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Tax Tips Newsletter
Serving you since 1993
May 2008 - Vol 3, Issue 4
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Greetings!

Thanks to all of my clients for making this tax season a huge success. I appreciate your business and referrals and hope to continue to provide you with the best service possible.

Now that Tax Season is over we have been focusing on the deadlines that have come up since then. We had an April 30th deadline for payroll taxes, May 7th for business property statements and May 15th for non- profit organizations. In addition, some of the professional organizations I belong to have their quarterly meetings in May.

I am mentioning this because many people think that once the April 15th deadline has passed we have nothing to do. On the contrary, we are meeting other deadlines. That is why we do not have an opportunity to work on extended returns until around June 1st.

We will begin to work on extended returns shortly, so if your information is in office you should be hearing from us.

The office will be closed on Monday, May 19, 2008 as we will all be at a seminar.

If you or one of your family members qualifies for a stimulus payment from the IRS, here is the schedule on which the money will be delivered.

For those who filed their 2007 income tax return by April 15, 2008, the following dates apply. For those who filed later, their payment may be later. You must file a 2007 income tax return to get a stimulus payment. There is no other notice or filing necessary by you. The IRS will not call you or e-mail you for additional information.

** IF YOU REQUESTED A DIRECT DEPOSIT PAYMENT ** If the last two digits of Your payment should be your Social Security number deposited to your bank are: account by:
00 to 20 May 2
21 to 75 May 9
76 to 99 May 16

** IF YOU REQUESTED A PAPER CHECK ** If the last two digits of Your check should be your Social Security number in the mail by: are:
00 to 09 May 16
10 to 18 May 23
19 to 25 May 30
26 to 38 June 6
39 to 51 June 13
52 to 63 June 20
64 to 75 June 27
76 to 87 July 4
88 to 99 July 11
If you have questions, please contact me. I am here to help you.
Business people collaborating
The IRS has just launched a campaign to help educate new small business owners about their federal tax responsibilities. "Understanding and meeting their tax filing requirements is one of the biggest challenges faced by people starting out in business," says the head of the IRS Small Business Division.

Among the common tax issues that can trip up new business owners:

* CLASSIFICATION OF WORKERS. Determining whether workers are employees or independent contractors is a matter of law, not the choice of the worker or the employer.

* FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT TAX DEPOSITS. Called trust fund taxes, these deposits must be made according to the appropriate schedule, depending on deposit amounts.

* QUARTERLY ESTIMATED TAX PAYMENTS. Business earnings are not subject to tax withholding; therefore, the owner's income and social security tax obligations are met through quarterly estimated tax payments.

* RECORDKEEPING. New businesses need a good recordkeeping system to make tax filing easier and accurate.

* DISASTER PROTECTION. Financial and tax records need to be protected to ensure business continuity in the event of a disaster.

* TAX SCAMS. New business owners should be alert to the prevalence of abusive tax avoidance schemes. Falling victim to one of these schemes could result in serious tax problems.

For guidance in getting a new business off on the right tax foot, give my office a call.
Golden Egg
The Tax Tip this week has tips on how to respond to an IRS (or state) notice regarding your tax returns. I hope that the first thing you will do is send me a copy of the notice so I can review it.

The Business Tip of the Month has suggestions on how to manage cash flow in your business.

The Financial Tip of the Month deals with how much to contribute to a flexible spending account.

The Fraud Alert deals with cruise trip scams, just in time for summer.
 

Photos © Bigstockphotos.com, istockphoto.com, Janet Gelfman

Sincerely,
Linda Heineman
Linda L. Heineman, CPA, CITP

phone: 626-577-0979


Linda L. Heineman, CPA | 374 S. Craig Avenue | Pasadena | CA | 91107