BEGINNING January 2018, the IRS will start certification of individuals with delinquent tax debt to the State Department. How will the IRS certification impacts 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…
SAN RANCISCO—Governance is everywhere. I am slated to deliver a talk related to Ownership and Succession today to the students, faculty members and business owners at the Community College of San Francisco Ocean Campus (CCSF). This will be another interesting exchange of ideas with business owners and the academia similar to the one I did exactly…
Upon deciding to form your own business, the next question is – what type of entity should you operate – as a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, LLC, or LLP? Which entity is most beneficial for you? Choosing the wrong form could cause unnecessary taxes, increased liability, and unnecessary exposure to lawsuits. What you should not…
(This article is part 2 of 2 parts) HERE are some more misconceptions about bankruptcy that we did not discuss last week: 1. Will I lose my house? Normally, debtors get to keep their residence as long as their equity in the house does not exceed the applicable homestead exemption. If the equity of the…
The media is awash with reports regarding Harvey Weinstein, the co-founder of movie companies Miramax and the Weinstein Company. Weinstein is accused of sexual harassment and sexual assault by employees and actresses. The complaints came from women both unknown (a temporary employee for one) and famous (Gwyneth Paltrow, Angelina Jolie, and Ashley Judd). As of…
“If your finances are out of control, you need to do something about this situation- the sooner the better. You don’t need to face debt problems alone. Help is available but you need to take action.” One of the things that stop people in finding a solution to their debt problems is the fact that…
PENALTY could still be relived even if you fail to file your tax returns and pay taxes owed if you have reasonable cause. How to establish reasonable cause • Facts. Provide facts, situations, circumstances that have not allowed you to file your tax return timely and pay taxes owed. • Ability. How the facts, situations,…
THE IRS developed a guide for its agents in auditing consultants to focus on: 1. Travel and meals, 2. Bartering, 3. Independent ontractor 1099 versus employee W2, 4. Shifting or assignment of income by a taxpayer to a related entity, 5. ersonal ervice orporation, and 6. Internal controls, books and records, electronic software, and use of the Internet. Travel: The…
SEVEN hundred forty-eight people have been shot and killed by police in 2017 nationwide, according to an ongoing project by The Washington Post. Of these shootings, mental illness played a role in 1 in 5 of incidents. In 2015, when the Post started this project, an analysis of 400 police killings found that 25% of…
THE Japanese created Godzilla a long time ago. It’s a gigantic T-Rex on steroids that destroys Tokyo and the rest of Japan until someone comes to the rescue and kills it with nukes. Mr. Honda, the author, created the concept of Godzilla as a metaphor for the atomic bombs in 1954 when Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which were the recipients of…
WITH credit card debt approaching $1 trillion according to the Federal Reserve, there is no doubt that thousands and thousands of families who can’t pay their credit card debts are struggling financially. The average family now carries a balance of a little more than $16,000. Now, this may not seem like a lot, but for…
Beginning January 2018, the IRS will start certification of individuals with delinquent tax debt to the State Department. How will the IRS certification impacts 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…
(This article is part 1 of several parts) Having literally represented several thousand clients in successful bankruptcy cases in the last 35 years in California, I have distilled the common misconceptions about bankruptcy into the following: 1. Will debtor go to jail for filing bankruptcy? NO. The debtor will not go to jail for filing…
Allen Buckingham, and three other employees, worked as “Implementation Advisor” or “Client Fulfillment Consultants” for Bank of America, N.A. They were classified as exempt by their employer and paid a fixed monthly salary. They were not paid overtime, regardless of their hours worked, and they were not provided meal or rest breaks. The employees were…
IRS agents are equipped with audit techniques unique to attorneys. Here’s insider info on how IRS instructs its agents to probe into: 1. Unreported income, deferral of income. 2. Advanced client costs. 3. Bartering. 4. Constructive receipts. 5. Personal service corporations. 6. Worker Reclassification – were employees misclassified as independent contractors? 7. Were Form 1099s…
Are you thinking of hiring a debt settlement company to help you solve your debt problems? Before you do, maybe you should read this article as it could save you a lot of money and frustration. One reason many consumers hire a debt settlement company is that their debt amounts have become simply unaffordable to…
Tips to remember when you have outstanding tax liability to the IRS: • Receipt of tax bill. If you receive a bill for taxes due, pay the taxes owed including any penalties and interest. If you are not able to pay in full the total amount due, consider getting a loan to full pay the…
THE clients are seniors. The wife is 67 and had just retired from a lifetime of being a registered nurse. She has social security benefits of $2,100. The husband is 67 and has social security of $700. So together, they have social security of $2,800. They don’t own a house. They live with their daughter and they…
Q: I HAD to undergo surgery mid-way through my probation period as a new hire. When I told my manager that I needed to be off-work for several weeks to recover, and that my return date will not until be after the probation period had expired, my manager said not to bother returning, that I…
10 States with the Lowest Combined Income and Sales Tax Rates: • New Hampshire • Alaska • South Dakota • Wyoming • Florida • Texas • Washington • Delaware • Montana • Colorado 10 States with the Highest Combined Income and Sales Tax Rates: • New York • New Jersey • Connecticut • California •…
FILING bankruptcy can be very stressful and uncomfortable for people who are facing a financial crisis for the first time in their lives. But a lot of the anxiety involved can be alleviated by simply understanding the process and keeping things in perspective. Oftentimes, people are so focused on their current financial problems that they…
FILE your past due returns even if you cannot pay in full your . And file the returns the same way you file if you file on-time. Let me tell you why you should file your past due returns now? • Substitute return. If you do not file voluntarily the IRS will file a substitute…
Senior loses job, needs chapter 7 debt relief “When it rains, it pours just like Irma in Florida. Everything gets damaged.” THE clients are 63 and 64. They are young seniors. Up to 65, you are a young senior in my book. You can get senior discounts at Golden Corral for a satisfying buffet. Last time…
RICHARD Brown and Charles Ridgeway worked for Wal-Mart Stores Inc. as truck drivers in California. Wal-Mart paid them per miles driven and per activity (drivers had to input pay codes for certain activities) rather than hours worked. The drivers sued Wal-Mart in a class action claiming that Wal-Mart’s compensation plan violated California law because drivers…
INDIVIDUALS and businesses in all 50 states pay federal income tax. Residents in 41 states also pay state income tax while nine states have no state income taxes. Here are list of states with lowest and highest state income tax, sales tax, combination of both, as well as county, city, and school district taxes. States…
LIKE most people, you’ve probably heard that filing for bankruptcy when you are in debt will ruin your credit forever and that you will never be able to buy a car or a home again. Nothing could be further from the truth. Is it actually possible to improve your credit rating by filing for bankruptcy?…
WHAT you need to do when you received a call or notice from the IRS? Below are some tips that you should be aware of: • Revenue Officer (RO) observes fair tax collection practices and taxpayer rights. • You have Right to Representation under Internal Revenue Manual (IRM) 5.1.10.7.2. • You will be advised first…
Q: I HAVE recently joined the work force and received my first paycheck. When I reviewed my paystub, I see all these deductions. What are allowable deductions and what are not? A: A payroll deduction is essentially a subtraction of money from the employee’s paycheck so that the employee receives less than the promised compensation….
BACKGROUND: When is your tax return free from IRS audit? From your point of view, statute of limitations prevents the IRS from collecting a deficiency in tax or beginning a civil or criminal case. Statute of limitations provides a date of finality after which the IRS or the taxpayer can take no further actions. We…
ARE ou urrently verwhelmed with debt problems that you can no longer handle on your own? Thinking about filing for bankruptcy but are afraid to make a decision? Do you feel stuck and paralyzed in your situation, unable to take any action? Maybe just thinking about your situation gives you this sick feeling in your stomach that won’t…
