Voluntary Disclosure of Foreign Bank Account Reports

In an attempt to garner voluntary compliance, the IRS is granting penalty abatement and agrees not to prosecute Taxpayers who voluntary disclose their offshore bank accounts by September 23, 2009. If you have (or had) foreign bank accounts, we can assist you with filing the correct forms so that you can take care of this matter. Foreign countries are disclosing more information to the United States than ever before, so we strongly encourage Taxpayers to take advantage of this opportunity. For more information, please take a look at the Internal Revenue website or contact us directly and we'll be happy to assist you.

Tips for Self-Employed

If you are considering starting a new business, you may want to read Tax Attorney Peter Pappas' 59 tips for self-employed individuals, which provides tips on:

• Getting started
• Getting the right attitude
• Public relations
• Personal development
• Operations
• Maximizing revenue
• Minimizing costs
• Accounting and bookkeeping

If your new small business requires bookkeeping services, please feel free to contact us to consult with our bookkeeping and payroll specialists with Martins Accounting. Finally, if you are launching a new business, we wish you the best of luck!

Consider electronic payments for June 15

Many Americans are required to make quarterly estimated tax payments throughout the year. If you are one of those "lucky" taxpayers, you may want to consider going electronic. Tax author Kay Bell, who pays quarterly estimates herself, provides helpful information about electronic payments (as well as links) in a recent blog post. She points out that: "Once you're set up, you can schedule all four estimated payments -- if, like mine, they are all the same amount -- in just one session. Then you're done with them for the year." Whether you opt to pay electronically or by check, be sure to get those estimates in by June 15 to avoid penalties.

HSA amounts for 2010

The IRS released the following inflation-adjusted amounts related to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) for 2010:

	Self-only coverage	Family coverage
Maximum contribution	$3,050	$6,150
Minimum deductible	$1,200	$2,400
Maximum out-of-pocket	$5,950	$11,900

AFRs for June

The IRS released the following Applicable Federal Rates (AFRs) for June 2009:

	Annual	Semiannual	Quarterly	Monthly
Short-term	0.75%	0.75%	0.75%	0.75%
Mid-term	2.25%	2.24%	2.23%	2.23%
Long-term	3.88%	3.84%	3.82%	3.81%

Estate Tax Planning – Time is Right!

Many experts in the estate planning arena feel that there is no better time than now for estate planning. The experts are calling the current economic climate, the "estate planning triple witching hour" because of the convergence of three events which have created a terrific opportunity for individuals to make the most of their estate planning. The three events are:

1. A favorable interest rate environment
2. Depressed asset values, and
3. A potentially limited timeframe to continue getting high valuation discount

As the economy improves the benefits of the lower interest rates and assets values will diminish. Also, there is already a house bill (H.R. 36) in the works which may take away the benefit of valuation discounts if passed.

If you haven't completed your estate planning, now may be the perfect time to contact your estate tax planner to take advantage of the current environment.

ENR Top 400 Contractors

The Engineering News Record released its annual list of The Top 400 Contractors last week. Included in the list of excellent companies were two ThomasYork clients. We would like to congratulate XL Construction Corporation and Top Grade Construction, Inc. ThomasYork is proud to provide quality tax and accounting services to both of these terrific companies.

If you would like to see the complete list of The Top 400 Contractors click on the following link.

http://enr.construction.com/toplists/Contractors/001-100.asp

Scam alerts

Scam artists will forever invent new ways to take people's hard-earned money. During troubled times, they work to use people's fear to their advantage. CPAsuccess.com points out the following scams (which the AICPA and U.S. News and World Report have warned about:

1. "We can magically repair your credit...for an upfront fee!"
2. "Your bank has changed hands, so please send us you personal information."
3. "You can make big money working from home...for an upfront fee!"
4. "There's been unusual activity on your credit card, so we need to verify your card number."
5. "You can get stimulus cash...for an upfront fee!"
6. "You are eligible for more favorable mortgage terms...for an upfront fee!"

The lesson from these? Always keep these two things in mind: Rule 1: Be very, very careful about providing personal information over the phone or via email. Rule 2: Don't pay a "small upfront fee" for promise of a big payout later.

Mr. Bill gets shut down

The IRS raided the offices of a Florida tax practice called Taxes by Mr. Bill. The firm is accused of stealing clients' refunds. The raid resulted from customer complaints to police. Personally, I'd rather not have my taxes prepared by a claymation character in the first place, but that's just me. (Sources: WebCPA, The Tax Lawyer's Blog)

Divorce of actress Kate Walsh causes trouble

WebCPA reports that "the estranged husband of actress Kate Walsh has filed papers asking a judge to force her accounting firm to produce more financial information about her and their home." Alex Young married actress Kate Walsh, the star of Private Practice, and then filed for divorce 14 months later. He filed a petition to force their accounting firm to provide him with more financial data in April, during the height of tax season. The accounting firm responded by asking the court for an order of protection against Young, claiming: "Young is intent on harassing London, a non-party accounting firm, on the week before the tax-filing deadline through a series of cryptic, threatening and abusive letters.” Lifestyles of the rich and famous, I guess. (Hat tip to Tweeter @WebCPAtweets.)

FTB mails notices about e-pay

The FTB has announced the latest installment in the ongoing saga of mandatory electronic payment for certain individuals. If you meet the threshold for e-pay, you will likely receive a letter in the mail notifying you of the mandatory e-pay (here's a sample letter). You do not need to take any action in response to this notice. Starting next year, you'll need to make tax payments electronically (here's info on how). If you have a few minutes to kill and are interested in the ongoing saga of mandatory e-pay, you can visit our previous posts from November, January, and April.

Obama targets multinational corporations

The President announced today his administration's plans to crackdown on tax loopholes for U.S.-based multinational corporations, which he says will save $210 billion over the next 10 years. He began his remarks with this statement: "Let's begin with a simple premise: Nobody likes paying taxes, particularly in times of economic stress. But most Americans meet their responsibilities because they understand that it's an obligation of citizenship, necessary to pay the costs of our common defense and our mutual well-being." Click here more information on this morning's announcement.

Tax deadlines for May & June

Even though the dreaded April 15 tax deadline has passed, more deadlines loom ahead. Here are the key tax deadlines for May & June: May 15: Non-profit tax returns are due. June 15: Quarterly estimated tax payments are due for the 2009 calendar year. This applies to individuals and corporations. June 15: LLCs must pay their estimated 2009 California gross receipts fee. The fee applies to LLCs with annual California gross receipts of at least $250,000.