The South Bay Tax Report
June 2015
Welcome to Summer!
We suspect you think that summer is our quiet time, that we simply slurp coffee from our recently acquired new coffee-maker, that we spend most of our hours gazing out the windows of our Hermosa Beach office waiting for NEXT tax season,
but that's a beach-based myth.
We're busy at work, taking seminars, reviewing IRS materials, reading those FASCINATING Tax Court cases and sharpening that adding machine
(okay, that's not the best metaphor)
in our effort to make sure that you only pay what you should be paying.
Those of you who have been with us know that this is your monthly
South Bay Tax Report,
our chance to catch you up on what we consider new and exciting
(yes, we believe tax news is EXCITING) developments in the world of income tax.
Remember, if you don't find these captivating newsletters THAT captivating, you can always safely unsubscribe at the bottom of this newsletter.
Mike and Gary are always looking for new topics, new ways to get great information out to you and this month we have decided to have the first annual
Salute To Tax Forms!
Stay with us on this one....
Form FINCEN 114
June 30th is fast-approaching and you may have a foreign bank account, perhaps a bank account in Italy that your grandfather "in the family business" left you, or maybe an account you set up last time you took at "Booze Cruise" to Costa Rica or Mexico.
If so, you want to know
FINCEN 114
FINCEN
is the government abbreviation for
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
Gulp.....Financial Crimes?
You must file this form electronically by June 30th each year if you have signature authority over any foreign bank account that had at least $10,000 in it at any time during the year.
Those kind and lovable government agents at the Financial CRIMES Enforcement Network take these disclosures seriously.
You should as well.
Form 5498
Many of you are interrupting our naps
(oops, we mean our "hard work")
at our desks this time of year by calling to tell us you received this form.
You're concerned because you believe it will change your already-filed 2014 tax return.
Worry not, taxpayers!
The 5498 is an "Information Only," return.
The bank or brokerage where you maintain your IRA , your Roth or your SEP IRA is required to tell the IRS what contributions and rollovers you made to that account during the year.
The form is due by July 31st and will not change what we have filed on your behalf for 2014.
Form 1040ES
Yes, many of you are familiar with 1040ES and it's California cousin, Form 540ES.
If you earn income from Social Security, rents, pensions, interest or dividends, or your grandfather's "Italian" business we mentioned above, you likely should be making estimated tax payments using these forms
The next payment due date is September 15th.
Form 14039
This is a relatively new form, the "Identity Theft Affidavit."
We're pushing this out to you far more frequently because we're seeing more and more and more and more cases of identity theft.
Usually, tax identity theft occurs when someone obtains your name and social security number
(and seldom a day goes by these days where some colossus corporation admits it gave up your data)
and files a tax return asking for a huge refund using bogus wage information prior to when you filed your actual return.
Form 14039 should be completed when the IRS has mailed you a notice indicating they suspect identity theft.
ALWAYS let us know if you have been so notified.
By the way,
our Identity Theft Coordinator Gina
(and no, that doesn't mean she coordinates all of our identify thefts, it means she can provide you information if our identify theft takes place)
reminds us that California has a similar form
(of course it does...)
That's Form 3552.
Form 709
We've often mentioned that you can give anyone (including us)
a gift of as much as $14,000 each year with no tax ramifications to either you or the individual to whom you gave the gift; but what if the gift was $114,000?
Well, then you will need to report that gift to the Internal Revenue Service on Form 709,
US Gift Tax Return.
Likely, you'll owe no tax today on that gift as you can gift more than $5 million during your lifetime without immediate tax consequences but those nosy Internal Revenue Service representatives want to know when you gift more than $14,000 so they can accumulate your lifetime gifts.
Form 1040X
Okay, we admit it.
Sometimes we make mistakes.
Sometimes you make mistakes.
Sometimes your bank, your brokerage, your employer, your accountant, your dog, your manager of an investment partnership, or your mother-in-law makes mistakes.
If these mistakes affect your tax return, you can easily correct the error by filing Form 1040X,
an amended US tax return.
If your dog makes a mistake, you'd best pick it up and move on, and
If your mother - in - law makes a mistake,
it's best for all of us to ignore it..
Form 990, Form 990-EZ and Form 990N
Wow!
Is there no limit to our
Salute to Forms?
Is there no limit to the number of forms that exist?
Of course, the answer to both questions is that there is NO limit, we tax accountants LOVE our forms.
So here's the story on the Form 990 series.
If you are an officer, director or very important person on a local - or national - tax-exempt organization, your organization has to file annually one of the above forms.
The Form 990N is the easiest, is a simple electronic postcard and is THE form to use if your garden club, your PTA, your tax-exempt soccer club has gross receipts of $50,000 or less in their year.
More receipts means more complexity which means you might graduate to the Form 990-EZ or Form 990
Form 1492
Okay, we admit it; there is no Form 1492.
We thought we'd just throw a random form number in here to see if you are paying attention.
Accountants have SUCH a great sense of humor.
Enjoy your Fourth of July holiday!
We here at Wayland & Vukadinovich LLP LOVE our jobs, but we'll not be here at our international headquarters on
July 3rd as we will be preparing to celebrate July 4th.
We'll be back this next month with a new edition of
"Frequently Asked Questions".
Contact Us