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Tax Tips Newsletter
Serving you since 1993
November 2013 - Vol 8, Issue 11
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Greetings!
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Happy Thanksgiving! I wish you and your family and friends a wonderful holiday. Our office will be closed November 28 - December 1st. I will be on vacation from November 21 - December 5, but will be checking my e-mails while I am gone.

In the past few years I have seen that most of my clients are computer savvy and really prefer to receive documents electronically. For that reason I will be sending out the 2013 tax organizers by e-mail. The organizer is not a fill-in PDF file. It is just a PDF copy of the paper organizer you have received in past years. You will need to print out the appropriate pages, fill them in and return to us. If you would prefer to receive your organizer by mail, please let me know by December 15.

I was at a California Society of CPAs (CalCPA) Council meeting last week and one of the issues that was discussed was the Affordable Care Act. CalCPA has their own healthcare plan that they offer to their members. A couple of points that were made I want to share with you.

The government regulations on parts of the plan were released late. CalCPA did not have some of the information until March 2013 which did not give them lots of time to design the plans, website and roll it out. Consequently those delays postponed the rollout.

People are being cancelled because their existing plan does not fit into the current ACA requirements. For instance, their existing plan does not cover maternity coverage or one of the other features that an ACA plan must have.

As of today you will be allowed to keep your existing plan, however I wanted to bring these facts to your attention for a better understanding of what some of the issues are.

Many thanks for your referrals. I appreciate your confidence in my staff and me.

Taxes with flag
The 16-day government shut-down in October created sizable work backlogs at the IRS. The IRS reports that it received 400,000 pieces of correspondence during the closure, and that was in addition to the one million items already being processed prior to the shut-down.

The heavy demand on its services has resulted in the IRS deciding to delay the start of the 2014 filing season.

The delay was made necessary, according to the IRS, to allow time to program, test, and validate IRS systems for the 2014 filing season, a job that normally is done during the fall of each year.

However, this does not take into account any changes that need to be made by the tax software companies to make sure that their programs will be ready. If this delay is anything like last year, tax preparers may not be able to process tax returns until mid or late February. We will have to wait and see how soon everyone gets up and running.

There is no delay in the filing deadline for 2013 individual tax returns, however. That deadline is set by law and remains April 15, 2014.
Dollars and coins
It sounds like a crossword puzzle clue: Name a seven-letter medieval word that can affect your 21st century business.

The term is "escheat," and today it means turning over abandoned property, such as unclaimed security deposits and outstanding accounts receivable credits, to state officials. Your business may be both a holder of unclaimed property and a claimant.

For instance, say you're holding an uncashed payroll check for a former employee. If the check remains outstanding, as the holder you may have to file a form with your state treasurer reporting the amount of the unclaimed property. You might also have a responsibility for attempting to contact your former employee. Then, after a time period set by state law, you'll generally be required to turn the funds over to officials or face penalties for failing to do so.

Since escheat applies to banks, insurance companies, utilities, and other businesses, you could also discover your company needs to file a claim to recover property that's rightfully yours. This could be the case if, for example, you moved your corporate office and neglected to apply for a refund of your utility deposit.

Finding out if you have a claim is free. Just search property databases for various states where your business has operated.

Not sure how escheat laws apply to your business? Contact me if you want more information or assistance.
Cornucopia
Tax Tip of the Week: With the nullification of DOMA this year, if you're part of a legally married same-sex couple there may be some changes to your previous tax returns. It may be worth having your tax preparer check out previous tax years. I've already done this for my clients and some have benefited from doing amended returns.

Business Tip of the Month: As a business owner one of the most difficult things you have to do to save your business is to reduce your payroll. Reducing employee hours, eliminating positions or combining work loads are really tough decisions as your employees and their families are affected. Check out this article for more information.

Financial Tip of the Month : Our mail boxes are filled with offers of "zero-interest" credit cards when we transfer balances from one credit card to this one. Read the fine print and see if it really is "zero-interest." Usually there's a hidden fee. Read this article for more info.

Fraud Alert: With the implication of Obamacare comes a whole new field of opportunity for the scammers to steal our identity and make off with our hard-earned money. Read up on these scams noted in this article so you are prepared if you are confronted with one of theee.
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Let me know if I can help you with any Quickbooks problems.

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Sincerely,
Linda Heineman
Linda L. Heineman, CPA

phone: 626-577-0979