletes and entertainers within the United States. This has coincided with the laws regarding tax and the IRS becoming stricter and stricter. A bill currently going through the US House of Representatives will allow the federal government to revoke passports of US citizens who the IRS can prove owe them taxes. Also actions have been taken against celebrities who still have unpaid tax returns. Wesley Snipes, a well known movie star who is believed to owe the IRS a staggering $17 million in back taxes, and Rapper Ja Rule are both serving prison sentences due to unpaid taxes.

Unpaid tax returns are of high public concern due to the importance of tax money to the US treasury. Taxes provide income to all levels of government in order for them to be able to provide vital services. Examples of the services they provide are things such as highways, police and hospitals, which benefit all citizens in the US. Without this income, such public services suffer greatly. The problem with celebrities not paying tax is that there is a public perception that they have a great deal of disposable income, so by not paying tax they are portrayed in the media as immensely greedy.

However there are other reasons that celebrities may not pay their income tax, which all need to be considered. One issue is that celebrities tend to have a hard time keeping on top of their finances. This is because unlike the average American citizen who gets paid either weekly or monthly, celebrities tend to get paid in lump sums and often to have to manage this income throughout the year. Because of this issue celebrities often hire financial advisers, but if non-reputable firms or individuals are hired, the trust may not pay off and their finances may become increasingly complex. Actors Nicolas Cage and Wesley Snipes both laid the blame for their financial troubles upon the financial experts they hired.

Another issues is that unlike the average American employee, taxes are not automatically deducted from their wages. This means that the payment of income tax may be delayed, which is when the problems begin to arise. Many years of unpaid tax eventually add up to an incredibly large bill, which the celebrity may not be able to ever repay. To solve this problem, many have suggested that the IRS should put more pressure on celebrities to ensure that they file their income tax returns at the end of each tax year. Another issue of note is to ensure that celebrities hire reputable firms to deal with their finances and any ensuing legal issues, instead of  relying on people who they know without the relevant expertise.

Celebrities are far from under the radar of the IRS, but certain situations such as bankruptcy resulting from delayed payment may give this impression. Celebrities status often makes it impossible to avoid issues to do with tax due to the constant media attention which they receive. Before jumping to a hasty conclusion about celebrity greed and their tax evasion, the differences between public and celebrity taxes have to be considered and understood.

3 Ways Increasing Taxes on the Wealthy Could Affect Job Growth by David Veibl. David is a guest author for the CPA blog of WallaceAPC, a tax preparation company in Los Angeles with top quality tax consulting services.

How Accounting Management and Software Can Help Your Business

With every new company, it is important to have an accounting system that works well and is prepared to grow with the business. Office work may be the least favorite part of getting a start-up off the ground, after all, you are a visionary with a great business idea, and taxes and sales reports aren’t exactly exciting. The future of any new business depends on careful planning. Not being prepared with the tax and bookkeeping management can turn even the greatest business plan into a failure.

Choosing Software

The type of accounting software you choose really depends on the type of business. For many small companies, QuickBooks is the first choice, mostly because it has been around long enough to improve itself over the years. If your business is more global, a cloud-based program such as Salesforce.com may be more your speed. This application is useful for customer relationship management. It combines record keeping with customer interactions, which can help a new company grow. Freshbooks is another program that provides streamlined billing and organization tools you can manage online.

Keeping Track

A new business should keep track of all receipts and all expenses from the beginning. It is crucial to know how much money is going in and out of the accounts. Taxes aren’t something you think about once a year, as your business grows, new requirements come with it, such as quarterly filings with the state or federal governments. Many Balancing books and keeping track of the latest tax laws could very well be the reason why one business outperforms a competitor. Keeping the books balanced means you have fewer problems to fix, and let an owner spend time making the business a success.

Hire an Expert

The best way to make a company more productive is finding the right people to do the job. If you have an employee who is a natural with numbers and bookkeeping, let that be their specialty. If your establishment has more of the innovative and imaginative types, let them shine where they belong and hire an outside firm to do the books. Many accountants make a living helping small firms with their tax and record keeping tasks.

Plan Ahead

Getting a new business off the ground can be difficult, but the mistake many of them make is not continuing with their planning. Very few successful companies still use the same bookkeeping system they started with. Maybe a laptop and a simple software program was all you needed to get started, but after a while, your needs will change as the business does. Thinking about an expandable accounting system from the start will ensure that you have a start-up that takes off and stays profitable for the long haul.

Aristides Trimindis is the Managing Director of Istos Global Limited an independent Firm offering Cyprus Accounting, Audit, Cyprus Tax services and Advisory services. In addition to the above Istos Global can help you Register a Company in Cyprus.

Solutions To The America’s Hard Economic Time

With $1.3 trillion deficit decline in State’s Revenue, and 43 States faced with budget deficit, these proves that the United States of America is not left out in this hard economic time. As a solution to the situation, 2012 taxes, tax cuts was enacted.  Unfortunately, it was tricky hence; the US resorted to slashing programs and lowering costs. Worse still, it led to increase of some taxes but still a total of eight-tax cut set forth.

2012 taxes, tax cuts stands out as a major challenge. Brooking reports show that 40 States raised taxes and consequently spending declined. Previously, taxes increased by nearly $24, translating to a cool 3.5% increase. 2012 taxes, tax cuts therefore look slightly effective in the struggle to shrink the State’s deficits. Large States like New York and California, recorded a bulk of tax increase.

Among the six States that raised taxes the most, five of them slashed services in various sectors namely public health, higher education, State workforce, early education and K-12 and the elderly or disabled. This is a clear indication that 2012 taxes, tax cuts is close to impossible or else the country suffers a decline. Two states also slashed their services in four of these sectors while the other two scrapped off funding for all the five sectors.

Interestingly though, the States with the highest tax raise still had some of the most generous programs for the residents instead 2012 taxes, tax cuts.

In the 2008 fiscal year, out of the six States, four of them spent over $4,600. This exceeded the national average of $4,114 per individual.