Certified Public Accounting Resources

The IRS statute of limitation is 3 years so you need to keep the past 3 years of information used for the income and payroll tax returns. Due to recent legislation regarding the Net Operating Loss carryback, consider keeping your past 5 years of tax returns and data. Paperwork regarding real property and improvements should be kept at least 3 –5 years after the sale of the property for IRS purposes. Some recommend 7 years for legal purposes.

Individuals filing early in January and February may receive their refunds faster. As the volume of returns being filed on a daily basis increases, the processing time is slowed significantly. The use of EFILE and Direct Deposit can decrease the waiting time on a refund. Often EFILE returns may receive the refunds within 10-15 days. Paper filed returns with Direct Deposit may be 7-10 days faster than returns refunded by check. Normal check refunds may take 6-8 weeks. Refunds from special filings such as amended returns and Form 1045 (Tentative Loss Carybacks) may take 3-4 months to be processed.

Go online to irs.gov and click on the blue box that says Where's My Refund? 

Yes, however, filing jointly may be beneficial for both parties. If one party does not choose to file jointly, use the married filing separately unless you qualify as Head of House.

Until the divorce is final you cannot file as single. Filing jointly may be beneficial for both parties. If one party does not choose to file jointly, use the married filing separately unless you qualify as Head of House.

If you have dependents living with you and your spouse did not live with you for the last 6 months of the year, you may elect to file as Head of House.

Yes, if you provide over 50% of their support and they are under 24 and are full time students.

Employ some tax savings plans or increase the withholding on your W-2 by completing W-4 and specifying the additional amount to be withheld from each check.

No, not if you can increase withholding or reduce your tax liability. A penalty is applied if you have unpaid taxes in excess of certain limits established by the IRS. Generally if you have paid in or had prior year refunds applied that are equal to or greater than the prior year’s tax liability, you will not be penalized for not sending quarterly payments.

You may contribute to the IRA during the tax year. If you find later that you were not eligible for a deductible IRA, you may be able to keep it as a non-deductible IRA. If you have contributed to an IRA and were not allowed, the institution can either move the contribution to the following year or refund it to you with little or no tax consequence.

Yes, depending upon the situation. Sometimes we can help you avoid penalties on the funds transferred to the spouse from qualified retirement accounts. We can give advice on structuring the financial aspect of the divorce, alimony, child support and other areas

You probably should come in to see us for a consultation.

There are many factors to decide which entity type is best. Generally if you anticipate less than $20-30,000 net income per year it may be better to be an LLC to avoid filing a separate tax return. Also you can choose later to be treated as a corporation and elect to be taxed as a small business.

Nothing precludes you from changing the status of an independent contractor to an employee. Keep in mind that if nothing changes except the withholding of taxes, they are really employees from the beginning and should be treated that way. For more information on identifying employees vs independent contractors, please call us.