WHAT’S THE BUZZ? TELL ME WHAT’S A HAPPENNIN’ – WEDNESDAY EDITION

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

 

I hope those of you on the East Coast survived SANDY.  I am certainly glad that I moved from NJ to Northeast PA.  There was rain here, but not excessive, and I did not lose power (although apparently some others in my county did).  My sister, who lives, as I used to, in Hudson County NJ was without power from 9:00 PM Monday night through Tuesday.

* Nothing to do with taxes, but - looking for a great escape this winter?  Click here.  Peter runs great trips!

* Oi vey!  Bill Perez reports that “South Carolina Suffers Cyber-Attack, SSNs & Credit Card Numbers Stolen” at ABOUT.COM.

“Anyone who has filed a tax return in South Carolina from 1998 through 2012 may have had their Social Security number, credit card number or debit card number compromised by the data theft.”  

* Bill also reports “New York Provides Tax Relief for Hurricane Sandy”.

“Deadlines for filing and paying taxes has been suspended for the period from October 26, 2012 through November 14, 2012. Tax returns and tax payments that are due during this period are now due on November 14, 2012”

Click here for the official announcement from New York.

* I discovered a new, to me, tax-related blog from a “retweet” by Kay Bell, the yellow rose of taxes.  The blog is GETTING YOUR FINANCIAL DUCKS IN A ROW FROM (Advice on IRA, Social Security, income tax, and all things financial) from Blankenship Financial Planning, Ltd of Illinois.

The recent post “Long Term Care Insurance – Protecting Your Nest Egg” discusses, as you would expect, long-term care insurance.

I have found that LTCI is basically for the middle and upper-middle classes who have accumulated substantial savings.  If long-term care, especially nursing home care, is needed, the poor are covered by Medicaid from dollar one, and the rich can afford to pay out of pocket.  It is the middle and upper-middle classes who have saved all their life or have substantial equity in real estate that need it.  These people are forced to bankrupt themselves before being covered by Medicaid.

It is also for people with beneficiaries.  While I considered buying it, I feel I do not need LTCI because if I am bankrupted by nursing home care nobody loses.  I do not have a spouse or children, or even nieces or nephews, who would lose an inheritance.

* Eric S. Fletcher tells you who, and to whom you must issue a Form 1099-MISC, and what you may be penalized if you don’t in “What's Your TIN again? Helping the IRS Close the ‘Tax Gap’" at the BOND BEEBE firm blog.

Basically -

“Anyone engaged in a trade or business is required to file Form 1099-MISC for each non-incorporated vendor (including LLC’s) to whom they have paid at least $600 cumulatively during the year to {certain recipients – rdf}.”

Thankfully the rules that the idiots in Congress had passed without reading a while back – which would have required millions of more 1099s being filed – have been repealed.

* Joshua Wilson also adds to the discussion of 1099s with “2012 Preparation of 1099'S”  

* The JOURNAL OF ACCOUNTANCY reminds us in “Facing the Tax Cliff” that “A surprising number of tax changes loom as year end approaches”, and provides a good listing of the many expiring tax provisions.  

The item reminds us that the idiots in Congress “had nine years to prepare for the sunset of the lower income, estate, and gift tax rates enacted in the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act (EGTRRA), P.L. 107-16, and seven years to prepare for the sunset of the lower capital gains tax rates enacted by the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 (JGTRRA), P.L. 108-27”.

This “Tax Cliff” situation is a direct result of the inaction of the idiots in Congress.

* TAX MAMA Eva Rosenberg answers a question from a person who wants to start a professional tax practice after having “been doing returns for friends and associates for the past 2 years” with good advice in “Starting a Tax Practice”.

“There's certainly room for you in the profession. But just doing friends' tax returns isn't enough experience – or expertise - to build an entire tax practice around.  Without education or training, there's no way to do an adequate job for strangers, people you don't know anything about, when they bring you their information. You have no basis to understand their lifestyle, what are reasonable earnings for their profession or job – or very much, really.  .”  

* Bruce, the MISSOURI TAXGUY, considers “Small Business Health Care Tax Credit, Do you Qualify?”.

“If you’re a small business owner with fewer than 25 full-time equivalent employees you may be eligible for the small business health care credit that went into effect in 2010.”

Last week Howard Gleckman addressed BO’s tax proposals at TAX VOX.  This week he explains “What is Mitt Romney’s Tax Plan?”.

* The Taxpayer Advocate’s office “tweeted” this tax fact –

“Last year, #IRS processed about 145 million #tax returns. The average taxrefund was nearly $3,000.”

* Speaking of the Taxpayer Advocate Service – A while back it asked the public to submit suggestions for tax reform.  It has now released a 19-page report of “Tax Reform Suggestion Box: Selected Comments”.

TTFN