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Business Tax Audits on the Rise Plus 2011 Tax Changes That Could Cost Your Business Over $6,000



The IRS is at it again. The stealthy and highly aggressive agency has added two new 1099 tax forms for businesses, requiring extra caution and countless more hours in reporting and preparing your tax returns. This means all business, no matter how small, will be affected. Whether big or small, it is essential to be aware of these new tax extensions NOW- or you could find yourself in BIG trouble when filing your tax return next year.

Additionally, we can expect the number of IRS audits to continue to rise for small-business owners in 2010. About 25% to 30% of my tax relief clients are small businesses with tax problems – so I know how important it is to avoid IRS penalties, IRS audits or other tax problems that could be detrimental to your business.

Neil deMause revealed in his CNNMoney.com article “Stealth IRS changes mean millions of new tax forms” these two new tax extensions:

1) 1099-K – an extension to the 1099 form, which requires businesses to report non-wage income (dividends, earned interest, contract work). The 1099-K addresses “hard -to-track” payment streams used by businesses: credit cards. From 2011, businesses making over 200 payment transactions per year (and totaling over $20,000) through credit or debit cards have to fill out the 1099-K, documenting the year’s transactions and send this to their clients and the IRS.  This will have little effect on companies currently reporting all credit card transactions to the IRS, though if you are not currently in the practice of doing so, it’ll be worth it to anticipate this for the near future.

2) 1099-Misc – used by companies use to record payments to individual service providers and freelance workers, has been massively expanded to include, from 2012, all annual business payments and purchases over $600. While previously payments to corporations and purchases of goods have been excluded, now all businesses need to obtain the taxpayer ID number of firm or individual you are paying. This form will now be a tracking mechanism used for any and all business transactions.

What This Means For Your Business: Swimming in Paperwork and Receipts!

The simple truth is that these extensions to tax legislation are quite the burden. There is a high probability you may get lost in the paperwork and tracking of receipts.  A small business currently spends 3 – 5 hours a year on average filing 1099 forms. A survey conducted by Pennsylvania-based SMC Business Councils, shows that filing these two 1099 extensions for services purchased from corporations only would cause a standard small business at least 200 filings per year and an additional cost of $6,000 in preparing yearly tax returns. This estimate excludes the requirement for filing 1099s for purchases of goods – this would cause a staggering increase.

How did this tax provision blizzard come upon us? This new legislation has been in the works since 2007 when a tax-gap study was conducted. This ‘tax gap’ between businesses and individuals costs the government about $300 billion per year in lost revenue. The study showed that adding additional 1099 tax extension forms could produce $345 billion per year in federal tax revenue and this is where the health reform bill comes into play. These two extension requirements are part of the health reform bill – snuck in the 2,000 page bill, allowing the government to track down unreported income. The goal of this new tax legislation is to catch income that is not currently reported to the IRS.

For more information on these tax extensions,  view draft versions of the 1099-K form and watch a video on “How to avoid a tax audit by the IRS” read the full article on CNNMoney.com.

If your business is under audit or you owe back taxes or IRS penalties – it’s important to get immediate tax relief to protect the future of your business. And you don’t want to go up against the IRS alone without the expert help of a professional tax attorney or Certified Tax Resolution Specialist.

Posted on: March 31st, 2011 Author: admin No Comments »
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Tax Records – How Long To Keep Them?



Most tax deadlines are easy to remember like the filing deadline or the due date to pay estimated tax payments however, when it comes to how long to keep tax records, most people do not have a clue. So you want to know, how long to keep tax records?

The easy answer is until the statute of limitations expires for that tax return. Records that should be kept include receipts, canceled checks, and other documents needed to prove to the IRS your filing was legitimate! This is usually three years from the DUE DATE for the tax return or when the return was actually filed with the IRS or two years from the date the tax was actually paid to the IRS, whichever is LATER. This is generally accepted as the time period in which the IRS can question your tax return.

NB: If you do not file your taxes or file a fraudulent or false tax return there is no statue of limitations. This is what trips up a lot of people, when the IRS comes knocking after 5 years and all of the tax records have been discarded after 3 years. You MUST know, it is the IRS that will claim that a tax return was fraudulent or false. Not filing any taxes at all is self explanatory.

Some tax records should be kept indefinitely, like property tax records. These records will be required to prove to the IRS your gain or loss when you sell the property.

Statute of Limitation provisions differ, here are some you should keep in mind:

You should retain documents verifying the value of real estate or stock until you sell them and realize a gain or loss plus the three-year statute of limitations on the tax return filed after that sale with the IRS.

Keep indefinitely copies of your tax returns. Yes, there is the statute of limitations is 3 years but it will not apply if the IRS suspects it was fraud or filed falsely. Keep those tax returns. Something else to consider is that without your knowledge the IRS changes many returns. The original may be necessary if IRS records are magically different from what you filed.

Keep tax records that relate to any claim with the IRS for a tax refund or tax credit that was based on bad debts or losses on worthless securities for at least seven years. You may find you need these in the future.

Net operating loss (NOL) can be carried back 2 years and carried forward 20 years. It is very important for you to keep your tax records until all net operating losses are used to offset taxable income and the carry forward term expires. Add the 3 year statute of limitations on the tax returns filed with the IRS that used the carry forward.

Beware: If it is found by the IRS that you understated your gross income by 25% or more the statute of limitations will be doubled to 6 years. Take this advice, if there is anything EVER questioned on your tax return, keep the return and all supporting documentation indefinitely

Also, in a case where a fraudulent tax return has been filed, or no tax return has been filed with the IRS, the IRS can make this assessment at any time.

Finally: An employer must keep all employment tax records for a minimum of 4 years after the taxes are due the IRS or have been paid, which ever is later.
Posted on: June 1st, 2010 Author: admin No Comments »
Filed under: Taxes Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,