For those of you who are receiving your first 

South Bay Tax Report, 

we like to answer those frequently asked questions we receive. As you will realize below, some of them are actual questions and some of them, not - so - much....

I'm ready - I have my W-2, my deductions, and I am ready to file. 

How can I make it happen?

 Well, YOU may be ready, but the IRS will not open the filing window until January 31st.

The IRS lost several critical (?) weeks of preparation when the government shut down several months ago - 

you remember the government shut down several months ago, right? 

No electronic returns will be accepted before January 31st, so sit back, be patient, and spend your time making your Super Bowl pick.

My New Year's resolution is to make sure I don't end up on that television show about hoarders!

What can I shred?

What can I destroy?

We get this question every day; in fact, we get this question two and three times a day, especially right after January 1st when you are all making those resolutions that you forget by month-end. 

Note that it's generally a good idea to keep all of your tax returns permanently. 

You CAN generally destroy supporting documents after four years. 

Those dry cleaning receipts, matchbooks, the name of your favorite song that you wrote down on a piece of scratch paper - they can usually go NOW!

For those of you who live here in beautiful Hermosa Beach, the city is hosting a Document Shredding Event;

 wow, does that sound like fun!

It is Saturday, January 25th from 9am - 3pm as Hermosa Beach apparently has lots to shred. 

It's in the City Hall Parking lot and they indicate there is no limit on how much you can bring!

As a special treat, you can actually watch them shred your items! It sounds to us like accountants are running the document shredding event!!

We also have a document retention schedule on our website. Be sure to visit it for more information.

My cousin in Maryland itemizes his deductions. I'm not able to itemize, what is it about Maryland?

 The Pew Charitable Trust has recently released a study indicating the stark differences between tax breaks claimed around the country.

About 48% of the filers in Maryland claim itemized deductions, the highest percentage in the country.  Oddly, the taxpayers in West Virginia seem to have bad tax preparers as only about 18% of the filers there itemize.

Average taxpayers in New York claim $34k in itemized deductions, while Alaska taxpayers seem to claim only about $20k in itemized deductions. Perhaps those Alaskan moose destroy all of the receipts!

Southern states claim more Earned Income Tax Credits and Additional Child Tax Credits. Filers in Mississippi are the most likely to claim the EITC and appear to have the most children as 33% of the households claim the earned income tax credit and 23% claim the child credit.

What is a tax organizer?

Oh my, you are a new client, aren't you?

A tax organizer is NOT someone named Edgar who organizes all of your receipts. 

A tax organizer is a document that we can - fairly cheerfully - provide you which lists those items we need to help you reduce your tax bill, and in many cases, shows the amounts of those items you claimed last year so that you might check this year's numbers for reasonableness.

Our Executive Vice President for Office Operations, Gina, 

(we give titles, not raises), 

can provide you with a short form organizer, a long-form paper organizer or one of our famous electronic organizers if you call and confess certain digits of your social security number and your last six girlfriends....okay, we're not serious about the girlfriends but if you give us that information, the office will talk about you for weeks.

 Remember, we're happy to take information electronically - we prefer pdf copies of the information. 

We cannot open or accept ZIP files and

we utilize Smart Vault, a cloud-based encrypted storage system. 

Gina can open a Smart Vault account for you - it's free, 

you control the access and password. 

How Do I File Electronically?

We're thrilled you asked that question as this year you can send your signed e-file authorizations to a new address established JUST for e-filing.

Send your authorizations to us at 

efile@wvcpas.com

Anything new this year?

We always love that question.

We DO have a new kitchen, some new bathrooms, and Gary claims to have a new mouse for his computer but he last changed his mouse in 1986 so we're not sure about that.

However, if you are actually asking about tax issues, note that:

• There is a new Medicare surtax on investment income for those of you making more that $250,000;
• The IRS continues to want more information about those bank accounts and foreign investments you have accumulated over the years;
• Personal exemptions might be curtailed if your income is more than $300,000;
• Itemized deductions will be reduced for those married couples who make more than $300,000;
• The top tax bracket has increased; it's now 39.6% for those of you who make more than $400,000;
• While it has always been difficult to save taxes with medical expense deductions, that's become even harder as now the medical expenses must exceed 10% of your adjusted gross income;
• Members of same-sex couples whose marriages are recognized under state or federal law and who were married as of the end of 2013 must either file jointly or use married-filing-separately status. 

 Whew, that's exhausting!

We've not even spoken about changes due to 

the Affordable Care Act.

It takes training, experience and more training for Mike, Gary and the staff to stay on top of this - 

And you thought we were all just pretty faces!

Remind me again - what are the mileage rates for 2014?

The 2014 mileage rate for business is 56 cents, for medical or moving is 23.5 cents, and for charity driving is 14 cents.

I'd like to come by and see Gary and/or Mike tomorrow.

Would 9am be good?

Tax season is about the only time of the year that people want to stop by and see Mike and Gary. 

You know what they say about CPAs - 

They're actuaries without a sense of humor....

Anyway, our appointment calendar for appointments between February 1st and March 31st (the last date we can see you and finish your returns before April 15th) fills.

Call early, be flexible and remember - 

 we here at Wayland & Vukadinoivch LLP make a serious effort at insuring you pay the lowest possible tax, 

we just try to make it look fun and easy. 

   As part of my New Year resolutions, I'm cleaning out my closet AND my email box.

Remind me how I unsubscribe to these juvenile emails?

Juvenile?

We actually were aiming for infantile but 

perhaps we're splitting hairs.

Simply "Unsubscribe" to our emails using the safe link at the bottom of this page.

 Are there any new faces at Wayland & Vukadinovich?

  Why, yes - Nancy Crest is our new Accounts Receivable Manager AND she makes sure your tax returns are printed, processed and perfect before they walk out the door. 

Nancy has been with us on a part-time basis for several tax seasons. She's with us full time now.

We've also brought Emily Yamate, a staff accountant on board. 

Emily may reach out to you to provide answers to questions that those big brains, Mike and Gary, have thought about and realize they need your help to answer.

Welcome both Nancy and Emily if you see them as you travel the - new - halls at the international headquarters of Wayland & Vukadinovich LLP. 

How often do you send these emails to us?

Fortunately for all of you, we don't send them out very often. This will be the last email alert until we recover from slumping exhausted over our large ancient desks, happy in the knowledge that we have done all we can to make sure your tax return is done professionally and competently.

Let's call April 30th as our next newsletter.

Go organize, we'll speak with all of you soon!