Your guide to post tax-filing record retention Tax season is over and your focus is on enjoying the summer. But before you close that tax file, make a final review to ensure you records are accessible should you ever need them. This is especially important. If the IRS or state revenue department selects your return …
Category: Audit
To Amend or Not Amend?
Is it always a good idea to amend your tax return if you find an error? Here's a tip that is worth reviewing each year as adjustments to your income tax return may become apparent. This is often common with the advent of changing tax rules and as the IRS finalizes rules on recently passed …
Five Reasons Why the IRS Will Audit You
Each year, the IRS audits over 1 million tax returns. With agency resources shrinking, the IRS is more selective when choosing which tax returns to audit. Knowing what the IRS is looking for can help you understand and reduce your audit risk. Here are five of the biggest reasons the IRS may choose to audit …
No Check! Where’s Your Proof?
What to do about your need for documentation Prior to finalizing the filing of your tax return is a good time to ensure you have proper documentation to substantiate your tax deductions. This is important as many banks start deleting online documentation that is more than a year old. Background The use of paper checks …
Understanding Tax Terms: Contemporaneous Records
What you need to know If you have problems getting to sleep at night and you turn to the IRS tax code for help, you might find some vocabulary that is very foreign to words you use every day. One of the more common words used by the IRS is the termcontemporaneous. So what does it …
Continue reading Understanding Tax Terms: Contemporaneous Records
Defending Fair Market Value
Fair market value (FMV) is the price that property would sell for on the open market. It is the price that would be agreed on between a willing buyer and a willing seller, with neither being required to act, and both having reasonable knowledge of the relevant facts. Source: IRS Publication 561 This definition is …
A Guide to Tax Record Retention
Before you close this year's tax file there is still some work to do. If the IRS or state revenue department selects your return for review, you will need to be prepared. Here is what you need to do now: Keep a copy of your Form 1040 indefinitely. Do not toss or destroy any of your …
Understanding the Tax Gap
Voluntary tax compliance is measured While more and more legislation is introduced that penalizes all of us for doing things wrong on our tax returns, please remember that at its origin, tax collection in the U.S. is a voluntary. In other words, the tax code is defined, we are given due dates, and the government …
Does Your Mileage Log Travel the Distance?
The tax code allows deductions for qualified miles driven for business, medical, moving and charitable purposes. But to claim this deduction you must keep adequate records of actual miles driven. During an audit, this is an often disallowed deduction, despite the fact that you actually drove the distance claimed. How can you make sure this …
Avoid Name Mismatch Audits
Tip Category: The Audit If you were married, divorced, or changed your name for any reason during the past year, do not forget to file to change your name prior to preparing next year's tax return. The IRS automatically conducts a name match on the first few letters of your last name. The problem If …
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