I bought a fantastic new piece of office equipment and couldn’t wait to share it with you! The Fujitsu ScanSnap is my new timesaver, just click play on the video below and you will see how fast it scans multiple sizes of source documents. It also comes with Adobe Acrobat which is a huge bonus. To be able to scan all my documents to a PDF and edit, comment and markup them up for my clients allows me to be able to provide a higher level of detail in the services that I provide. Here are the links for PC and MAC.
There are many records you have that may help document items on your tax return. You’ll need this documentation should the IRS select your return for examination. Here are five tips from the IRS about keeping good records.
Normally, tax records should be kept for three years.
Some documents — such as records relating to a home purchase or sale, stock transactions, IRA and business or rental property — should be kept longer.
In most cases, the IRS does not require you to keep records in any special manner. Generally speaking, however, you should keep any and all documents that may have an impact on your federal tax return.
Records you should keep include bills, credit card and other receipts, invoices, mileage logs, canceled, imaged or substitute checks, proofs of payment, and any other records to support deductions or credits you claim on your return.
For more information on what kinds of records to keep, see IRS Publication 552, Recordkeeping for Individuals, which is available at IRS.gov or by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).
Links: Publication 552, Recordkeeping for Individuals ( PDF 61K )
While most income you receive is generally considered taxable, there are some situations when certain types of income are partially taxed or not taxed at all.
To ensure taxpayers are familiar with the difference between taxable and non-taxable income, the Internal Revenue Service offers these common examples of items that are not included in your income:
Adoption Expense Reimbursements for qualifying expenses
Child support payments
Gifts, bequests and inheritances
Workers’ compensation benefits
Meals and Lodging for the convenience of your employer
Compensatory Damages awarded for physical injury or physical sickness
Welfare Benefits
Cash Rebates from a dealer or manufacturer
Some income may be taxable under certain circumstances, but not taxable in other situations. Examples of items that may or may not be included in your income are:
While the tax filing deadline is more than three months away, it always seems to be here before you know it. Here are the Internal Revenue Service’s top 10 tips that will help your tax filing process run smoother than ever this year.
Start gathering your records Round up any documents or forms you’ll need when filing your taxes: receipts, canceled checks and other documents that support an item of income or a deduction you’re taking on your return.
Be on the lookout W-2s and 1099s will be coming soon from your employer; you’ll need these to file your tax return.
Try e-file When you file electronically, the software will handle the math calculations for you. If you use direct deposit, you will get your refund in about half the time it takes when you file a paper return. E-file is now the way the majority of returns are filed. In fact, last year, 2 out of 3 taxpayers used e-file.
Check out Free File If your income is $57,000 or less you may be eligible for free tax preparation software and free electronic filing. The IRS partners with 20 tax software companies to create this free service. Free File is for the cost conscious taxpayer who wants reliable question-and-answer software to help them prepare a return. Visit IRS.gov to learn more.
Consider other filing options There are many different options for filing your tax return. You can prepare it yourself or go to a tax preparer. You may be eligible for free face-to-face help at an IRS office or volunteer site. Give yourself time to weigh all the different options and find the one that best suits your needs.
Consider Direct Deposit If you elect to have your refund directly deposited into your bank account, you’ll receive it faster than waiting for a paper check.
Visit IRS.gov again and again The official IRS Web site is a great place to find everything you’ll need to file your tax return: forms, tips, answers to frequently asked questions and updates on tax law changes. read more »
People who sell their home may be able to exclude the gain from their income. Here are seven things every homeowner should know if they sold, or plan to sell their house.
Amount of exclusion. When you have gain from the sale of your home, you may be able to exclude up to $250,000 of the gain from your income. For most taxpayers filing a joint return, the exclusion amount is $500,000.
Ownership test. To claim the exclusion you must have owned the home for at least two years during the five year period ending on the date of the sale.
Use test. You also must have lived in the house and used it as your main home for at least two years during the five year period ending on the date of the sale.
When not to report. If you are able to exclude all of the gain from the sale of your home, you do not need to report the sale on your federal income tax return.
Reporting taxable gain. If you have gain which cannot be excluded, it is taxable and must be reported on your tax return using Schedule D.
Deducting a loss. You cannot deduct a loss from the sale of your home.
Rules for multiple homes. If you have more than one home, you may only exclude gain from the sale of your main home and must pay tax on the gain resulting from the sale of any other home. Your main home is generally the one you live in most of the time.
Do withhold FICA on part-timers, including retirees. Even if someone who works for you part-time also has a full-time job where they have had 100% of their FICA withheld for the year, you must withhold the full amount of FICA from their pay. These individuals can obtain a refund of any overpaid FICA on their 1040. Similarly, if a retiree receiving Social Security benefits works for you, say, one day a week, you must withhold FICA.
Don’t assume former employees who return part-time are ICs. If they do the same job they did before they left, especially in the same tax year, they are employees, not independent contractors.
Do not base worker status on length of service. A worker who fits the definition of “employee” is an employee and all employment taxes apply—even if he or she works for you only for a few hours on only one day, is still an employee.
Do not assume you must give benefits to part-timers, or summer help or those hired for holidays. Nor are you required to include temps and part-timers in health, pension and other benefits. But to exclude them, have a written plan stating which benefits are not available to these workers.
Password protection for sensitive personal and other data is only as good as the password itself. Easily accessed “cracker,” “breaker,” or “recovery” software runs millions of passwords per second through a log-on box. A password of even 6 characters combining numbers, symbols and upper- and lower-case letters can be broken in 5 hours; only numbers, symbols or letters, in minutes.
Your password should:
contain a minimum of 8 characters;
not use any word found in a dictionary (dictionaries in any language can be downloaded to be used in cracking software);
combine numbers, symbols and upper- and lower-case letters;
not include personal information—it’s too easy to obtain a user’s name, address, birthday, and names of relatives.
lock users out of the system after a few tries at the correct password fail (prevents hacking software from trying 1,000s of passwords per second).
Lastly, compartmentalize electronic files and allow access only to those authorized to use each file.
Many taxpayers who purchase a home this year will qualify for an $8,000 federal tax credit. The refundable first-time homebuyer credit is a major tax provision in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. But time is running out to qualify for this credit.
Here are ten things the IRS wants you to know about the first-time homebuyer credit:
To be considered a first-time homebuyer, you – and your spouse if you are married – must not have jointly or separately owned another principal residence during the three years prior to the date of purchase.
You cannot claim the credit before there is a completed sale and purchase of the residence. The sale and purchase are generally completed at the time of closing on the purchase.
To qualify for the credit, the completed purchase must occur before December 1, 2009.
The home must be located in the United States.
The credit is either 10 percent of the purchase price of the home or $8,000, whichever is less.
The amount of the credit begins to phase out for taxpayers whose modified adjusted gross income is more than $75,000 or $150,000 for joint filers. read more »
In QuickBooks, when trying to view customer quickreports in QuickBooks, straight deposits don’t show up. By default, this report only lists A/R items. I have prepared a Jing to show you how to get your straight/direct deposits to show up on your customer reports.
To view the larger, 1010 x 800 video, click on read more for the download link.
