Taxes

Questions about “Making Work Pay” and other federal tax credits topped the list of queries CPAs received on the Buffalo News tax panel. Buffalo chapter members volunteered to answer the phones at the Buffalo News offices on the evening of March 18 to help residents with tax questions. The Buffalo News covered the event with an article published March 19.

Gov. David Paterson is reportedly delaying the issuance of state income tax refunds by about two weeks for hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. Officials in New York insist that while there is currently a halt in the issuing of state refund checks, it is only for two more weeks, and only because the state cannot issue any more refunds until the new fiscal year starts on April 1, according to ABC News.

Here are the rules regarding delayed refunds, according to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance:

The IRS dispatched two agents to a Sacramento car wash in order to collect four cents in unpaid taxes that the business had owed since 2006. Well, that and the $202.31 in penalties, fees and interest that the four cent debt had generated.

Senate Democrats plan to use the obscure parliamentary procedure known as reconciliation to circumvent a potential Republican filibuster and pass the health care reform bill with a simple majority. The news comes from Sen.

If you (or one of your clients) is considering the purchase of a first home, time is running out to partner this particular joy with a healthy tax break.

A group of 13 ministers have urged the IRS to investigate whether a Washington D.C. townhouse used as a home-away-from-home for Christian lawmakers actually constitutes a church as its owners insist.

Busy season is here, but that hasn’t stopped CPAs from helping their communities as volunteers on the NYSSCPA’s annual tax panels.

CPAs cooperate with local newspapers on the call-in lines, answering tax questions from the public at several panels around the state. Newspapers cover the tax panels and the write about the questions received, often providing publicity for the CPAs who participate. Five panels are taking place at the following newspapers this year:

The $787 billion stimulus package passed during the depths of the recession is officially one year old today, with a progress report on how the program has affected the economy due out later this afternoon.

The IRS has released its annual list of tax tips, intended to help taxpayers and practitioners navigate changes to the intricate Internal Revenue Code.

The issues tackled in this series include:

NYSSCPA member Ginger Broderick, who serves on the Society's Estate Planning Committee, was interviewed in a NY1 "Money Matters" segment about a new IRS rule that will allow a 2009 tax deduction for monetary donations to qualified Haitian relief organizations.