The IRS has launched a new Affordable Care Act Tax Provisions website at IRS.gov/aca to educate individuals and businesses on how the health care law may affect them. The new home page has three sections, which explain the tax benefits and responsibilities for individuals and families, employers, and other organizations, with links and information for each group. The site provides information about tax provisions that are in effect now and those that will go into effect in 2014 and beyond. Read the rest of this entry »

A last-minute bill provides a one-year moratorium on collecting sales tax on internet transactions with California-based consumers. AB 155, which was signed by the Governor today, delays implementation of ABX1 28 (Ch. 11-7), the “Amazon” law, for one year.

This new bill, the result of a deal between Amazon.com and some California lawmakers, allows the online retailer to wait until at least September 2012 to collect sales tax from its California customers. As a result, Amazon has backed off of its efforts to get a referendum to overturn the law on the June 2012 ballot.

Neither of these bills relieves California sellers of their responsibility to collect and remit sales tax on taxable sales shipped to California addresses. If a California seller sells a taxable item on Amazon.com, for example, and ships it to a California address, the item is subject to sales tax.

You may think that only the uber-wealthy need to worry about estate planning. These days, that’s not the case. If you have any financial responsibilities – such as a house or children – you need to take steps to plan for their future and protect your estate, and those who depend on you for support and security. Read the rest of this entry »

Taxpayers need to be careful to protect their personal information. Identity thieves use many methods to steal personal information and then they use the information to file a tax return and get a refund. Here are 10 things the IRS wants you to know about identity theft so you can avoid becoming the victim of an identity thief. Read the rest of this entry »

Thousands of depositors in failed banks such as IndyMac and Nevada’s Silver State Bank who lost millions upon the failure of their banks will reap the benefit of a little-noticed loophole in the newly passed bank reform bill that will make permanent the temporary increase in federal deposit insurance coverage to $250,000 per account. That’s because the new law will extend the increased coverage limit back 10 months from the original effective date of Oct. 3, 2008 all the way to Jan. 1, 2008, meaning almost 10,000 depositors who had excess deposits (over the then-$100,000 insurance limit) in the banks that failed during that period are now eligible for the increased limits, according to the FDIC.

The retroactive increase in deposit insurance coverage will reduce the number of uninsured depositors from more than 10,000 to about 500 in the failed banks IndyMac, Silver State Bank, Hume Bank, ANB Financial, First Priority Bank and the Columbian Bank and Trust Co.

The FDIC mailed checks for the retroactive coverage yesterday. The FDIC is subtracting any deposit insurance already paid to those depositors under the $100,000 level and any dividends paid out by the FDIC as receiver of the failed banks.

The bank reform bill, signed into law Wednesday by President Obama, makes the temporary increase to $250,000, due to expire Dec. 31, 2013, permanent.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is an independent agency of the United States government that protects the funds depositors place in FDIC-insured institutions. FDIC deposit insurance is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government. Since the FDIC was established in 1933, no depositor has ever lost a single penny of FDIC-insured funds. Read the rest of this entry »

The tax code is over 50,000 pages and is constantly changing. Running a business is filled with rules and regulations. How is a person to keep up with all of the information they need to know? That’s why I created this blog.  Posts will include tax updates, information on starting and running a business and other “must- knows”.