Offshore-Account Holders Bite Their Nails – I’ve never been a fan of the concept of hiding money outside of the country; but those who have been doing that will need to straighten out their act ASAP.
Archive for May, 2008
Refugees fleeing…
Posted by taxguru on May 8, 2008
Posted in comix, StateTaxes | Comments Off on Refugees fleeing…
Blue Floyd’s TaxMan
Posted by taxguru on May 8, 2008
It’s been a few months since I’ve posted any newly discovered versions of George Harrison’s classic TaxMan song.
I recently came across a bit torrent download of a concert from 1/20/02 by Blue Floyd. Instead of their normal set list of Pink Floyd songs, this over three hour long concert was all Beatles music, including TaxMan. The entire download is 1.1 gigabytes. Before listening to the entire show, I was anxious to check out the almost seven minute long TaxMan, which is very good.
As are most bit torrents, the original file is in the lossless FLAC format and is 45 megabytes in size. To make it easier to upload and store on my website, as well as for quicker downloading, I made an MP3 version that is only 6.5 mb. Playing the two versions back to back on my computer, I couldn’t tell the difference.
Posted in Music | Comments Off on Blue Floyd’s TaxMan
Gas Tax Holiday Comcs
Posted by taxguru on May 7, 2008
This campaign scheme by the candidates has generated enough press that Daryl Cagle has set up a new section for many of the editorial cartoons it has inspired.
Posted in comix, GasTax | Comments Off on Gas Tax Holiday Comcs
Opting out of stimulus checks?
Posted by taxguru on May 6, 2008
Q:
Subject: Blog related question
Hi Kerry,Even before your first blog post about the "stimulus checks", I had learned what a misleading routine that whole thing is.I've been wondering - is there any way to file a 2007 1040 on time (before 10/15/08 w extensions) and still AVOID being issued one of these checks?If they issue one, even if a person doesn't cash it - won't they still say you owe that amount when you file for 2008?And it seems like it might even be possible that they would charge interest on the amounts issued as stimulus checks now. If so, you would end up paying back even more next year… ?
Thanks for all the info and insights you offer in your blog.
A:
I hadn’t heard of any way to opt out of the stimulus checks other than to file your 1040 after 10/15/08. I just spent some more time browsing the IRS website pages related to these payments and couldn’t see any mention of how to have them hold the checks if the 1040 is in by 10/15/08.
In another example of how disorganized this program is, I saw one page where they claim that the stimulus checks will not reduce the 2008 refunds or increase the tax due, while another page says exactly the opposite, and that those who don’t receive stimulus checks because they file their 2007 1040s after 10/15/08 will receive credit for it on their 2008 1040s.
I have to believe the latter to be more accurate because this whole project is just like a similar one we had a few years back, where IRS sent out advance checks for one of Bush’s tax cuts and then we had a mess accounting for it on the 1040s for that year because many clients who didn’t have good records couldn’t recall whether or not they had received their advance checks. That resulted in IRS having to change the bottom lines on several 1040s. I sense that we will be in for similar adjustments with the 2008 1040s.
Giving IRS the benefit of the doubt, I am hoping that if someone were to end up being underpaid for their 2008 taxes, the 2210 penalty on the amount of the stimulus checks would be waived if requested. They probably won’t be as generous with interest charges, given their track record on this matter.
I’m glad you are reading my blogs. I wish more clients would so that I could avoid having to repeat myself so often.
Kerry
Posted in Rebates | Comments Off on Opting out of stimulus checks?
Government efficiency…
Posted by taxguru on May 6, 2008
Posted in comix, Rebates | Comments Off on Government efficiency…
More Scam IRS Emails
Posted by taxguru on May 5, 2008
While IRS does offer to deposit refunds directly into taxpayers’ bank accounts, they have never had any facility to post refunds to credit card accounts. Anyone claiming that IRS will apply some money to your credit card is a crook who intends to levy a charge against your credit card account.
Likewise, IRS never sends out refund notices via email. NEVER.
I mention these warnings again because I just received the following email from a client.
Subject: Fw: Notice From Department of the Treasury
I just received another one of these e-mails from the IRS.When I received the last one I guess I deleted it and could not forward it to you, so here it is.—– Original Message —–From: Internal Revenue ServiceSent: Monday, May 05, 2008 2:33 PMSubject: Notice From Department of the TreasuryAfter the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity
we have determined that you are eligible to receive
a tax refund under section 501(c) (3) of the
Internal Revenue Code. Tax refund value is $189.60.
Please submit the tax refund request and allow us 6-9 days
in order to IWP the data received.
If u don’t receive your refund within 9 business
days from the original IRS mailing date shown,
you can start a refund trace online.If you distribute funds to other organization, your records must show wether
they are exempt under section 497 (c) (15). In cases where the recipient org.
is not exempt under section 497 (c) (15), you must have evidence the funds will
be used for section 497 (c) (15) purposes.If you distribute fund to individuals, you should keep case histories showing
the recipient’s name and address; the purpose of the award; the maner of
section; and the realtionship of the recipient to any of your officers, directors,
trustees, members, or major contributors.To access the form for your tax refund, please click here
This notification has been sent by the Internal Revenue Service,
a bureau of the Department of the Treasury.Sincerely Yours,
John Stewart
Director, Exempt. Organization
Rulings and Agreements Letter
Internal Revenue Service
I wrote back:
Thanks for sending me a copy of that scam email. It’s the same concept, but slightly different from the one I recently discussed on my blog.
Let me know if you receive any more and definitely do not respond to any of them.
Kerry
I was curious to see what the actual scam web page looked like, so I went to it. The URL tells you it is obviously an outright scam; but the crooks have designed it to look quite a bit like an official IRS page.
For those who may not want to risk visiting this site, I snagged a picture of it:
(Click on image for full size)
Posted in scams | Comments Off on More Scam IRS Emails
Tax Guru - Ker$tetter Letter 