Calculate the profit from mining Equihash-based currencies (Zcash, Bitcoin Gold) on MinerGate. Please note that it is an estimated amount of cryptocoins you can get. The calculations are based on the current pool fee, 0% bad shares and doesn't account for orphan blocks or uncles. Your profit depends on network difficulty, block reward, transactions amount and fee. Exchange rates are provided. Calculation is based on the following formula: Reward = ((hashrate * block_reward) / current_difficulty * 2^13) * (1 - pool_fee) * 3600. Custom plan 1.69 USD for 1 H/s custom quantity H/s No maintenance fee / 2 year mining contract WHY INVEST IN THIS PLAN • One-time price of purchasing the contract • You start mining immediately • All electricity rates covered by CCG Mining • Hardware is at a remote location, no rental fee • You do not need to upgrade your hardware • No cost of additional equipment • • No loud noise • No excessive heat • No cost of cooling • No managing cost • You can get any type of hashing power in any quantity immediately. Bitcoin Cash/USD price-calculator: Bitcoin Cash (BCH) to US Dollar (USD) converter 1 BCH is worth 1.509,05$ Bitcoin Cash chart, price, exchange rate & converter.
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Cloud mining is a business concept that allows users to buy a share of mining power of the hardware placed in remote data centers. Everybody can earn extra revenue with little risk and frequent payouts. Ether as a currency is the fuel for the Ethereum project and therefore an essential part of this smart-contracts platform. If you want to invest in Ethereum mining without the hassle of managing your hardware and software, cloud mining is currently the best option. It offers a unique opportunity for mining with a low cost of entry as well as minimal risk and expense, which is opposite to traditional models of mining that involve maintenance and configuration of specialized hardware. Best Ethereum cloud mining providers • has been involved with cryptocurrencies since the inception of Bitcoin and has years of experience in the field of mining cryptocurrencies. This Estonian company is now also offering Ethereum mining plans with no maintenance fees. Live Ether price from all markets and ETH coin market. Mining Calculators. Bitcoin (BTC) Ethereum. CryptoCompare needs a newer browser in order to work. Live Ether price from all markets and ETH coin market. Mining Calculators. Bitcoin (BTC) Ethereum. CryptoCompare needs a newer browser in order to work. Inline Mantis Images Kameto Live Extension Learn Dutch Likepusher Cookies Live.pics.io - Live Photo Sharing. BMT Tax Depreciation Calculator Basic Black (Aero) Be Tuned - Microphone and Ear Tuner. JIRA Cloud Kanban Combined WIP Extension Jay Chou - People Jennifer Lopez New Tab Just Stream. An easy to use crypto-currency finance utility used to calculate a Ethereum miner's potential profits in ETH and multiple fiat currencies. The calculator fetches price and network data from the internet and only requires the hash rate (speed of mining) from the user. A projected future profit chart is created dynamically and.Missing. How to mine Ethereum 'the Easy Way' - an Ethereum Mining. CryptoCompare is an interactive platform where. 1xBit has a variety of games available like live. Also, the minimum order amount and the hash rate is very low (100 KH/s with the price of 2.2 USD), so you can start with low investment and see how it goes. Use Hashflare discount code 2018 HF17QWL22TR4 for a 4% discount (over 1000$ only). • is the largest and most trusted Bitcoin cloud mining provider in the world, now also running Ethereum mining plans. They provide all the information about their services, they are actively involved in the community and they even have a live stream of their mining farms. If you sign up through link, you will get a discount on existing Ethereum mining prices. 3% discount code: zKcyxP We have mining contracts with these three mining companies and as long as they are on this list above, they pay every day and are reliable! Is Ethereum cloud mining profitable? Mining profitability depends on a few different factors, related to cloud mining the most important two are Ethereum market price and of course cloud mining price. In general, you just need to compare how much you pay to rent the hardware and how much coins you get in return. Calculators give you an estimate of your projected profit. However, they can not 100% predict the future, especially not the Ether price. Some cloud mining providers already give you an estimate of return on investment with their pricing and costs data already filled in, so please check individual providers websites. Update on Ethereum cloud mining profitability – January 8, 2018 Our mining plan at has 25 MH/s mining power and gives us 3.4 US$ daily (ETH price stands at 1100$ and there are no maintenance or electricity fees). Currently, you pay for the same contract 550$. If Ether price and difficulty stay the same, payback time for this cloud mining plan is less than 6 months. As a contract lasts a year, you are 6 months in profit. Plan has a payback period of 10 months, but as they sell two-year contracts, last 14 months of mining is your profit. With your payback will be a bit sooner. How to start cloud mining? First, join the cloud mining pool by simply buying shares online. You need to choose a plan, pay for it and you will start mining immediately after purchase. By signing Ethereum mining contract, your provider will take care of all mining tasks, maintenance, and upkeep while you just sit back and receive your share of mined coins. With Ethereum cloud mining services, there is no need for your mining computer, no need for high electricity bills, no dealing with software and installation trouble and no mining knowledge is required. Buying a cloud mining hash power takes care of all this for you. You will receive daily or weekly payouts to your Ethereum wallet address (it depends on the plan, but usually payouts are done daily). You need to pay in advance for hashing power and contracts often come in the form of a 1-year contract or unlimited (until mining with rented hardware is profitable). The only thing to keep eyes on is the current Ethereum value, so that you stay in profit and that you do not pay more for hashing power than you get out of Ethereum production. If you do not own a lot of hardware, we believe cloud mining is the best option to generate Ethereum as a digital currency. Cloud mining also allows users to form pools where their joint efforts are rewarded with greater income, compared to mining with individual hardware. We recommend Hashflare We want to give you a few more details about Ethereum mining plans (ETHASH). This is a real Ether mining plan, the fuel for the Ethereum project. As contracts last for a year, and there are no maintenance fees. You can purchase Ethereum mining contract by Bitcoin, wire transfer, credit card and alternative payment methods such as Webmoney and Payeer. They also have regular promotions, where their customers receive automatic upgrades or promo codes to have percentages added to their hashpower, or to have percentages off of their contract price. Watch your email after a signup (you may also use HF17PLUSBTC3 discount code for an immediate 3% discount). At Hashflare you can also mine Bitcoin and a few other crypto-coins. Save some money with when buying cloud mining services. Genesis mining and Hashflare promo codes / vouchers included. Cloud mining issues with Bitcoin You are probably aware that Bitcoin cloud mining had a few issues in the past. There were a lot of companies that were deceptive. They pretended to have mining facilities, often taking photos from other providers and claiming them as their own, but in reality, they did not own anything, and they just took your money. Cloud mining providers often disappeared with your Bitcoins (we already lost some money when we tested various cloud mining providers for our readers). Ethereum is newer altcoin, and there are only a few providers on the market so far. Ethereum market is more transparent compared to Bitcoin’s market. However, we have to be awake as scamming companies will appear sooner or later. Other Ethereum cloud mining providers Some are untested, please use at your own risk. • – they offer Ethereum Lifetime Contracts with weekly payouts. They own two data centers build up especially for the purpose of cryptocurrency mining. And since year 2015 they are offering mining contracts with a guaranteed return on investment. • – hashpower marketplace to buy or sell hashing power without contracts. • – owns 3 of China’s largest mining farms with low-cost electricity. It provides stable and profitable cloud mining services. Ethereum mining is done with PandaMiner B3 Plus. Update: back in stock [2017-11-08]. • – the first hashpower provider in France. • supports mining for Ethereum and advertises itself as the easiest, cheapest, and best way to mine it. You can mine and hash cryptocurrency with cloud mining, or you can use any CPU or GPU for any coin, SHA-256 or scrypt with immediate mining results. The good thing about Eobot is that sometimes you can pay with PayPal, but you will have to wait longer for your coins to arrive if you pay this way. Related • Our research on and not keep the profit for themselves might answer a few common questions. • Interested in? • Our overview. • & mining information. • Want to mine on your own, but not with your hardware? Guide to cloud Web services EC2. • has done a great job by comparing profitability of various mining plans. • If you are serious about Ethereum mining, you should often visit. • – new company, offering mostly 2-year proftable cloud mining contracts. Update on Crypterra: Looks like they are a scam, the website disappeared and SSL certificate was revoked. We were paid the last time on january 20, 2018. Before adding them to our website we did a lot of emailing with them and somehow they convinced us that they are a legit company. We also received regular payments. For more detalis you can contact us [2018-01-25]. CryptoCompare needs javascript enabled in order to work. Follow these instructions to activate and enable JavaScript in Chrome. PC • To the right of the address bar, click the icon with 3 stacked horizontal lines. • From the drop-down menu, select Settings. • At the bottom of the page, click the Show advanced settings link. • Under the Privacy section, click the Content settings button. • Under the JavaScript heading, select the Allow all sites to run JavaScript radio button. • Finally, refresh your browser. MAC • Select Chrome from the Apple/System bar at the top of the screen. • Select Preferences. From the drop-down menu. • In the left-hand column, select Settings from the list. • At the bottom of the page, click the Show advanced settings link. • Under the Privacy section, click the Content settings button. • Under the JavaScript heading, select the Allow all sites to run JavaScript radio button. • Finally, refresh your browser. Search, order and filter through all Bitcoin mining companies, mining pools, bitcoin mining equipment and ASICs and ethereum cloud mining contracts Prices are updated. Ethereum Mining. Ethereum is a decentralized platform that runs smart contracts: applications that run exactly as programmed without any possibility of downtime, censorship, fraud or third party interference. Ether, the platforms own native cryptocurrency is mined with the “Eth-hash” algorithm. Earned Ethers can be. Ethereum Mining Calculator and Profit Calculator. Buy / Sell Ethereum Instantly Elements. Hash Rate (MH/s):, Power (Watts):, Power Cost ($/kWh). Difficulty: Block Reward: Pool Fees%. ETH/BTC: BTC/USD Value: Hardware Costs (USD). Ethereum Cryptocurrency Mining Summary. Days to generate one block. Genesis mining Monero profitability Find out the return on investment for Genesis mining Monero contracts (also known as CryptoNight). Here is a summary of the topics covered in this article: • Why mine Monero – Monero is a fast-growing currency focused on privacy • Risks and rewards – Mining difficulty and XMR value are two factors to consider when evaluating the return on investment. • Return on Investment – 415% after 2 years, assuming no changes in value or mining difficulty. Breakeven point – 175 Days to get your investment back. • Coupon: Use code “ 6bXKwD” and get 3% off every What is Monero and Why is it Popular? Monero is a privacy based coin. It solves a major issue with Bitcoin, which is privacy. All bitcoin transactions are public, including information such as the senders address, amount sent, and receivers address. To make matters worse, blockchain explorers can see exactly how many bitcoins are in the wallet, where the funds are from, and where bitcoins are sent. Monero solves this problem by hiding the sender, receiver, and amount sent. • XMR – The symbol of Monero • Privacy – Monero protects the privacy of the sender and receiver. • Scalability – Monero has cheaper transaction fees when compared to Bitcoin. What is Monero mining Mining in simple terms is processing transactions for the Monero Network. Miners gather real-time transactions and bundle them together into a ledger known as the blockchain. It’s very similar to what accountants do, just that it’s done by very powerful computers. Because you do work for the Monero network, the network pays you, that’s why mining is profitable. Monero uses the CryptoNight algorithm. Genesis Mining Data Center = rows of computers Genesis Mining Monero Contract When you buy a cloud mining contract, Genesis Mining sets up all the hardware for you and automatically starts mining on the Monero network. The result is: • Daily payouts – You get paid on a daily basis for mining (processing transactions for the Monero Network) • No technical knowledge required – The mining computers are set up and managed by Genesis Mining. • No maintenance fees – Genesis mining manages all the machines • The more hash power you buy, the more payouts you get – thus increasing your rewards. Is Genesis Mining Profitable? Using Genesis Mining to mine Monero can be very profitable, with up to 200% return on investment. However, there are factors that can influence the return on investment of cloud mining: • Mining Difficulty – Mining is competitive, the more Monero miners the less each miner earns. Difficulty increases as the numbers of miners go up, decreasing the return of investment. Unfortunately, predicting mining difficulty is very difficult and is a potential risk that can reduce profits. • Monero Value – Monero is a digital asset and its value can go up or down depending on the trading market. Monero Mining Calculator Genesis mining Profitability calculation The Return on investment for genesis mining Monero contracts are calculated as follows(): • Hashrate: 300 H/s • Price: $242 USD (assuming 3% discount using coupon “ 6bXKwD” • Difficulty: Results: NOTE: Difficulty and XMR value changes are not taken into account in this calculation. The results of this calculation represent the MAXIMUM XMR that is possible with the contract. Increases in difficulty will reduce the returns. • Daily Payout: $1.38 (024 XMR) • Monthly Payout: $41.36 (0.746 XMR) • 2 Year Payout: $1006 (18.1 XMR) • Return on Investment: 415% Return on Investment • Break Even Point: 175 Days Review: 4.8/5 Monero contracts have greatly improved after Genesis Mining reduced the contract price by 1/3 (do to hardware improvements). The value of Monero has also gone up exponentially, heading a good value. There might be a better coin to mine soon. Z probably take over most of the share of the market that monero has, and take a toll on ETH at the same time. Yes Zcash is a possibility, but there is as yet no publically available GPU miner. A few organizations have GPU mining software for Zcash but they are either going to use it themselves or they are selling 'cloud-mining' contracts. I bought 5 h/s Zcash GPU mining at Genesis mining and that wasn't cheap! Maybe soon after Zcash mining starts on 28th of October someone will leak a public GPU miner or maybe not. Another consideration is that when it starts, the block reward will be very low and will gradually increase, so if you start mining Zcash from the start, you may get very little at first. And as far as I can tell there isn't even any proper wallet software for it yet so where the hell do you put your mined Zcash anyway? Yes Zcash is a possibility, but there is as yet no publically available GPU miner. And as far as I can tell there isn't even any proper wallet software for it yet so where the hell do you put your mined Zcash anyway? There will be. I thnk that eye above your triangle is broken. Maybe too much tap water causing calcification on the pineal? Do they even have fluoride in tap water down under? And why does someone downunder have such interest in the great seal of the united states??? Kind of strange, curious crypto is the biggest threat that the fed has ever seen. That bill that you get your avatar from may not have a very long life ahead of it. At least not a very valuable life ahead of it. Yes Zcash is a possibility, but there is as yet no publically available GPU miner. And as far as I can tell there isn't even any proper wallet software for it yet so where the hell do you put your mined Zcash anyway? There will be. I thnk that eye above your triangle is broken. Maybe too much tap water causing calcification on the pineal? Do they even have fluoride in tap water down under? And why does someone downunder have such interest in the great seal of the united states??? Kind of strange, curious crypto is the biggest threat that the fed has ever seen. That bill that you get your avatar from may not have a very long life ahead of it. At least not a very valuable life ahead of it. The 'great seal' as my avatar is just an ironic joke. We don't have tap water down under - what is a tap anyway? We just have dead crows in our water because it all comes from the billabong. Of course, the dead crows are injected with mind control chemicals before the Evil Corporation throws them in. CryptoCompare needs javascript enabled in order to work. Follow these instructions to activate and enable JavaScript in Chrome. PC • To the right of the address bar, click the icon with 3 stacked horizontal lines. • From the drop-down menu, select Settings. • At the bottom of the page, click the Show advanced settings link. • Under the Privacy section, click the Content settings button. • Under the JavaScript heading, select the Allow all sites to run JavaScript radio button. • Finally, refresh your browser. MAC • Select Chrome from the Apple/System bar at the top of the screen. Whether you are just interested in the Bitcoin price or you want to. Mining Contract. CryptoCompare is an interactive platform where you can discuss the. Find out if it's profitable to mine Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, DASH. View all exchange guides. How to Identify a Bitcoin or Ethereum Cloud Mining Scam? • Select Preferences. From the drop-down menu. • In the left-hand column, select Settings from the list. • At the bottom of the page, click the Show advanced settings link. • Under the Privacy section, click the Content settings button. • Under the JavaScript heading, select the Allow all sites to run JavaScript radio button. • Finally, refresh your browser. CryptoCompare needs javascript enabled in order to work. Follow these instructions to activate and enable JavaScript in Chrome. PC • To the right of the address bar, click the icon with 3 stacked horizontal lines. • From the drop-down menu, select Settings. • At the bottom of the page, click the Show advanced settings link. • Under the Privacy section, click the Content settings button. • Under the JavaScript heading, select the Allow all sites to run JavaScript radio button. • Finally, refresh your browser. MAC • Select Chrome from the Apple/System bar at the top of the screen. • Select Preferences. From the drop-down menu. • In the left-hand column, select Settings from the list. • At the bottom of the page, click the Show advanced settings link. • Under the Privacy section, click the Content settings button. • Under the JavaScript heading, select the Allow all sites to run JavaScript radio button. • Finally, refresh your browser. CryptoCompare needs javascript enabled in order to work. Follow these instructions to activate and enable JavaScript in Chrome. PC • To the right of the address bar, click the icon with 3 stacked horizontal lines. • From the drop-down menu, select Settings. • At the bottom of the page, click the Show advanced settings link. • Under the Privacy section, click the Content settings button. • Under the JavaScript heading, select the Allow all sites to run JavaScript radio button. • Finally, refresh your browser. MAC • Select Chrome from the Apple/System bar at the top of the screen. Price per kWh Hardware Cost. Use the current Bitcoin difficulty, block value and USD/BTC rate for. Rely on the Bitcoin mining calculator for a. • Select Preferences. From the drop-down menu. • In the left-hand column, select Settings from the list. • At the bottom of the page, click the Show advanced settings link. • Under the Privacy section, click the Content settings button. • Under the JavaScript heading, select the Allow all sites to run JavaScript radio button. • Finally, refresh your browser. Litecoin Mining Calculator and Hardware Comparison [manufacturer] [model] [hash_rate] [hash_rate_unit] [price_with_unit] [hardware_power] W [humanize_start_date] [delivery_cost_with_unit] [setup_cost_with_unit] [maintain_cost_with_unit] [break_even] [date] [difficulty] [revenue] [profit] [return] Hash Rate: [hash_rate] Hardware Power: [hardware_power] Hardware Cost: [hardware_cost] Setup Cost: [setup_cost] Electricity Cost/Month: [electricity_cost] Maintain Cost/Month: [maintain_cost] Break Even [break_even] Lifetime [Life time] Maximum Profit [maximum_profit]. Sep 21, 2017 - GPU and ASIC Mining; Solo and Pool Mining; Cloud Mining. Crypto Compare. One of the most simple to use calculators is the Crypto Compare calculator. You simply choose the currency you would like to mine then input. ASICs are primarily used for SHA-256 (Bitcoin) or SCRYPT (Litecoin) algorithms. Best Litecoin Cloud Mining What is? If you are into Crypto Currencies, you should be familiar with the name Litecoin as this coin has been existing since 2011 and one of the very first true “altcoins” that has stayed. There are a lot of altcoins that tried to compete with big names but didn’t have enough gas to last that long. Litecoin, on the other hand, has been there for a very long time and is just showing how resilient it can become when it comes to market volatility. And with the recent announcement of leaving Coinbase to focus on his creation, is good news to the Litecoin community! Litecoin just recently past the after many years existing in the market. This simply cements the idea that the coin is legit. And when it comes to crypto currency mining, you, of course, need to make sure that the coin that you are mining is worth something to avoid converting it to Bitcoin or holding on to something that may be worth nothing after a few months. Before deciding on to mine Litecoin, you can actually calculate how much you would make through this. Why Mine Litecoin? There are a few things why a mining rush starts. First, mining rush comes when people see an opportunity to mine something that is already valuable or they see something that can be profitable after a few years. Due to the recent revival of, this would attract people to start mining Litecoin now. This would be the perfect time to do so as the creator of the coin now plans to divert his full attention to the project that has been going on for five years now. We are all quite aware that when a coin goes up suddenly, there is an expected dip a few days after that sudden increase. Compared to Litecoin’s cousins, the crypto currency market has always been crazy on the charts throughout the years. Litecoin has been steadily existing under the radar and of course still working until this day. With that being said, which mining method is perfect for mining Litecoin? You can, of course, use your GPU to mine crypto currencies. But a GPU miner is easily defeated by new ASICs that come to the table. Since has been available for Litecoin for a very long time now, it would be better to go this way. But of course, we have cloud mining for you to forget about what type of hardware is perfect to mine Litcoins and just pay for a and you are good to go. Please keep in mind that when it comes to cloud mining contracts, you need to read through each company’s policies. One thing you also need to keep in mind would be Litecoins mining difficulty which can be viewed through. The more miners that jump into the opportunity to mine Litecoin the harder it gets. That’s why a crypto currency’s difficulty constantly goes up, this should be one of your points to keep in mind if you want to earn in cloud mining. Best Litecoin Cloud Mining Websites Here are the websites that cater cloud mining for Litecoin. Again, always read through the company’s background before investing money into them. Click on the websites to get redirected to their reviews. • • • • • • • Put on your mining helmets, it’s time to mine! Member: Michigan Association of CPAs January. Rigotti, CPA A Few Reasons Why Desktops Are Better Michael Menor is Vice President of Support Services for Tech Experts. With all this talk about mobile devices like tablets, smart phones, and ultra-portable laptops, you’d begin to think that traditional desktop PCs are going to seem archaic. Depending on your needs, that can be the case, but desktops aren’t going away anytime soon – and for good reason. 2017-07-20 2017-07-20. 2017-07-20 2017-07-20. More Powerful Hardware This has been the case from the very beginning – desktop PCs are capable of more powerful hardware. Desktops don’t need to worry about electricity consumption the same way portable devices do and components don’t need to be shrunk down into a tiny lap-sized chassis. This also allows better heat dispersion. All three factors give desktops the flexibility to utilize the most complex, cutting edge components that aren’t designed for mobility (yet). In other words, computer hardware manufacturers build new components, then work on shrinking those components into mobile sizes. This reason alone will keep the desktop alive - PC gamers, graphic artists, and multimedia buffs will always want high-end desktops. Cost Effectiveness Of course, you don’t need the newest, cutting edge components to have a blazing-fast PC. You can easily get by with cheaper, previous generation components. Remember a decade ago when a desktop PC could cost thousands of dollars? It’s still possible (and easy for some) to spec out a high-end PC with that kind of price tag, but each additional dollar spent isn’t worth it unless you have VERY specific needs. Also, comparable hardware for a PC is significantly cheaper than similar laptop hardware. If you don’t need the mobility, you can save a pretty decent chunk of money just by sticking with a desktop. Desktops are Easier to Fix and Maintain Let’s share a real-world tech scenario. Replacing a part on a desktop is a pretty simple task for a technician. In fact, with a little hand-holding, almost anybody could figure it out. Replacing the motherboard on a laptop, however, is an extremely cumbersome process. Depending on the model, it can involve over two dozen screws and a lot of time. Replacement parts aren’t as affordable as they are for desktops either. For smart phones and tablets, expect to ship those out to the manufacturer. You Probably Won’t Leave your Desktop at the Airport/Coffee Shop/Hotel It’s true! If you are lugging around a big PC case, a monitor or two, a keyboard, mouse, and power cables, it’s pretty likely you won’t accidently forget it when you realize how light your luggage has become. All joking aside, because your desktop lives a pretty uneventful life without much movement, it doesn’t endure the little bumps, drops, and spills that laptops, tablets and other mobile devices take. It’s harder to steal too, so there is a little essence of security knowing your data is locked inside a great big aluminum box tethered to your desk with a web of cables.Have you moved on from the desktop PC completely or are you still holding on? Do you even want to go strictly mobile? Let us know and let us answer any questions you have. Dealing with IRS Tax Notices BY BRUCE KREISMAN Receiving a tax notice from the IRS or a state department of revenue may not be what you were hoping for in the day’s mail. But in many cases the notice can be resolved both quickly and painlessly. A taxing authority such as the IRS or the Illinois Department of Revenue will issue a written notice under various scenarios, some of which are discussed below. (Note that the initial contact is always by mail; if you receive a phone call purportedly from the IRS or other tax authority, it is fraudulent, and you should hang up without revealing any personal information.) The notice will set forth the reasons for its issuance and, if applicable, the additional tax it asserts is due, often adding interest and penalties to the assessment. The notice typically also sets forth a due date for response from the taxpayer. They may also give a telephone number, but in our experience it’s preferable to respond to most notices in writing, both because of the written record it produces and to avoid long hold times. An initial step in analyzing a tax notice is to determine its nature. Many propose an adjustment to tax, often an increase, but sometimes a decrease. The most common reason for adjusting tax upward is understatement of income. For example, the IRS may say it received information from a broker or other payor reporting income, which it believes the taxpayer did not pick up on the tax return. Another frequent occurrence is a mismatch between tax payments on record with the taxing authority and payments reported on the tax return. While this will not change the tax computation, it will affect the refund or payment due. In these cases it’s usually a straightforward analysis as to whether or not the IRS is factually correct. Sometimes they are, sometimes not. If they are correct, the matter is resolved by paying any amount due. But if the notice is erroneous, the most successful approach to challenging it is to write and submit a clear and succinct response explaining why you are contesting the notice and including supporting documentation backing up our position. That approach frequently succeeds in abating the assessed tax after a single letter. Occasionally the matter is prolonged and results in multiple communications. In the rare case where a satisfactory result isn’t obtained, you can address the available options with your client. Other notices require a more comprehensive approach. For example, the notice may question the manner in which an item was (or was not) reported, and the response may require discussion of the tax code or regulations or other authority. Again, clarity of response is crucial. If the IRS representative doesn’t understand the position set forth in the response, they are unlikely to change their original assessment. Still other notices are basically seeking information. For example, the State of Illinois does not receive copies of W-2s from employers, so they may ask for a copy of the W-2 to support the tax withholding claimed on the tax return. In any event, if your client receive a tax notice it is important that they not disregard it, whatever the nature of the notice may be. They should not panic. If a taxpayer disregards the initial notice and there’s additional tax due, further notices will be issued. As time elapses the notices get more severe in nature, and will eventually result in a notice of lien or an intent to levy. Taxpayers do not want to find themselves in a lien or levy situation, and the best way to avoid those is to promptly address the initial notice. Service A state decision may make it harder to tax Software-as-a-Service BY A recent case in Michigan has created an unexpected twist in the brave new world of taxing software and services online. The Michigan Court of Appeals has decided against the Michigan Department of Treasury in a case involving the taxation of the sales or use of services provided over the Internet. The case itself has broad application to a number of states that are weighing the taxation of Software-as-a-Service without changing their law to say that they are specifically taxing a service, according to June Haas, tax partner at Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP. The Court of Appeals, in Auto-Owner’s v. Department of Treasury, held that a variety of services provided via the Internet are not subject to sales or use tax. The department had asserted that such services involved the “use” of prewritten, canned software on the basis that the taxpayer was accessing the functionality of the software on the third-party service provider’s network through computers and the Internet, and that such use was taxable. The services included, among other things, data analysis services, information services, secure data transmission, electronic research services, hardware and software maintenance, and Web conferencing. The Court of Appeals found that the majority of services at issue did not involve the delivery of any prewritten, canned software, Haas indicated. “The case was watched nationally because many states impose sales and use tax only on tangible personal property,” she said. “They have not updated their laws to cover electronic and digital delivery of software. Michigan was trying to tax accessing the functionality of software. They wanted to say that if you access the functionality, then it’s the same thing as buying the software. It transforms Software-as-a-Service into the purchase of tangible personal property that is taxable.” “In a number of the transactions, the taxpayer merely electronically transmitted data and received back analyzed data. In others, the taxpayer electronically transmitted data to be securely transmitted to a third party,” she said. “In each of these cases, the court held that the taxpayer never had access to any of the third-party vendors’ computer codes, and thus there was no use of prewritten computer software.” The court also rejected the department’s argument that “accessing the functionality” of software constitutes delivery of prewritten software and a taxable use. The court held that sending requests into another’s system does not constitute an exercise of a right or power of control of the vendor’s software incident to ownership of the software that constitutes a taxable use. Thus, the delivery of the results of electronic research services or electronic analysis services that used the software to perform the service was not an exercise of control over the software. Accessing a Web site is not the use of software. The Court of Appeals held that the evidence proved that the maintenance contracts at issue did not include delivery of prewritten software. In addition, when the taxpayer purchased software and separately purchased software maintenance in transactions where the cost for the maintenance and support were separately stated, the maintenance fees were nontaxable fees for services. Finally, the court also held that for the transactions where property was delivered, the “incidental to the services” test set forth in the Michigan Supreme Court’s decision in Catalina Marketing must be applied. Under these tests, the court held that these were service transactions and not sales of tangible personal property. IT STARTED AS PROPERTY “The taxation of SaaS is a very hot area right now,” said Peter Stathopoulos, lead partner at the state and local tax practice at Atlanta-based Bennett Thrasher. “For a long time, states have struggled with how to treat SaaS, because state tax laws typically lag behind technology,” he said. “In the late 1970s and in the 1980s, state sales tax codes were designed for the most part to deal with tangible property. When software came along, the question was whether it was tangible property or was it a service. The states decided back then that because software was encoded on a tangible medium, it was tangible personal property.” “So they had this idea that software is the same as any other piece of tangible personal property because you got it on a disk,” he said. “When technology moved along and people started to download software instead of buying it on a disk, the states split. Some decided if it was not on a floppy disk there was no property, so there was no sales tax. Others went the other way, and decided to do away with the distinction of how the software is delivered. So in the 1990s, if you downloaded from a computer they would treat it as the sale of property. Now that the software stays on the vendor’s computer, states are being asked if there’s really a transfer of tangible personal property.” A number of states have addressed this issue, according to Stathopoulos: “The Michigan court said there is no transfer of property here. The software stayed on the vendor’s computer, and the user never got to control it like an owner or lessee. Since they had access to the software but never had the right to control it, there was never any taxable sale or use of the software in question.” Other states have gone a different way, Stathopoulos said: “New York has issued a letter ruling saying that when you get on the Internet, you are getting constructive use of the software. It’s the same as leasing the software, and in New York the sale or lease of software is a taxable transaction.” “That it the great divide now,” he said. “States will have to decide when there is hosted software or SaaS and it comes as part of a broader service offering, is it being leased to customers. Some will say there is no sale or lease of tangible personal property, while others like New York will say the ability to access the software from a computer is a form of constructive possession, so there is a sale or lease of tangible personal property.” “Only a handful of states have addressed this,” he said. “Other states are watching. The Michigan decision will probably have a chilling effect on state departments of revenue that are trying to tax these kinds of SaaS transactions.” Tips to Protect Your Personal Information While Online The IRS, the states and the tax industry urge you to be safe online and remind you to take important steps to help protect your tax and financial information and guard against identity theft. Treat your personal information like cash – don’t hand it out to just anyone. Your Social Security number, credit card numbers, and bank and utility account numbers can be used to steal your money or open new accounts in your name. Every time you are asked for your personal information think about whether you can really trust the request. In an effort to steal your information, scammers will do everything they can to appear trustworthy. The IRS has teamed up with state revenue departments and the tax industry to make sure you understand the dangers to your personal and financial data.. Working in partnership with you, we can make a difference. Here are some best practices you can follow to protect your tax and financial information: Give personal information over encrypted websites only. If you’re shopping or banking online, stick to sites that use encryption to protect your information as it travels from your computer to their server. To determine if a website is encrypted, look for “https” at the beginning of the web address (the “s” is for secure). Some websites use encryption only on the sign-in page, but if any part of your session isn’t encrypted, the entire account and your financial information could be vulnerable. Look for https on every page of the site you’re on, not just where you sign in. Protect your passwords. The longer the password, the tougher it is to crack. Use at least 10 characters; 12 is ideal for most home users. Mix letters, numbers and special characters. Try to be unpredictable – don’t use your name, birthdate or common words. Don’t use the same password for many accounts. If it’s stolen from you – or from one of the companies with which you do business – it can be used to take over all your accounts. Don’t share passwords on the phone, in texts or by email. Legitimate companies will not send you messages asking for your password. If you get such a message, it’s probably a scam. Keep your passwords in a secure place, out of plain sight. Don’t assume ads or emails are from reputable companies. Check out companies to find out if they are legitimate. When you’re online, a little research can save you a lot of money and reduce your security risk. If you see an ad or an offer that looks too good, take a moment to check out the company behind it. Type the company or product name into your favorite search engine with terms like “review,” “complaint” or “scam.” If you find bad reviews, you’ll have to decide if the offer is worth the risk. If you can’t find contact information for the company, take your business and your financial information elsewhere. The fact that a site features an ad for another site doesn’t mean that it endorses the advertised site, or is even familiar with it. Don’t overshare on social media – Do a web search of your name and review the results. Mostly likely, the results while turn up your past addresses, the names of people living in the household as well social media accounts and your photographs. All of these items are valuable to identity thieves. Even a social media post boasting of a new car can help thieves bypass security verification questions that depend on financial data that only you should know. Think before you post! Back up your files. No system is completely secure. Copy important files and your federal and state tax returns onto a removable disc or a back-up drive, and store it in a safe place. If your computer is compromised, you’ll still have access to your files. Save your tax returns and records. Your federal and state tax forms are important financial documents you may need for many reasons, ranging from home mortgages to college financial. Print out a copy and keep in a safe place. Make an electronic copy in a safe spot as well. These steps also can help you more easily prepare next year’s tax return. If you store sensitive tax and financial records on your computer, use a file encryption program to add an additional layer of security should your computer be compromised. To learn additional steps you can take to protect your personal and financial data, visit. You also can read, Security Awareness for Taxpayers. Each and every taxpayer has a set of fundamental rights they should be aware of when dealing with the IRS. These are your. Explore your rights and our obligations to protect them on IRS.gov. The Individual Shared Responsibility Provision and Your 2015 Income Tax Return The Affordable Care Act requires you, your spouse and your dependents to have for each month of the year,, or make an when filing your federal income tax return If you had coverage for all of 2015, you will simply check a box on your tax return to report that coverage. However, if you don’t have qualifying health care coverage and you meet certain criteria, you might be eligible for an from coverage. Most exemptions are can be claimed when you file your tax return, but some must be claimed through the Marketplace. If you or any of your dependents are exempt from the requirement to have health coverage, you will complete IRS, Health Coverage Exemptions and submit it with your tax return. If, however, you are not required to file a tax return, you do not need to file a return solely to report your coverage or to claim an exemption. For any months you or anyone on your return do not have coverage or qualify for a coverage exemption, you must make a payment called the individual shared responsibility payment. If you could have afforded coverage for yourself or any of your dependents, but chose not to get it and you do not qualify for an exemption, you must make a payment. You calculate the shared responsibility payment using a worksheet included in the instructions for Form 8965 and enter your payment amount on your tax return. Whether you are simply checking the box on your tax return to indicate that you had coverage in 2015, claiming a health coverage exemption, or making an individual shared responsibility payment, you or your tax professional can prepare and file your tax return electronically. Using tax preparation software is the best and simplest way to file a complete and accurate tax return as it guides individuals and tax preparers through the process and does all the math. Electronic include for taxpayers who qualify, free,, and. More Information Determine if you are eligible for a coverage exemption or responsible for the Individual Shared Responsibility Payment by using our on IRS.gov. For more information about the Affordable Care Act and filing your 2015 income tax return, visit. If you need health coverage, visit to learn about health insurance options that are available for you and your family, how to purchase health insurance, and how you might qualify to get financial assistance with the cost of insurance. How You Can Help Prevent Tax-related Identity Theft Tax-related fraud isn’t a new crime, but tax preparation software, e-filing and increased availability of personal data have made tax-related identity theft increasingly easy to perpetrate. The IRS is taking steps to reduce such fraud, but taxpayers must play their part, too. How they do it Criminals perpetrate tax identity theft by using stolen Social Security numbers and other personal information to file tax returns in their victims’ names. Naturally, the fake returns claim that the filer is owed a refund — and the bigger, the better. To ensure they’re a step ahead of taxpayers filing legitimate returns and employers submitting W-2 and 1099 forms, the thieves file early in the tax season. They usually request that refunds be made to debit cards, which are hard for the IRS to trace once they’re distributed. IRS takes action The increasing rate of tax-related fraud — not to mention the well-publicized 2015 IRS data breach — has spurred government agencies and private sector businesses to act. This past June, a coalition made up of the IRS, state tax administrators, tax preparation services and payroll and tax product processors announced a new program with five initiatives: 1. Taxpayer identification. Coalition members will review transmission data such as Internet Protocol numbers. Fraud identification. Members will share fraud leads and aggregated tax return information. Information assessment. The Refund Fraud Information Sharing and Assessment Center will help public and private sector members share information. Cybersecurity framework. Members will be required to adopt the National Institute of Standards and Technology cybersecurity framework. Taxpayer awareness and communication. Members will increase efforts to inform the public about identity theft and protecting personal data. Your role in preventing fraud But the IRS and tax preparation professionals can’t fight fraud without your help. Be sure to keep your Social Security card secure, and if businesses (including financial institutions and medical providers) request your Social Security number, ensure they need it for a legitimate purpose and have taken precautions to keep your data safe. Also regularly review your credit report. You can obtain free copies from all three credit bureaus once a year. Consolidate accounts and simplify your financial life If you’ve accumulated many bank, investment and other financial accounts over the years, you might consider consolidating some of them. Having multiple accounts requires you to spend more time tracking and reconciling financial activities and can make it harder to keep a handle on how much you have and whether your money is being invested advantageously. Start by identifying the accounts that offer you the best combination of excellent customer service, convenience, lower fees and higher returns. Hold on to these and consider closing the rest, keeping in mind the bank account amounts you’ll be consolidating. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation generally insures $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank. So if consolidation means that your balance might exceed that amount, it’s better to keep multiple accounts. You should also keep accounts with different beneficiaries separate. When closing accounts, make sure you stop automatic payments or deposits and destroy checks and cards associated with them. To prevent any future disputes, obtain letters from the financial institutions stating that your accounts have been closed. Closing an account generally takes several weeks. Your Tax Refund May Take Longer, but at Least You'll Get It BY SUZANNE WOOLLEY Last year's income tax season was marked by an explosion of refund theft. Will this year be any different? Increased protections may cut down on fraud but will likely draw out the wait for your money. Changes will be visible when you use tax preparation firms and filing software, with warnings akin to those from your bank if you try to log in from a new device or change account information. Less visible will be broader changes, such as revamped fraud-sniffing programs used by the IRS, states, and the tax prep industry, as well as new information-sharing agreements among all three. Whether theses measures will make it appreciably harder for someone to use your identity to claim your refund isn't clear. One of the best consumer defenses against refund fraud is to file as early as possible, starting Jan. 19, beating would-be thieves who depend on your procrastination. But the best defense is to set your deductions ahead of time so that you get no refund at all. Here's what taxpayers can expect this season: More Identity Verification Yes, this means wider use of those multiple-choice questions about where you lived 30 years ago if you're filing electronically. It also means 'a lot more reactive warnings to users that something has been changed, and making sure it was them that changed it,' said JoAnn Kintzel, chief executive of Tax Act, a tax software firm. 'If an e-mail address changes, a message will go both to the new e-mail and the old e-mail.' Taxpayers will also get a notice if bank deposit information or their home address is changed, said Julie Miller, a spokesperson for tax software company TurboTax, and companies will check to see if more than one account is using the same Social Security number. Leading tax prep and software companies, as well as payroll and tax financial payment processors, working with states and the IRS, have all agreed to a set of minimum security measures. Companies and states may put in place additional measures, as Alabama did this year, requiring anyone filing electronically in that state to provide information from a driver's license or state ID card. Stronger Passwords Though complex passwords are commonplace on other consumer and bank websites, the tax industry has finally joined the club. The passwords must now include a lowercase letter, an uppercase letter, a symbol, and a number (for example, #H8This). A new timed lockout feature will kick in after repeated failed login attempts. The IRS launched a consumer education and awareness campaign this past November about security basics. They include not using the same password for multiple accounts, using anti-virus protection, and encrypting sensitive data. Looser Refund Timing There will be less certainty about when taxpayers can expect state refund checks, said Verenda Smith, deputy director of the Federation of Tax Administrators. 'In the past, there was a political imperative to get refunds out the door, and that has certainly changed,' she said. “You may have a perfectly fine return, but the state will take just a little longer to confirm that it’s you who is filing it.” More Paper Checks There may also be more refunds that come in paper checks, even for those who request direct deposit. That may prove particularly true for first-time filers, said Smith. Last year, many fraudsters changed a taxpayer's preferences in favor of direct deposit to a prepaid debit card account created before filing the false return. So this year, Utah will directly deposit a refund only into a bank account or prepaid debit card issued by a taxpayer's financial institution. Alabama also changed its policy so that its Department of Revenue can send paper checks to your mailbox even if a taxpayer requested direct deposit, which will be done on a case-by-case basis. 'Prepaid cards are the currency of criminals,' IRS Commissioner John Koskinen told 60 Minutes in 2014. 'Our problem is you can't distinguish the number of a prepaid card from a legitimate bank account.' Tips to Keep Your Tax Records Secure; Protect Yourself from Identity Theft If you’re still keeping old tax returns and receipts stuffed in a shoe box stuck in the back of the closet, you might want to rethink that approach. The IRS has teamed up with state revenue departments and the tax industry to make sure you understand the dangers to your personal and financial data.. Working in partnership with you, we can make a difference. You should keep your tax records safe and secure, whether they are stored on paper or kept electronically. The same is true for any financial or health records you store, especially any document bearing Social Security numbers. You should keep always keep copies of your tax returns and supporting documents for several years to support claims for tax credits and deductions. Because of the sensitive data, the loss or theft of these documents could lead to identity theft and have an economic impact. These documents contain the Social Security numbers of you, your spouse and dependents, old W-2 income and bank account information. A burglar could easily turn your old shoe box full of documents into a tax-related identity theft crime. Here are just a few of the easy and practical steps to better protect your tax records: Always retain a copy of your completed federal and state tax returns and their supporting materials. These prior-year returns will help you prepare your next year’s taxes, and receipts will document any credits or deductions you claim should question arise later. If you retain paper records, you should keep them in a secure location, preferably under lock and key, such as a secure desk drawer or a safe. If you retain you records electronically on your computer, you should always have an electronic back-up, in case your hard drive crashes. You should encrypt the files both on your computer and any back-up drives you use. You may have to purchase encryption software to ensure the files’ security. Dispose of old tax records properly. Never toss paper tax returns and supporting documents into the trash. Your federal and state tax records, as well as any financial or health records should be shredded before disposal. If you are disposing of an old computer or back-up hard drive, keep in mind there is sensitive data on these. Deleting stored tax files will not remove them from your computer. You should wipe the drives of any electronic product you trash or sell, including tablets and mobile phones, to ensure you remove all personal data. Again, this may require special disk utility software. The IRS recommends retaining copies of your tax returns and supporting documents for a minimum of three years to a maximum of seven years. Remember to keep records relating to property you own for three to seven years after the year in which you dispose of the property. Three years is a timeframe that allows you to file amended returns, or if questions arise on your tax return, and seven years is a timeframe that allows filing a claim for adjustment in a case of bad debt deduction or a loss from worthless securities. To learn additional steps you can take to protect your personal and financial data, visit. You also can read, Security Awareness for Taxpayers. The Individual Shared Responsibility Provision – The Basics The requires that you and each member of your family have qualifying health insurance, a health coverage exemption, or make a payment for any months without coverage or an exemption when you file. If you, your spouse and dependents had health insurance coverage all year, you will indicate this by simply checking a box on your tax return. Here are some basic facts about the individual shared responsibility provision. What is the individual shared responsibility provision? The calls for each individual to have qualifying health care coverage – – for each month, qualify for an, or make a when filing his or her federal income tax return. Who is subject to the individual shared responsibility provision? The provision applies to individuals of all ages, including children. The adult or married couple who can claim a child or another individual as a dependent for federal income tax purposes is responsible for making the shared responsibility payment if the dependent does not have coverage or an exemption. How do I get a health coverage exemption? You can claim most exemptions when you file your tax return. There are certain exemptions that you can obtain in advance. You can obtain some exemptions from the Marketplace or by claiming them on your tax return. You will claim or report coverage exemptions on, Health Coverage Exemptions, and attach it to Form 1040, Form 1040A, or Form 1040EZ. You can file any of these forms electronically. For more information on Form 8965, see the. For any month that you or your dependents do not have coverage or qualify for an exemption, you will have to make a shared responsibility payment What do I need to do if I am required to make a payment with my tax return? If you have to make an individual shared responsibility payment, you will use the worksheets found in the instructions to Form 8965, Health Coverage Exemptions, to figure the shared responsibility payment amount due. You only make a payment for the months you did not have coverage or qualify for a coverage exemption. To learn more, visit the on IRS.gov/aca, or use our interactive tool, What happens if I owe an individual shared responsibility payment, but I cannot afford to make the payment when filing my tax return? The IRS routinely works with taxpayers who owe amounts they cannot afford to pay. The law prohibits the IRS from using liens or levies to collect any ndividual shared responsibility payment. However, if you owe a shared responsibility payment, the IRS may offset that liability against any tax refund that may be due to you. Congressman Proposes Fix for College Financial Aid By Rep. Tom Reed, R-N.Y., has proposed to require nonprofit colleges and universities to dedicate 25 percent of their annual endowment income to financial aid. If they don’t, they could lose their tax-exempt status. Under the plan, nearly 100 endowments with assets over $1 billion would have to give that percentage to decrease college costs for middle- and low-income students, according to Bloomberg. If the schools fai to comply for three consecutive years, they risk losing tax-exempt status. Fred Slater, a tax practitioner at MS 1040 LLC in New York City, called Reed’s plan “an amazing proposal.” “There are some many obvious conflicts before you even consider the proposal and then the actual proposal has obvious flaws,” said Slater. “First, simple question: If you are a member of Congress, did you go to one of these Ivy schools that charge $40K+ and have a large endowment. Is that not a conflict? Explain how you are going to take away the exemption from a state school.” He suggested some easier fixes. For example, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has pointed out the interest rate on the student loans could and should be under 1 percent, but many banks are diverting the lower rates to other uses. “Government needs to use a carrot instead of the threats of penalties, fines and taxes,” said Slater. “Current government strategies are all about more penalties, more criminal acts and less about fixing the problem.” Most Outrageous Tax Deductions of 2016 The Minnesota Society of Certified Public Accountants recently surveyed its CPA members in public accounting on the most outrageous tax deductions clients tried to take on their tax returns. The resulting list shows that, more often than not, clients just don’t know which deductions are allowed. Expensive Clothing We all like to look nice, especially for business purposes. But you’re expected to arrive to work fully clothed (looking nice is a bonus). Baby Grand Piano A client, who was a humanities professor, thought he could deduct a piano. Unless the professor was providing lessons as part of a small business, this was not an acceptable deduction. Gambling Losses Unfortunately for one client, gambling losses didn’t qualify as a charitable donation to casinos or the Minnesota State Lottery. Foot Powder for Smelly Feet Not stinking up the office doesn't qualify as a tax write-off. ‘Business’ Boat One client wanted to depreciate the cost of a large boat because it was used occasionally for client entertainment. You better set sail on that idea. Valleyfair Season Tickets Unfortunately, amusement parks don’t qualify for a day care deduction. Cat Food and Litter Your cats may be used to keep mice out of the barn, but their bare necessities aren’t deductible. In general, pet expenses aren’t deductible. A Wedding to Remember A client wanted to deduct part of his wedding costs because more than half the guests were business-related contacts. Keeping Yourself Rejuvenated Botox, tanning, nails and the like do not qualify as acceptable deductions. Commuting to Work You can get mileage reimbursement either through your work (if offered) or the government for mileage incurred while on the clock and for business purposes, but driving to and from work is not going to stick. GAO Faults IRS Audit Selection Process BY A pair of reports from the Government Accountability Office found serious problems with the Internal Revenue Service’s processes for determining which individuals and businesses should be audited. In, on the IRS’s Small Business/Self-Employed Division, the GAO found the IRS needs to strengthen certain internal controls for the audit. The GAO noted that the SB/SE division uses over 30 methods, called workstreams, to identify and review tax returns that may merit an audit. The returns were initially identified through seven sources which include referrals; computer programs that run filters, rules, or algorithms to identify potentially noncompliant taxpayers; and related returns that are identified in the course of another audit. For fiscal year 2013, IRS reported that SB/SE's primary workstream for field audits identified approximately 1.6 million returns as potentially most noncompliant. About 77,500 returns (5 percent) were selected for audit, a much smaller pool of returns than was initially identified. The GAO noted the SB/SE division has control procedures for safeguarding data and segregating duties across the overall selection process, among others, but it has not implemented other key internal controls. “The lack of strong control procedures increases the risk that the audit program's mission of fair and equitable application of the tax laws will not be achieved,” said the report. The GAO gave some examples of internal control deficiencies, such not clearly defining the concept of “fairness.” “Fairness is specified in SB/SE's mission statement and referenced in IRS's procedures for auditors,” said the report. “However, IRS has not defined fairness or program objectives for audit selection that would support its mission of treating taxpayers fairly. GAO heard different interpretations of fairness from focus group participants. Not having a clear definition of fairness can unintentionally lead to inconsistent treatment of taxpayers and create doubts as to how fairly IRS administers the tax law. Further, the lack of clearly articulated objectives undercuts the effectiveness of SB/SE's efforts to assess risks and measure performance toward achieving these objectives.” In addition, the report found the IRS’s procedures for documenting and monitoring selection decisions are not consistent. The GAO recommended that IRS take seven actions to help ensure that the audit selection program meets its mission, such as establishing and communicating program objectives related to audit selection and improving procedures for documenting and monitoring the selection process. In commenting on a draft of this report, IRS agreed with the recommendations. “In the SB/SE Examination sphere, the concept of fairness has both a collective and individual component,” wrote IRS Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement John M. Dalrymple in response to the report. “The IRS takes into account the responsibilities and obligations that all taxpayers share. We pursue those individuals and businesses who fail to comply with their tax obligations to ensure fairness to those who do and to promote public confidence in our tax system, and we discharge these important responsibilities with a focus on taxpayer rights, as embodied in the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TBOR) and formally adopted by the IRS.” Wage and Investment Division Audits The other issued Wednesday examined the returns selected for auditing by the IRS’s Wage and Investment Division. The report suggested the division should define its audit objectives and refine other internal controls. Three offices in the W&I division are responsible for selecting returns for audit, according to the report. Most returns are selected via computer systems that automatically send notices to taxpayers based on certain criteria, such as the validity of dependents, according to the report. W&I program officials annually review the criteria and apply updates to the following filing season's returns. In 2014, approximately 59 percent of all W&I audits—more than 516,000—were selected with a specialized computer tool called the Dependent Database, while the remainder was selected through a combination of referrals and manual selection methods. The report found the W&I division generally has established a positive environment for internal controls but could improve several areas in its audit selection procedures to support its mission. The GAO found several procedures that establish a positive environment for promoting internal controls, such as ethics training. In addition, the IRS has guidance to help ensure that decisions about updates to audit selection criteria are correctly implemented in its automated systems. However, the W&I division does not have established objectives for its audit selection process, and existing performance measures focus on audit results rather than audit selection. In addition, the division has not defined key terms such as “fairness and integrity,” as required by internal control standards. Documented objectives and key terms would help W&I hone the measures it uses to assess its audit selection efforts and bring a consistent understanding of “fairness and integrity” to audit selection staff. The GAO also found that not all elements of the selection process were appropriately documented. For example, W&I does not have clear documentation about how the three offices that select the majority of returns W&I audits interact with one another. Additionally, one guidance document notes that returns with the highest audit potential should be marked, but it does not describe how audit potential is determined or any related internal controls. W&I also did not provide support showing that changes to automated audit selection processes and procedures were appropriately implemented in a timely manner. The documentation indicates the division conducts an annual—rather than continuous—review of its audit selections and results as part of an annual three-day working session. “Strengthening controls in these areas would help provide greater assurance that W&I is fulfilling its mission to select tax returns with fairness and integrity,” said the report. “In addition, the absence of a fully documented selection process may make it difficult for W&I to defend against accusations that it is not appropriately following its processes and procedures.” The GAO recommended, among other things, that the IRS establish program objectives and definitions of key terms such as “fairness” that apply to audit selection and use those definitions in assessing its selection performance; document selection processes more thoroughly; and document that changes to procedures are done in a timely manner. The IRS generally agreed with all seven recommendations. “We are pleased that the Government Accountability Office has recognized the positive environment for internal controls fostered within W&I,” wrote Dalrymple in response to the report. We are advising to be smart with your Clients Data, be sure it is only in the US and never leaves US soil. We have found not to take just a voice confirmation get the ip Address and also confirm with your states Department of Revenue's Frauds Department. By you doing your due diligence it will help your defense if you ever have your clients data compromised. If you know your Software Companies www._______.com you can search which will tell you a lot just by the persons name it is registered in. However this is not enough call your State Department of Revenue. Check those Resellers Too! The Internal Revenue Service released for 2018 Thursday to reflect changes for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, amid warnings that the tables may not be accurate and will need further refinements. Is only the first in a number of steps the IRS intends to take to improve the accuracy of withholding after the major changes in the new tax law, the service cautioned. Among other things, the new tables reflect the increase in the standard deduction, the repeal of personal exemptions, and changes in tax rates and brackets. “With this guidance, most American workers will begin to see bigger paychecks. We estimate that 90 percent of wage earners will experience an increase in their take home pay,” said U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in a statement. “The administration’s monumental tax reform legislation continues to provide economic benefits for hard-working Americans. These tax cuts will ensure that American workers are able to keep more of their hard-earned income and decide how to spend, invest or save it.” The updated withholding information shows the new rates for employers to use this year. Employers should begin using the new withholding tables as soon as possible, the IRS and the Treasury Department stressed, but no later than Feb. They should continue using the 2017 withholding tables until they implement the 2018 withholding tables. How long it will take for the changes to surface will vary, depending on how quickly the new tables are implemented by their employers and how often they are paid, whether it’s on a weekly, biweekly or monthly basis. The new withholding tables are designed to work with the Forms W-4 that workers have already filed with their employers to claim withholding allowances. That's supposed to minimize the burden on taxpayers and employers, so employees don't have to do anything at this time with their W-4. “The IRS appreciates the help from the payroll community working with us on these important changes,” said Acting IRS Commissioner David Kautter in a statement. “Payroll withholding can be complicated, and the needs of taxpayers vary based on their personal financial situation. In the weeks ahead, the IRS will be providing more information to help people understand and review these changes.' One of the goals of the new tables is to produce the correct amount of tax withholding for people with simpler tax situations, helping them avoid over- and under-withholding of tax as much as possible. To help taxpayers determine their withholding, the IRS is revising the withholding tax calculator on IRS.gov. It expects the calculator will be available by the end of February, and is recommending that taxpayers to use it to adjust their withholding once it’s released. The IRS is also working on revising the, the withholding allowance certificate, which has been rendered outdated by the new tax law. The form and the revised calculator will reflect additional changes in the new law, including changes in available itemized deductions, increases in the child tax credit, the new dependent credit and the repeal of dependent exemptions. The and the new Form W-4 can be used by employees who want to update their withholding in response to the new law or changes in their personal circumstances in 2018, and by taxpayers who starting a new job. Until a new Form W-4 is issued, both employees and employers should continue to use the 2017 W-4. For 2019, the IRS anticipates making further changes involving withholding. The IRS will work with the business and payroll community to encourage workers to file new Forms W-4 next year and share information on changes in the new tax law that impact withholding. Democrats have warned the withholding tables may be inaccurate. Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., released a statement Thursday on the IRS’s release of their 2018 withholding tables: “Republicans are using brute force and speed to implement a law that will deliver a financial blow to hardworking Americans all across the country,” he said. “I look forward to GAO’s independent review of these tables, which will expose whether the Trump administration is tampering with Americans’ paychecks, resulting in a whopping tax bill next year.” Earlier this week, he and House Ways and Means Ranking Member Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., raised concerns that the Trump administration was politically interfering with the development of the 2018 withholding tables (see ). They asked the Government Accountability Office to independently analyze the new tables and determine whether they might result in the systematic underwithholding of federal taxes from employee paychecks. Trump has promised his tax cuts would produce an average savings of $4,000 for taxpayers. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, promised taxpayers would start to see a boost in their paychecks thanks to the new tax law he shepherded through Congress. “This is outstanding for families in Texas and taxpayers across the country,” he said in a statement. “With the new tax code provided by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, nine out of 10 taxpayers will see a boost in their take-home pay within the coming weeks. That comes on top of all the bonuses, wage increases, and expanded benefits that so many businesses have already provided American workers as a result of tax reform. The American people work hard to earn their paychecks and support their families. Finally, they have a tax code that allows them to keep more of their money to use as they see fit.”. With the complexity of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed in mid-December, taxpayers are likely either to be confused or to think they know more than they know about their own tax situation. This presents professional preparers with the opportunity to build client loyalty, while lowering their client attrition rate. When a client leaves your office after having their taxes prepared, it’s important that they have a positive feeling about the experience. Part of that feeling comes from confidence that the preparer took note of their personal situation in applying the law for their benefit. Take a look at their total situation, especially if there have been any changes during the year, or they anticipate any changes in the year ahead. These could be typical lifestyle changes, such as buying or selling a home, having a child at the eligible age for the child tax credit, or having a child getting ready for college. INDIVIDUAL CLIENTS Filing season is an opportune time to revisit the level of a taxpayer’s withholding. “They can change the level of withholding whenever they want, but it’s timely to point this out to them when you do their taxes, if they are due a large refund. “A lot of people traditionally over-withhold, because they like large refunds. But objectively, they’re giving the government an interest-free loan. Conversely, if they withhold too little, they can be subject to penalties, so it’s important to get it right.” Tax professionals work with clients that are not well organized. “Take steps to train them not to come in with a shoebox full of receipts on April 10. “Make a gentle push for them to get more organized during the year. It reduces the stress level of both the client and the Professional Tax Preparer.” Here is a list of specific suggestions that tax pros should consider making to clients when they see them during filing season: • Advise them to increase their 401(k) deferral to the maximum allowed, or at least to the most they can afford to contribute. • Suggest they consider making a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA for 2017 and 2018. Taxpayers have until April 15, 2018, to make a 2017 IRA contribution. • If the taxpayer has a high-deductible health insurance plan, they should fully fund it for 2017. This can be done up until April 15, 2018. • If the taxpayer is due a large refund, advise them they can adjust their W-4 form through their employer so that it is consistent with their true tax liability. Claiming a larger number of exemptions will give them more money in their paycheck and a smaller refund next year. If they owe a large amount of money, they should claim fewer exemptions. • If the taxpayer has children who are expected to go to college, they should consider opening up a 525 plan, since all income earned through the plan will be tax-free so long as it is eventually used to pay for higher education. Many states, such as New York, also provide an additional benefit that makes these contributions tax-deductible in the year they are made against state taxable income. • Ask if the taxpayer has long-term-care insurance. A portion of qualified long-term premiums can be deductible as a medical expense, and many states, such as New York, also provide a long-term-care tax credit, which could help pay for as much as 20 percent of the premium. • Taxpayers with children in their last year of college should be advised not to pay their full tuition cost before Dec. If they are in school for part of 2019 and pay a portion of their tuition next year, they can be entitled to an education tax credit of as much as $1,500. If all tuition is paid in 2018, they can lose the credit. • Ask if the taxpayer had an interest or signing authority over a financial account in a foreign country. There are significant penalties for failing to report this on the tax return. • Ask if the taxpayer made any residential energy improvements during 2017. If so, they may be entitled to claim a residential energy credit. Taxpayers whose preparer takes a personal interest in their situation and explains the applicable tax law will feel they have been well served. “They are likely to tell their friends and associates, and are more likely to continue to use your services,” he said. This is important because client satisfaction is a component of successful “word of mouth” marketing, and by keeping the client attrition rate low, fewer new clients have to be added to a practice year to year just to stay even. BUSINESS ISSUES “It’s a good time for tax professionals to examine a client’s business entity, to determine if the client might be better off choosing a different form. “There’s still time to convert an S corporation to a C corporation, if that gives a tax advantage. An S corporation can be revoked at any time, but to be effective on the first day of the taxable year for the C corporation, it must be done by the 15th day of the third month of the taxable year. Otherwise, it won’t be effective until the next taxable year.” “Your clients want to know that you’re knowledgeable in the tax law and that you’re going to take care of them. “If something happens that will impact them, they want to feel comfortable that you’re going to let them know.” Automatic accounting method changes, if favorable to the client, are still available in 2018 until the return is filed. Look at their entity structure in relation to current legislation, and attempt to determine whether they might be better served by switching to a different form of entity.” It’s a good time for tax professionals to review strategies going forward. “The owner of an apparel company recently asked me about what they should do to minimize taxes. “We ended up talking about looking deeper into the R&D credit, because some of the things they were doing needed enhancing in order to maximize the credit — for example, the way they treat their internal software development costs can affect R&D credit eligibility.” “We also ask them about their growth goals, and where they want to be in three to five years. That opens up another opportunity,” he added. “California has a credit if you hit certain milestones based on the number of people you will hire and your capital expenditures within the state.” “And also from the state perspective, we look at the possibility of shifting income out of high-tax states into lower-tax states. By the operation of the apportionment rules, we can push income into states with a lower tax rate. For example, if a C corporation that is housed in California develops and sells software, under new market-based rules, the transaction is taxed where the benefit is derived by the client where the sale ends up. If they sell the software in Kansas, it’s not a California sale, so they can move the sale out, and save tax that would otherwise go to California.”. The IRS issues most refunds in fewer than 21 calendar days. You can check the status of your refund with on IRS.gov or the. The PATH Act made the following changes, which became effective for the 2016 filing season, to help prevent revenue loss due to identity theft and refund fraud related to fabricated wages and withholdings: The IRS may not issue a credit or refund to you before February 15th, if you claim the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) on their return. • This change only affects returns claiming EITC or ACTC that are filed before February 15. • The IRS will hold the entire refund, including any part of the refund that isn't associated with the EITC or ACTC. • Neither TAS, nor the IRS, can release any part of the refund before that date, even if you are experiencing a financial hardship. You may get a letter or notice from the IRS saying there’s a problem with your tax return or your refund will be delayed. There are many reasons why the IRS may be holding your refund. • You have unfiled or missing tax returns for prior tax years. • The check was held or returned due to a problem with the name or address. • You elected to apply the refund toward your estimated tax liability for next year. • The IRS is reviewing your tax return. • Your refund was applied to a debt you owe, to the IRS or another federal or state agency. WASHINGTON ― The Internal Revenue Service announced today that the nation’s tax season will begin Monday, Jan. 29, 2018 and reminded taxpayers claiming certain tax credits that refunds won’t be available before late February. The IRS will begin accepting tax returns on Jan. 29, with nearly 155 million individual tax returns expected to be filed in 2018. The nation’s tax deadline will be April 17 this year – so taxpayers will have two additional days to file beyond April 15. Many software companies and tax professionals will be accepting tax returns before Jan. 29 and then will submit the returns when IRS systems open. Although the IRS will begin accepting both electronic and paper tax returns Jan. 29, paper returns will begin processing later in mid-February as system updates continue. The IRS strongly encourages people to file their tax returns electronically for faster refunds. The IRS set the Jan. 29 opening date to ensure the security and readiness of key tax processing systems in advance of the opening and to assess the potential impact of tax legislation on 2017 tax returns. The IRS reminds taxpayers that, by law, the IRS cannot issue refunds claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) before mid-February. While the IRS will process those returns when received, it cannot issue related refunds before mid-February. The IRS expects the earliest EITC/ACTC related refunds to be available in taxpayer bank accounts or on debit cards starting on Feb. 27, 2018, if they chose direct deposit and there are no other issues with the tax return. The IRS also reminds taxpayers that they should keep copies of their prior-year tax returns for at least three years. Taxpayers who are using a tax software product for the first time will need their adjusted gross income from their 2016 tax return to file electronically. Taxpayers who are using the same tax software they used last year will not need to enter prior-year information to electronically sign their 2017 tax return. Using an electronic filing PIN is no longer an option. Taxpayers can visit for more tips on preparing to file their 2017 tax return. April 17 Filing Deadline The filing deadline to submit 2017 tax returns is Tuesday, April 17, 2018, rather than the traditional April 15 date. In 2018, April 15 falls on a Sunday, and this would usually move the filing deadline to the following Monday – April 16. However, Emancipation Day – a legal holiday in the District of Columbia – will be observed on that Monday, which pushes the nation’s filing deadline to Tuesday, April 17, 2017. Under the tax law, legal holidays in the District of Columbia affect the filing deadline across the nation. The IRS also has been working with the tax industry and state revenue departments as part of the initiative to continue strengthening processing systems to protect taxpayers from identity theft and refund fraud. The IRS and Summit partners continued to improve these safeguards to further protect taxpayers filing in 2018. Refunds in 2018 Choosing e-file and direct deposit for refunds remains the fastest and safest way to file an accurate income tax return and receive a refund. The IRS expects more than four out of five tax returns will be prepared electronically using tax software. The IRS still anticipates issuing more than nine out of 10 refunds in less than 21 days, but there are some important factors to keep in mind for taxpayers. By law, the IRS cannot issue refunds on tax returns claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Additional Child Tax Credit before mid-February. This applies to the entire refund — even the portion not associated with the EITC and ACTC. The IRS expects the earliest EITC/ACTC related refunds to be available in taxpayer bank accounts or on debit cards starting on Feb. 27, 2018, if those taxpayers chose direct deposit and there are no other issues with the tax return. This additional period is due to several factors, including banking and financial systems needing time to process deposits. After refunds leave the IRS, it takes additional time for them to be processed and for financial institutions to accept and deposit the refunds to bank accounts and products. The IRS reminds taxpayers many financial institutions do not process payments on weekends or holidays, which can affect when refunds reach taxpayers. For EITC and ACTC filers, the three-day holiday weekend involving Presidents’ Day may affect their refund timing. The tool on IRS.gov and the phone app will be updated with projected deposit dates for early EITC and ACTC refund filers in late February. Taxpayers will not see a refund date on Where's My Refund? or through their software packages until then. The IRS, tax preparers and tax software will not have additional information on refund dates, so Where’s My Refund? Remains the best way to check the status of a refund. IRS Offers Help for Taxpayers The IRS reminds taxpayers they have a variety of options to get help filing and preparing their tax return on IRS.gov, the official IRS website. Taxpayers can find answers to their tax questions and resolve tax issues online. The page helps answer most tax questions, and the links to these and other IRS services. Taxpayers can go to to securely access information about their federal tax account. They can view the amount they owe, pay online or set up an online payment agreement; access their tax records online; review the past 18 months of payment history; and view key tax return information for the current year as filed. Visit to review the required identity authentication process. In addition, 70 percent of the nation’s taxpayers are eligible for IRS Free File. Commercial partners of the IRS offer free brand-name software to about 100 million individuals and families with incomes of $66,000 or less. The online fillable forms provide electronic versions of IRS paper forms to all taxpayers regardless of income that can be prepared and filed by people comfortable with completing their own returns. Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) offer free tax help to people who qualify. Go to IRS.gov and enter “free tax prep” in the search box to learn more and find a nearby VITA or TCE site, or download the IRS2Go smartphone app to find a free tax prep provider. If eligible, taxpayers can also locate help from a community volunteer. Go to IRS.gov and click on the Filing tab for more information. The IRS also reminds taxpayers that a trusted tax professional can provide helpful information and advice. And details about are available on IRS.gov. According to the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act, the IRS is required to hold EITC and ACTC refunds until mid-February. The IRS expects the earliest EITC/ACTC related refunds to be available in taxpayer bank accounts or debit cards starting Feb. 27, 2018, if they chose direct deposit and there are no other issues with the tax return. Where’s My Refund? Will be updated on February 17 for the vast majority of early filers who claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Additional Child Tax Credit. Before February 17, some taxpayers may see a projected deposit date or an intermittent message that the IRS is processing their return. PROPOSED: TAX CUTS AND JOBS ACT single taxpayer would deduct $12,000, a head of household would deduct $18,000, and a married couple would deduct $24,000. However, none will tack on any additional exemptions. This means that single person would deduct $12,000 and not $10,650. The single parent would deduct $18,000 and not $17,650. Meanwhile, the two-parent home with two kids would get a $24,000 deduction now, not $29,600. However, that household could also get a bigger child tax credit. In other words, the total of the standard deduction plus exemptions would be smaller for some families with multiple children than it was before. The repeal of personal exemptions would sunset after 2025. A nearly doubled standard deduction would also mean fewer taxpayers itemizing their deductions, which Republicans argue would make it easier to do their taxes. CURRENT LAW Taxpayers deduct a set amount — $4,150 per qualifying child — from their taxable income. Then, they apply the child tax credit by subtracting up to $1,000 per child from the final tax bill. (The total amount depends on a tax filer’s income; the credit phases out as income gets higher.) People can apply for a refundable additional child tax credit, which gives them some money back if their total tax liability is zero. Employees can exclude the value of up to $5,000 in employer-provided dependent care assistance from their income. In these programs, employers might reimburse employees for child care by means of a flexible spending account, for example. People can also get a of up to $3,000 for the cost of caring for a child or other dependent (or $6,000 for more than one child or dependent). In addition, there is an adoption tax credit of $13,750 per child. PROPOSED: TAX CUTS AND JOBS ACT Taxpayers would not apply exemptions for their children. They would, however, apply a larger child tax credit, of up to $2,000 per child. This could help families make up for the loss of exemptions (as explained above). It would also make the credit refundable up to $1,400 — meaning that people who owe nothing in federal income taxes could still get up to $1,400 back from this tax credit. The bill would create an additional $500 tax credit for nonchild dependents. These provisions would expire after 2025. The bill also keeps the adoption tax credit and the dependent care exclusion. CURRENT LAW A variety of tax policies benefit current students and college graduates. Taxpayers whose colleges or universities give them tuition reductions, often called “tuition waivers,” can exclude that amount from their income. Workers may also exclude up to $5,250 in employer-provided education assistance from their taxes. Taxpayers may also deduct some tuition and student loan interest payments from their taxes. In addition, tax credits including the American opportunity tax credit, Hope Scholarship credit and lifetime learning credit help students afford their education. The IRS has not yet announced a date that it will begin accepting individual tax returns for the 2018 tax filing season. At the present time, the IRS is continuing to update its programming and processing systems for 2018. In addition, the IRS continues to closely monitor potential legislation that could affect the 2018 tax season, including a number of “extender” tax provisions that expired at the end of 2016 that could potentially be renewed for tax year 2017 by Congress. The IRS anticipates it will not be at a point to announce a filing season start date until later in the calendar year. The IRS will continue to work closely with the nation’s tax professionals and software community as preparations continue for the 2018 tax filing season. Speculation on the Internet that the IRS will begin accepting tax returns on Jan. 22 or after the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday in January is inaccurate and misleading; no such date has been set. The corporate rate would be 21%, the people said. That is higher than the 20% rateRepublicans included in the House and Senate tax bills. It would take effect in 2018. The Senate bill had delayed that rate cut—from today’s 35%—until 2019. Trump, who had said he wanted a 15% rate, then drew a red line at 20% before expressing openness to going as high as 22%, on Wednesday said he “would be thrilled” with a 21% corporate rate. “We want to give you the American people a giant tax cut for Christmas. And when I say giant, I mean giant,” Mr. Trump said in a speech at the White House on Wednesday. “Our current tax code is burdensome, complex and profoundly unfair.” The agreement is also expected to eliminate the corporate alternative-minimum tax, the people said. Keeping that, as the Senate bill did, would have undercut the value of many popular business-tax breaks, including a research-and-development tax credit. The bill would retain the individual alternative minimum tax with exemptions for incomes up to $500,000 for individuals and $1 million for married couples, much higher than current law. Republicans are considering a 20% income deduction for so-called pass-through businesses such as partnerships and S corporations, which pay taxes through individual returns. That is lower than the 23% deduction in the Senate bill, but when combined with the lower top tax rate on ordinary income, it equates to a nearly identical 29.6% top rate on that income for pass-throughs. The bill also would include some version of House language letting pass-through firms qualify for a tax break based on their capital investment, a GOP aide said. The final agreement is expected to steer clear of some of the more controversial changes in the House plan, including taxes on graduate-student tuition waivers, the repeal of deductions for student-loan interest and medical expenses and the end of tax-free private activity bonds used for projects such as hospitals and affordable housing. It was unclear how Republicans made these changes and stayed within the $1.5 trillion tax-cut limit they set for themselves. House and Senate negotiators have been working this week to reconcile the tax-cut bills that have passed each chamber and had been narrowing their differences. Republicans are now working on writing the legislative text of the tax bill, getting official revenue estimates and making final decisions. Votes on the final proposal could start as early as Monday as Republicans try to wrap up their work before they leave Washington for the year. The Senate is expected to vote first. Republican legislators unveiled their long-awaited overhaul of the nation’s outdated and oversized tax system on Thursday; publishing the broad outlines of the GOP’s proposal as it makes its way through Congress. Here’s what’s inside: Changes to individual tax rates: Reduces individual tax brackets from seven down to three, and caps the top rate for the nation's highest earners at 39.6%. Middle Class Deductions: Standard deductions for middle class Americans will double to $24,000 for married couples and $12,000 for individuals. Eliminates medical deductions. No changes to 401(k) retirement plans. Eliminates estate tax over the course of six years. Republican leaders are optimistic the plan, which will be subject to change as it works its way through both houses of Congress, has a 'great' chance of being signed into law by President Trump before the new year. “It looks very positive, these people are excited,' Rep. Kevin McCarthy. “This is why they came to Congress.” It's not the best proposal we could have gotten, but it would do tremendous good. Now pass it and put it on the president's desk. Much of the political media will emphasize themes like 'Trump and Republicans need a legislative win.' Americans need a tax cut and more economic growth. That, and only that, matters here. Equifax Data Breach Affects Millions of Consumers. Here’s What to Do. A massive data breach at Equifax, one of the nation’s largest credit reporting companies, could raise the risk of identity theft for 143 million U.S. In this article, you’ll learn details of the security incident and what you can do to help protect yourself if your personal data was compromised in the breach. Equifax on Thursday announced the cybersecurity incident, one of the largest in history. Unauthorized data access occurred from mid-May through July 2017. The breach was discovered on July 29. The personally identifiable information (PII) that was accessed includes these details: • Names • Social Security numbers • Birth dates • Addresses • Driver’s license numbers (in some cases) The company detailed the data breach in its press release. Among the key facts: • A U.S. Website application vulnerability was exploited by criminals to gain access to some files. • There is currently no evidence of unauthorized activity on core consumer or commercial credit reporting databases. • The company is conducting an assessment and providing recommendations on next steps. 'This is clearly a disappointing event for Equifax, and one that strikes at the heart of who we are and what we do,” Equifax’s chairman and CEO said in the press release. “I apologize to consumers and our business customers for the concern and frustration this causes.' What can you do if you’re a consumer affected by the breach? • Watch your mail. The company plans to send direct mail to consumers whose credit card numbers or dispute documents with PII were impacted. • Stay updated. The company has created resources to assist consumers. These include online information at and a call center at 866-447-7559. A data breach is an incident that exposes confidential or protected information. A data breach might involve the loss or theft of your Social Security number, bank account or credit card numbers, personal health information, passwords or email. A data breach can be intentional or accidental. A cybercriminal may hack the database of a company where you’ve shared your personal information. Or an employee at that company may accidentally expose your information on the Internet. Either way, criminals may access your key personal details and profit from them at your expense. Retailers, hospitals, corporations, government offices and colleges have all been targets of data breaches. But how does it happen? In this article, you’ll learn about: • Recent data breaches. • How data breaches happen. • What you can do to help stay safe. Examples from a record year of data breaches In 2016, Yahoo disclosed two data breaches that show how a mountain of personal information can land in the hands of thieves. Combined, the breaches at the online portal affected 1.5 billion user accounts. That number is more than 4-1/2 times the U.S. Here’s how the two breaches broke down: • Disclosed in December: 1 billion-plus user accounts, stolen in August 2013. • Disclosed in September: 500 million user accounts, stolen in late 2014. The Identity Theft Resource Center ranked 2016 as a record year for data breaches. The San Diego-based nonprofit recorded 1,093 U.S. Incidents, a 40 percent increase over the previous year. Here’s a quick look at those breaches by industry sector: • Business: 494 incidents (45.2%) • Healthcare/medical: 377 (34.5%) • Education: 98 (9%) • Government/military: 72 (6.6%) • Banking/credit/financial: 52 (4.8%) The pace of data breaches remains brisk, with high-profile incidents reported in 2017. For instance, data firm Deep Root Analytics exposed personal information on nearly 200 million U.S. Voters in June. The files included voting history and political leanings. How does a data breach happen?It might feel like cybercriminals keep coming up with new ways to steal data. The 2017 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report identifies nine “patterns” that criminals use. They mostly remain consistent year after year and accounted for 88 percent of breaches. How does it happen? Based on the report, here’s how. • Insider and privilege misuse: Company insiders know the value of information and sometimes they steal it. Maybe they sell it or use it to start a new company. The theft of organizational resources accounts for 60% of data breaches. • Physical theft and loss: A laptop left in a hotel lobby can lead to a breach. More often, breaches involve paper documents. The loss of physical assets can be deliberate or accidental. • Denial of service: These attacks target networks and systems. Distributed denial of service attacks often target large organizations. The cyberattacks flood and overload systems, disrupting service. • Crimeware: This includes various types of malware—short for malicious software. For instance, ransomware attacks hold computer files hostage. Attackers seek payment to unlock them. • Web application attacks: When you sign up for a web application, you often share personal details. Attackers steal data such as names, addresses and other information and use them elsewhere. • Payment card skimmers: Criminals can place a skimming device on a credit card reader to steal personal and financial information. Two popular targets: ATMs and gas pump terminals. • Cyber-espionage: This is a malicious email linked to state-affiliated actors. The goal is to pierce a system and steal information over time. • Point-of-sale intrusions: Remote attacks target point-of-sale terminals and controllers. Restaurants and small businesses have seen increased assaults. • Miscellaneous errors: Accidents compromise data. This includes the inadvertent release or loss of anything containing sensitive data. • Everything else: This “pattern” has variety. Lately, it includes compromised email accounts, where a company “CEO” might order a wire transfer for a believable reason. When someone in company finance, say, follows the bogus directive and wires money to a criminal’s account, it can have unbelievable results. Data breaches: What can you do?It’s always smart to try to keep your data safe. Even so, you probably have provided personal information to a lot of places. That might include your bank, employer, doctor’s office, and favorite restaurant. They all have a responsibility to keep your personal information secure, but that doesn’t always happen. Things go wrong. You can take steps to strengthen your personal defenses against data breaches. Here’s a partial checklist: • Shred documents. • Use secure websites. • Give your Social Security number only when absolutely required. • Create strong, secure passwords using uppercase and lowercase letters, non-sequential numbers, and special characters symbols. You can even find unusual approaches for boosting password strength. • Use different passwords on different accounts. It will help minimize the damage if one of your accounts is compromised. • Make sure your computers and mobile devices are running the latest versions of operating systems and applications. Also, remember to take steps to minimize the impact of a potential breach. • Frequently monitor online and monthly financial account statements to make sure transactions are accurate. • Regularly check your credit reports to confirm that thieves haven't opened credit card accounts or loans in your name. The takeaway: It’s important to make moves to help protect your personal information. It’s also important to realize what happens when you share personal information: You have little control in the event of a data breach. Did you know you can get up to $7,500 in Federal tax credits for buying a new electric car? That explains why we have seen all those Teslas on the road lately. Not only that, electric cars don’t pay any of the 18.4 cents per gallon Highway Trust Fund. Not to mention the 31 cents, on average, each state adds per gallon of gas. However, it may be coming to an end. Each car manufacturer can only offer a tax credit on 200,000 cars and Tesla is reaching its limit. At least five states have special fees on electric vehicles: Colorado, Nebraska, North Carolina, Virginia and Washington. However, they’re minimal. Just remember, the tax credit is only available to the buyer if the electric vehicle is purchased. If you lease an electric vehicle, the leasor receives the tax credit, typically causing them to reduce the leasee’s monthly payments. A rental income tax break known as the “Masters exemption,” permits homeowners to rent their homes for less than 14 days and not report that income to the IRS. The exemption was named after residents near the Masters Golf Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club renting their homes out during the event earning as much as $20,000. You need to know, however, these rentals are not exempt from city or state lodging tax. Some states and cities impose occupancy taxes on short-term rentals and the host is required to collect the tax directly from renters and submit the money to the tax authority. The host is responsible for remitting the tax whether it is collected or not. Some companies, like Airbnb, collect and submit the taxes in San Francisco, Chicago and 34 states. In other locations the owner is responsible for the occupancy tax which may be up to 15% and it may need to be filed monthly. Ideally, the occupancy tax should be shown as a line item on the bill submitted to the guest as the host is responsible for remitting the tax whether it is collected or not. In some areas, private home rentals are exempt from occupancy tax — but owners should check with their state. Short-term in most states is less than 30 days. In Hawaii and Florida, short-term is up to six months. Penalties typically range from 10 to 25% of the tax due, plus interest and late fees. This week the IRS issued tips to prevent ransomware attacks warning they are on the rise stating a handful of tax practitioners who have been victimized. Ransomware is used to lock users out of their files until they pay a ransom. The most common method is using emails to lure you or your employees to open a link or an attachment. In May the infamous ransomware, WannaCry, targeted computers running older unsupported systems such as Windows XP demanding $300 in Bitcoin. If you are attacked: 1) Don’t pay the ransom. “Remember, you’re dealing with criminals,” according to Christopher Budd, a global threat communications manager with the digital security firm Trend Micro. 2) Disconnect from the network. 3) Save all important files you’ve been working on. 4) Reboot your computer in safe mode. You run a system restore from safe mode by choosing Advanced Boot Options and selecting Repair Your Computer. Choose the option for System Restore to restore your system back to a previous period, prior to the ransomware attack. 5) Once you’ve rebooted, run download a copy of the using a clean, non-infected PC. Copy the downloaded file to a blank USB drive or CD, and then insert it into the infected PC. 6) Reinstall your files from a backup. If none of that works, you may need to consider your files gone forever. Reformat your hard drive, reinstall your operating system and set up an automatic backup. Going forward, make sure your operating system and anti-virus software is automatically updated and verify the integrity of regularly data backups. The IRS said it would start accepting electronic tax returns on January 23 and it anticipates more than 153 million individual tax returns to be filed next year. The IRS believes more than four out of five tax returns will be prepared electronically using tax preparation software, as was the case last year. However, even with the January 23 start date, the IRS also pointed out that many software companies and tax professionals will begin accepting tax returns before that date and then they’ll submit the returns when the IRS’s systems open. The IRS will also start processing paper tax returns on January 23. The IRS noted there is no advantage to filing tax returns on paper in early January instead of waiting until January 23 for the IRS to begin accepting e-filed returns. The IRS also reminded taxpayers that a new law will require the agency to hold back tax refunds claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Additional Child Tax Credit until February 15. The IRS wishes taxpayers to be aware it will take several days for these tax refunds to be released and processed through financial institutions. Factoring in weekends and the President’s Day holiday, the IRS is warning many affected taxpayers may not have actual access to their tax refunds until the week of February 27. “For this tax season, it’s more important than ever for taxpayers to plan ahead,” IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said in a statement. “People should make sure they have their year-end tax statements in hand, and we encourage people to file as they normally would, including those claiming the credits affected by the refund delay. Even with these significant changes, IRS employees and the entire tax community will be working hard to make this a smooth filing season for taxpayers.” The IRS also reminded taxpayers to hold onto copies of their prior-year tax returns for at least three years. Taxpayers who are changing the tax software products they use this filing season will need to get their adjusted gross income from their 2015 tax return in order to file electronically. The Electronic Filing Pin is no longer an option. Taxpayers can visit IRS.Gov/GetReady to get more advice on preparing to file their 2016 tax return. The filing deadline to submit 2016 tax returns is Tuesday, April 18, 2017, instead of the traditional April 15 date. In 2017, April 15 falls on a Saturday, and this would usually move the filing deadline to the following Monday, April 17. However, Emancipation Day-a legal holiday in the District of Columbia-will be observed on that Monday, which pushes the nation’s filing deadline to Tuesday, April 18, 2017. Under the tax law, legal holidays in the District of Columbia affect the filing deadline across the nation. “The opening of filing season reflects months and months of work by IRS employees,” Koskinen said. “This year, we had a number of important legislative changes to program into our systems, including the EITC refund date, as well as dealing with resource limitations. Our systems require extensive programming and testing beforehand to ensure we’re ready to accept and process more than 150 million returns.” The IRS noted that it has been working in partnership with the tax industry and state revenue departments as part of its Security Summit initiative to strengthen tax processing systems to protect taxpayers from identity theft and tax refund fraud. Several new provisions are being added in 2017 to expand on the progress made this past year. The House blocked an effort Tuesday by conservatives to force an impeachment vote against Internal Revenue Service commissioner John Koskinen, effectively taking the question off the congressional agenda for this year. With Congress aiming to leave Washington by Friday, outgoing House Freedom Caucus Jim Jordan of Ohio called up a privileged resolution, which would have required a floor vote within two days. Instead, House members voted 342-72 to refer the measure to the Judiciary Committee, which will prevent a floor vote before the 114th Congress adjourns. Republican leaders argued that saddling the Senate with an impeachment—a prospect that has gathered little enthusiasm among senators—at the beginning of January might have delayed other priorities, including the confirmation of President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet appointees. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy referred to that possibility in brief comments to reporters Tuesday afternoon. “That would be a problem for repealing Obamacare,” McCarthy said. Impeaching the IRS commissioner would be an unprecedented move for Congress, which has never removed an official below the level of Cabinet secretary. But Freedom Caucus members have long sought the impeachment of Koskinen, whom they accuse of impeding an investigation into whether the tax agency improperly targeted conservative nonprofits. They can try to take the issue up again when the next Congress convenes in January. When he took office in December 2013, Koskinen was immediately mired in the agency’s response to a scandal that predated his tenure: IRS officials admitted giving extra scrutiny to conservative groups that sought tax-exempt status beginning in 2010. In an ensuing investigation, congressional subpoenas to the agency sought all communications sent or received by Lois Lerner, the agency’s former director of exempt organizations. Despite the pending subpoenas, IRS employees in West Virginia magnetically erased 422 backup tapes, which eliminated as many as 24,000 of her emails, in March 2014. Subsequent investigations by the Justice Department and the Treasury Department’s inspector general found that the destruction was accidental. Regardless, Koskinen testified to Congress in June 2014 that “since the start of this investigation, every email has been preserved. Nothing has been destroyed.” He has said since then that his testimony reflected his understanding at the time. Treasury Department, which oversees the IRS, has called the impeachment drive baseless and a distraction, adding that Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew continues to have full confidence in Koskinen. An impeachment resolution requires a simple majority of the House. It would then go to the Senate, which would try the case. Conviction requires a two-thirds vote, and Senate leaders have indicated that they don’t favor an effort to impeach Koskinen. The Internal Revenue Service has launched an online application to help taxpayers with “straightforward balance inquiries.” The allows taxpayers to view their IRS account balance, which will include the amount they owe for tax, penalties and interest. Before accessing the tool, taxpayers must authenticate their IDs through a two-step authentication process, which means returning users must have their credentials (username and password) plus a security code sent as a text to their mobile phones. Taxpayers who have registered to get a transcript online or an IP PIN may use their same username and password. To register for the first time, taxpayers must have an email address, a text-enabled mobile phone in the user’s name and specific financial information, such as a credit card number or specific loan numbers. Taxpayers can prior to starting registration. The IRS will send verification, activation or security codes via email and text – and it warns that it will not initiate contact via text or e-mail asking for log-in information or personal data. The IRS texts and e-mails will contain one-time codes. The Internal Revenue Service alerted tax professionals Tuesday that over the next five weeks, it will send letters to some users of its online e-Services products informing them they will either have to go online or call the e-Services e-Help Desk to validate their identities, as part of the IRS’s battle against identity theft. The letters will go to those e-Services users who can access the IRS’s Transcript Delivery Service and who have been active within the past year, the IRS noted. The IRS restored the online Get Transcript service this year with improved authentication procedures after taking it down last year once it discovered that identity thieves had used it to access hundreds of thousands of tax returns. To find out more about which tax professionals are affected by the letters, who needs to validate their identities and what information is required, the IRS is directing users to the main e-Services page on its website,. Users who receive the letters from the IRS will then have 30 days either to authenticate their identities online or call the IRS to authenticate their IDs by phone. Tax professionals should not call the e-Help Desk unless they receive a letter or their account gets suspended. However, if they do not re-validate their identities in time, the IRS warned their accounts will be suspended for security purposes. The identity validation push is being prompted by the IRS’s continuing battle against hackers and identity thieves who have been employing increasingly sophisticated means to gain access to taxpayer identities, including by targeting tax preparers. “Cybercriminals currently are engaged in ongoing phishing attempts to steal e-Services users’ usernames and passwords,” the IRS warned. “Be alert to phishing scams either by letter, email or phone. Make sure the communication you receive is from official IRS sources. If in doubt, go directly to IRS.gov.”. In July 2011, in response to growing public concern over employment-related identity theft, the Treasury General for Tax Administration announced that the Internal Revenue Service could do more to assist taxpayers by informing them if fraudulent income was being reported under their social security numbers.This commonly occurs when an SSN is misused by an individual to obtain employment. TIGTA wanted the IRS to identify and flag tax returns that had an SSN on third-party documents, but the tax return was being filed with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number as its tax identifier. Once the return was flagged with this ITIN/SSN mismatch, the SSN owner would be notified their number had been used on someone else’s return. During tax years 2009-2013, the IRS ITIN program found that an average of 24 million annual individual tax returns contained discrepancies in the form of an ITIN/SSN mismatch. In August 2016, TIGTA published a highlighting that the IRS had “not established an effective process to send the required notice to the Social Security Administration (SSA) to alert it of earnings not associated with these victims” of identity theft. The TIGTA commentary provides a timely reminder of how current U.S tax policy may have adverse consequences for certain taxpayers, since the IRS allows a tax return to be electronically filed even when it includes an ITIN that fails to match the corresponding SSNs on third party W-2s. This policy potentially conflicts with a tax preparer’s professional responsibility to adopt a sufficient level of due diligence, as prescribed by Circular 230, so it is important to ascertain how professionals are currently dealing with this ethical and professional dilemma. In order to explore this issue, the researchers at Metropolitan State University of Denver recently surveyed accounting professionals, paid tax preparers, and volunteers in the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, about their views on mismatched tax verification documents, and whether clients should be advised to certify tax returns prepared using conflicting source information. The contacted individuals included CPAs, Enrolled Agents, accounting academics and accounting students. Approximately 2,000 accounting professionals and students were contacted, and surveys were completed by 99 and 28 CPAs and EAs, respectively. The MSU Denver survey asked respondents whether they follow the rules within Circular 230. The survey then asked the respondents about the extent to which they agree or disagree with a series of statements about whether they would prepare a tax return and allow a client to sign such a return in situations where a client provided mismatched or conflicting income verification documents. The survey used a five-point scale for classifying responses, ranging from strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree, to strongly disagree. Selected results from the survey are provided in Table 1. For presentation purposes, the “strongly agree” and “agree” responses for each statement have been combined together into a single column entitled “number agreeing.”. Statement 1 focused on determining whether respondents followed Circular 230 when preparing tax returns, and 100 percent of EAs agreed with this assertion. In contrast, only 64.6 percent of CPAs agreed with this statement. Of the 35.4 percent of CPAs who did not agree, 70 percent claimed to be undecided about whether they followed Circular 230, with the remainder choosing not to answer the question. Statement 2 explored whether respondents would prepare a tax return where a client provided mismatched or conflicting verification documents. Only 6.1 percent of CPAs agreed they would prepare a tax return in such situations. In contrast, 21.4 percent of EAs said they would complete a return using mismatched documents. Of the other responses, a total of 22 CPAs and EAs chose to not answer this question. In terms of expected results, the researchers expected to see an inverse relationship between each respondent’s answers to statements 1 and 2, as a tax preparer exercising due diligence in accordance with the requirements of Circular 230 should be reluctant to prepare a return based upon conflicting verification documents. While this was clearly the case for the majority of respondents, 21.4 percent of EAs would still prepare a return under such conditions, even though 100 percent of the EAs surveyed agreed that they followed Circular 230. Statements 3 and 4 explored whether respondents would advise their clients to sign their tax return if it was prepared using mismatched or conflicting documents. Statement 3 posed this statement from the perspective of a paid credentialed tax preparer, and statement 4 posed it from the perspective of a volunteer tax preparer, such as a volunteer at a VITA site. The results for both statements 3 and 4 provided further evidence of a strong inverse relationship with each respondent’s views about statement 1, although in both scenarios, more than 30 percent of CPAs would advise their client to sign a tax return if mismatched or conflicting documents were used during its preparation. The percentage of EAs who agreed that clients should be advised to sign such returns, was relatively lower, with 21 percent and 14 percent stating that paid and volunteer preparers, respectively, would advocate client certification despite a source document mismatch. In summary, the results of the survey raise a number of questions about the extent to which the current IRS policy on ITIN/SSN mismatches is potentially influencing the practices of CPAs and EAs, in both the paid and volunteer tax preparatory arenas. While survey data is still being collected, the data to date highlights a potential tension between the need to follow the due diligence requirements of Circular 230 against a preparer’s professional concern for their clients. Are clients really best served by a paid or volunteer tax preparer that allows them to sign a tax return prepared using mismatched verification documents? Clients are signing under the jurat of the 1040: 'Under penalties of perjury, I declare that I have examined this return and accompanying schedules and statements, and to the best of my knowledge and belief, they are true, correct, and complete.' Best practice would suggest not, especially when this advice could potentially harm the client, the preparer, and those third parties whose SSNs have been misused. Clearly action is needed to tackle the ITIN/SSN mismatch issue. Despite having an ethical and professional responsibility to adopt the highest levels of due diligence, tax preparers are facing increasing pressure to prepare returns using mismatched information, the survey results suggest. As one respondent commented, “Congress or the IRS should think about a better regulation to avoid such a conflict,” while another stated that their chief concern was not for their client, but “for those whose identity has been compromised.”. The Internal Revenue Service has created a new Fast Track Mediation program to resolve collection cases and issues more quickly for taxpayers with outstanding tax debts., issued by the IRS last week, replaces the IRS’s Fast Track Mediation procedure with a new program, Fast Track Mediation—Collection. The FTMC program provides taxpayers who had cases in the IRS’s Small Business/Self-Employed division with an opportunity to resolve certain offer-in-compromise and trust fund recovery penalty issues and cases worked on by the IRS’s Collection function on an expedited basis, with an Office of Appeals mediator acting as a neutral party. The IRS began testing Fast Track Mediation procedures in 2000 for taxpayers in the SB/SE division whose cases were being worked on in the Examination or Collection operating units. The FTM procedure allowed taxpayers to expedite their cases by going through an Appeals meditator acting as a third party. The IRS is now replacing the FTM program with the FTMC program because taxpayer requests for the program have been infrequent ever since it was introduced, particularly after the IRS expanded a similar program known as Fast Track Settlement nationwide in 2013. The Fast Track Settlement program, or FTS, is only available to taxpayers whose cases are being handled by the Examination unit, however, and it does not provide an expedited Appeals alternative dispute resolution opportunity for taxpayers whose cases are in Collection. Rather than eliminate the FTM program completely, the IRS has decided to replace it with the FTMC program to ensure taxpayers in Collection can still get an early opportunity for expedited resolution of their cases via mediation. But it is limited to certain offer-in-compromise and trust fund recovery penalty issues and cases that are worked on by the Collection unit. Other alternative dispute resolution programs, such as FTS, will remain available to taxpayers whose cases are being worked on in the Examination unit. Like the older FTM program, the new FTMC program gives taxpayers the opportunity to resolve certain case and issue disputes on an expedited basis with an Appeals mediator acting as a neutral party. The Appeals mediator in the new FTMC program, as in the older FTM program, does not have settlement authority and cannot render a decision on any issue in dispute. Although Collection is an operating unit of the IRS’s SB/SE division, all kinds of collection cases, regardless of the type of taxpayer, are handled by Collection. Thus, any type of taxpayer can participate in the FTMC program, not just small businesses and self-employed taxpayers, provided the taxpayer meets the eligibility requirements set forth in the revenue procedure and the taxpayer’s case is being worked on in the Collection function. Practitioners preparing for the 2017 tax season and the year ahead have a disparate set of issues to be cognizant of that go beyond their traditional routine of office set up, training staff, sending out organizers, offering planning tips, and scheduling appointments. All of these are still necessary, naturally, but there are new issues that preparers need to be aware of both for their clients and themselves. These include later refunds from the Internal Revenue Service for the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Additional Child Tax Credit returns and security measures necessitated by the increasing fraudster targeting of tax professionals, and expanded due diligence requirements for preparers on certain credits. And, while not in the Tax Code, the new overtime rules promulgated by the Department of Labor should be communicated to small-business owners, and may affect the preparer’s own tax office. The environment has changed, according to Annie Schwab, tax manager at Padgett Business Services. “In the past, the focus was on attending webinars or conferences and learning about new legislation and tax strategies to pursue,” she observed. “But now it’s more than just the Internal Revenue Code that impacts the preparation business. Preparers must now be familiar with requirements from Health and Human Services and the Department of Labor, and must know the ins and outs of shielding their business from scammers and protecting taxpayers from identity theft.” Beginning in 2017, the IRS will hold refunds on EITC and ACTC returns until Feb. 15, Schwab noted. The delay results from the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015, which intended to help prevent revenue lost due to identity theft and refund fraud. “Under the law, the IRS cannot release the part of the refund that is not associated with EITC or ACTC,” she noted. “It is the preparer’s legal responsibility to protect clients’ business and personal records from unauthorized access,” she reminded practitioners. Schwab recommends that tax business owners check their errors & omissions malpractice insurance policy to see if it covers data breaches. If it doesn’t, consider adding to it, she advised. The new overtime rules, which went into effect on Dec. 1, 2016, will cause headaches for many business owners, she predicted. “It’s a good time to remind clients about the new rules, since some of them might have missed the starting date.” The effect of the rules is to raise the salary level limit for overtime from the current $23,660 annually to $47,476. These limits affect not just clients, but the firm itself. Vince Mattina, a managing partner of Mattina, Kent & Gibbons PC, a Mich.-based CPA firm, noted that it is necessary for his firm not only to work on the DOL rules for clients, but for the firm’s own staff as well. “Our starting salary for business school graduates who join the firm prior to receiving their CPA license is near, but still under, the new salary threshold,” he said. “With a combination of experience and successful passage of the CPA Exam, the rate surpasses it.” During tax season, the firm will need to convert those staff members from salaried to hourly employees, monitoring their overtime hours to the extent possible. For practitioners advising an owner-employee of a startup, there is an exemption from the rules for those who own a 20 percent or greater interest, Schwab observed. However, there is a disparity between potential violation of the Tax Code and the DOL rules. “For example, if six individuals want to form a corporation, each will actively participate and own an equal share of the business,” she said. “As a startup, the corporation will not have money in the first year to pay wages to any of the shareholders, so no distributions will be made. Under the IRS rules for reasonable compensation, the corporation has no risk of audit since no distributions were made to the shareholders. But according to the DOL, the corporation is in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Since each shareholder’s ownership was less than 20 percent, the corporation should have paid them at least the minimum wage, including overtime pay, for the services they provided,” she said. END-OF-YEAR PLANNING For those that anticipate lower taxes next year as a result of the presidential election, the usual “blocking and tackling” of accelerating deductions and deferring income should be considered, according to Mike Campbell, tax partner at Top 10 firm BDO USA. “It depends on clients’ net worth and where they fall in the tax bracket,” he said. “The best tax advice in the wake of the election is to accelerate deductions into this year because of the high tax rates, and defer income to those years when the income tax will be lower,” agreed Jonathan Swartz, a tax partner at Top 100 Firm Bennett Thrasher. “Tax legislation typically gets delayed and then gets rammed through at the end of the year, but any new administration will want to make its mark.” For clients who might benefit from the valuation discount in family limited partnerships or family limited liability companies, the time to take action is now, according to Campbell. The discounts will no longer be viable once proposed regulations under Code Section 2704 are finalized at year’s end. “There’s still time to do planning with FLPs and FLLCs, but the discounts for lack of marketability may be going the way of the dodo,” he said. Long-term capital gains can currently be taxed at either 15 percent or 20 percent depending on income, so certain clients are in danger of paying an extra 5 percent if they make too much money, Swartz observed. “They need to be mindful of what their income is and have their CPA run projections to quantify potential tax savings,” he said. Captive insurance companies and conservation easements can create potential tax savings for certain wealthier clients, noted Tom Wheelwright, founder and chief executive of accounting firm ProVision. “Captive insurance companies were made permanent in the extenders bill last year,” he said. “Business owners and doctors use them a lot — it’s really getting a tax deduction for self-insurance. Usually, it involves things you would not normally insure because it would be cost-prohibitive, but now you can get the deduction upfront instead of waiting until it’s paid out in claims. There’s up to a $1.2 million deduction, so for certain wealthy clients it’s a great tool.” “Owners of undeveloped land who don’t know what to do with it can get a charitable deduction for putting a conservation easement on the property,” Wheelwright suggested. “The IRS will always scrutinize it, but if it’s done right it’s a great opportunity for wealthy clients that don’t know what else to do with the land.” BEEFING UP SECURITY “An overarching theme for the upcoming tax season is fraud and how preparers can help safeguard their clients as well as their own practice,” said Mark Jaeger, director of tax development for TaxAct. “While this isn’t a new theme, there are changes that preparers need to communicate to their clients — and key points they need to keep in mind for the security of their own businesses.” “Tax-related identity theft will continue to be of concern this tax season,” Jaeger cautioned. “Unfortunately, tax professionals are increasingly becoming victims of fraud, with criminals remotely accessing their computers to steal taxpayer information, file phony returns, and collect refunds. Criminals are also stealing preparer PTINs, EFINs and e-Service passwords to engage in fraudulent activity,” he said. “As a result, tax preparers need to be diligent about security measures throughout tax season and beyond.” Jaeger offered the following tips from the IRS: • Review tax preparation software settings and immediately implement security measures. • Update usernames and passwords and change them frequently. • Remember best practices such as never clicking a link from an unknown source, and remind staff to be alert to phishing scams involving e-mail, text messages and phone calls. • Routinely monitor PTIN accounts, checking that the number of returns filed matches IRS records. INCREASED COMPLIANCE In an effort to reduce improper claims for the refundable Child Tax Credit, ACTC and the American Opportunity Tax Credit, tax professionals will now need to comply with expanded EITC due diligence requirements, Jaeger indicated. “Much like they’ve had to do for returns including EITC claims, preparers will be required to complete Form 8867, Paid Preparer’s Due Diligence Checklist. This form certifies the preparer has confirmed the client’s eligibility for the EITC, CTC/ACTC and AOTC.” “The due diligence requirement is part of a ‘program integrity’ provision of the PATH Act,” Jaeger said. “A failure to comply with the due diligence requirement results in a penalty of $510 per violation for tax year 2016 returns.”. In 2015, Congress passed—and President Barack Obama signed—legislation that created a few major changes in the upcoming tax-filing season. The April 15 deadline, as well as the extended deadline of October 15, for individuals will remain unchanged, but there is one new deadline of which taxpayers should be aware: Form 1065, U.S. Return of Partnership Income, is now due March 15 rather than April 15. What does that mean for businesses and tax professionals? The new deadlines (in theory) make more sense. The changes coming next year are, in part, the result of years of lobbying by the American Institute of CPAs, as well as others. For individual taxpayers with ownership interests in partnerships, having the same due date for individual and partnership tax returns made it difficult, if not impossible, to file individual returns by the April 15 due date. Partnerships, in themselves, do not pay income tax. Rather, the invested parties involved in the partnership include their own share of the partnership’s income (or loss) on their individual tax returns. That said, individuals involved in a partnership—whether it’s an LLC or LLP—must rely on information from the partnership’s return in order to accurately complete their individual returns in a timely manner. Moving the deadline for Form 1065 up to March 15 promotes earlier partnership tax filings and in turn gives individuals all of the information they need well in advance of the April 15 deadline. Also included in the legislation was a change to the due date of C Corporations, from March 15 to April 15 for calendar-year corporations. It is important to note the due date for calendar year S Corporations remains March 15. This is (generally) good news for tax professionals. The re-ordering of federal deadlines will, in theory, create a more manageable “busy season” for tax professionals. Since many tax filers—whether they are corporations, partnerships or families—are reluctant to file for extensions. The new March 15 deadline will force partnerships to plan ahead and adjust to the new deadline. For tax professionals, this means that complex, time-consuming work will be pushed toward the beginning of the new year, resulting in a more spread out workload. The challenge for tax professionals, and their clients, will be the need to accelerate the timing of partnership tax return work during the 2017 busy season. Simply put, next year’s tax season will not be “business as usual.” Timing that has been effective in previous years needs to rethought. It’s (understandably) safe to expect a delay in returns. This is the first tax season these new deadlines will be in place, so it’s possible we’ll experience a few bumps along the way. If partnerships need more time and decide to file for extensions, it could result in an increase in extensions for individual returns. All taxpayers should, as always, plan ahead and do their best to file accurate returns as soon as they reasonably can. On November 18, 2016 the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced a limited extension to insurers, self-insuring employers, and certain other providers of minimum essential coverage for the 2016 information reporting requirements under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Specifically, this notice extends the due date for furnishing to individuals the 2016 Form 1095-B, Health Coverage, and the 2016 Form 1095-C, Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage, from January 31, 2017, to March 2, 2017. In addition, this notice also extends good faith transition relief from section 6721 and 6722 penalties to the 2016 information reporting requirements under sections 6055 and 6056. Important Notes About The Deadline Extension: •The ACA Reporting limited extension due date is March 2, 2017. •ACA Reporting is still required for 2016. •The good faith transition relief has been extended for 2016. •The ACA Reporting requirements for 2016 have not changed. The IRS has released another in its series of reminders to ensure “smooth processing” of 2016 returns and avoiding delay in refunds. • Have all relevant documents, such as W-2s and 1099s, before filing a return. Taxpayers may also need a copy of their 2015 return. Beginning in 2017, taxpayers using a software product for the first time may need their adjusted gross income from a prior return to verify their identity. • Under the PATH Act, any ITIN issued prior to 2013 or that hasn’t been used for tax years 2013, 2014 and 2015 will no longer be valid for use on a return as of Jan. Individuals with expiring ITINs who need to file a return in 2017 will need to renew their ITIN. This process typically takes seven weeks, but can take up to 11 weeks if taxpayers wait to file a W-7 during peak filing season or send it from overseas. • Taxpayers claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Additional Child Tax Credit will have their refund held by the IRS until Feb. 15 as part of fraud prevention. • The IRS always cautions taxpayers not to rely on getting a refund by a certain date, especially when making major purchases or paying bills. The IRS has with steps to take for the 2017 season. The IRS has released a number of draft tax forms and instructions for the 2016 tax year on its website, including Form 1040 and its related schedules. This article, which appears in two parts, highlights key changes made on the 2016 return. The first part examined the draft Form 1040 itself. Part 2 covers related draft forms and schedules. Form 1040—Schedule A, Itemized Deductions Line 1. Medical and dental expenses. The 2016 standard mileage rate for medically related use of an auto is 19¢ per mile. Unreimbursed employee expenses. The 2016 standard mileage rate for business travel is 54¢ per mile. Limit on itemized deductions. Itemized deductions for taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes in excess of the 'applicable amount' ($311,300 for joint filers or a surviving spouse, $285,350 for a head of household, $259,400 for a single individual who isn't a surviving spouse, and $155,650 for marrieds filing separately) may be reduced. Form 1040—Schedule B, Interest and Ordinary Dividends Line 1. Interest. Accrued interest on Series EE U.S. Savings bonds issued in 1986 is taxable. Excludable interest on Series EE or Series I U.S. Savings bonds. The exclusion for education-related savings bond interest phases out at higher income levels. For 2016, the phaseout begins at modified AGI above $77,550 ($116,300 on a joint return). F orm 1040—Schedule C, Profit Or Loss From Business Line D. Employer ID number. For 2016, the Line D instructions provide that the sole owner of a limited liability company that is not treated as a separate entity for federal income tax purposes, and that has an Employer ID Number issued in the LLC's legal name because it is required to file employment tax returns and/or certain excise tax returns, should enter the LLC's EIN here. In prior years, the Schedule C, Line D instructions provided that such a taxpayer wasn't to enter that EIN on Line D. Instead, the owners of such an LLC were instructed to enter the EIN here issued to them in their name as a sole proprietor, if there was such an EIN. Car and truck expenses. The 2016 standard mileage rate for business travel is 54¢ per mile. Line 13. Depreciation and section 179 expense. See entries for Form 4562, below. Line 27a. Other expenses. Historically, taxpayers could elect to deduct the costs of certain qualified film and television productions. Beginning in 2016, taxpayers can also elect to deduct the costs of certain qualified live theatrical productions that have their first public performance for a paying audience in 2016. Form 4562, Depreciation and Amortization Part I. Election to expense certain tangible property under Sec. 179. For tax years beginning in 2016, the maximum section 179 expense deduction is $500,000 ($535,000 for qualified enterprise zone property). This limit is reduced by the amount by which the cost of section 179 property placed in service during the tax year exceeds $2,010,000. Special depreciation allowance for qualified property. Taxpayers can elect to claim the special depreciation allowance for certain specified plants bearing fruit and nuts that are planted or grafted after Dec. Listed property. First-year luxury auto limits for vehicles first placed in service in 2016 are $3,160 for autos and $3,560 for light trucks or vans. Form 1040—Schedule E, Supplemental Income and Loss Standard mileage rate. The 2016 standard mileage rate for miles driven in connection with the taxpayer's rental activities is 54¢ per mile. Form 1040—Schedule F, Profit or Loss from Farming Part II. Farm Expenses—Cash and Accrual Method. Line 10. Car and truck expenses. The 2016 standard mileage rate for business travel is 54¢ per mile. Janice Krueger, subject matter expert at Greatland Corporation, spoke on ACA mandates, filing requirement deadlines, and what’s new for this year and what’s changed from last year. As the number of questions from the audience demonstrated, the majority of us are still confused by the complexity of the reporting requirements. When determining if an employer is an ALE (Applicable Large Employer) for 2016 reporting, does the employer use the employee count from 2015 or 2016? The employer uses the count from 2015. Whether an employer is an ALE is determined each calendar year and generally depends on the average size of an employer’s workforce during the prior year. If an employer has fewer than 50 full-time employees, including full-time equivalent employees, on average during the prior year, the employer is not an ALE for the current calendar year. Therefore, the employer is not subject to the employer shared responsibility provisions or the employer information reporting provisions for the current year. If a self-insured employer with less than 50 full-time employees has an employee who waives coverage, is the employer required to file Form 1095-B for the employee? No, Form 1095-B is not required to be filed for any employee who waives coverage because Form 1095-B is used to show enrolled coverage. How should a self-insured ALE report coverage offered to a non-employee such as a retiree? Assuming that the person was a non-employee for the entire year, the ALE has two options in how to report this coverage: • The ALE can file Form 1095-C for the non-employee and enter code 1G on Line 14 and leave Lines 15 and 16 blank, or • The ALE can file Form 1095-B for the non-employee rather than Form 1095-C. How is an offer of COBRA coverage to a former employee who was terminated reported differently than an employee who was offered COBRA due to a reduction in hours? An offer of COBRA coverage that is made to a former employee upon termination should not be reported as an offer of coverage on Line 14, Form 1095-C. Code 1H should be reported on Line 14. An offer of COBRA coverage that is made to an employee who remains employed by the employer should be reported as an offer of coverage on Line 14, Form 1095-C, but only for any individual who receives an offer of COBRA coverage. Generally, an offer of COBRA coverage is required to be made only to individuals who were enrolled in coverage and would lose eligibility for coverage due to the COBRA qualifying event, but an employer may choose to extend a similar offer of coverage to a spouse or dependent even if the offer is not required by COBRA. Is an ALE required to enter a code on Line 16 of Form 1095-C? However, an ALE can use Line 16 to indicate whether the ALE qualifies for an exception to a penalty. An ALE should enter the appropriate code on Line 16 if any applies. If no code is applicable for a given month, Line 16 should be left blank. Employers and small businesses have a new January filing deadline for W-2s, the Internal Revenue Service warned, adding that it must also hold some refunds until Feb. A new federal law accelerates the W-2 filing deadline for employers to Jan. The new law also requires the IRS to hold refunds involving two key refundable tax credits until at least Feb. Last December’s PATH Act enacted the new requirement that employers file their copies of the W-2 submitted to the Social Security Administration, by Jan. The new deadline also applies to certain 1099-MISCs. Previously, employers typically had until the end of February if filing on paper or until the end of March if e-filing to submit their copies of these forms. In addition, there are changes in requesting an extension to file the W-2: Only one 30-day extension to file a W-2 is available; this extension is not automatic. If an extension is necessary, a Form 8809 must be filed as soon as possible, but no later than Jan. 31 deadline has long applied to employers furnishing copies of these forms to their employees; that date remains unchanged. Due to the PATH Act change, the new law requires the IRS to hold the refund for any return claiming either the Earned Income Tax Credit or the Additional Child Tax Credit until Feb. By law, the IRS must hold the entire refund, not just the portion related to the EITC or ACTC. Some Tax Benefits to Increase Slightly in 2017 Annual inflation adjustments will affect more than 50 tax provisions, including the tax rate schedules, in tax year 2017, the Internal Revenue Service announced. provides details about the annual adjustments, which will generally be used on returns filed in 2018. Some highlights of the changes: • The standard deduction for married filing jointly rises to $12,700 for tax year 2017, up $100 from the prior year. For single taxpayers and married individuals filing separately, the standard deduction rises to $6,350 in 2017, up from $6,300 in 2016. For heads of households, the standard deduction will be $9,350 for tax year 2017, up from $9,300 for tax year 2016. • The personal exemption for tax year 2017 remains $4,050. The exemption is subject to a phase-out that begins with adjusted gross incomes of $261,500 ($313,800 for married couples filing jointly). It phases out completely at $384,000 ($436,300 for married couples filing jointly.) • For tax year 2017, the 39.6 percent rate affects single taxpayers whose income exceeds $418,400 ($470,700 for married taxpayers filing jointly), up from $415,050 and $466,950, respectively. The other marginal rates – 10, 15, 25, 28, 33 and 35 percent – and the related income tax thresholds for tax year 2017 are described in the revenue procedure. • The limitation for itemized deductions to be claimed on tax year 2017 returns of heads of households begins with incomes of $287,650 or more ($313,800 for married couples filing jointly). • The Alternative Minimum Tax exemption amount for tax year 2017 is $54,300 and begins to phase out at $120,700 ($84,500, for married couples filing jointly for whom the exemption begins to phase out at $160,900). The 2016 exemption amount was $53,900 ($83,800 for married couples filing jointly). For tax year 2017, the 28 percent rate applies to taxpayers with taxable incomes above $187,800 ($93,900 for married individuals filing separately). • The tax year 2017 maximum Earned Income Tax Credit is $6,318 for taxpayers filing jointly who have three or more qualifying children, up from a total of $6,269 for tax year 2016. (The revenue procedure has a table providing maximum credit amounts for other categories, income thresholds and phase-outs. • For tax year 2017, the monthly limitation for the qualified transportation fringe benefit is $255, as is the monthly limitation for qualified parking. • For calendar 2017, the dollar amount used to determine the penalty for not maintaining minimum essential health coverage is $695. • For tax year 2017, the AGI amount used by joint filers to determine the reduction in the Lifetime Learning Credit is $112,000, up from $111,000 for tax year 2016. • Estates of decedents who die during 2017 have a basic exclusion amount of $5.49 million, up from a total of $5.45 million for estates of decedents who died in 2016. “We ask that you renew your PTIN as soon as possible to avoid a last-minute rush,” said Carol A. Campbell, director of the IRS Return Preparer Office, in a statement. “It’s easy to let this slip as the holiday season approaches.” For those who already have a 2016 PTIN, the renewal process only takes a few moments online and costs $50. If you cannot remember your user ID and password, online tools are available to help. Tax preparers can get started. If you are registering for the first time, the PTIN application fee is also $50 and the process can also be done online. The paper version of the Form W-12, IRS Paid Preparer Tax Identification Number Application and Renewal, is available for those who prefer to do their applications and renewals on paper. It takes the IRS four to six weeks to process paper applications and renewals. Failure to have and use a valid PTIN can lead to penalties. All enrolled agents, regardless of whether they prepare returns, must have a PTIN to preserve their status. Enrolled Agent Renewals The IRS is also sending emails to enrolled agents whose Social Security numbers end with a 4, 5, or 6 that they need to renew their status between Nov. 1, 2016 and Jan. EAs can renew their licenses using Form 8554, Application for Renewal of Enrollment to Practice Before the IRS, at between those two dates. They can go to www.pay.gov and enter “8554” in the Search Public Forms box on the left-hand side. There they can complete the online form and pay a $30 renewal fee. Renewals can take up to 90 days to process. Annual Filing Season Program The IRS is also kicking off another year of its voluntary Annual Filing Season Program to encourage non-credentialed tax preparers to take continuing education courses so they can improve their knowledge and readiness for tax season. The program generally requires 18 hours of continuing education, including a course in basic tax filing issues and updates, ethics, along with other federal tax law courses. More information can be found. Tax preparers who want to receive an Annual Filing Season Program - Record of Completion for 2017, must (1) complete their continuing education requirements by Dec. 31, 2016; (2) have a valid 2017 PTIN; and (3) consent to adhere to specific practice requirements in Treasury Department Circular No. The IRS has posted a to demonstrate how to sign the Circular 230 consent and print the Record of Completion. Intuit: ProSeries, Lacerte, Turbo Tax Petz: Crosslink, TaxBrain TaxSlayer: TaxSlayer TaxAct: TaxAct These are your direct competitors, they are advertising and doing millions of tax returns with all the clients you once had through Do It Yourself Tax Preparation Software. For all you know they maybe using the addresses for the e-files you are sending through them to directly market to your customers. You may want to evaluate your current tax software company to see if they are your friend or your competitor. Intuit is helping taxpayers in Alabama after errors were uncovered in its state income tax software that led some taxpayers to inadvertently overpay or underpay their taxes. The company is working with Alabama’s Department of Revenue on an outreach effort after errors were found in Intuit’s TurboTax Alabama state tax software. The company said the errors mostly occurred in uncommon tax situations and have now been fixed. Intuit is helping Alabama taxpayers amend and resubmit their state tax returns so they can claim an additional refund or pay any balance that may be due. In the wake of Hurricane Matthew, the Internal Revenue Service has released new rules and procedures for deducting disaster losses. Contains rules and procedures for the election under Section 165(i) of the Tax Code to deduct a disaster loss for the taxable year immediately preceding the taxable year in which the disaster occurred. The revenue procedure provides the procedures and requirements for making and revoking an election under Section 165(i). Along with the revenue procedure, the Treasury Department and the IRS issued temporary regulations to extend the date by which a taxpayer must make a Section 165(i) election to six months after the due date of the taxpayer’s federal income tax return for the disaster year (without regard to any extension of time to file). The temporary regulations also extend the time for revoking a Section 165(i) election to 90 days after the due date for making the election. A taxpayer makes a Section 165(i) election by deducting the disaster loss on either an original federal tax return or an amended return for the prior year. Taxpayers need to include an election statement indicating they are making a 165(i) election. The election statement has to contain the name or a description of the disaster and date or dates of the disaster which gave rise to the loss, along with the address, including the city, town, county, parish, state, and zip code, where the damaged or destroyed property was located at the time of the disaster. For an election made on an original federal tax return, a taxpayer must provide the information on Lines 1 or 19 (whichever is applicable) of Form 4684 (Casualties and Thefts). A taxpayer who files an original federal tax return electronically can attach a statement as a PDF document if there isn’t enough space on Lines 1 or 19 of Form 4684. For an election made on an amended return, a taxpayer can provide the required information by any reasonable means, such as writing the name or a description of the disaster, the state in which the damaged or destroyed property was located at the time of the disaster, and “Section 165(i) Election” on the top of the Form 4684 and providing the rest of the required information in either the Explanation of Changes in Form 1040X (Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return), Form 1120X (Amended U.S. Corporation Income Tax Return), or another appropriate form, or directly on the Form 4684, attaching a statement if there isn’t enough room on the form. On Tuesday, the IRS said it is offering extensions of time to file and make tax payments to victims of Hurricane Matthew in North Carolina. Additional tax relief is expected to be announced for taxpayers in other states damaged by the hurricane. The IRS said Thursday that taxpayers who have been affected by Hurricane Matthew but are not yet covered by a federal disaster declaration with individual assistance may still qualify for relief from penalties if they aren’t able to meet Monday’s extended deadline for filing 2015 tax returns. More individual assistance areas could be added to the federal disaster area in coming days based on continuing damage assessments by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the IRS pointed out. These additional disaster declarations will pave the way for more extensions and other relief from the IRS. The IRS will automatically provide retroactive extensions and other relief to any locality added to the federal disaster area at a later date. In areas with disaster declarations for individual assistance, taxpayers will have until March 15, 2017 to file returns otherwise due on Monday, October 17. “The hurricane and flooding have hit many different states hard, and the timing of this is especially tough for taxpayers and tax professionals planning to file by the Oct. 17 extension deadline,” said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen in a statement. “We have been watching this situation unfold and remain in close touch with FEMA. We will do everything we can to work with taxpayers who are in affected areas.”. The Internal Revenue Service is giving victims of Hurricane Matthew in North Carolina extra time to file their tax returns and make tax payments. North Carolina victims of the hurricane that left a path of destruction and flooding this past weekend will get until March 15, 2017, to file certain individual and business tax returns and make certain tax payments, with similar relief expected soon for Hurricane Matthew victims in other states, the Internal Revenue Service said Friday. Besides North Carolina, the storm also did extensive damage in Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, Virginia and other states. At least 34 people have died as a result, and flooding is continuing as of Monday in parts of North Carolina. The IRS said that all workers who help with the relief activities and who are affiliated with a recognized government or philanthropic organization will also qualify for relief. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has declared a disaster, opening up federal assistance, and the IRS said that affected taxpayers in Beaufort, Bladen, Columbus, Cumberland, Edgecombe, Hoke, Lenoir, Nash, Pitt and Robeson counties will receive this and other special tax relief. Locations in other states are expected to be added in coming days, based on damage assessments by FEMA. The tax relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines starting Oct. As a result, the affected individuals and businesses will have until March 15, 2017, to file tax returns and pay any taxes that were originally due during this period. That includes the January 17 deadline for making quarterly estimated tax payments. For individual tax filers, it also includes 2015 income tax returns that received a tax-filing extension until Oct. The IRS pointed out, that, that because tax payments related to these 2015 returns were originally due on April 18, 2016, those are not eligible for this relief. Several business tax deadlines are also impacted, including the October 31 and January 31 deadlines for quarterly payroll and excise tax returns. It also includes the special March 1 deadline that applies to farmers and fishermen who choose to forgo making quarterly estimated tax payments. In addition, the IRS said it is waiving late-deposit penalties for federal payroll and excise tax deposits that are normally due on or after October 4 and before October 19 if the deposits are made by October 19, 2016. For more details, check the. The IRS noted that it automatically provides filing and penalty relief to any taxpayer whose IRS address of record is located within a disaster area, so taxpayers don’t need to contact the IRS to get the relief. However, if an affected taxpayer receives a late filing or late payment penalty notice from the IRS that has an original or extended filing, payment or deposit due date falling within the postponement period, the taxpayer should call the number on the notice to have the tax penalty abated. The IRS said it will also work with any taxpayer who lives outside the disaster area but whose records necessary to meet a deadline occurring during the postponement period are located in the affected area. Taxpayers who qualify for relief but live outside the disaster area should call the IRS at (866) 562-5227. WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today urged taxpayers whose tax-filing extension runs out on Oct. 17 to double check their returns for often-overlooked tax benefits and then file their returns electronically using IRS or the system. Fewer than a third of the 13 million taxpayers who requested an automatic six-month this year have yet to file. Although Oct. 17 is the last day for most people, some still have more time, including members of the military and others serving in localities who typically have until at least 180 days after they leave the combat zone to both file returns and pay any taxes due. In addition, taxpayers in several localities who already had valid extensions now have more time to file. Currently, taxpayers in parts of Florida, Louisiana and West Virginia qualify for this relief. For details, see the disaster relief page on IRS.gov. However, like other extension filers, these taxpayers were required to pay what they owe by April 18. The IRS continues to monitor the impact of Hurricane Matthew and will be watching for federal disaster declarations in affected areas that could affect the Oct. Check Out Tax Benefits Before filing, the IRS encourages taxpayers to take a moment to see if they qualify for these and other often-overlooked: • • Benefits for low-and moderate-income workers and families, especially the Earned Income Tax Credit. The can help taxpayers see if they’re eligible. • Savers credit, claimed on, for low-and moderate-income workers who contributed to a retirement plan, such as an IRA or 401(k). • American Opportunity Tax Credit, claimed on, and other for parents and college students. Health Care The health care law includes the and the that may affect a taxpayer’s return. Most taxpayers simply need to check a box on their tax return to indicate they had health coverage for all of 2015. For any month that the taxpayer or anyone in their family did not have, they need to either claim or report a coverage or make a when they file their tax return. Taxpayers who enrolled in health coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace may be eligible for the premium tax credit. Taxpayers who benefited from must file a federal income tax return to reconcile their advance credit payments, even if they’re otherwise not required to file. Failing to file will prevent a taxpayer from receiving advance credit payments in future years. The tool can also help determine if a taxpayer qualifies for an exemption, needs to make a payment or is eligible for the premium tax credit. Taxpayers can visit for additional information on how the Affordable Care Act affects their return. Some taxpayers also qualify for the Health Coverage Tax Credit. See the page on IRS.gov for details. E-file Now: It’s Fast, Easy and Often Free The IRS urges taxpayers to choose the speed and convenience of electronic filing. Fast, accurate and secure, filing electronically is an ideal option for those rushing to meet the Oct. The IRS verifies receipt of an e-filed return, and people who file electronically make fewer mistakes. Of the 147 million returns received by the IRS so far this year, about 87 percent or 128 million have been e-filed. Taxpayers who purchase their own software can also choose to e-file, and most paid tax preparers are now required to file their clients’ returns electronically. Everyone can use Free File, either the brand-name software, offered by the IRS’s commercial partners to individuals and families with incomes of $62,000 or less, or online fillable forms, the electronic version of IRS paper forms available to taxpayers at all income levels. Join the eight in 10 taxpayers who get their refunds faster by using direct deposit and e-file. Taxpayers can choose to have their refunds deposited into as many as three accounts. See for details. Quick and Easy Payment Options IRS offers taxpayers a fast and easy way to pay what they owe. Available through the icon on IRS.gov, Direct Pay is free and allows individuals to securely pay their tax bills or make quarterly estimated tax payments online directly from checking or savings accounts without any fees or pre-registration. So far this year, more than 6 million tax payments totaling over $23 billion have been received from individual taxpayers through Direct Pay. Taxpayers can also pay by debit or credit card. While the IRS does not charge a fee for this service, the payment processer will. Other payment options include the (enrollment is required) and which is available when e-filing. Taxpayers can pay what they owe using, the, mobile app. All of the electronic payment options are quick, easy and secure and much faster than mailing in a check or money order. Those choosing to pay by check or money order should make the payment out to the “United States Treasury.” Taxpayers with extensions should file their returns by Oct. 17, even if they can’t pay the full amount due. By doing so, taxpayers will avoid the late-filing penalty, normally five percent per month, that would otherwise apply to any unpaid balance after Oct. However, interest, currently at the rate of four percent per year compounded daily, and late-payment penalties, normally one-half a percent per month, will continue to accrue. Help for Struggling Taxpayers In many cases, those struggling to pay taxes qualify for one of several relief programs. Most people can set up a payment agreement with the IRS on line in a matter of minutes. Those who owe $50,000 or less in combined tax, penalties and interest can use the to set up a monthly payment agreement for up to 72 months or request a short-term payment plan. Taxpayers can choose this option even if they have not yet received a bill or notice from the IRS. Alternatively, taxpayers can request a payment agreement by filing. This form can be downloaded from IRS.gov and mailed along with a tax return, bill or notice. Some struggling taxpayers qualify for an. This is an agreement between a taxpayer and the IRS that settles the taxpayer’s tax liabilities for less than the full amount owed. Generally, an offer will not be accepted if the IRS believes the liability can be paid in full as a lump sum or through a payment agreement. The IRS looks at the taxpayer’s income and assets to make a determination regarding the taxpayer’s ability to pay. To help determine eligibility, use the, a free online tool available on IRS.gov. Planning Ahead for 2017 Taxpayers can begin taking steps now to ensure smooth processing of their 2016 tax return next year. The IRS offers these reminders: • Before filing the 2015 return, be sure to make a copy and keep it and all supporting documents for a minimum of three years. Doing so will make it easier to fill out a 2016 return next year. In addition, a taxpayer will often need the adjusted gross income (AGI) amount from their 2015 return to properly e-file their 2016 return. • Check withholding. This is especially important for any taxpayer who is getting a big refund or has a big balance due. A taxpayer with a big refund can reduce the refund amount and boost take-home pay by claiming additional withholding allowances on the Form W-4 they give to their employer. Anyone with a big balance due can have additional tax withheld or make quarterly estimated tax payments to the IRS. For help, use the on IRS.gov. • The IRS cautions taxpayers not to count on getting a refund by a certain date, especially when making major purchases or paying other financial obligations. Though the IRS issues most refunds in less than 21 days, some returns are held for further review. In addition, starting next year, some people will get their refunds a little later. A recent tax law requires the IRS to hold the refund for any tax return claiming either the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) or Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) until Feb. By law, the IRS must hold the entire refund, not just the portion related to the EITC or ACTC. Starting Feb. 15, the best way to check the status of a refund is with the tool on IRS.gov or the. • The recent change also includes a new requirement for employers. They are now required to file their copies of and certain Forms 1099 with the federal government by Jan. 31 deadline has long applied to employers furnishing copies of these forms to their employees. The Internal Revenue Service and its Security Summit partners are warning taxpayers and tax professionals of fake IRS tax bills related to the Affordable Care Act. The IRS has received numerous reports of scammers sending a fraudulent version of a notice- labeled CP2000 - for tax year 2015. The issue has been reported to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration for investigation. This scam may arrive by email, as an attachment, or by mail. It has many signs of being a fake: • The CP2000 notices appear to be issued from an Austin, Texas, address; • The letter says the issue is related to the Affordable Care Act and requests information regarding 2014 coverage; • The payment voucher lists the letter number as 105C; • Requests checks made out to I.R.S. And sent to the “Austin Processing Center” at a post office box. IRS impersonation scams take many forms: threatening phone calls, phishing emails and demanding letters. Learn more at The IRS does not initiate unsolicited email contact or contact by social media. An authentic CP2000 notice is used when income reported from third-party sources such as an employer does not match the income reported on the tax return. Unlike the fake, it provides extensive instructions to taxpayers about what to do if they agree or disagree that additional tax is owed. A real notice requests that checks be made out to “United States Treasury.” The IRS and its Security Summit partners – the state tax agencies and the private-sector tax industry – are conducting a campaign to raise awareness among taxpayer and tax professionals about increasing their security and becoming familiar with various tax-related scams. H&R Block is offering taxpayers who use an ITIN a free renewal before next season. The 23.1 million ITINs issued since 1996 will start expiring as early as January due to the PATH Act enacted last December. ITIN renewal procedures will most impact two groups of taxpayers this year: those with a '78' or '79' in the middle of their ITIN, and ITIN holders who haven't filed a U.S. Tax return for tax years 2013, 2014 or 2015. These taxpayers can renew their ITINs, as well as the ITINs of any of their family members, for free at H&R Block offices. Individuals whose ITINs will be expiring need to have current documents to prove their identity and foreign status. The IRS will accept original and unexpired passports as standalone proof for primary taxpayers and spouses and for dependents in some cases. Other documents that prove either identity or foreign status include State Department visas, U.S. Or foreign driver’s licenses, military ID cards, and birth certificates, among others. How do I get a ITIN? Option 1 You can file Form W-7,, with your federal income tax return. You must also include original documentation or certified copies from the issuing agency to prove identity and foreign status. If you qualify for an exception, then file Form W-7 with your proof of identity and foreign status documents. Mail your W-7, tax return, proof of identity, and foreign status documents to: Internal Revenue Service Austin Service Center ITIN Operation P.O. Box 149342 Austin, TX You will only file a tax return to the address above once, when you file Form W-7 to get an ITIN. In subsequent years, when you have an ITIN, you will file your Form 1040, 1040A, and 1040EZ as directed in the form instructions. Option 2 You can apply for an ITIN in-person using the services of an IRS-authorized or visit an IRS. This will prevent you from having to mail your proof of identity and foreign status documents. After processing, the IRS will issue your ITIN through the mail. You will then file your Form 1040, 1040A, and 1040EZ as directed in the form instructions. The Internal Revenue Service has chosen four private debt collection agencies to help collect unpaid tax debts as the IRS gears up to resurrect the controversial program. The three agencies are CBE Group of Cedar Falls, Iowa, Conserve of Fairport, N.Y., Performant of Livermore, Calif., and Pioneer of Horseheads, N.Y. The IRS is required to revive the private debt collection program this year because of a provision in a highway funding bill that Congress passed last December. The program is expected to start up again next spring. Senators Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., were among the proponents of a bill to bring back the program, and it was incorporated in the highway legislation. Three of the four agencies chosen are based in their states. The program has been discontinued twice before because of complaints about harassment of taxpayers and the private companies’ low success rate at collecting unpaid tax debts. The increasing problem of scammers who pretend to be IRS employees and call taxpayers demanding immediate payment has also prompted concerns about reviving the program. For the new program, the IRS said it will first send a written notice to taxpayers that it is turning over their tax debts to a collection agency. The IRS said it will send a written notice to both the taxpayer and their representative telling them the account has been turned over to a private collection agency, followed by a second letter confirming the transfer. The private collection agencies are only supposed to work on accounts where taxpayers owe money and the IRS is no longer actively pursuing their accounts. These include older, overdue tax accounts, along with accounts where a lack of resources at the IRS prevent its employees from working on the cases. The private collection agencies will be able to identify themselves as contractors of the IRS. However, their employees will need to follow the provisions of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, requiring them to be courteous and respect taxpayer rights. The IRS said it will do everything it can to help taxpayers avoid confusion and understand their rights and tax responsibilities, especially given the prevalence of phone scams where criminals demand tax payments be sent on prepaid debit cards and gift cards. The IRS noted the private collection agencies are not going to request payment on a prepaid debit card. They will instead inform taxpayers about the available to them on IRS.gov. Tax debts can also be paid by checks made out to the U.S. Treasury and sent directly to IRS, but not the private collection agency. The IRS said it will keep taxpayers informed about any scams and offer tips for protecting themselves on the. The Internal Revenue Service has issued a notice outlining the special diem rates that taxpayers can use to substantiate the amounts they are claiming for lodging, meals and incidental expenses when traveling away from home. Announces the new per diem rates for travel expenses, which take effect Oct. The same notice also provides the special transportation industry rate, along with the rate for the incidental-expenses-only deduction, plus the rates and list of high-cost localities for purposes of the high-low substantiation method. As in the General Services Administration’s definition of “incidental expenses” in the Federal Travel Regulations, the IRS said incidental expenses include only fees and tips given to porters, baggage carriers, hotel staff, and staff on ships. “Transportation between places of lodging or business and places where meals are taken, and the mailing cost of filing travel vouchers and paying employer-sponsored charge card billings, are no longer included in incidental expenses,” said the IRS. “Accordingly, taxpayers using the per diem rates may separately deduct or be reimbursed for transportation and mailing expenses.”. IRS Hiring Private Debt Collectors For the third time, the IRS is being required by Congress to use private debt collectors for delinquent tax debts. Both previous attempts -- in 1996 and 2006-2009 -- were scrapped as failures, but the new attempt is set to begin shortly. The IRS plans to select its authorized private debt collectors in the next two months and then begin using them in early 2017. The IRS will publish the names of these collectors on IRS.gov. The IRS wants private debt collectors to go after cases the IRS would never pursue -- that is, outstanding, inactive receivables. The case criteria for private debt collectors are: --More than one-third of the 10-year collection statute has expired; --No IRS employee is assigned to collect the debt; and, --The IRS hasn’t contacted the taxpayer in a year, and the taxpayer isn’t requesting a payment alternative or relief (such as innocent spouse relief, a collection due process hearing, an offer in compromise, an installment agreement, etc). Private debt collectors won’t pursue taxpayers younger than 18, those who have been a victim of tax identity theft, or taxpayers in a federally declared disaster area or combat zone. When the IRS can’t locate taxpayers, it removes them from active collection. In the FAST Act, private debt collectors will pursue those accounts. As the National Taxpayer Advocate has pointed out, the methods these collectors might use to find and collect from these taxpayers could conjure up fears about how the IRS will protect taxpayer rights, information, and privacy. Private debt collectors won’t be able to file liens or issue levies. Keep in mind, however, that the IRS may have already filed a tax lien on some taxpayers before the private debt collector ever calls. Collectors also won’t be able to help taxpayers get liens removed. To address enforcement actions, taxpayers or their advisors will need to contact the IRS directly. If taxpayers need a payment alternative, such as an installment agreement, currently not collectible status, or an offer in compromise, they should contact the IRS. Before starting the private collection process, the IRS and the collector will send two letters: --First, the IRS will send a letter notifying the taxpayer that the IRS has assigned their case to a private debt collector. --Second, after assignment and before contacting the taxpayer, the private debt collector will send a letter. According to the IRS, these notices will also go to the taxpayer’s representative on file, if any. Taxpayers who are experiencing severe economic hardship and have an outstanding tax debt can apply for a special status that suspends their obligation to pay (referred to as currently not collectible status). Taxpayers who have negotiated this status with the IRS appear to be excluded from the private debt collection program. The IRS has not finalized this exclusion, but it appears likely that these taxpayers would be treated similarly to those who have requested a payment agreement with the IRS on their outstanding debt. IRS to Post Offer in Compromise Files Online. The Internal Revenue Service is going to make public records available online of cases involving offers in compromise it has accepted from taxpayers who owe tax debts, rather than just making the hard copy printouts available at local offices. A new from the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration urges the IRS to modernize the process for making the offers in compromise, or OIC, case files available for public inspection. After a series of high-profile scandals in the early 1950s, the IRS was required to provide public access to information about the OICs it has accepted. The Tax Code allows for public inspection of accepted OIC case files, TIGTA noted. Once an OIC has been accepted, the IRS creates a hard copy public inspection file that it then ships to one of seven locations around the country, based on where the taxpayer lives. If someone wants to view the files, they need to call the IRS in advance and ask for an appointment. However, TIGTA noted that if the public inspection files are not redacted properly, the public inspection sites can expose sensitive taxpayer information to possible unauthorized disclosure and put taxpayers at risk of identity theft. The IRS now accepts 20 times more OICs than it did when the offers first became subject to public inspection, but the activity still relies on laborious procedures to store the files in these decentralized, paper-based systems around the country. It’s also a challenge for the IRS to ensure the paper based files are available for review at the seven designated locations and to make sure they’re properly redacted to conceal sensitive taxpayer information. TIGTA suggested the IRS set up a centralized website that would be available to the public. That would decrease the burden on taxpayers and the costs to the IRS while increasing transparency. TIGTA also identified several improvements to manage the process more efficiently and effectively. The IRS agreed with TIGTA’s recommendations. During the course of the review, the IRS also updated its written procedures for the public inspection files, expanded the use of automated redaction tools, and initiated the evaluation of alternative file storage methods. “We are developing a SharePoint site to house the PIF [public inspection file] data, controlled by a gatekeeper who would conduct a secondary redaction review,” wrote Karen Schiller, commissioner of the IRS’s Small Business/Self-Employed Division in response to the report. “Using an electronic format will allow us to better manage the retrieval, movement, retention and destruction of files.” NSA Opposes Koskinen Impeachment. Leaders of the National Society of Accountants have sent a letter to leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives opposing any resolution to impeach or censure IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. The letter, co-authored by NSA president Al Giovetti and executive vice president John Ams, went to House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, and Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Sander Levin, D-Mich. At the same time, Speaker Ryan announced that the house will vote on whether to impeach Koskinen. “We are concerned that the effort to censure or impeach Commissioner Koskinen will hasten the deterioration of the voluntary compliance system that is the cornerstone of our taxing structure,” the letter reads. “The lack of respect for the IRS shown by such an effort, especially when coupled with the significant budget cuts enacted over the last several years, is already apparent as evidenced by the numerous taxpayers who ask NSA members why they should pay their taxes when the IRS does not have the ability to audit them.” “We are also concerned that impeachment or censure will further disrupt the functioning of the IRS, which already suffers from low morale as a result of inadequate budgets and the inability to hire sufficient staff to deal with an ever-increasing workload,” the letter reads. Giovetti and Ams conclude, “The effort to impeach or censure Commissioner Koskinen will inevitably take up time the Congress could better spend enacting meaningful tax reform that the taxpaying public, tax professionals, Congress and the Administration all agree is long overdue.” IRS Finalizes Taxpayer Definition Rules for Same-Sex Marriages. The Internal Revenue Service has issued redefining terms relating to marital status to include same-sex marriage for federal tax purposes, in accordance with Supreme Court decisions. The rules reflect the Supreme Court’s landmark rulings in the 2015 case of Obergefell v. Hodges and the 2013 case of Windsor v. U.S., legalizing same-sex marriage in every state and invalidating the Defense of Marriage Act. Back in 2013, the IRS issued, which discussed issues related to the Windsor case, such as whether, for federal tax purposes, the terms “spouse,” “husband and wife,” “husband,” and “wife” include an individual married to a person of the same sex, if the individuals are lawfully married under state law. As the Windsor decision did not legalize same-sex marriage in every state, the revenue ruling also covered whether the IRS recognizes a same-sex marriage even in states that do not recognize the validity of same-sex marriages. The Obergefell decision wiped out that distinction, making same-sex marriage legal in every state. Last fall, in response to the Supreme Court decision, the Treasury Department and the IRS issued a, proposing to amend the regulations under section 7701 of the Tax Code to provide that, for federal tax purposes, the terms ‘‘spouse,’’ ‘‘husband,’’ and ‘‘wife’’ mean an individual lawfully married to another individual, and the term ‘‘husband and wife’’ means two individuals lawfully married to each other. In addition, the proposed regulations provided that a marriage of two individuals would be recognized for federal tax purposes if that marriage would be recognized by any state, possession or territory of the U.S. Finally, the proposed regulations clarified that the term ‘‘marriage’’ does not include registered domestic partnerships, civil unions, or similar relationships recognized under state law that are not denominated as a marriage under that state’s law, and the terms ‘‘spouse,’’ ‘‘husband and wife,’’ ‘‘husband,’’ and ‘‘wife’’ do not include individuals who have entered into such a relationship. The newly finalized regulations, published last Friday in the, amend the Income Tax Regulations, the Estate Tax Regulations, the Gift Tax Regulations, the Generation-Skipping Transfer Tax Regulations, the Employment Tax and Collection of Income Tax at Source Regulations, and the Regulations on Procedure and Administration. The Treasury and the IRS received 12 comments on the proposed rules, including one commenter who suggested that the regulations specifically reference ‘‘same-sex marriage’’ so that the definitions apply regardless of gender and to avoid any potential issues of interpretation. The Treasury and the IRS, however, decided that the definitions in the proposed regulations should apply equally to same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples, and that no clarification was needed. The Internal Revenue Service is giving victims of the recent catastrophic storms and flooding in Louisiana until Jan. 17, 2017 to file some of their individual and business tax returns and make certain tax payments. The IRS said Monday that they, along with workers who are helping with relief activities and are affiliated with a recognized government or philanthropic organization, also qualify for tax relief. President Obama declared Louisiana a disaster area on Sunday and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts after severe storms and flooding hit gulf areas in recent days, displacing thousands of residents in the southern part of the state. As of Monday, six people had been killed and more than 20,000 had to be rescued from their homes amid the rising floodwaters. The IRS said affected taxpayers in East Baton Rouge, Livingston, St. Helena and Tangipahoa parishes will receive this and other special tax relief. Other locations in Louisiana and other states may be added in the days ahead, after damage assessments by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The tax relief will delay various tax filing and payment deadlines that began Aug. Individuals and businesses that were affected by the disaster will have until Jan. 17, 2017 to file their tax returns and pay any taxes originally due during this period. This includes the Sept. 15 deadline for making quarterly estimated tax payments. For individual tax filers, the tax relief also includes 2015 income tax returns that received a tax-filing extension until Oct. The IRS pointed out, though, that because tax payments related to these 2015 returns were originally due on April 18, 2016, they are not eligible for this relief. Several business tax deadlines are also affected, including the Sept. 15 deadline for corporation and partnership tax returns on extension, in addition to the Oct. 31 deadline for quarterly payroll and excise tax returns. The IRS is also waiving late-deposit penalties for federal payroll and excise tax deposits, which would normally be due on or after Aug. 11 and before Aug. 26 if the deposits are made by Aug. Details on the tax relief can be found on the. The IRS said it automatically provides filing and penalty relief to any taxpayer with an IRS address of record that is located in the disaster area. That means taxpayers don’t need to contact the IRS to qualify for this relief. However, if an affected taxpayer does receive a late filing or late payment penalty notice from the IRS that has an original or extended filing, payment or deposit due date falling within the postponement period, the IRS said the taxpayer should call the number on the notice and the penalty will be abated. In addition, the IRS intends to work with any taxpayer who lives outside the disaster area but whose records are located in the affected area and they need the records to meet a deadline during the postponement period. Taxpayers who qualify for relief but live outside the disaster area need to contact the IRS at (866) 562-5227. Individuals and businesses that suffered uninsured or unreimbursed disaster-related losses can claim the losses on either the return for the year when the loss occurred or on the return for the prior year, the IRS noted. provides the details. On Sunday, the Louisiana Department of Revenue also said it was providing a one-month filing and payment extension to Louisiana taxpayers who were affected by the recent severe storms and flooding. The extension applies to Louisiana tax returns and payments that are due Aug. The extended deadline is now Sept. It tax returns and payments are submitted by the newly extended deadline, the Louisiana Department of Revenue said it would waive any late filing penalties, late payment penalties and interest that would otherwise apply. The Internal Revenue Service is sounding the alarm about a new scheme in which scammers send emails purporting to come from tax software companies, instead fooling tax preparers into clicking on a link that will load malware on their computers. The email urges recipients to click on a link to download an important new software update and install it. The executable file has the same name as the legitimate tax software, but instead of providing an update, the link instead downloads a program that will track the tax preparer’s keystrokes, allowing criminals to steal passwords, logins and other sensitive information. The IRS has seen only a handful of cases of the scam so far, but it is encouraging tax professionals to beware of such scams and never to click on unexpected links in emails. Using tax software names have targeted individual taxpayers, the IRS noted. The IRS recently began a public awareness campaign to alert tax professionals about security threats and identity theft issues targeting the tax industry. The urges tax professionals to beef up their security protections and realize they increasingly are targets of cybercriminals. The IRS is asking all tax preparers to avoid clicking on links or open attachments in e-mails. Instead they should use a software provider’s main website to connect to them. Tax pros should also run a security “deep scan” to search for viruses and malware on their computers. They should strengthen their passwords for both computer access and software access. Passwords should be at least eight digits long (although more is better) with a mix of numbers, letters and special characters. Tax practitioners should instruct their staff members about the dangers of phishing scams, which can come in the form of emails, texts and calls. They should also review any software that employees use to remotely access the firm’s network or the firm’s IT support vendor uses to remotely troubleshoot technical problems and support the business’s systems. Remote access software is a potential target for hackers to take control of a computer. Tax professionals should also check, Safeguarding Taxpayer Data, A Guide for Your Business, which includes a checklist to help protect taxpayer information and improve security. The Internal Revenue Service is recommending tax professionals monitor their Preparer Tax Identification Numbers for signs of suspicious activity. The IRS has been stepping up its efforts to curb identity theft and tax fraud, in part by focusing on ways to make tax preparers more aware of cyber security threats. At a meeting in June of its “Security Summit,” bringing together the IRS with state tax authorities, major tax prep chains and tax software developers, the IRS unveiled plans to increase its educational efforts for tax preparers and set new security standards. As part of that effort, the IRS posted an IRS Security Awareness Tax Tip on Tuesday urging preparers to check their PTIN accounts to make sure the number of tax returns filed using their PTIN matches the IRS’s own records. The IRS noted that criminals are increasingly targeting tax professionals, stealing client data, electronic filing identification numbers, and passwords for IRS eServices, in addition to PTINs. As part of its security effort, the IRS is giving many tax preparers the ability to monitor “Returns Filed Per PTIN.” The information is available in the online PTIN system for preparers who meet certain criteria: • They must have a professional credential (such as CPA, Enrolled Agent, Attorney, Enrolled Retirement Plan Agent, Enrolled Actuary) or participate in the IRS’s Annual Filing Season Program for voluntary tax education and testing, and • They must have processed at least 50 tax returns from the Form 1040 series this year. Even if preparers only file a small number of tax returns, the IRS noted that it is still important to monitor this information. If no data shown on the system, less than 50 returns have been processed with their PTIN. To access “Returns Filed Per PTIN” information, the IRS recommends tax professionals follow these steps: 1. Visit and log into their PTIN account. From the Main Menu, find “Additional Activities.” 3. Under Additional Activities, select “View Returns Filed Per PTIN.” 4. A chart labeled Returns Per PTIN should be visible. A count of individual income tax returns filed and processed in the current year will be shown. The information in the Returns Per PTIN chart is updated each week, the IRS noted, and tax professionals should check the information on a regular basis. If the number of returns processed is much larger than the number of tax returns prepared, and possible PTIN misuse is suspected, tax professionals should complete and submit, Complaint: Tax Return Preparer, to the IRS. The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service have issued that would eliminate a tax-planning strategy for minimizing estate and gift taxes. The proposed regulations concern the valuation of interests in corporations and partnerships for estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax purposes. They involve the treatment of certain lapsing rights and restrictions on liquidation in determining the value of the transferred interests. The proposed rules would affect certain transferors of interests in corporations and partnerships and aim to prevent the undervaluation of the transferred interests.Mark Mazur, Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy at the Treasury Department, released a Tuesday claiming the regulatory proposal would close a “tax loophole that certain taxpayers have long used to understate the fair market value of their assets for estate and gift tax purposes.” He pointed out that only transfers by an individual or their estate above the $5.45 million exemption amount are subject to tax. For married couples, there is no tax on the first $10.9 million transferred, so fewer than 10,000 of the biggest estates are subject to any transfer tax at all each year. Mazur claimed the tax strategy targeted by the proposed regulations was aggressive. “It is common for wealthy taxpayers and their advisors to use certain aggressive tax planning tactics to artificially lower the taxable value of their transferred assets,” he said. “By taking advantage of these tactics, certain taxpayers or their estates owning closely held businesses or other entities can end up paying less than they should in estate or gift taxes. Treasury’s action will significantly reduce the ability of these taxpayers and their estates to use such techniques solely for the purpose of lowering their estate and gift taxes.” The proposed regulations are subject to a 90-day public comment period and will not take effect until the Treasury considers all the comments it receives, and then it will take 30 days after the regulations are finalized for them to take effect, he noted. The Internal Revenue Service has proposed new regulations that could change the rules for reporting qualified tuition and related expenses for students. The would alter the rules for reporting qualified tuition and related expenses under section 6050S of the Tax Code on Form 1098-T, “Tuition Statement.” The proposals would conform the rules with changes made to the Tax Code by the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015, also known as the PATH Act, as well as the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015, or TPEA. The changes would affect educational institutions that are required to file Form 1098-T along with taxpayers who are eligible to claim an education tax credit. The PATH Act made the American Opportunity Tax Credit permanent and retroactively extended the section 222(e) deduction for qualified tuition and related expenses for taxable years beginning after Dec. 31, 2014 and ending on or before Dec. The PATH Act also amended the Tax Code to provide that the AOTC is not allowed if the student’s Taxpayer Identification Number and the TIN of the taxpayer claiming the credit are issued after the due date for filing the return for the taxable year. The AOTC is also not allowed if the tax return does not include the Employer Identification Number of the higher education institution to which the tuition and related expenses were paid. The PATH Act requires eligible educational institutions to report their EIN on the tax return and statement. The law also eliminates the option for educational institutions to report the aggregate of the qualified tuition and related expenses they bill for the calendar year. Instead, they must report aggregate payments they received during the calendar year. Both the PATH Act and the Trade Preferences Extension Act added new requirements for claiming education tax benefits. For example, under the TPEA, a student is required to receive a Form 1098-T in order to claim the Lifetime Learning Credit or the AOTC or to claim the deduction under section 222. The PATH Act further restricts the ability to claim the AOTC. First, a taxpayer can claim the AOTC only if the return on which the credit is claimed includes the EIN of any educational institution to which the qualified tuition and related expenses are paid. On top of that, taxpayers can claim the AOTC only if the student’s TIN and the taxpayer’s TIN, on the return for which the credit is claimed, are issued on or before the due date of the original return. Form 1098-T helps taxpayers find out if they are eligible to claim education tax credits under section 25A or the deduction for qualified tuition and related expenses under section 222. However, before the TPEA, there was no requirement that a taxpayer—or their dependent, if the taxpayer’s dependent is the student—receive a Form 1098-T to claim the tax benefits. Section 804 of the TPEA institutes those requirements. For qualified tuition and related expenses paid during taxable years beginning after June 29, 2015, the TPEA provides that a taxpayer must receive a Form 1098-T to claim either a credit under section 25A or a deduction under section 222. The proposed regulations reflect these changes. A public hearing on the proposed rules is planned for November 30. National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson’s Objectives Report to Congress, delivered in early July, continued her examination of the Internal Revenue Service Future State plan, which she initially cited in her 2015 Annual report to Congress as the “No. 1 Most Serious Problem” for taxpayers. The Future State plan of the IRS envisions how the agency will operate in five years and beyond. A central component of the plan is the development of online taxpayer accounts, aspects of which Olson praised. However, she expressed concern that the IRS intent in developing the accounts is largely to save money in light of recent budget cuts by reducing telephone and face-to-face assistance. She also cautioned that many taxpayers will not conduct business with the IRS through online accounts because they lack Internet access or skills, cannot complete the authentication process required to set up an account, do not trust the security of the IRS system, or would prefer to speak with an IRS employee. As a result, she expressed concern that critical taxpayer needs may go unmet under the Future State plan. WEIGHING IN Olson conducted eight public forums to allow direct feedback from the public on the Future State plan, with excerpts from the transcripts of the forums included in the report. A self-styled tax watchdog group has launched an effort to independently audit the Internal Revenue Service, with the help of taxpayers. The Tax Revolution Institute— a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that says it promote 'justice and integrity in the tax system'—has created a new website,, where it hopes to collect personal experiences from taxpayers about their encounters with the IRS. The group plans to conduct an “audit” of the IRS’s treatment of individual taxpayers and small businesses and the agency’s own employees, work culture and finances. It will also examine the taxpayer advice given by the IRS along with IRS policies and enforcement. 'For decades, the IRS has failed to live up to the standards of transparency that it enforces on the American public,' Tax Revolution Institute executive director Dan Johnson said in a statement. The group issued a in April claiming the IRS lacks independent oversight following the suspension of operations of the IRS Oversight Board after it failed to enlist enough members to make up the necessary quorum. Nevertheless, the IRS’s finance and operations are frequently audited by the Government Accountability Office and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration. The IRS has also come under fire in recent years from Congress, following revelations in 2013 that the IRS gave extra scrutiny to political groups applying for tax-exempt status, and the agency’s expenses, employee bonuses and performance are the subjects of frequent congressional hearings. Lawmakers are currently weighing a possible impeachment resolution against IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. The Tax Revolution Institute is asking any taxpayers, business owners, government employees to submit information about their experiences with the IRS, either positive or negative, to AuditIRS.com. The group said it will never publish any personally identifying information, unless it is invited to do so by the person who provided it. TRI plans to research the submissions it receives, file Freedom of Information Act requests, and examine IRS policy to determine how the IRS treats the American people. Jim Renacci, R-Ohio, a CPA who joined Congress in 2011, has released a only weeks after House Republican leaders unveiled their own. Renacci’s Simplifying America’s Tax System, or SATS, plan would eliminate the corporate income tax and replace it with a single-digit consumption tax on business activities, subjecting all business income to one level of income taxation. On the individual side, his SATS plan would reduce income tax rates for taxpayers by significantly increasing the standard deduction. A family of four would have no income tax liability on income up to $50,000. SATS would also eliminate the marriage penalty and expand the Earned Income Tax Credit. “We need to tear down the wall of corporate level taxation and jump start our economy with a much needed overhaul,” Renacci said in a statement Thursday. “SATS is a bold pro-growth solution to business tax reform that would make our tax system the most competitive in the world. It would also lower rates across the board so that Americans of all income levels will see a similar increase in after-tax income. Your success should be up to you, not the tax code.” Last month, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and other House Republican leaders released their own, which would reduce the corporate income tax rate to 20 percent and also expand the standard deduction for individual taxpayers (see ). Meanwhile, Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, has a separate that eliminates the income tax for single taxpayers who earn less than $25,000 and married couples who earn less than $50,000. Trump’s tax plan has four tax brackets of 0, 10, 20 and 25 percent instead of the current seven brackets. No business would pay more than 15 percent of its income in taxes under his plan. The Tax Foundation has released an of Renacci’s tax plan, concluding, “Rep. Jim Renacci’s tax plan would reform the individual income tax and replace the corporate income tax with a credit-invoice value-added tax. If enacted, his plan would reduce federal revenues by $845 billion over the next decade. The Renacci plan would significantly reduce marginal tax rates on capital and labor income, which would result in a substantial increase of the size of the U.S. Economy in the long run. This would increase the revenue that the tax plan would ultimately collect, making the plan slightly revenue positive. Renacci’s plan would increase after-tax incomes for taxpayers at all income levels.”. House conservatives launched an effort Thursday to force a vote to impeach the IRS commissioner, but action on the motion could be delayed until September. Representative John Fleming of Louisiana offered a privileged resolution to impeach John Koskinen, the Internal Revenue Service commissioner, after Republicans accused him of impeding an investigation into whether the tax agency improperly targeted conservative non-profits. House leaders now have two legislative days to rule on whether the motion will indeed receive a vote, which could delay any action until September, when the House returns from its lengthy summer recess. Fleming said on the House floor that his resolution has four separate articles of impeachment. Those include one accusing Koskinen of 'engaging in a pattern of conduct showing he is unfit,' including false statements to Congress. The Louisiana Republican said Koskinen’s false statements confused the investigation. Republican leaders did not immediately comment on whether the resolution would receive a vote. But moments before Fleming offered the resolution, Speaker Paul Ryan made a plea for the country to work toward healing. 'Our country is hurting, and needs to come together,' he said on the House floor. It is highly unusual for Congress to impeach an appointed administration official. The last time it happened was 140 years ago. Senate leaders have also indicated they didn’t favor an effort to impeach Koskinen. The Internal Revenue Service said Facebook may have understated the value of intellectual property it transferred to Ireland by 'billions of dollars,' unfairly cutting its tax bill in the process, according to court papers. Justice Department filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in federal court in San Francisco seeking to enforce IRS summonses served on Facebook and to force the world's largest social network to produce various documents as part of the probe. The tax authority is examining whether Facebook understated its U.S. Income by selling rights to an Irish subsidiary too cheaply. Doing so could boost taxable profits in Ireland, which has a corporate tax rate of 12.5 percent, and reduce taxable income in the United States which has a rate of at least 35 percent. The Internal Revenue Service held a meeting Tuesday of its Security Summit members to discuss progress on combating identity theft-related tax refund fraud this past tax season along with plans for next year, including a greater focus on education and new security standards for tax preparers. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen pointed to progress since the Security Summit group was set up in March of last year, bringing together the IRS, state tax authorities and private industry, including major tax prep chains and tax software developers. He noted that the number of people who have filed affidavits telling the IRS they were victims of identity theft has dropped 48 percent in the first half of 2016, compared to the first half of 2015. In addition, the number of suspicious refunds that financial institutions returned to the IRS for review was 66 percent lower through mid-June of this year compared with the same period last year. Koskinen said the Security Summit Group will be made permanent this year, operating under the auspices of the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Council, or ETAAC. The IRS has also created additional teams for tax professionals, financial services and public communications. In addition, it is establishing a new Identity Theft Tax Refund Fraud Information Sharing and Analysis Center, or ISAC, which will provide a clearinghouse for sharing information about identity theft-related tax fraud. “I would stress it’s not an enforcement operation,” Koskinen responded. “We’re really trying to be supportive and helpful. We have representatives of preparers and professional groups as part of the Summit, and we stressed this morning that the goal of all of us—certainly the states and everybody in the private sector—is to try to figure out how we can be supportive and helpful. So it’s primarily an educational campaign to try to get people aware of the facts and then providing them also with resources of what they can do and what steps they can take to provide security. We also are developing with one of our security working groups a set of security standards that can be agreed upon by all preparers and those in the private sector, large and small. We’re sensitive to the fact that there are a lot of preparers out there that are relatively small organizations and to try over time to give them guidance of what the security standards are that people should be meeting.”. Koskinen noted that the IRS is going to be expanding a W-2 Verification Code pilot program for the 2017 filing season. “This involves a special code included on W-2s, which is entered on the tax return to confirm the accuracy and integrity of electronically filed returns,” he said. “We ran a pilot this past filing season with several payroll service providers involving 2 million W-2’s that helped verify information and protect the taxpayer. For 2017, we’re expanding the pilot to add this special protective code on up to 50 million W-2s during the season. We appreciate the support we’ve had from the payroll service community and the software industry on this project. This will be an extra layer of protection that will help taxpayers and the tax system.”. • Federal 1040 Individual • Federal Corporate 990, 1041, 1065,1120C, 1120S • State Individual • FREE Unlimited e-File of Individual Returns • FREE Unlimited e-File of Corporate Returns • Interview & Forms Entry Mode • Appoint Scheduler • FREE Tech Support English & Spanish • Reliable, U.S. Based Customer Support • No network fees • Unlimited users in the same location • Multi-Office Dashboard • Bank Products Low Cost • Refund Advances Low Cost • Best Income Tax Software for Tax Preparation • Cloud Software. • Federal 1040 Individual • Federal Corporate 990, 1041, 1065,1120C, 1120S • State Individual • FREE Unlimited e-File of Individual Returns • FREE Unlimited e-File of Corporate Returns • Interview & Forms Entry Mode • Appoint Scheduler • FREE Tech Support English & Spanish • Reliable, U.S. Based Customer Support • No network fees • Unlimited users in the same location • Multi-Office Dashboard • Bank Products Low Cost • Refund Advances Low Cost • Best Income Tax Software for Tax Preparation • Cloud Software. People who come to you, a tax return preparer, expect you to know the tax law and prepare an accurate return. Also, if you are paid to prepare EITC claims, you must meet EITC due diligence requirements. See more Incorrect EITC Returns Affect Your Clients, You and Your Employer If The IRS examines your client's return and deny all or a part of EITC, your client: • must pay back the amount in error with interest; • may need to file the Form 8862, I nformation to Claim Earned Income Credit after Disallowance; • may be banned from claiming EITC for the next two years if we find the error is because of reckless or intentional disregard of the rules; or • may be banned from claiming EITC for the next ten years if we find the error is because of fraud. The news late last year that IRS audits of individuals dropped to an 11-year low made for gloomy revenue projections for tax collections. But it also made many taxpayers happy who, understandably, do not want to be audited. Even if you think you’ve reported everything and done it properly, providing receipts is maddening, and often seems dangerous. Taxes are complex, and gray areas abound. But your odds of audit are low, and dropping even further. The IRS is auditing only 0.84% of individual taxpayers, less than 1 in 100. An audit might be in person or by correspondence, but there’s a small chance of either. Recently, the IRS Commissioner has suggested that the tax audit picture for the IRS may be gloomier still. And although that is bad for American tax revenue figures, the average taxpayer is relieved. To read the full Speech Never take a chance your client want be the one getting audited. Offering the right Audit Protection can be your Clients saving grace, we recommend. The Internal Revenue Service has announced initial plans for processing tax returns involving the Earned Income Tax Credit and Additional Child Tax Credit during the opening weeks of the 2017 filing season. The IRS is sharing the information now to help the tax community prepare for the 2017 season, and plans are being made for a wider communication effort this summer and fall to alert taxpayers about the changes that will affect some early filers. This action is driven by the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (PATH Act) that was enacted Dec. 18, 2015, and made several changes to the tax law to benefit taxpayers and their families. Section 201 of this new law mandates that no credit or refund for an overpayment for a taxable year shall be made to a taxpayer before Feb. 15 if the taxpayer claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit on the return. This change begins Jan. 1, 2017, and may affect some returns filed early in 2017. Additional information is listed below. • To comply with the law, the IRS will hold the refunds on EITC and ACTC-related returns until Feb. • This allows additional time to help prevent revenue lost due to identity theft and refund fraud related to fabricated wages and withholdings. • The IRS will hold the entire refund. Under the new law, the IRS cannot release the part of the refund that is not associated with the EITC and ACTC. • Taxpayers should file as they normally do, and tax return preparers should also submit returns as they normally do. • The IRS will begin accepting and processing tax returns once the filing season begins, as we do every year. That will not change. • The IRS still expects to issue most refunds in less than 21 days, though IRS will hold refunds for EITC and ACTC-related tax returns filed early in 2017 until Feb. 15 and then begin issuing them. This is one more step the IRS is taking to ensure taxpayers receive the refund they are owed. The IRS plans to work closely with stakeholders and IRS partners to help the public understand this process before they file their tax returns and ensure a smooth transition for this important law change. More information about this law will be posted to IRS.gov and shared with partners and taxpayers throughout the second half of 2016. Exemptions are tied to the tax year during which you didn’t have health coverage, not the year you fill out the exemptions application. Below are all health coverage exemptions for the 2016 tax year. You’ll claim these exemptions with your 2016 tax return in April 2017. If you qualify for one of these exemptions, you don’t have to for the months of 2016 you didn’t have health coverage and the exemption applies. Exemptions, forms, and how to applyFollow the links below for exemption details, application forms, and instructions. Income-related exemptions • The lowest-priced coverage available to you, through either a Marketplace or job-based plan, would cost more than 8.13% of your household income. Get forms and details for the or the. • You don’t have to file a tax return because your income is below the level that requires you to file.. Hardship exemptions •. Health coverage-related exemptions • You were uninsured for no more than 2 consecutive months of the year.. • You lived in a state that didn’t expand its Medicaid program but you would have qualified if it had.. Group membership exemptions • You’re a member of a or eligible for services through an Indian Health Services provider.. • You’re a member of a recognized health care sharing ministry.. • You’re a member of a recognized religious sect with religious objections to insurance, including Social Security and Medicare.. Other exemptions • You’re incarcerated (serving a term in prison or jail).. • You’re a U.S. Citizen living abroad, a certain type of non-citizen, or not lawfully present. (Learn more about the definition of “.”) Get forms and details for the or the. Example 1: Single individual with $40,000 incomeJim, who is unmarried with no dependents, doesn’t have for any month of 2016. His household income in 2016 is $40,000. • Per-person fee: $695 • Percentage-of-income fee: • $40,000 (2016 household income) minus $10,150 (the tax filing threshold for individuals - for 2014, the most recent figure available) = $29,850 • 2.5% of $29,850 = $746.25 The annual national average premium for a Bronze plan is $2,448 (also based on 2014 figures). • $746.25 (Jim’s percentage-of-income fee) is less than $2,448 (the maximum percentage-of-income fee), so the maximum doesn’t apply. • $746.25 (Jim’s percentage-of-income fee) is higher than $695 (his per-person fee). So Jim’s 2016 fee would be $746.25. He’d pay it when he files his 2016 federal income tax return, which is due in April 2017. If Jim had minimum essential coverage for any month of 2016, he’d owe 1/12 of the annual fee for each month he’s uninsured. Example 2: Married couple with 2 children, $70,000 income Eduardo and Julia are married and have two children under 18. No family member has for any month of 2016. Their 2016 household income is $70,000. • Per-person fee: $2,085 (2 adults at $695 each, plus 2 children at $347.50 each) • Percentage-of-income fee: • $70,000 (2016 household income) minus $20,300 (the tax filing threshold for married couples filing jointly - for 2014, the most recent figure available) = $49,700 • 2.5% of $49,700 = $1,242.50 The annual national average premium for a Bronze plan that covers the family is $9,792 (also based on 2014 figures). • $1,242.50 (the family’s percentage-of-income fee) is less than $9,792 (the maximum percentage-of-income fee), so the maximum doesn’t apply. • $2,085 (the family’s per-person fee) is higher than $1,242.50 (the family’s percentage-of-income fee). So Eduardo and Julia’s 2016 fee would be $2,085. They’d pay it when they file their 2016 federal income tax return, which is due in April 2017. If Eduardo and Julia’s family had minimum essential coverage for any month of 2016, they’d owe 1/12 of the annual fee for each month they’re uninsured. Before he became the top U.S. Tax collector and the target of an unprecedented Republican-led impeachment drive, John A. Koskinen majored in physics, guided the country through the “Y2K” problem and ran a foundation that promotes youth soccer. Now, amid a three-year controversy over the Internal Revenue Service’s scrutiny of conservative groups, Koskinen, 76, is being re-educated in the exertion of forces, the limits of computer technology and—according to a predecessor—the sensation of being kicked around. Impeachment is “the wrong symbol, the wrong act,” said Fred Goldberg, who served as IRS commissioner under Republican President George H.W. “‘It is both destructive and counterproductive.” On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hear from legal scholars and a former prosecutor on whether impeachment-drive leaders can meet legal standards for impeaching Koskinen. The panel is not expected to vote on an actual impeachment resolution, and neither House nor Senate leaders have endorsed the impeachment push. ‘Held Accountable’ If it succeeded, Koskinen would be the first appointed executive-branch official impeached since 1876, the year Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone. And he’d be the only such official below the level of cabinet secretary to receive that dubious distinction. Since 2013, Republicans have filed unsuccessful resolutions to impeach former Attorney General Eric Holder and Environmental Protection Agency administrator Regina McCarthy. Impeachment would be well-deserved, says Representative Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican who says Koskinen misled Congress and failed to respond appropriately to congressional subpoenas amid investigations into whether the IRS unfairly targeted groups affiliated with the Tea Party movement. “Congress needs to stand up for itself,” said Chaffetz, the leader of the impeachment drive, in an e-mailed statement. “Federal officials who provide false testimony and destroy evidence under subpoena must be held accountable.” Impeachment Resolution Koskinen came under attack almost immediately after President Barack Obama tapped him to lead the IRS beginning in December 2013. The agency was mired in fallout from allegations that it had targeted conservative and Tea Party groups seeking nonprofit status from 2010 through 2012. Koskinen is accused in an impeachment resolution of misleading Congress and failing to respond to congressional subpoenas for information about the case. Last week, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which Chaffetz chairs, voted to censure Koskinen over similar claims. The 23-15 party line vote also recommended that his pension should be forfeited. Congressional censures of administration officials are rare, and generally would have no practical consequences. Neither the censure vote nor the impeachment resolution filed by Chaffetz and other Republicans has been promised a vote on the House floor. Koskinen, who is on vacation, won’t attend Wednesday’s hearing. An IRS spokesman said that in an attempt to save money for the agency, Koskinen is paying for his own lawyer, Reginald Brown of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP in Washington. Brown declined to discuss Koskinen’s case or how much his defense might cost. Koskinen is worth between $7.1 million and $27.4 million, according to a federal financial disclosure that he filed in 2013 after President Barack Obama nominated him to be IRS commissioner. Before he became the top U.S. Tax collector and the target of an unprecedented Republican-led impeachment drive, John A. Koskinen majored in physics, guided the country through the “Y2K” problem and ran a foundation that promotes youth soccer. Now, amid a three-year controversy over the Internal Revenue Service’s scrutiny of conservative groups, Koskinen, 76, is being re-educated in the exertion of forces, the limits of computer technology and—according to a predecessor—the sensation of being kicked around. Impeachment is “the wrong symbol, the wrong act,” said Fred Goldberg, who served as IRS commissioner under Republican President George H.W. “‘It is both destructive and counterproductive.” On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hear from legal scholars and a former prosecutor on whether impeachment-drive leaders can meet legal standards for impeaching Koskinen. The panel is not expected to vote on an actual impeachment resolution, and neither House nor Senate leaders have endorsed the impeachment push. ‘Held Accountable’ If it succeeded, Koskinen would be the first appointed executive-branch official impeached since 1876, the year Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone. And he’d be the only such official below the level of cabinet secretary to receive that dubious distinction. Since 2013, Republicans have filed unsuccessful resolutions to impeach former Attorney General Eric Holder and Environmental Protection Agency administrator Regina McCarthy. Impeachment would be well-deserved, says Representative Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican who says Koskinen misled Congress and failed to respond appropriately to congressional subpoenas amid investigations into whether the IRS unfairly targeted groups affiliated with the Tea Party movement. “Congress needs to stand up for itself,” said Chaffetz, the leader of the impeachment drive, in an e-mailed statement. “Federal officials who provide false testimony and destroy evidence under subpoena must be held accountable.” Impeachment Resolution Koskinen came under attack almost immediately after President Barack Obama tapped him to lead the IRS beginning in December 2013. The agency was mired in fallout from allegations that it had targeted conservative and Tea Party groups seeking nonprofit status from 2010 through 2012. Koskinen is accused in an impeachment resolution of misleading Congress and failing to respond to congressional subpoenas for information about the case. Last week, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which Chaffetz chairs, voted to censure Koskinen over similar claims. The 23-15 party line vote also recommended that his pension should be forfeited. Congressional censures of administration officials are rare, and generally would have no practical consequences. Neither the censure vote nor the impeachment resolution filed by Chaffetz and other Republicans has been promised a vote on the House floor. Koskinen, who is on vacation, won’t attend Wednesday’s hearing. An IRS spokesman said that in an attempt to save money for the agency, Koskinen is paying for his own lawyer, Reginald Brown of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP in Washington. Brown declined to discuss Koskinen’s case or how much his defense might cost. Koskinen is worth between $7.1 million and $27.4 million, according to a federal financial disclosure that he filed in 2013 after President Barack Obama nominated him to be IRS commissioner. Even though the 2016 tax season recently ended, it’s time to look ahead and prepare for next year. Each year, a handful of tax issues typically require special attention from tax practitioners. To best serve your current and potential clients, be aware of how these changes may affect their tax planning. Some of the most significant changes are highlighted below. BEPS Country-by-Country Reporting As part of the OECD Base Erosion/Profit-Shifting (BEPS) initiative, many countries are implementing country-by-country reporting requirements for 2016, requiring companies to provide a break-down of income, expense and profit for the countries in which they operate. The U.S. is not planning to implement country-by-country reporting until 2017. However, many U.S. Multinational companies have asked the IRS to accept optional reporting in 2016 so that they could comply worldwide by filing in the U.S. And not have to deal with the reporting requirements of other countries. The IRS has said that it is not able to accept optional reporting in 2016. This leaves U.S. Multinationals with the task of determining where and how to meet new country-by-country reporting in 2016 in the various countries in which they operate. Tax Provisions Expiring at the End of 2016 Although the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act made many regularly expiring provisions permanent, a number of others still expire at the end of 2016. This leaves taxpayers having to decide whether to take maximum advantage of the tax break while it’s still available in 2016 or hope that once again it will be extended into future years. Tax breaks for individuals expiring at the end of 2016 include: • The deduction for qualified tuition and fees • The mortgage debt exclusion • The deduction for mortgage insurance premiums • The Code Sec. 25C credit for residential energy-efficient improvements For businesses, tax breaks expiring at the end of 2016 include: • The Indian employment credit • The railroad track maintenance credit • Empowerment zone incentives • Film, television and live theatrical production expensing • Mine rescue team training credit • Election to expense mine safety equipment • Qualified zone academy bonds • Three-year recovery period for certain race horses • Seven-year recovery for motorsports entertainment complexes • Code Sec. This is going to push people to do Bank Products or they will lose clients to the Preparer's that offer them. As the main part of the 2016 filing season comes to a close, it is time to emphasize the coming important changes to the preparer due diligence requirements, refundable credits, and refunds for the 2017 filing season. The December 2015 extender bill did more than just extend the expiring tax provisions. In the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act of 2015, Congress included a “program integrity” section that dealt with the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Child Tax Credit (CTC), and American Opportunity Education Tax Credit (AOTC). Below is a summary of what these changes are: Refunds for Federal Returns that Claim EITC will not be Released Until February 15 Beginning with the 2017 Filing Season The integrity provision of the PATH Act that will have the greatest impact on taxpayers that claim EITC is the one that requires the IRS to not release refunds for returns that claim EITC or the Additional Child Tax Credit until February 15 beginning with the 2017 filing season. Therefore, any return claiming the EITC or CTC credits that is prepared in the early part of the filing season will not be released for up to 4 weeks (depending on when the return is filed) instead of the standard 21 days or less time frame. Expansion of Preparer Due Diligence Requirements The PATH Act expands the EITC due diligence requirements under Code Section 6695 (including the $500 penalty) to now include the Child Tax Credit and the American Opportunity Education Credit beginning with 2016 individual federal returns. This means that the IRS will be making changes to Form 8867 (Paid Preparer’s Earned Income Tax Credit Checklist). The form will be renamed and additional due diligence related questions will be added for these two additional credits. The IRS is in the process of modifying the due diligence regulations for the addition of the Child Tax Credit and the American Opportunity Education Credit. When the IRS releases these regulations, we will give you more details on what they contain and what changes will be made to the Tax Year 2016 Form 8867. Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Changes The PATH Act made the following changes that will affect individuals who claim EITC on their returns beginning with Tax Year 2016 tax returns: • Individuals cannot file an amended return to claim EITC for prior years that a qualifying child did not have a Social Security Number. This provision went into effect on the date the PATH Act became law on December 18, 2015. • The IRS can bar an individual from claiming EITC for 10 years if the IRS finds they have fraudulently claimed the credit. • The EITC is now subject to the penalty for erroneous claim for refunds and credits. • Incorrectly claimed refundable credits will now be taken into account when determining the underpayment penalty. Changes for Child Tax Credit and the American Opportunity Education Credit The PATH Act made the following changes for returns that claim the child tax credit or the American Opportunity credit beginning with Tax Year 2016 tax returns: • If the IRS determines that an individual has intentionally disregarded the rules for claiming the Child Tax Credit and/or the American Opportunity Education Credit they can bar them for two years from claiming either or both of these credits. • Individuals cannot file an amended return to claim the Child Tax Credit or the American Opportunity Education Credit for prior years that a qualifying child did not have an ITIN or SSN. • The EIN of the educational institution will be required to be reported on Form 8863. If it is missing the IRS will reject the return. For more information on these changes see the Joint Committee on Taxation’s – the program integrity provisions begin on page 118. Great Summary of 12 things the Path Act affects 1. The bill makes the expansion of Section 179 permanent (cost: $77.1 billion) Section 179 of the tax code allows small businesses to immediately deduct up to $500,000 of investments. However, without Congressional action, this provision would have been scaled back significantly, and small businesses would only have been allowed to deduct $25,000 of investments. The PATH Act will make the expanded Section 179 limits permanent, while also indexing them to inflation. This provision is important because businesses are usually required to deduct their investment spending over long periods of time, which discourages them from making new investments. Section 179 helps reverse the tax code’s harmful treatment of investment and encourages economic growth. It’s also a provision that is designed to benefit small businesses, rather than large corporations. Bonus depreciation is phased out over five years (cost: $28.3 billion) Perhaps the most important tax extender is bonus depreciation, which allows all businesses to immediately deduct 50 percent of some investment costs. Bonus depreciation applies to a larger share of investments than Section 179 does, covering over $470 billion in capital expenditures. Because bonus depreciation encourages investment, a Tax Foundation analysis found that making the provision permanent would grow the economy by 1 percent over the long run. Unfortunately, the PATH Act only extends bonus depreciation until the end of 2019, rather than making it permanent. However, several presidential candidates have committed to moving to full expensing – which would allow businesses to deduct all of their investments as soon as they are made. Hopefully, Congress will move in this direction in coming years and build on the five-year extension of bonus depreciation. The Child Tax Credit is permanently expanded (cost: $87.8 billion) During the recent recession, Congress expanded the Child Tax Credit to families earning over $3,000. However, without Congressional action, the credit would only apply to families making over $14,000, beginning in 2018, meaning that many families would stop receiving the credit. While the Child Tax Credit expansion was meant to be a temporary stimulus measure, many members of Congress hoped to preserve a tax provision targeted toward the lowest-income Americans. As a result, the PATH Act makes the $3,000 eligibility threshold permanent – the second-most costly provision in the bill. The Earned Income Tax Credit is also permanently expanded (cost: $30.4 billion) Another tax provision that benefits low-income families and was expanded during the latest recession is the Earned Income Tax Credit. The EITC is calculated through a formula that varies based on filing status and number of children. Over the past few years, two temporary provisions have made the EITC more generous for married couples and taxpayers with three or more children. The PATH Act makes the EITC expansion permanent, to prevent its expiration in 2018. This measure is accompanied by several anti-fraud provisions, to help alleviate the credit’s high rate of improper payments. The American Opportunity Credit is made permanent (cost: $79.9 billion) The federal tax code contains education incentives. In 2009, Congress added the American Opportunity Credit, which up to $2,500 of education expenses and is almost twice as generous as its predecessor, the Hope Credit. However, absent Congressional action, the American Opportunity Credit is set to expire in 2018. The PATH Act makes the American Opportunity Credit a permanent part of the federal tax code. This is an ill-advised move: while education tax incentives have grown steadily over the last decade, there is little evidence that these provisions encourage college enrollment. Instead, education credits are complex, poorly-targeted, and often counter-productive. The only bright side of making the American Opportunity Credit permanent is that the budget baseline now reflects the full, ten-year cost of the provision. The research and experimentation credit is made permanent (cost: $113.2 billion) The most expensive provision in the PATH Act is the one that makes the research and experimentation credit permanent. The R&E credit allows businesses that engage in certain research activities to lower their overall tax burden., this credit has expired and been renewed 16 times, making it one of the most unstable parts of the tax code. Opponents of the credit argue that it has no proven results, favors big business, and does not successfully target beneficial research. Proponents often that the research credit has never been allowed to work properly, because businesses have never been certain enough about its future to pursue long-term research projects. Either way, making the credit permanent is a positive development, if only so that its costs are accurately reflected in the budget baseline. The active financing exception is made permanent (cost: $78.0 billion) The U.S. Has a worldwide tax system, which means U.S. Businesses operating overseas are taxed by both foreign governments and the U.S. To mitigate the competitive disadvantage to U.S. Corporations, the tax code allows corporations to defer taxes on some income earned by their foreign subsidiaries. As part of the, Congress instituted the active financing exception, which allows businesses with certain overseas financial activities to defer taxes as well. The PATH Act makes the active financing exception a permanent part of the tax code. Because this helps move U.S. Taxation of international income further towards a territorial system, this is a positive development. The Cadillac Tax is delayed for two years (cost: $15.9 billion) To pay for the Affordable Care Act, Congress instituted several new taxes, including the Cadillac Tax, a tax on expensive health plans. Almost immediately, the tax faced bipartisan, driven by both business groups and unions. As a result of this opposition, the implementation of the Cadillac tax will likely be delayed until 2020. While the Cadillac tax is poorly designed, the idea behind it is quite reasonable: employer-provided health plans are not currently taxed, which encourages employers to offer overly generous health benefits. The Cadillac Tax is an attempt to fix this fundamental distortion in the U.S. But pundits have already speculated that the delay of the Cadillac Tax might “spell the beginning of its demise.” 9. The medical device tax is also delayed (cost: $3.9 billion) The Affordable Care Act also included a new excise tax on medical devices. This tax has also faced significant, bipartisan opposition. As part of the PATH Act, the medical device tax will be delayed for two years, until 2018. The medical device tax is bad policy: it is narrowly targeted, complex, and difficult to enforce. Ideally, the two year moratorium will give Congress an opportunity to repeal the tax in full. A new, temporary giveaway for refineries is created (cost: $1.9 billion) Over the past few weeks, Congress has been negotiating over lifting the ban on U.S. Crude oil exports, which has been in place since the 1970s. While repealing the ban has and, it would almost certainly hurt U.S. Oil refineries, who have been heretofore shielded from international competition. To compensate refineries for their expected losses, one senator proposed a new tax credit for refineries. By the time this idea reached the final bill, it had changed slightly; now, the PATH Act gives refineries a more generous Section 199 manufacturing deduction. Tax policies aimed at helping at specific industries are rarely ideal policy. The best justification for this provision is that it is a, helping refineries recoup the costs of the transition away from the oil export ban. If so, Congress should make sure that when this provision expires in 2022, it is not renewed again. New rules for real estate investment trusts are created (cost: $1.0 billion) In recent years, it’s become increasingly common for companies to spin off their real estate assets into real estate investment trusts, to gain more favorable tax treatment. The PATH Act cracks down on this strategy, by imposing several limits on spinoffs involving real estate investment trusts (which are mostly similar to the ones I described last week). Simultaneously, the PATH Act makes it easier for real estate investment trusts to attract foreign investments by relaxing some of the provisions of – a 1980s bill that imposed high taxes on foreign investment in U.S. Because there’s not much of a justification for the existence of FIRPTA (the law was born out of fears that foreign investors would buy up U.S. Farm land), these provisions are positive changes to the tax code. Charitable distributions from IRAs are now permanently tax-free (cost: $8.8 billion) One of the most tax extenders has been a provision allowing seniors over 70 ½ years old to distribute money directly from an IRA to a charitable organization without facing taxes. Because this provision has been renewed several times at the last minute, seniors have often been left at the end of the year to plan their finances. The PATH Act makes the tax-free treatment of charitable IRA distributions permanent. These will likely decrease seniors’ financial planning uncertainty. In addition to these twelve measures, there are another one hundred or so smaller tax provisions in the PATH Act that are also worth attention. Because of the sheer scope of the bill, it looks like the PATH Act will be a particularly consequential piece of tax legislation. • • 2017-05-16 • History[ edit ] In the language of visual design, a tag cloud or word cloud is one kind of 'weighted list', as commonly used on geographic maps to represent the relative size of cities in terms of relative typeface size. An early printed example of a weighted list of English keywords was the 'subconscious files' in Douglas Coupland 's Microserfs A German appearance occurred in The first foes clouds on a high-profile website were on the photo sharing site Flickrcreated by Flickr co-founder and interaction designer Stewart Butterfield in That implementation was based on Jim Flanagan's Search Referral Zeitgeist, [4] a visualization of Web site referrers. Tag clouds were also popularized around the same time by Del. Oversaturation of the tag cloud method and ambivalence about its utility as a web-navigation tool led to a noted decline of usage among these early adopters. Several extensions of tag clouds have been proposed in how does word cloud work context. Examples include Parallel Tag Clouds, [7] SparkClouds, [8] and Prefix Tag Clouds. Dec 18, 2017 - Bitcoin mining aws; Bitcoin mining client solo; Bitcoin mining software macbook; how to generate Bitcoin for free; Bitcoin street faucet legit; Bitcoin mining easy; 7990 Bitcoin mining hashrate; what is the point of mining Bitcoin; Bitcoin mining what is the point; Bitcoin faucet referral; good computer for mining. Created in R with wordcloud package. Can I create a custom size word cloud? How do I change how does direction of the words? There are three main types of tag cloud applications in social softwaredistinguished by their meaning rather than appearance. They also do not provide context, so cloud work meaning of individual words may be lost. Exporting your word cloud from a free tool cloudd take some work. Click on Shape to select your desired shape. Data from Country population. Note that the proportional sizes of China and India were divided in half. There are three main types clojd tag cloud applications c,oud social softwaredistinguished by wor meaning rather than appearance. In dors first type, there is a tag for the frequency of worj item, whereas in the second type, there how does word cloud work global tag clouds where the frequencies are aggregated over all items and users. In the third type, the cloud contains categories, with size indicating number of subcategories. Frequency[ edit ] In the first type, size represents the number of times that tag has been applied to a single item. The thermodynamic how word does cloud work increase with Examples of such use include Last. In the second, more commonly used type,[ citation needed ] size represents the number of items to which a tag has been applied, as a presentation of each tag's popularity. Examples of this type wird tag cloud are used on the image - hosting service Flickrblog aggregator Technorati and on Google search results with DeeperWeb. Categorization[ edit ] In the third type, tags are used as how does word cloud work categorization method for content items. Tags are represented in a cloud where larger tags represent the quantity of content items in that category. • Click to select one. • What is a Word Cloud? • If you enjoyed this post about writing a novel, you might also enjoy these articles from our archive: There are some approaches to construct tag clusters instead of tag clouds, e. The term keyword cloud is sometimes used as a search engine marketing SEM term that refers to a group of keywords that are relevant to a specific website. In recent years tag clouds have gained popularity because of their role in search engine optimization of Web pages as well as supporting the user in navigating the content in an information system efficiently. From a user interface perspective they are often used to summarize search results to support the user in finding content in a particular information system more quickly. Color indicates positive dods negative change, font size indicates percentage change. Does how work cloud word mining And Tag clouds are typically represented using inline HTML elements. The tags can appear in order, in a how does word cloud work order, they can be sorted by weight, and so on. Sometimes, further visual properties are manipulated in addition to font size, such as the font color, intensity, or weight. The decision for an optimal layout should be driven by the expected user goals. A tag cloud on the web must address problems of modeling and controlling aesthetics, constructing a two-dimensional layout of tags, and all these must be done in short time on volatile browser platform. Tags clouds to be used on the web must be in HTMLnot graphics, to make them robot-readable, they must be constructed on doew client side using the fonts available in the browser, and they must fit in a rectangular box [21]. Text clouc comparing State of the Union Address by U. President Bush and State of the Union Address by President Obama. Text cloud comparing state of the union address by U S president Bush and state of the union address by president Obama. Does how word cloud work big Instead of summarising an entire document, the collocate cloud examines the usage of a particular word. The resulting cloud contains the words which are often used in conjunction with the search word. These collocates are formatted to show frequency as size as well as collocational strength as brightness. This provides interactive ways to browse and explore language. • Users scan rather than read tag clouds. • Users scan rather than read tag clouds. • The Benefits of Using a Word Cloud Word clouds can dazzle your audience with what might be otherwise viewed as every-day, information. The following summary is based on an overview of research results given by Lohmann et al.: Large tags attract more user attention than small tags effect influenced by further properties, e. Users scan sord than read tag clouds. The first tag clouds on a high-profile website were on the photo sharing site Flickrcreated by Flickr co-founder and interaction designer Stewart Butterfield in This provides interactive ways to browse and explore language. Just thinking out loud. Instead, an optimized data set one handled by an experienced data analysis team will give you accurate insights. You can a theme from our selection of themes with the Theme dropdown, or customize the cloud completely with your own colors by using the Colors dropdown. Exporting your word cloud from a free tool might take some work. In the first type, there is a tag for the frequency of each item, whereas in the second type, there are global tag clouds where the frequencies are aggregated over all items and users. Tags in the middle of the cloud attract more user attention than tags near the borders effect influenced by layout. The upper left quadrant receives more how does word cloud work attention than the others Western reading habits. Tag clouds provide suboptimal support when searching for specific tags if these do not have a very large font size. Creation of a tag cloud[ edit ] In principle, how does word cloud work font size of wrod tag in a tag cloud is determined by its incidence. For a word cloud of categories like weblogs, frequency, for example, corresponds to the number of weblog entries that are assigned to a category. For smaller frequencies one can specify font sizes directly, from one to whatever the maximum font size. For larger values, a scaling should be made. In a linear normalization, the weight t. Features: 100% brand new and high quality Material: Gold Plated Iron Bitcoin design, two sides Souvenir art & collectible,business gift holiday decoration gift Diameter: 40mm Thickness: 2mm Color: Gold Quantity:1Pc Note: Due to the difference between different monitors, the picture may not reflect the actual color of the item. Package includes: 1 x Bitcoin Coin(Without Box,Opp Bag Package) Brand Unbranded UPC Does not apply MPN Does not apply Color Gold Note Without Box,Opp Bag Package. Features: 100% brand new and high quality Material: Silver Plated Iron Ethereum coin design, two sides Souvenir art & collectible,business gift holiday decoration gift Diameter: 40mm Thickness: 2.7mm Color: Silver Quantity:1Pc Note: Due to the difference between different monitors, the picture may not reflect the actual color of the item. Package includes: 1 x Ethereum Coin(Without Box,Opp Bag Package) Color Silver Brand Unbranded UPC Does not apply Note Without Box,Opp Bag Package MPN Does not apply. Features: 100% brand new and high quality Material: Silver Plated Iron Litecoin design, two sides Souvenir art & collectible,business gift holiday decoration gift Diameter: 40mm Thickness: 2.7mm Color: Silver Quantity:1Pc Note: Due to the difference between different monitors, the picture may not reflect the actual color of the item. Package includes: 1 x Litecoin Coin(Without Box,Opp Bag Package) Color Silver Brand Unbranded UPC Does not apply Note Without Box,Opp Bag Package MPN Does not apply. Features: 100% brand new and high quality Material: Gold Plated Iron Ethereum coin design, two sides Souvenir art & collectible,business gift holiday decoration gift Diameter: 40mm Thickness: 2.7mm Color: Gold Quantity:1Pc Note: Due to the difference between different monitors, the picture may not reflect the actual color of the item. Package includes: 1 x Ethereum Coin(Without Box,Opp Bag Package) Color Gold Brand Unbranded UPC Does not apply Note Without Box,Opp Bag Package MPN Does not apply. Bitcoin mining is an industry that is becoming an increasingly popular way to accumulate and share value in the world of virtual currencies. Before trying to become fully immersed in the Bitcoin exchange market, many people find it helpful to know more about bitcoin mining contracts. Knowing more about them gives people a chance to find a solution that best suits their skill and lifestyle needs. What currency choices are compatible for virtual currency mining contracts? • Bitcoin - As the currency name suggests, Bitcoins are ideally suited for bitcoin mining contracts. • Dogecoin - First introduced in December 2013, the Dogecoin is a type of peer-to-peer cryptocurrency suitable for mining contracts that uses the Shiba Inu dog as its identifying symbol. • Litecoin - Litecoin is another type of popular virtual currency that can be used in various mining contracts. Also recognized as an open source software, this completely decentralized payment platform is available on a global scale. What should newcomers know about bitcoin exchange? • Purpose - Also known as a digital currency exchange, the bitcoin exchange is made for the purpose of allowing users to trade currencies in the digital world for other types of assets. • Fees - Businesses that handle bitcoin exchanges typically charge a fee for this service. • Assets - A common type of asset received in Bitcoin contract exchange trades can include assets like fiat money, or in other word money that is considered to be legal tender by the government. What are the some benefits that come from Bitcoin contract mining? • Ease of Use - Bitcoin contract mining is often considered to be one of the easiest avenues to navigate for those who are new to Bitcoin mining. Bitcoin contract mining eliminates the need for people to have to manage the hardware involved. • Platform - A Bitcoin cloud mining platform utilizes a shared processing power platform that is operated in a remote setting which takes some of the technical guesswork out of the equation that can be confusing to new users. • Efficient - Cloud mining contracts are considered to be efficient by many users as a home computer is the main component needed to embark on the bitcoin mining adventure so users can start mining bitcoin more quickly. Wallets and other optional equipment are also useful, depending on the type of bitcoin contract used. • Resource Consumption - Electricity consumption is a resource that is usually reduced in this type of Bitcoin cloud mining contract. The absence of GPU fans can decrease the energy consumption and heat expended into the home. What are some of the types of Bitcoin cloud mining are available? • Virtual Hosted Bitcoin Mining - Virtual hosted Bitcoin mining is a common choice among Bitcoin miners because it allows people to have a private server and also install a bitcoin mining software that fits their personal needs. • Bitcoin Hosted Mining - Ideal for those who prefer to lease a mining machine and let the provider take care of the hosting needs. • Hashing Power Leases - One of the most sought-after choices available to cloud miners are leasing hashing power because this type of mining does not require the use of a dedicated computer in either a physical or virtual form. |
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