EARLY this month, state and local law enforcement arrested employers who were operating adult residential and child care facilities in the Bay Area. The employers were charged with human trafficking and other labor-related crimes, according to various news reports. The charges resulted from a year-long investigation conducted by government agencies into the Rainbow Bright care…
LET’S assume that you have incurred too much debt. What do I mean by too much debt? By this I mean that you are now a slave to creditors because your debt level is beyond what your income can handle comfortably such that there is every month you have no savings. Let’s discuss the pros…
NO one ever likes to talk about bankruptcy. However, it’s simply a fact of life. Things happen. Whether it’s losing your job, going through a divorce, having huge medical bills that you can’t pay – or sometimes simply making poor financial decisions- any of these can lead to bankruptcy. It’s a scary thing to a…
THE IRS will tell you what records to bring to an audit. The requested documents varies based on your situation. They will need support for income that you report and deductions that you claim. This may include income records for wages, dividends, stock trades, and bank statements. This may include records to support deductions for…
Part 2 THE US tax system is on a pay-as-you-go basis. Taxpayers are required to pay most of the tax liabilities during the same year they earn the income. If you pay less than 90 percent of your taxable income for the current year, you will be assessed with estimated tax penalty plus interest for…
Seniors choose Chapter 7 to discharge $30K and $10K credit cards CLIENT is 47, single and a registered nurse. Her income is good at $80K a year. She has no dependents except her mom who lives with her. Despite her good income, she has a default on her mortgage for $50K. She had an affair…
IF you are considering bankruptcy as a last resort to solve your debt problems, it is important for you to have your case evaluated by a professional who can advise you if it is appropriate for your situation. While there are a lot of cases where filing is the only solution, in other cases, there…
THE client is a foreign company that has been doing business with a California company since 2012. The client is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of a certain kind of equipment, which the CA company sells and distributes in the United States. Business was good reaching low million dollar figures until the CA company…
(Employer’s failure to prevent is actionable) COLE H worked as a truck driver for Beverly Fabrics for eight years. During the last 5 years of his employment, he experienced bullying and harassment by a coworker, Dan Rangle. Rangle referred to himself as “Big Swingin’ Dan.” Rangle’s inappropriate comments escalated when he spread gossip among other…
WHEN an audit is completed, you will be notified of the Agency’s determination: 1. No change: IRS accepts your returns as filed. You will be asked to sign the examination report. That concludes your pain and suffering. About 11% of correspondent audits and 8% of field audits end with a no change verdict, a win for…
THE new tax law could have an impact on how much your employer should withhold from your paycheck. Too little withholding from your paycheck could mean large unexpected tax bill as you file your tax return in 2019 for Tax Year 2018. If you have not done so, it is time to have a paycheck…
YES, it can be. Going to a tax preparer who increases your refunds with phantom deductions is dangerous. You may have to return that nice refund … and more, sometimes much more. A tax preparer who is incompetent can spell trouble for you. Grande problema. If the IRS audits a return prepared by an unethical…
Q:I HAVE been working for 5 years in a Los Angeles company with 52 employees. I requested a leave of absence from work to care for my sick 21 year-old daughter. My boss denied the request and said my position will be given to someone else if I take off. Is this legal? A: No,…
“If you own a home and have assets that may be at risk if you were sued by your creditors, it is in your best interest to find out how you can protect what you have from creditors who are trying to collect from you.” A LOTof people who are contemplating bankruptcy as a solution…
WHAT is the means test in bankruptcy? It’s a method for calculating what your household income is for the purpose of determining if you qualify for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 of the bankruptcy code. By household income, we mean the combined income of husband and wife, if the debtor is married, unless they are…
IN February 2018, the IRS started certification of individuals with delinquent tax debt to the State Department. How will the IRS certification impact you? • Upon receipt of certification. The State Department will either deny application or revoke current passport or both. • You are overseas. Limited validity passport for direct return to the US…
YES, shrinking budget reduces your chance of getting grilled by the IRS. • The main reason for the decline: IRS budget and staff levels are down. • Tax collectors are blaming the massive drop off on budget cuts. • IRS staff shrunk by 20,000 over the past 8 years, despite increase in numbers of returns…
THE client is 50 and got divorced 10 years ago. Her ex-husband decided that working was not good for him so he just disappeared. They had one daughter that client has taken cared of since the divorce. The daughter is about to graduate from college and will be working soon. The daughter, also a single…
(Your rights to reimbursements may be significant) Q: AS part of my work, I travel to clients using my own car and I pay for gas. I also make several business-related calls on my personal cell phone, although since I have an unlimited plan, I do not really incur additional expenses. Should my employer still…
ARE you sick and tired of being in debt and having bad credit? Do you want to start over but simply don’t know where to begin? Is filing bankruptcy an option for you or are other options available? These days, you are constantly bombarded with advertising from companies and other professionals offering you their “solution”….
ALEXANDER Brown and Arik Silva worked as retail sales associates at Abercrombie & Fitch Co., a company that operates retail clothing stores throughout the United States. Brown and Silva sued their employer in a class action, claiming that the employer compelled them to patronize Abercrombie products in violation of California law. The employees claim that…
IF you are delinquent on your debts, you may be able to avoid dealing with the bill collectors for a few months but sooner or later, you will still need to face the reality of your debt problems and do something to protect yourself. For example, creditors will probably wait until you are 60 days…
NO, merely renting out your house, condo, or apartment does not attract IRS audits. But yes, there are rental items that attract IRS scrutiny: • Deducting expenses that are disproportionately high compared to rent collected. • Deducting capital items that should be capitalized and depreciated. • Claiming to be real estate professional. Let’s discuss these…
1. BLENDED Federal Income Tax Rate: For Corporations tax elected to use a fiscal year will pay a blended tax rate and not the 21% flat rate. The new rate 21% is effective after December 31, 2017. You may want to consider amending your corporate tax return fiscal year ending January 31, 2018 to reflect…
BEING audited by the IRS is dreaded by most taxpayers. My clients constantly asked which method increase their chances of getting audited. Let’s compare two methods of filing your tax returns: • Old method of manually preparing and mailing your tax returns via post office. • Newer method of electronic software and efiling tax returns…
THE clients are seniors who just stopped working two months ago. The husband is 75 and the wife is 71. They own a house with $140,000 in equity. Their unmarried son lives with them for free. For free, meaning that he doesn’t pay them any rent to live there. This is understandable because parents who…
THE California Fair Pay Act (a.k.a. the Equal Pay Act), enacted in October 2015, prohibits employers from paying employees less than those of the opposite sex for “substantially similar work,” even if their titles are different or they work at different sites. This means the lower paid employee does not have to prove that the…
I KNOW we’ve never met. But there’s a common fear that everyone shares when they’re in debt. As a bankruptcy attorney, I hear it from people who consult with me every day. It is this: The possibility of losing what they’ve worked hard for all their lives…their homes, their savings, their retirement money, their business,…
• PERSONAL exemptions: the personal exemptions for you, your spouse, and dependents are suspended. This line item may not even show on your 2018 Form 1040. • Credits for child and dependent • Child tax credit increased to $2,000 for each qualifying child and $1,400 for additional tax credit and is subject to phase out…
Q: I WORK as a nurse at a hospital that has a strict policy of no unapproved overtime, and no going on breaks unless we are relieved by another nurse. We are forced to skip our breaks if there is no reliever (which happens a lot because we are often understaffed). As for overtime, we…
