Taxpayer Beware: Phishing and Phone Scams

IRS impersonation phone scams, as well as phishing continue to be a serious threat to taxpayers topping the list of the IRS “Dirty Dozen” tax schemes once again.

The IRS impersonation phone scam has claimed nearly 3,000 victims who have collectively paid over $14 million, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration recently warned.

Phishing email scams continue to be pervasive as well. Illegal scams such as these can lead to significant penalties and interest and possible criminal prosecution. IRS Criminal Investigation works closely with the Department of Justice (DOJ) to shutdown scams and prosecute the criminals behind them.

Both IRS impersonation phone scams and phishing are on the list of the annual IRS list of “Dirty Dozen” tax schemes. Compiled annually, the “Dirty Dozen” lists a variety of common scams that taxpayers may encounter anytime but many of these schemes peak during filing season as people prepare their returns or find people to help with their taxes.

IRS Impersonation Phone Scams

Phone scams, which have hit taxpayers in every State in the country top the “Dirty Dozen” list this year because it has been a persistent and pervasive problem for many taxpayers for many months. Here’s how it works: Read more

Missing Your Form W-2?

You should receive a Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, from each of your employers for use in preparing your federal tax return. Employers must furnish this record of 2014 earnings and withheld taxes no later than February 2, 2015 (if mailed, allow a few days for delivery).

If you do not receive your Form W-2, contact your employer to find out if and when the W-2 was mailed. If it was mailed, it may have been returned to your employer because of an incorrect address. After contacting your employer, allow a reasonable amount of time for your employer to resend or to issue the W-2.

If you still do not receive your W-2 by February 15th, contact the IRS for assistance at 1-800-829-1040. When you call, have the following information handy:

• the employer’s name and complete address, including zip code, and the employer’s telephone number;
• the employer’s identification number (if known);
• your name and address, including zip code, Social Security number, and telephone number; and
• an estimate of the wages you earned, the federal income tax withheld, and the dates you began and ended employment.

If you misplaced your W-2, contact your employer. Your employer can replace the lost form with a “reissued statement.” Be aware that your employer is allowed to charge you a fee for providing you with a new W-2.

You still must file your tax return on time even if you do not receive your Form W-2. If you cannot get a W-2 by the tax filing deadline, you may use Form 4852, Substitute for Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, but it will delay any refund due while the information is verified.

If you receive a corrected W-2 after your return is filed and the information it contains does not match the income or withheld tax that you reported on your return, you must file an amended return on Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return.

If you have questions about your Forms W-2 or 1099 or any other tax-related materials, please call or email.

Strange but True: Deduct Expenses That Others Paid

In a 2010 decision that is worth reviewing this tax season, the U.S. Tax Court concluded that a daughter could deduct medical expenses and real-estate taxes on her Form 1040 even though they were covered by gifts from her mother. The gifts were in the form of direct payments by the mother to the medical service providers and local government entities.

The Tax Court’s decision (Judith Lang, TC Memo 2008-286) may surprise you, because you probably think a taxpayer can never deduct expenses that were paid by someone else. Not necessarily true!

Since it is now tax-return time, let’s put this in the context of how it might affect your 2014 Form 1040.

Medical Expenses

For the 2014 tax year, you can generally deduct medical expenses to the extent they exceed 10% of your adjusted gross income (AGI), or 7.5% of AGI if either you or your spouse was age 65 or older as of Dec. 31, 2014. AGI is the number at the bottom of the first page of your Form 1040; it includes all taxable income items and selected deductions such as the ones for alimony paid, self-employed health-insurance premiums and moving expenses.

In this Tax Court case, the Internal Revenue Service argued that the daughter couldn’t deduct the medical expenses because she didn’t pay for them with her own money. The Tax Court disagreed. The facts of the case demonstrated that the mother intended the medical-expense payments to be gifts to her daughter. Therefore, the Tax Court characterized the transactions as gifts from the mother to the daughter followed by payment of the medical expenses by the daughter with the gifted funds. So the daughter was allowed to count $24,559 of medical expenses that were actually paid by the mother plus some expenses the daughter paid with her own funds in calculating her medical-expense deduction. Read more

What to Do With Your Income Tax Records – Record Retention Guidelines

Are you ready for a major housecleaning but not sure how long you need to keep old income tax records? Before throwing away important income tax records, consider the following general guidelines.

The general rule under federal income tax regulations requires you to keep your records as long as the contents may be material to the administration of the tax law.

The retention periods apply to records needed to substantiate your federal income tax return and are generally based on the federal statute of limitations, which is normally three years. This means the IRS could audit your return up to three years from the due date of the tax return or the date of filing, whichever is later. However, if you substantially underreport income, fail to file a return or file a fraudulent return, the statute of limitations could be much longer.

In addition, the statute of limitations in some states exceeds the federal statute, or the states have laws or regulations that require taxpayers to maintain records beyond the state’s statute of limitations, often to verify carryovers, etc.  The state of California has a 4 year statute.

Tailor your years of retention to the longer of the federal or state requirements. In deciding your own record retention schedule, consider indefinitely keeping those records that cannot be recreated by any other office, institution or governmental unit. Also, keep in mind your own financial concerns that may affect the length of time you keep your records. Most importantly, consult with your attorney for approval of any record retention policy. Read more

2014 Client Organizer

The attached client organizer is designed to help you gather tax information needed to prepare your 2013 personal income tax return.  Click on the link below to access the client organizer.

Blank Organizer