Martin Cantu, EA - Tax Consultant - Tax Relief Services Blog

Sometimes events coincide and you have one of those "Ah ha" moments. Well, I had last week. Let's set the scene. Recently the IRS launched an initiative against small business where the IRS questions if the small business has reported all of their income. The IRS sends out letters with the heading "Notification of Possible Income Under reporting."  It notifies the business owner "your gross receipts may be under reported" and says they must complete a form "to explain why the portion of your gross receipts from non-card payments appears unusually low." The Forbes article goes into more detail about the initiative, and the response from the business community . This on the heels of a report that the IRS is using social media as a way to monitor the spending habits of suspected tax cheats. Now the third leg of the stool - I spoke with a colleague recently who recounted how the Texas Comptroller's Office BART unit instigated a sal...

#IRS #Taxes #TexasComptroller We're seeing a number of clients having problems with the Texas Comptrollers Office for state due on businesses that were shut down years ago. While the taxpayer may have viewed the business as shut down, the Comptroller did not. What starts out small grows huge - if only our 401k's grew as fast. The scenario is something like this: 1. Business incorporates and obtains a sales tax permit. 2. Business goes kaput, is shut down, but corporation and sales permit stay active. 3. No reports filed - the Comptroller prepares substitute returns for a couple of years. 4. Taxpayer moves, ignores certified mail from the comptroller, summons, etc. Judgment is taken, including the substituted returns where no actual sales are made. 5. Taxpayer finds out about the judgment years later, after the debt has grown ten-fold. 6. Comptroller refuses to negotiate on the amount due, leaving you between a rock an a hard place - an not able to get that house...

Members of the U.S. Armed Forces receive several tax benefits. Special tax rules apply to military members on active duty, including those serving in combat zones. These rules can help lower your federal taxes and make it easier to file your tax return. Here are ten of those benefits: 1.  Deadline Extensions.   Qualifying military members, including those who serve in a combat zone, can postpone some tax deadlines.  2.  Combat Pay Exclusion.  If you serve in a combat zone, you can exclude certain combat pay from your income.  3.  Earned Income Tax Credit.  You can choose to include nontaxable combat pay as earned income to figure your EITC.  4.  Moving Expense Deduction.   If you move due to a permanent change of station, you may be able to deduct some of your unreimbursed moving costs. 5.  Uniform Deduction.  You can deduct the costs and upkeep of certain uniforms that regulations pro...

Independent Contractor v. Employee. This fight has been going on between the IRS and the business for as long as anyone can remember. Even cities are not safe from scrutiny. Safe Harbors, amnesty programs, voluntary classification program - the IRS refuses to recognize independent contractors that are used on a routine basis. Lets review a couple of things on this issue: The IRS has preference for classification of workers as employees for tax collections purposes. More and more workers are working at a number of different jobs for multiple employers, and many from home - this is the new economy. Many states are now interested in classifying workers as employees - we recently saw a case with the Texas Workforce Commission that classed workers as employees independent of an IRS involvement. Obamacare is right around the corner - employers will adapt to get under the 50 employee threshold.  Employers, better gear up for a fight on this issue. Document your files. Revi...

Tim Tebow is the most discussed, hated, vilified player in the history of the National Football League. Listen to talk radio or ESPN - a day does not go by without a discussion of Tebow. The discussion always centers on what he can't do. He can't pass. He doesn't throw like an NFL QB. He can't succeed. All this before they get into his faith, the main source of criticism in college. Collin Cowherd, ESPN talk show host on radio and TV has made a career based on criticism of Tebow. As I write this I'm waiting for Cowherd's show on the day following Denver's victory over the New York Jets. My guess is that the over under on the number of seconds before Cowherd mentions Tebow is 10. Cowherd, like most other hosts, follows the same formula - 1. I like the guy and don't want to bang on him; 2. He isn't that good so I don't want to waste time disparaging his abilities; 3. Spend the next 2 hours banging on everything Tebow. Cowherd and the other critic...