CPA Articles
July 1, 2009
Stuart T. Freeland In February, 2008, the Internal Revenue Service issued Rev. Proc. 2008-16,
2008 IRB 547, which provides a safe harbor that, when satisfied, assures a
party to an exchange that the requirement in Section 1031(a)(1) that the an
exchange property be held for productive use in a trade or business or for
investment has been satisfied. Full Story
July 1, 2009
Manuel Davis Jr. - BackTaxesHelp.com IRS audit. Are there two words in the English language that can instill
fear such as those? If the idea of an audit doesn't scare you there is
something wrong with you. The phrase literally conjures up thoughts of
going broke and years in prison. We have been conditioned to think that
the IRS audit is the end of the world. In reality, you chances of being
audited by the IRS are pretty slim. The statistics state that 80% of all
tax payers will be audited so even though it is unlikely it will be you,
understanding audits is important. Full Story
June 30, 2009
Anthony Cannon One of the worst things that can happen if you are a tax debtor is an IRS garnishment or tax levy. Tax debtors can go for years before IRS collection activities finally catch up to them. It seems the sluggish bureaucracy lulls one into a false sense of security. While the delay from tax due to tax levy may be sluggish, the action of a tax garnishment is not. In fact, it may be the harshest financial event you ever experience and should be avoided if at all possible. Full Story
June 30, 2009
Roni Deutch Finding a notice of an IRS tax lien in the mail can be a scary and intimidating thing. However, there are several steps you can take to overcome the situation and prevent the IRS from taking any further action against your property. Unfortunately though, many taxpayers do not even understand exactly what a tax lien is, let alone how to deal with it. Full Story
June 30, 2009
Roni Deutch The tax world is full of jargon and enough acronyms to make your eyes cross. Its no wonder so many people are confused about the difference between a tax lien and a levy. The term "levy" is used to describe a number of collection methods the IRS employs. Levies actually redirect funds to the IRS as a repayment of a debt. Following are a few different types of levies: Wage garnishments actually fall under the levy heading. Wage garnishments redirect a portion of your income directly to the IRS. A garnishment continues until either the debt is repaid, expires, or you successfully negotiate a release. Wages can be a paycheck from your employer, federal payments like Social Security, or if you are an independent contractor, accounts receivable. Full Story
June 30, 2009
Ryan Thompson When someone says the words "tax extension" to you, do you automatically think "audit?" Maybe it's time to think again. No one outside the IRS knows for sure how the audit system really works (our money is on trained hamsters), but many CPAs believe that tax extensions actually decrease your chances of getting an audit. Why, you ask? Many believe IRS officers have an audit quota, and they start on it around tax time. Many accountants hypothesize that the quotas get filled well before the tax extension deadline of October 15 (September 15 for business taxes), and IRS agents have less incentive to put returns in the audit pile. Full Story
June 18, 2009
First American Exchange Company In the current lending environment seller financing may be an option that benefits both the buyer and the seller. When an Exchangor sells property and wants to provide seller carryback financing to the buyer and also take advantage of the tax deferral of a 1031 exchange, the Exchangor has several options. Full Story
June 17, 2009
Craig Eaton Interesting focus lately on a couple of areas that relate to M&A in this environment; companies are getting more creative about deals and thereby run the risk of triggering tax issues that weren't as prevalent in the bull market days. We wrote about this last week in TheDeal.com, and it seems to be top of mind in other areas as well. Full Story