A short BUZZ today –
not much to share. However I hope you
agree with me that some BUZZ is better than no BUZZ.
* MARKETWATCH.COM
reports on the “Maryland 2015 Tax Amnesty Program - September 1, 2015 to October 30, 2015” – (highlight is mine)
“The 2015 tax amnesty period will be
September 1, 2015 to October 30, 2015. The Program will waive civil penalties
and one-half of any interest on taxpayers who failed to file, underreported, or
did not pay the tax liability for Maryland state and local income tax,
withholding taxes, sales and use taxes, and admissions and amusement taxes due
on or before December 31, 2014. In order for the penalties and one-half
interest to be waived, the taxpayer must (1) file delinquent returns and pay
the tax, including one-half of any interest, due under the return; (2) pay the
tax, plus one-half of any interest, due on a previously filed return; or (3)
enter into an agreement with the Comptroller to pay the tax and one-half
interest. Taxpayers who were granted
amnesty under prior Maryland Tax Amnesty Programs held between 1999 and 2014
are not eligible.”
One of the
criticisms of amnesty programs, and a reason there has never been a federal
amnesty program, is that officials fear taxpayers will put off paying outstanding
taxes due between amnesty programs because they know they can avoid interest
and penalties when the next one comes around.
This program does not allow those granted amnesty in past programs to
use the current one to avoid penalty and interest.
* Jason Dinesen
begins a new series of posts on the question “Are HRAs Always Appropriate for Sole Proprietors?”.
* Bond Beebe’s IT’S
TAXING blog suggests a way to avoid tax on a “backdoor” ROTH IRA contribution
in “Reverse Rollover: A Bridge over the Backdoor Roth Trapdoor”.
* Kelly Phillips
Erb, FORBES.com’s TaxGirl, gives us “10 Tips To Help You Stay Married To A Tax Professional”.
* An IRS twitter
account - @IRStaxpros – has been
“tweeting” the following lately – “Tax Pros: #IRS launches directory of
qualified return preparers. Are you listed?”.
THIS IS NOT TRUE!
The directory
referenced in the “tweet” is NOT a directory of “qualified return preparers”. It is a directory of return preparers who
have a recognized designation, such as CPA, JD, EA, or who hold an AFSP
certificate.
The directory
itself is titled “Directory of Federal Tax Return Preparers with Credentials
and Select Qualifications” – and I would question the term “select
qualifications”.
As I have responded
to the tweet – there are tens of thousands
of qualified return preparers who are not on the list!
When looking for a
tax preparer you should most definitely not
limit your search to those included in this directory.
TTFN
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