Have our distinguished senators and congresspersons passed any recent tax law changes?

 Actually, no - they've been busy with high-level issues like naming the US Courthouse in Martinsburg WV as the Craig Broadwater Federal Building, but earlier this year they extended a number of 2012 deductions and credits through the end of 2013, but no farther, so be sure to take advantage of the following this year.

If you are a teacher, you can deduct up to $250 in unreimbursed expenses for supplies (that's about 15 pencils and a ream of paper these days!).

If you pay a mortgage insurance premium, you may be able to deduct the premiums paid in 2013. There are income limits on this deduction, so we make no promises.

If you live in a low or "no" tax state like Nevada, Florida, Wyoming, Washington or the great state of Texas, you likely deducted sales tax as Congress allowed us to deduct either your state income tax OR sales tax paid. Starting in 2014, that sales tax deduction goes away so making purchases of big-ticket items this year end makes sense. 

If you pay tuition and fees for a college education for you or a dependent, you will sometimes find that the DEDUCTION for tuition works better than the TAX CREDIT. 

Alas, that deduction rides away into the sunset at the end of this year.

If you have certain debt canceled as a result of a foreclosure or short-sale of your personal residence, you haven't been taxed on that debt forgiveness these last few years due to special congressional provisions. 

Congress LOVES special congressional provisions, 

 but starting January 1, 2014, debt cancellation income on your personal residence may, in certain cases, be taxable. It will likely be in your best interest if you and your banker close that deal this year.

If you buy - and elect to expense - equipment for your small business, you have used Section 179 

( we DO SO LOVE to talk Internal Revenue Code). 

You could expense as much as $500,000 in 2013 but that limit drops to $25,000 starting in 2014.

 I drive my red sleigh thousands of miles every December, and I'm not reimbursed for mileage. 

Can I take any type of tax deduction?

You don't even want to know who asked this question, but the IRS DOES allow a deduction for unreimbursed mileage expenses. 

This year, the IRS increased the standard mileage rates. 

They have announced that the 2013 rate for business use of a car is 56.5 cents per mile, for medical or moving purposes the rate is 24 cents per mile and for those doing charitable driving - like our friend above - the rate is 14 cents per mile.

What gifts do Gary and Mike receive for Christmas?

Since they are long-time accountants, they prefer such traditional Christmas gifts as pocket protectors, adding machine tape, socks that don't match, and anything that makes fun of the Internal Revenue Service, but if you want to give them a wonderful gift this season, complete your tax organizer and provide all requested supporting documents.

My Russian uncle, Uncle Vladimir, gave me a Russian bank account with 1 million rubles. 

Does that mean anything?

Well, it means he gave you $30,000 AND a large headache.

First, the gift is not taxable to you.

Second, you'll want to make sure the Russian mob isn't looking for the money, and 

Third, you'll now be required to file under the 

US Bank Secrecy Act AND file a new form, 

the FinCEN Form 114 

which replaces the ever-popular TD F 90-22.1. 

It gets worse as the new FinCEN 114 must be filed electronically by june 30th each year.

Please note that the FinCEN 114 is not a part of your regular tax return and, hence, is not something we usually prepare but please notify us if you have signature authority over a foreign bank account like the account you received from your uncle so that we can confirm that you filed what is necessary and required.

Thanks again, Uncle Vladimir.

I can't wait to start preparing my tax information. 

Can I get an organizer?

An appointment?

It sounds as if you spent your Thanksgiving doing the same thing we did - getting ready for tax season!

Our appointment book opens December 16th.  

Office Queen Gina will be ready and - fairly - eager to take your calls and appointments.

If you'd like one of our long-form organizers, (either the paper or ever-more popular electronic version), please call Gina or email her at gina@wvcpas.com.

She will, of course, attempt to interrogate you to verify that you are you and will then promptly send the organizer of your choice.

Our regular, traditional 1-page organizer, the short-form version, will go out in the mail near year-end.

This year, working with our software vendor and most major brokerage houses, we will be able to download your 1099 information directly from the brokerage house once you've provided authorization.

Downloading insures accuracy and insures that Gary and Mike get a few more hours of sleep - try it!  

I'm tired of your emails. 

Your attempts at humor are not professional. 

How can I stop receiving these emails?

While it may appear that we CPAs are strong, confident professionals, we're actually very sensitive.

We're always thrilled when you read our emails but disappointed when you decide to move on. 

We certainly understand those who wish to discontinue this free client service 

(of course it's free, WHO would pay for it!). 

Simply venture to the bottom of the page to the SafeUnsubsribe feature, and we'll never share pictures of pumpkins, discuss beach life in Hermosa Beach or discuss the cosmic theory of Internal Revenue Code Section 1023 with you again.

And one thought about the upcoming tax season 

We're sure you've seen those commercials for various - ethical - drugs where they warn you about all of the things that MIGHT go wrong if you take the drug - drowsiness, stomach pain, vomiting, and a new inability to see anyone three feet in front of you, etc?

Well, no - we don't have a drug warning for you, but we do want to remind you that, given today's computer security concerns, we've adopted a few new rules for this coming tax season.

We can't accept "zip" files - we've seen far too many viruses coming out of Winzip and zip files, so please don't send data to us using this method of email - we can't open the file.

We won't access your Dropbox account - we use another cloud based, encrypted storage system called

"SmartVault." 

We love it, and we're happy to set up a SmartVault folder just for you where you can drop any documents you'd like us to review.

Lastly, for those of you with small businesses, we're thrilled when you provide us with your Quickbooks file, but some of you haven't upgraded your Quickbooks software since the Year 2k frenzy!

We'll only access your Quickbooks file if you use Quickbooks from 2011 or later years.

Now - if you have no idea what "Winzip," "Dropbox," and "Quickbooks" are, 

we're happy to continue taking the stone tablets you are writing on (...just kidding).

There - that wasn't so bad, was it?

No drowsiness, no stomach pain, 

and you can still read our email. 

Thanks for reading. 

Just one final note -

If you've not visited THE most visited website of an accounting firm located on Aviation Blvd in Hermosa Beach (okay, we know, that's a fairly small population...),

consider a visit to our new website, (fairly) full of information, pictures that don't include Mike and Gary, and links that may actually help you!

Visit it at

Wayland & Vukadinovich