Don’t Fall for Phony IRS Websites

News straight from the Internal Revenue Service: The Internal Revenue Service is issuing a warning about a new tax scam that uses a website that mimics the IRS e-Services online registration page. The actual IRS e-Services page offers web-based products for tax preparers, not the general public. The phony web page looks almost identical to […]

Is Obama’s Tax Proposal Good for Small Businesses?

A few weeks ago, President Obama released a proposal to lower the corporate tax rate, but we noticed it wasn’t getting rave reviews from either the left or the right. At first, many people thought that this proposal would be good news for small businesses, yet small-business advocates say that Obama’s plan will benefit only […]

Tax Scam Warning from the IRS Newswire!

Tax Scam Warning: Beware of Phony Refund Scheme Abusing Popular College Tax Credit; Senior Citizens, Working Families and Church Members Are Targets **We have copied and pasted this directly from the email from the Internal Revenue Service. WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service today warned senior citizens and other taxpayers to beware of an emerging […]

Should I Use a Certified Public Accountant or a Tax Preparation Firm?

We’ve already talked about how using tax preparation software can lead to all sorts of problems on your tax return, including a potential audit. Even though the software might be helping you along, it does not have an actual brain to advise you on deductions or expenses. In which case you may be thinking—“You’re right! […]

How To Classify Your Employees and Why: SB 459

Many business owners have a lot to deal with on a day-to-day basis, whether it is managing staff, dealing with clients, working through administrative paperwork—there are few California business owners who have the time to look at every Senate Bill that gets passed. Here’s one that we think you should all know about: California Senate […]

What IS Use Tax, and Why Do I Have to Pay It?

Amazon has been in the news a lot lately because of their affiliate programs and not charging their California customers state sales tax on their purchases. The definition of use tax from the Franchise Tax Board website is as follows: Use tax is a separate tax that is generally due on the purchase of tangible […]

Why Do You Have to Keep Your Receipts?

This is a question I get asked all the time: Why do I have to keep all these receipts? There’s one main reason: If you want to deduct it, you need proof. In the event that you’re audited, the IRS requires full documentation. Most people don’t understand that, when under audit, one of the rules […]