Monday, May 28, 2007

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

Happy Memorial Day! As is my custom I will be working away catching up on non-GD extension tax work. No cook-outs for me – although I will be having hot dogs for dinner.

A few items of interest before I go back to work.

· The U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans’ Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act, 2007 not only increases the minimum wage to to $7.25/hour over 2 years, but also contains several tax provisions tht affect 1040s. I will post a summary on the FEDERAL TAX UPDATE page of my website once I have been able to fully “digest” the contents of the Act.

· A client received her federal tax refund check relatively late. There was a notation on the bottom of the check that indicated $4.39 in interest.

Generally if the IRS does not process your return in a “reasonable” period of time you will receive a payment of accrued interest included in the check, and this amount will be identified on the bottom of the check. However, the check the client received was for the exact amount of the refund requested. In addition, the check was not “unreasonably” late and the $4.39 amount was much more than any interest that would have accrued on a late payment. Another client just received a very substantial 2006 refund check, within the normal processing time, and also discovered a notation for $5.00+ in interest on the bottom of the check.

FYI, what this interest notation refers to is the amount of accrued interest included in the standard Telephone Excise Tax Rebate amount of from $30.00 - $60.00 claimed on the 2006 Form 1040. It has nothing whatsoever to do with the amount or timeliness of processing of the 2006 refund.

· Relatively new blog Bankaholic reports on the various offerings of online banks. It has two tools that compare the interest rates on money market accounts and certificates of deposit. You no longer have to settle for the pitiful .5% to 1% that your local “brick and mortar” banks pay on savings accounts.

TTFN

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