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

As the saying goes, "Follow the money". The money in question here is your government stimulus check. #stimuluscheck Think of this as a video game, with the player (you) trying to get home with hard dollars in your hand. Along the way there are several times others will attempt to get those dollars from you, leaving you empty handed by the time you get home. Understanding this problem requires looking closely at a couple of different areas - tax law and Texas garnishment law. Without getting to technical, here is a quick summary: Normally, any government issued dollars are subject to offset by the IRS to pay off a government obligation. The most common is are an IRS debt and a federally insured student loan. The IRS would take any refund earned and apply to those obligations. The current Presidential Order prevents the IRS from making those offsets, at least until August. As with all things there are exceptions. The main exception at this time is a child support oblig

The IRS recently announced two tools to assist you in easing delivery of your COVID Relief Check. Click on this IRS link  for the information. It provides two sections - one for non-filers and one for those who did file in 2018 or 2019 but did not provide direct deposit information. Currently the portal allowing you to input your direct deposit information is not active. The website indicates that it will be available mid month, which in the coming week. I suggest that you monitor this website daily. Your #COVIDReliefcheck will get to you easier than waiting for it in the mail. The website will ask for your bank's routing number and your account number. You can obtain both numbers from the bottom of a check, or off of your bank's website. Keep the information handy before you logon, as the site is likely to have a lot of traffic.

President Trump signed the massive coronavirus relief bill last week. Money will be distributed to the public by the IRS. So will the IRS offset what I owe against the check? What about my spouse? Here are some specific takeaways that you need to know now, and take appropriate action: 1. The government is using the IRS to distribute the checks only. They will not offset any IRS debts against the checks as this is not an IRS matter. The government is just using their infrastructure. 2. However, the only exception to this rule is child support obligations. If you owe back child support, it will come out of the check. This is the only exception at this time. 3. The only way the IRS will know about you is if you have filed a return in 2018 or for 2019. If you have not filed for 2018, and have not filed 2019, you will not receive a check.  In order to receive a check you must file a return for either of those years.  We love working with taxpayers who are delinquent filers. T

From the impact of #COVID19 on our daily lives, keeping up with an IRS refund is a must.  The IRS maintains a Where's my Refund Tool that allows taxpayers to track and verify that its headed to the intended destination.  Taxpayers will need three things to use the tool: Their Social Security number Their tax filing status The exact amount of the refund claimed on their tax return Once the taxpayer enters that information the tool will display the progress of their tax return through the following stages: Return received Return approved Refund sent Great information to keep handy as your go through the return process.  #IRS #IRSRefund

Here are some additional tips on Series LLCs that you may want to consider. 1. I copied the exact language of the statute in my formation document: XYZ, LLC is a Series LLC within the meaning of Subchapter M, Sections 101.61 et seq, Texas Business Organizations Code. Refer to the attatched addendum, which is incorporated herein by reference as if set forth in full, for detail notice of the series and the separate rights, powers, or duties with respect to specified property or obligations of the limited liability company or profits and losses associated with specified property or obligations. The attached addendum also includes the names of the series. The debts, liabilities and obligations and expenses incurred, contracted for or otherwise existing with respect to a particular series, whether now existing or hereafter established, shall be enforceable against the assets of that series only, and not against the assets of XYZ, LLC generally or any other series thereof, and n

During his press conference last Wednesday, President Trump announced that he was authorizing the #IRS to defer tax payments without interest or penalties. "Using emergency authority, I will be instructing the Treasury Department to defer tax payments, without interest or penalties, for certain individuals and businesses negatively impacted,” he said during a prime-time address. “This action will provide more than $200 billion of additional liquidity to the economy. Finally, I am calling on Congress to provide Americans with immediate payroll tax relief. Hopefully they will consider this very strongly.” The tax deadline falls on the traditional April 15 due date, and although the Treasury and the IRS have not yet issued a formal announcement, they have deferred the date in the past, as when the IRS computer servers couldn’t handle a surge of last-minute tax filings. This is a fluid situation, so check back with us periodically for new details. 

The 2017 tax overhaul presented a new set of challenges and questions for taxpayers to deal with in preparing their returns and making financial plans.   Tara Siegel and Ron Lieber of The New York Times wrote a great article on some of the more difficult questions facing taxpayers as a result of that legislation. You can read the article here . I want to add my input to some of the points they raise in a series of blog entries, in no order. The first issue I want to address is that of Qualified Business Income (QBI). It applies to so many taxpayers and in my opinion is the most confusing section of the new tax law. Reviewing the IRS website addressing QBI, you can tell that this area provides fertile ground for future #IRSAudits and adjustments. The key provision from my viewpoint is what is not QBI: A qualified trade or business is any section 162 trade or business, with three exceptions (Specified Service Trades or Businesses or SSTB): 1.       A trade or busines