Sunday, October 13, 2013

WHAT’S THE BUZZ, TELL ME WHAT’S A HAPPENNIN’ - SPECIAL MONDAY EDITION


A special Monday BUZZ (didn’t want to wait until Tuesday)!

Tomorrow is the final deadline for filing your 2012 federal Form 1040 and corresponding state tax returns.  It is very important that you get your 1040 in the mail today, even if you cannot pay all, or any, of any balance due.

The penalty for late payment of any tax due is .5% (1/2 of 1%) of the tax due per month.  The penalty for late filing is 5% of the tax due per month – 10 times more!

Fellow twit “Concerned Citizen” (@Perform10) has coined a new battle cry for voters that I like better than GRIP (Get Rid of Incumbent Politicians).  It is VOID--Vote Out Incumbent Dysfunction.

And then there is VOICE - Vote Out Incumbent Congress Extremists.  Although we really should vote out ALL incumbent Congresscritters.
 
* If you do owe your Uncle Sam on your extended 1040 check out William Perez’s ABOUT.COM post “What if You Owe Tax on Your 2012 Return”.

* Have you taken the “V.O.I.D. Pledge” yet?  Click here.

* It looks like you can still “vote for me and I’ll set you free”!  You can click here to vote for me for the “People’s Choice” Plutus blog award.

* No argument here.  As Kay Bell announces at DON’T MESS WITH TAXES, “Witches, cockroaches and IRS are more popular than Congress”.  Kay explains (highlights are mine) -

In the later poll released Oct. 9, just 5 percent of poll respondents said they support the decisions being made by government leaders. Eighty-three percent disapprove of recent Congressional actions.

Another poll released Oct. 8 by Public Policy Polling (PPP) found that Americans like almost anything better than Congress.”

In addition to the items listed in the post title, hemorrhoids, toenail fungus, dog poop are also more popular than the idiots in Congress.

Less popular are Charles Manson, Syria, Vladimir Putin, Honey Boo Boo, heroin, Anthony Weiner, and the Ebola virus.

* Saving for retirement, college education, or emergencies is important.  But, as Jim Blankenship suggests at GETTING YOUR FINANCIAL DUCKS IN A ROW, you can start small with “Baby Steps”.

Any savings is better than no savings, and Jim correctly says you can start with $1.00 a month or 1% of your salary.


The post reminds us of some important things to remember-  

There is no such thing as a hardship distribution from an IRA.”

And –

Distributions can be rolled over within 60 days. You have 60 days from the date you receive IRA funds to replace them in the same IRA or a different IRA. However, you can only make such a rollover IF you have not done another 60-day rollover in the past 12 months either into or out of the IRA making the distribution.”

* An update on my earlier post on CPE offerings for NJ tax preparers.

The 12TH Annual Northern NJ Working Together Conference will be held on Tuesday, January 7, 2014 from 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM at the Main Lounge of the Seton Hall University Student Center.

There will be presentations on examination, collection, and appeals issues and “hot topics” by IRS representatives.  The keynote speaker will be Michael Bryan, CPA, the so far disappointing Director of the NJ Division of Taxation.

The conference fee is $140.00 for 8 CPE/CE credits for registrations received by January 2nd, and $155.00 for registrations received thereafter. 

TTFN

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