IRS Reminds Parents of Ten Tax Benefits 

Your kids can be helpful at tax time. That doesn’t mean they’ll sort your tax receipts or refill your coffee, but those charming children may help you qualify for some valuable tax benefits. Here are 10 things the IRS wants parents to consider when filing their taxes this year.

1. Dependents: In most cases, a child can be claimed as a dependent in the year they were born. For more information see IRS Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information.

2. Child Tax Credit: You may be able to take this credit for each of your children under age 17. If you do not benefit from the full amount of the Child Tax Credit, you may be eligible for the Additional Child Tax Credit. For more information see IRS Publication 972, Child Tax Credit.

3. Child and Dependent Care Credit: You may be able to claim this credit if you pay someone to care for your child or children under age 13 so that you can work or look for work. See IRS Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses.

4. Earned Income Tax Credit: The EITC is a tax benefit for certain people who work and have earned income from wages, self-employment or farming. EITC reduces the amount of tax you owe and may also give you a refund. IRS Publication 596, Earned Income Credit, has more details.

5. Adoption Credit: You may be able to take a tax credit for qualifying expenses paid to adopt an eligible child. If you claim the adoption credit, you must file a paper tax return with required adoption-related documents.  For details, see the instructions for IRS Form 8839, Qualified Adoption Expenses.

6. Children with earned income: If your child has income earned from working, they may be required to file a tax return. For more information, see IRS Publication 501.

7. Children with investment income: Under certain circumstances a child’s investment income may be taxed at their parent’s tax rate. For more information, see IRS Publication 929, Tax Rules for Children and Dependents.

8. Higher education credits: Education tax credits can help offset the costs of higher education. The American Opportunity and the Lifetime Learning Credits are education credits that can reduce your federal income tax dollar-for-dollar. See IRS Publication 970, Tax Benefits for Education, for details.

9. Student loan interest: You may be able to deduct interest paid on a qualified student loan, even if you do not itemize your deductions. For more information, see IRS Publication 970.

10. Self-employed health insurance deduction: If you were self-employed and paid for health insurance, you may be able to deduct any premiums you paid for coverage for any child of yours who was under age 27 at the end of the year, even if the child was not your dependent. For more information, see the IRS website.

This last one is a good tip to ask a Laughlin Associates business consultant about. As the leading incorporation services provider since 1972, we can help you as a small business owner to get the most out of your tax deductions. In fact, if you’re self-employed we can help you get as much 45% back on your taxes this time next year. Want to learn more? Call Laughlin Associates at 1-800-648-0966 or email lee@laughlinusa.com.

*Tips provided by IRS.gov

People often work beyond the “normal” retirement age. Here’s how extending your work life can affect your taxes and retirement benefits.

“Normal” retirement age is not a fixed number. For social security purposes, the “full” retirement age threshold ranges from 65 to 67, depending on your birth date. However, you can elect to start receiving lower payments as early as age 62, or you can maximize your benefits by forgoing them until you’re 70. Once you reach age 70, there’s no incentive to postpone your benefits further, since you’ll already have reached your maximum.

* Earnings limit. If you’re working, you probably should forgo the early payment option. Benefits received before full retirement age will be reduced by $1 for every $2 earned over an annual limit (currently $14,160). However, you will receive a compensating increase when you do reach full retirement age, and your payments will not be reduced thereafter no matter how much you earn.

* Taxable benefits. Whether or not you draw benefits, you’ll continue to pay social security and Medicare taxes on any income you earn from wages or self-employment. Up to 85% of your benefits may become subject to income tax, depending on the amount of your other income.

* Medicare. Medicare eligibility begins the year you reach age 65. The program encompasses four types of coverage: hospital insurance, general medical insurance, Medicare Advantage, and prescription drug coverage.

Working beyond retirement age can require several complex decisions. Call us for help with planning the outcome that’s best for you.

You can contact me at 1-800-648-0966 or rrees@laughlinusa.com.

If wedding bells are in your future, your tax situation will be changing also. For starters, your tax filing status will change. You will have the choice of filing a joint return with your spouse or filing a separate return as a married person.

Filing a joint return usually gives you the bigger tax savings. Both spouses’ income and deductions for the entire year will be combined onto one return. Any deductions that are subject to limitations will be determined based on the combined income of both spouses.

In some cases, filing a separate return may save you taxes. A spouse who has high medical expenses or miscellaneous itemized deductions and low income, for example, might be better off filing a separate return.

However, you may not claim certain credits and deductions if you file separate returns.  Generally, only if you file a joint return can you claim the child and dependent care credit, the earned income credit or education credits. Filing separate returns could affect the taxability of your social security benefits and the deductibility of rental losses.

The tax law has been changed to eliminate some of the additional tax that married couples once paid (called the “marriage penalty”). However, once you marry, you should review your federal income tax withholding at work. Fill out a new Form W-4 and indicate that you are married.

Several other limitations may come into play once you get married. For example, your IRA contribution may not be deductible if your spouse is covered by a retirement plan at work and your income exceeds certain limits.

Newlyweds can be faced with a surprise tax bill on April 15 unless they do advance planning. For details or planning guidance, give us a call. You can reach me at 1-800-648-0966 or shoot me an email at rrees@laughlinusa.com.

Ever wonder why some tax returns are audited by the IRS while most are ignored? Well, there’s a whole host of reasons to this age-old question. The IRS audits only about 1% of all individual tax returns annually. The agency doesn’t have enough personnel and resources to examine each and every tax return filed during a year. So the odds are pretty low that your return will be picked for an audit. And of course, the only reason filers should worry about an audit is if they are cheating on their taxes.

However, the chances of you being audited or otherwise hearing from the IRS can increase depending upon various factors, including whether you omitted income, the types of deductions or losses claimed, certain credits taken, foreign asset holdings and math errors, just to name a few. Although there’s no sure way to avoid an IRS audit, you should be aware of red flags that could increase your chance of drawing some unwanted attention from the IRS. Here are the 12 most important ones:

1.. Failure to report all taxable income. The IRS receives copies of all 1099s and W-2s that you receive during a year, so make sure that you report all required income on your tax return. The IRS computers are pretty good at matching these forms received with the income shown on your return. A mismatch sends up a red flag and causes the IRS computers to spit out a bill. If you receive a 1099 for income that isn’t yours or the income listed is incorrect, get the issuer to file a corrected form with the IRS.

2.. Returns claiming the home-buyer credit. First-time homebuyers and longtime homeowners who claimed the homebuyer credit should be prepared for IRS scrutiny. Make sure you submit proper documentation when taking this credit. First-time homebuyers have to attach a copy of their settlement statement to the return, and longtime homeowners should also attach documents showing prior ownership of a home, including records of property tax and insurance coverage. All claims for this credit are being screened. As of May 2010, more than 260,000 returns had been selected for correspondence audits (examinations done by mail rather than face-to-face) because filers did not attach the necessary documents to their tax returns. And those numbers will continue to grow.

Also, the IRS has ways of policing the recapture of the homebuyer credit. Generally, the credit is required to be recaptured if the home is sold within three years for homes bought in 2009 or 2010 and within 15 years for homes bought before 2009. The IRS is checking public real estate databases for sales of homes in which the credit was taken.

3.. Claiming large charitable deductions. This comes up again and again because the IRS has found abuse on audit, especially with those taking larger deductions. We all know that charitable contributions are a great write-off and help you to feel all warm and fuzzy inside. However, if your charitable deductions are disproportionately large compared to your income, it raises a red flag. That’s because the IRS can tell what the average charitable donation is for a person in your tax bracket. Also, if you don’t get an appraisal for donations of valuable property or if you fail to file Form 8283 for donations over $500, the chances of audit increase. Be sure you keep all your supporting documents, including receipts for cash and property contributions made during the year, and abide by the documentation rules. And attach Form 8283 if required.

4.. Home office deduction. The IRS is always very interested in this deduction, primarily because it has a pretty high adjustment rate on audit. This is because history has shown that many people who claim a home office don’t meet all the requirements for properly taking the deduction, and others may overstate the benefit. If you qualify, you can deduct a percentage of your rent, real estate taxes, utilities, phone bills, insurance, and other costs that are properly allocated to the home office. That’s a great deal. However, in order to take this write-off, the space must be used exclusively and on a regular basis as your principal place of business. That makes it difficult to claim a guest bedroom or children’s playroom as a home office, even if you also use the space to conduct your work. Exclusive use means a specific area of the home is used only for trade or business, not also where the family watches TV at night. Don’t be afraid to take the home-office deduction if you’re otherwise entitled to it. Risk of audit should not keep you from taking legitimate deductions. If you have it and can prove it, then use it.

5.. Business meals, travel and entertainment. Schedule C is a treasure trove of tax deductions for self-employed. But it’s also a gold mine for IRS agents, who know from past experience that self-employed tend to claim excessive deductions. Most under-reporting of income and overstating of deductions are done by those who are self-employed. And the IRS looks at both higher-grossing sole proprietorships as well as smaller ones.

Big deductions for meals, travel and entertainment are always ripe for audit. A large write-off here will set off alarm bells, especially if the amount seems too large for the business. Agents know that many filers slip in personal meals here or fail to satisfy the strict substantiation rules for these expenses. To qualify for meals or entertainment deductions, you must keep detailed records generally documenting the following for each expense: amount, place, persons attending, business purpose and nature of discussion or meeting. Also, receipts are required for expenditures over $75 or any expense for lodging while traveling away from home. Without proper documentation, your deduction is toast.

6.. Claiming 100% business use of vehicle. Another area that is ripe for IRS review is use of a business vehicle. When you depreciate a car, you have to list on Form 4562 what percentage of its use during the year was for business. Claiming 100% business use for an automobile on Schedule C is red meat for IRS agents. They know that it’s extremely rare that an individual actually uses a vehicle 100% of the time for business, especially if no other vehicle is available for personal use. IRS agents are trained to focus on this issue and will closely scrutinize your records. Make sure you keep very detailed mileage logs and precise calendar entries for the purpose of every road trip. Sloppy recordkeeping makes it easy for the revenue agent to disallow your deduction. As a reminder, even if you use the IRS’ standard mileage rate to deduct your business vehicle costs, ensure that you are not also claiming actual expenses for maintenance, insurance and other out-of-pocket costs. The IRS has found filer noncompliance in this area as well and will look for this.

7.. Claiming a loss for a hobby activity. Your chances of “winning” the audit lottery increase if you have wage income and file a Schedule C with large losses. And, if your Schedule C loss-generating activity sounds like a hobby — horse breeding, car racing and such — the IRS pays even more attention. It’s issued guidelines to its agents on how to sniff out those who improperly deduct hobby losses. Large Schedule C losses are audit bait, but reporting losses from activities in which it looks like you might be having a good time is just asking for IRS scrutiny.

Tax laws don’t allow you to deduct hobby losses on Schedule C. However, you do have to report any income earned from your hobbies. In order to claim a hobby loss, your activity must be entered into and conducted with the reasonable expectation of making a profit. If your activity generates profit three out of every five years (or two out of seven years for horse breeding), the law presumes you’re in business to make a profit, unless the IRS establishes to the contrary. If audited, the IRS is going to make you prove you have a legitimate business and not a hobby. So, make sure you run your activity in a business-like manner and can provide supporting documents for all expenses.

8.. Cash businesses. Small business owners, especially those in cash-intensive businesses — taxi drivers, car washes, bars, hair salons, restaurants and the like — are an easy target for IRS auditors. The agency is well aware that those who primarily receive cash in their business are less likely to accurately report all of their taxable income. The IRS wants to narrow the tax gap, and history has shown that cash-based businesses are a good source of audit adjustments. It has a new guide for agents to use when auditing cash intensive businesses, telling how to interview owners and noting various indicators of unreported income.

9.. Failure to report a foreign bank account. The IRS is intensely interested in people with offshore accounts, especially those in tax havens. U.S. tax authorities have had some recent success in trying to get foreign banks (such as UBS in Switzerland) to disclose information on U.S. account holders. Also, the IRS had a voluntary compliance program where people came in and reported their foreign bank accounts and foreign assets in exchange for lesser penalties than they would have otherwise been subject to. The IRS has learned a lot from these probes.

Failure to report a foreign bank account can lead to pretty severe penalties, and the IRS has made this issue a top priority. Make sure that if you have any such accounts, you properly report them when you file your return. Keep in mind, though, that if you have never previously reported the foreign bank account on your return, and you decide to do so for the first time in 2010, that might also look suspicious to the IRS.

10. Engaging in currency transactions. The IRS gets many reports of cash transactions in excess of $10,000 involving banks, casinos, car dealers and other businesses, plus suspicious activity reports from banks and disclosures of foreign accounts. A recent report by Treasury inspectors concluded that these currency transaction reports are a valuable source of audit leads for sniffing out unreported income. The IRS agreed and it will make greater use of these forms in its audit process. So if you are a person who makes large cash purchases or deposits, be prepared for IRS scrutiny. Also, beware that banks and other institutions file reports on suspicious activities that appear to avoid the currency transaction rules (such as persons depositing $9,500 cash one day and an additional $9,500 cash two days later).

11. Math errors. One of the biggest reasons that people receive a letter from the IRS is because of mathematical mistakes they make on their tax returns. If you make an error in your favor, you are going to hear from the tax man, and there is a greater risk of the IRS pulling the whole return for audit. So take time to ensure all your calculations are correct. Even though math errors may not lead to a full-blown audit, it’s always best to remain under the radar of IRS computers.

12. Taking higher-than-average deductions. If deductions on your return are disproportionately large compared to your income, the IRS audit formulas take this into account when selecting returns for examination. Screeners then pull the most questionable returns for review. But if you’ve got the proper documentation for your deduction, don’t be scared to claim it. There’s no reason to ever pay the IRS more tax than you actually owe.

 Article from Kiplingers.com