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525 N Cascade Ave., Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
(719) 359-8789
success@cashtracksfinancial.com
Do You Owe the IRS Money That You Can’t Pay? Are You a Year or More Behind in Filing Your Income Tax Returns? Are You Behind in Your Payroll Tax Filings or Payments? Our Tax Relief services and Tax Resolution assistance can help you get tax relief!
Showing posts with label tax resolution. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tax resolution. Show all posts
Monday, October 21, 2024
Monday, August 26, 2024
Colorado Springs: Tax Resolution Training with NATP at Taxposium in Orlando, FL
525 N Cascade Ave., Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
(719) 359-8789
success@cashtracksfinancial.com
Tuesday, August 6, 2024
Colorado Springs: Why Do I Do Tax Resolution?
525 N Cascade Ave., Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
(719) 359-8789
success@cashtracksfinancial.com
Thursday, August 1, 2024
Colorado Springs: Tax Resolution Training with NATP at Taxposium in Orlando, FL
525 N Cascade Ave., Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
(719) 359-8789
success@cashtracksfinancial.com
Wednesday, July 31, 2024
Colorado Springs: How Can I Get Audit Reconsideration? What is an Audit Reconsideration?
525 N Cascade Ave., Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
(719) 359-8789
success@cashtracksfinancial.com
Tuesday, July 30, 2024
Colorado Springs: Do Not Let Your Tax Problems Only Be Half Fixed!
525 N Cascade Ave., Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
(719) 359-8789
success@cashtracksfinancial.com
Monday, July 29, 2024
Colorado Springs:Why is Reasonable Compensation Important for S-Corporation Officers?
525 N Cascade Ave., Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
(719) 359-8789
success@cashtracksfinancial.com
Sunday, July 28, 2024
Colorado Springs: Tax Resolution Training on the Way to Orlando
525 N Cascade Ave., Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
(719) 359-8789
success@cashtracksfinancial.com
Friday, July 26, 2024
Colorado Springs: Should I File an Offer in Compromise to Resolve my Tax Debt?
525 N Cascade Ave., Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
(719) 359-8789
success@cashtracksfinancial.com
Monday, July 22, 2024
Colorado Springs: Can I Challenge a Bad IRS Tax Assessment?
525 N Cascade Ave., Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
(719) 359-8789
success@cashtracksfinancial.com
Friday, June 28, 2024
Colorado Springs: What Can I Do If I Disagree With the Amount the IRS Says I Owe?
You receive an IRS notice saying you owe a large sum. But, you disagree with the assessment, because there is a legitimate question about the correctness of the assessed tax amount. What you can do is file a "Doubt as to Liability" Offer in Compromise.
Is this the correction option for your case? Possibly it is, possibly it is not. You need to consult with a tax professional, such as an Enrolled Agent (EA) because there are pros and cons to this type of offer.
Some of the pros are:
- Collections stops
- Forces audit reconsideration
- Can reopen Trust Fund Recovery Penalty Assessment
Some of the cons are:
- Must offer something (even if it is a $1)
- Compromises future liability (no refunds)
- Taxpayer must be compliant
Remember, this option is designed for taxpayers who genuinely dispute the accuracy or existence of their tax debt. This could be due to errors in the IRS's calculations, misinterpretation of tax laws, or missing information that could alter the liability. Importantly, this type of offer cannot be rejected simply because the IRS cannot locate your return or verify the liability.
To qualify, you must present a compelling case that reflects what the IRS might reasonably expect to collect if the matter were taken to court. This involves providing substantial evidence and documentation to support your claim. The IRS uses its discretion to determine whether your offer is reasonable, considering the potential outcomes of a court case.
If you believe there is a genuine error in your tax assessment, submitting an OIC based on Doubt as to Liability could be a viable path to resolving your tax issues.
For more detailed information consult with an EA, who specializes in tax resolution to ensure your offer is well-prepared and stands the best chance of acceptance.
For more detailed information consult with an EA, who specializes in tax resolution to ensure your offer is well-prepared and stands the best chance of acceptance.
525 N Cascade Ave., Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
(719) 359-8789
success@cashtracksfinancial.com
Friday, June 7, 2024
Colorado Springs: How Can I Resolve an IRS Lien?
Dealing with an IRS lien can be daunting, but taking prompt and informed action is crucial. An IRS lien is a legal claim against your property due to unpaid tax debt, affecting your credit and financial flexibility. Here’s how to handle it:
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Understand the Lien: First, comprehend the lien notice. It indicates the IRS’s claim on your assets until the debt is settled.
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Verify the Debt: Ensure the lien is accurate. A tax professional can help you determine if the owed amounts are correct.
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Communicate with the IRS: Ignoring the lien will worsen the situation. An Enroll Agent, like Marcelino Dodge, EA, CTRC can communicate with the IRS on your behalf.
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Payment Options: If the debt is accurate, then if possible pay in full. This is the quickest way to remove the lien. If full payment isn’t feasible, Marcelino Dodge, EA, CTRC, will help you determine the best option for your facts and circumstances, such as an installment agreement or an Offer in Compromise, which allows you to settle for less than the owed amount.
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Seek Professional Help: Consult a tax resolution professional, Marcelino Dodge, EA, CTRC, he can guide you through the process, negotiate on your behalf, and explore options like lien subordination or withdrawal.
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Stay Compliant: Ensure you file and pay all future taxes on time to avoid further complications.
Addressing an IRS lien promptly and strategically can mitigate its impact and help you regain financial stability.
Cash Tracks Financial of Colorado Springs
Marcelino Dodge, EA, CTRC
525 N Cascade Ave., Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
(719) 359-8789
www.cashtracksfinancial.com
success@cashtracksfinancial.com
Wednesday, July 12, 2023
Colorado Springs Video: How Can I Qualify for an Offer in Compromise?
Cash Tracks Financial of Colorado Springs
525 N Cascade Ave., Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
(719) 359-8789
success@cashtracksfinancial.com
Tuesday, February 21, 2023
Colorado Springs: How Can I Qualify for an Offer-in-Compromise?
When a taxpayer owes tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollar the the IRS for back taxes, an analysis of your reasonable collection potential is absolutely essential. Without this analysis any submitted Offer-in-Compromise stands little chance of being accepted. What your actual monthly expenses are may not be accepted by the IRS.
The analysis will help to determine what your future income is for purposes of IRS tax payments. A thorough analysis will reveal if you qualify for an Offer-in-Compromise. A well trained Enrolled Agent specializing in tax representation will complete this analysis before even recommending what action to take for your specific situation.
Marcelino Dodge, Enrolled Agent takes the time to do the necessary analysis of your income and expenses to determine what is the best course of action for your unique situation.
525 N Cascade Ave., Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
(719) 359-8789
success@cashtracksfinancial.com
Wednesday, February 8, 2023
Colorado Springs: Owe Hundreds of Thousands to the IRS? What Can You Do?
Where do you start? First find a tax professional such an Enrolled Agent to a complete analysis of your specific situation. With the analysis you will compare what you spend with what the IRS allows. There will be an analysis of assets to check on equity you have in any real estate, including the home you occupy. There is also an examination of the amount time left on the collection statute. A proper analysis is necessary to know exactly what you can and cannot due.
Can some type of loan be used to help make you uncollectable? Will filing the state tax returns first help you with the IRS? These are just two of the questions that can be asked during the representation process.
Marcelino Dodge, EA can complete the analysis and help you get your tax issues resolved.
525 N Cascade Ave., Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
(719) 359-8789
success@cashtracksfinancial.com
Sunday, January 8, 2023
Colorado Springs: Natural Disasters and Tax Scams -- How Ready Are You?
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We want to also remind you that if you want to learn more about the tax planning services, tax resolution services available in Colorado Springs, or if you have trouble with the IRS, behind on filing tax returns, or owe the IRS back taxes, I can certainly help you resolve those issues as well. As well as any other year-round services that's offered by Cash Tracks Financial because that's what makes this podcast possible is Cash Tracks Financial Inc. And the way you can contact me is by email success@cashtracksfinancial.com. Or give me a call which is 844-394-4287 or visiting of course cashtracksfinancial.com online. I'm also on Facebook, Cash Tracks Financial, and also the YouTube page which is also Cash TracksFinancial, because by learning about our various services, we make tax time less taxing as well as work to have you whether individually or at the business level pay as little tax as possible. So, we're gonna go and get into it this time is the topic that is going to be discussed today, which is Natural Disasters and Tax Scams. How ready are you for these? We're going to touch first let's begin with the scams because taxpayers have so much information that can get used abused by those who are seeking out to get your information. There's been so many creative scams over the last few years.
Not long ago, there were those calling up on the telephone,
and saying if you don't pay me right now or send this payment right now the IRS
is going to send the sheriff or police or whoever to your door and arrest you.
Now it was a scam to get you to try to make payments through debit cards or
other means. There's also been many scams for fishing emails, they send you an
email asking for perhaps information threatening from the IRS. See, I've gotten
similar emails myself as a tax professional, except in my case, what I get
sometimes are emails from individuals who claim they want to be clients or they
need help with their taxes. But because we have such stringent security
policies here within Cash Tracks Financial, I don't click on stuff because one
area is especially here, which is really good. And you need to ask your tax
professional this, do they accept tax documents through email? See what happens
with many tax professionals is that these emails will sometimes go out trying
to get into your system, which I've had several of these over the last couple
years.
Ones will send me here's my tax documents, click on this link
to go to my secure Dropbox or other online system to be able to get my
documents and review my documents. Well, I immediately respond back to these
ones and say, Sir, or Madam. These are the policies of Cash Tracks Financial,
and thus, I will not click on your link. If you want to use my services, you
need to follow our procedures which includes responding to the invitation we
send you for our online portal and you upload your documents to the portal and
see by doing so, I make sure I keep people out of my systems and I keep them
the system secure as possible, which is just absolutely vital to do in these
times. And so that's just something as a tax professional that I've had to fix,
really watch out for in regards to scams.
And there's just various things out there another area that I
personally avoid, because I get a lot of different emails as well as any mean
emails for someone offering services of some sort. And all they have is like a
free like Gmail account or a free Hotmail account, but they're offering me some
type of services. And usually, I just click those away as well. Because I don't
know the person. And I don't, I'm not sure if they're legit or not. And it's
hard to track them down where whoever their business is. So anyway, just some
little tips to watch out for scams and scams that I've had to watch out for.
But as we look at these, how these continue to evolve with the IRS, we got to
keep in mind whenever certain methods of communication are used. And these are
methods such as like early mentioned, email, aggressive telephone calling and
one of the newest methods, it's being used as text messaging, ones try to
imitate the IRS. And with this, they're doing what's known as now called a
smishing campaign. And that's targeting you through text messages.
And each of us and we've seen these text messages come
through or these messages come through various social media platforms, saying
that, well, we need to maybe take care of a matter or the IRS is trying to
contact us to do take care of certain overdue tax bills. Well, keep in mind,
the IRS does not communicate with you directly through email. They do not
communicate through telephone aggressive telephone calls. And they do not right
now communicate through text messages. So, any of these methods that you get,
you receive some type of message or communication where they're trying to
imitate the IRS trying to look like the IRS website or IRS graphics or whatever
they look like you got to be very, very careful and just kind of look and hover
and not tap on anything that is going on there.
Now, we consider there's many different levels that
they to do to try to just get you to come in and try to get you to perhaps
provide some of your personal information because one area is you got to keep
in mind is that the IRS already has usually things like your social security
number, they already have your birthday. So, if there's a somebody's asking you
for this information, you can definitely probably guarantee they are not from
the IRS because the IRS is not likely to ask you for your social security
number, they do ask you for it, when you call them and talk to a live person,
they want to confirm your identity. But if their call, if someone's calling you
and it's not an original, not something that you've started previously with the
IRS, then you got to be very, very cautious and just throw up the red flag and
move on definitely.
Now keep in mind there, there's a lot of different levels
that are used such as COVID relief, these some of these have been used in the
past, they still may be trying to do some of this now, there's various tax
credits that they want to make sure claim they want to help you to qualify for
and get the maximum credits. Well, watch out for those. And some of these are
probably going to pick up more as we get a little closer to tax season. But
it's good now to think about this and to be on the watch. That way you don't
get caught up in this. Or perhaps they're looking to try to help you set up an
IRS account through the ID that the IRS is trying to encourage ones to use to
set up their personal accounts with the IRS which it's a little difficult to
use. But ironically, this year after I helped a few clients that needed to set
up to verify their identities because you get these occasional letters from the
IRS saying please verify your identity before we can send off your refund.
It actually went pretty smooth on the individuals that I did.
So just keep in mind that if you're going to try to set up your IRS account,
don't go through one of these people that are trying to solicit you via one of
these methods that I've mentioned. Go to a true tax professional like myself to
help you to do that if you feel like you really need some help. Another area
which to me is a scam is and I've received a lot of these emails. And actually,
I have a lot of these showing up in my spam email now. And these are people who
are pushing the Employee Retention Credit. Now this to me is an absolute biggie
because it can affect a lot of areas and a lot of tax returns. If people after
the fact go in and apply for this credit. I'm going to come back to that more
in just a little bit. But keep in mind, watch out for those who are trying to
get you to you to take out or to apply for the employee attention credit.
So, this area, once again is very, very huge with the IRS,
you need to just keep your eyes open. Watch out for this fishing, they're
looking out for personal information to do some identity theft to try to grab
your information and basically go make some money. So, keep it in mind that the
IRS only communicates generally through letters. And if you ignore those
letters, it's not a good thing to do, which could put you into some tax
trouble, but you want to make sure that you do respond to letters from the IRS
and genuine letters from the IRS. Now, some of these areas that are sending out
in the new area, like se as earlier, a newer method, or maybe just going on in
the last few months is through text messages. And at some point, everybody's
going to receive one, I've received emails, I've received a few of those
threatening phone calls. I haven't received one of the IRS themed text messages
yet.
But like everything else, I'm sure it's going to come at some
point we got to be had our eyes open, be on the watch for such potential scams
and to protect our personal information. Now, what happens with these text
messages now what they're doing is that they're sending this text message out
to you, claiming to be from the IRS with a link in it and just like a link in
an email that you want to avoid clicking on in the text message, you want to
make sure you avoid tapping on that link that is in that text message.
Especially if it's from someone you don't know and especially if it's from
someone that is imitating the IRS. Keep in mind, IRS does not communicate
through text messaging. Now what happens with these links, if you happen to tap
on these links, it takes you to some type of fishing website is one potential
result of that, which asks you to fill out whatever information it's probably
some type of fishing website that has IRS themed material and really made up to
be like a copy of the IRS or tried to make it look like it's really legitimate
like an IRS website. Just don't click on.
If you happen to tap on that on your device, just don't go
any farther, you just don't want to mess with it. Another reason why you don't
even want to tap on that link is that perhaps they're going to add some type of
malicious code to your phone, perhaps try to take over your phone. I mean,
we've seen how individuals have taken over various laptops and desktops. But
this code, this bad code really can be used to take over your phone and perhaps
get in and get your information off of there. So just once again, be very, very
suspicious, be vigilant about any email, any type of message that could be used
to imitate the IRS, you just got to be very, very careful on it. Once again, I
can't help but stress that enough.
Now, the IRS actually does have an email you can use. It's phishing@irs.gov.
I also got that in the description for this particular podcast as well. And
when you do this, you and to send this information you're going to send it from
caller ID, whatever number comes on the caller ID if you're called, send a copy
of the text message or the email and possible, of course, and the phone number
associated with that, or even the email address. And then the date if you can
the time, and all the information that you can to try to really, really help
ones to be able to get this information out. Now earlier, as I mentioned, I
call a lot of these approaches we're getting in regards to the Employee Retention
Credit to me, some of them are very shady and very scam. Because many times
I've to actually talk to one of these just to kind of get information gather a
little bit.
And they make it sound also Gray, the oh, this is like a
grant. They make it also sound like oh, well the IRS is taking time to process
these. So, we have a way for you to get some of them to get the money a little
bit quicker than the IRS is perhaps doing. And so that just sounds fishy to me.
So, we're gonna help you to prepare and file for this credit. Well, my question
is, and I didn't really go much further with them. But there's other areas that
fall in with this credit such as what are the rules in regards to the credit to
employee owners of a corporation or a shareholder of a corporation? That is
also an employee of the corporation? Was there qualification for it, also is
the corporations file his tax return which many of them for 2020 or 2021 have
filed their tax returns and then if they go back and apply for the employee
retention credit for one of those yours, guess what they have to go and do,
they have to go back and amend their tax returns in for the time that they're
taking the Employee Retention Credit. And so that just creates a whole new mess
of worms.
Now, I don't know if these people mentioned anything to
individuals or businesses about that. But that is something that could possibly
happen. If you go back to 20, or 21. Yes, you can still apply for these
credits, this Employee Retention Credit, but is it really going to be is it
really worth it, I don't know, each individual case could be different for some
businesses, it could very well be worth it to go back and apply for this
credit, and to get it but I wouldn't do it through any of these services that are
constantly sending out emails, or maybe given you a phone call, I wouldn't do
it. Once again, I would go in and I would talk and just maybe have your tax
professional who the person in person or service.
Now you use the firm, maybe look at this, and see if you
actually do qualify for this credit, and really look at it with all of the
rules for the credit, because a lot of the people like I work with are
individual owners. And that it's real, it's real difficult in some of those
areas to look at that credit and see as well as the qualifications that are
required for those sales that need to be done. And for loss of sales in 2020
and 2021 in regards to the employee retention credit. So just be very cautious.
Make sure if you're going to go and apply for this is make sure that whoever
you're using to do it is a very good, very thorough and asking questions or
mentioning things about the potential of having to amend tax returns. So just
some excellent reminders for everyone in regards to watching out for scams that
are out there.
In fact, there are some scams that are so bad and so
persistent. And I've done a show on this prior about the IRS Dirty Dozen. And
yes, there's a lot of other things out there that one's tried to use to avoid
paying taxes just because they don't like paying taxes. But, hey, taxes are
just a reality of life. And there's excuses that's trying to be done. And at
some point, maybe we'll cover the most recent time IRS Dirty Dozen for you. But
yet, we want to keep in mind that we just keep up with our taxes, we pay them
and we'll be good with the IRS. Now, as we're looking to toward other areas
here. Are we ready for a disaster, we have hurricane and just recently crossed
through Florida and affecting the Carolinas there. Now, that's very sad for
those individuals that are having to deal with, having to recover. And we all
we all just hope for the best with them now. One of the provisions the IRS has
done in those areas is that they are providing relief. Because we have coming
up just shortly after this, this podcast is released, we have October 17 coming
up, which is which is the deadline for filing taxes if you filed an extension.
Now for those who have not filed, they're gonna get up until February 15 of
2023 to file.
Now, some payments, though are still gonna are still going to
be due. Because when relief is given, it excludes payments that were due on
April 18 of this year. So hopefully, if ones have made whatever payments they
need to make, hopefully they've made them applicable for the 2021 tax year.
Now, though, for those who may have some employer related payments that need to
be made and employer related forms that need to be paid. You have a little bit
you have more time you have up until February 15 to get those payments made,
and to also be able to file the payroll tax returns in this case can be the 941s.
Now we keep in mind that this relief applies to areas that are declared to be
disaster areas by the Federal Emergency Management Agency or FEMA. And there's
an IRS disaster page to look exactly to see if your locality is among those
that fall within this area of relief.
Now also, if you are in one of these areas where this relief
has been granted, you don't have to apply for it anything that relief is just
automatic. So, you just go about getting stuff done, get organized, and just
get yourself filed by February 15. What is the stress for us here? This
stresses for us that the importance of having some type of emergency
preparedness plan. So how are we going to do that? I mean, because we got
various types of disasters you have like in the hurricanes that hit some areas,
you can have earthquakes, other areas, you can have tornadoes, torrential
rains, you can have floods. So how do we prepare, in a sense for, for this
financially for tax wise? Well, some suggestions I'm gonna go through here are
just our items that we all can look at possibly doing. And such a start by
securing and duplicating essential tax and financial documents. How do we
secure those? Well, one way is to perhaps set them up in a, have copies in
waterproof containers in some type of secure space, this could be a safe, this
can be something or an area that that's a new deck can be very strong. You can
also look at having such documentation with a trusted person, someone who you
feel you're comfortable with, keep a copy outside of the local area. Because
disasters like you know like in or if a tornado hits a certain area, if you're
out outside of that area, have someone outside of that area where you are you can
be and keep your documents safe in the event of a disaster.
Now, a good, a good area to look at now, especially these
days is to perhaps consider as you're making copies, if you only what you have
is on paper. Can you look at perhaps scanning of getting him into a digital
format, having some type of once again, secure digital location because one
area he talks about a lot in our business is having offsite Backups? Are we,
are we, am I as a tax professional just backing up my system to another disk
drive here? Or do I use some type of offsite backup system. And it's so easy
nowadays to be able to do this backup with many qualities online services that
provide the necessary security that is needed, and be able to provide you with
access to those should you be able to need. Now most individuals can use
services, perhaps like maybe you can use like a Dropbox or OneDrive or some
type of cloud-based storage application to store these documents in or copy
electronic copies of these documents. That way, after a disaster, you have
access to them to be able to once again get back on track and get going there. So,
it's really good to look at making copies.
Now as you're also as you're considering this, looking at
your disaster preparation, being prepared, just in case, taking this to the
next step, not just your tax documents, your receipts, things I talked about
scanning them in, how about your just regular valuables in your home, you want
to make sure you document out those valuables. And that's important for tax purposes
as well to have a good documentation of your valuables and have this as part of
your cloud storage or other area that you're using to keep track of your tax
documents. This detailed inventory of both personal and business contents will
be very helpful for insurance purposes. But yet, once again, as I mentioned, it
will be very helpful for tax purposes as well. Now, because in some
circumstances, you're going to encounter times where you have insurance, but
for some reason or some oddity, insurance may not cover everything in related
to the disaster, which is why these descriptions because you want to make sure
that with these descriptions that you make, that you get as broad and as big as
you can and getting them covered.
Now, for some reason, maybe insurance doesn't pick up the
total cost well, you may qualify to get some casualty losses on your tax return
depending on the amounts there are and so on. So just keep that in mind, it's
not just thinking for insurance purposes is for tax purposes, why you do these,
photos, videos with descriptions would be very good. Because especially when
we're dealing with insurance, and once again, with taxes, we can forget things,
we can forget how much clothing we actually have, we can forget about pots and
pans and so on in the kitchen, we can forget about certain electronic devices,
we didn't forget about certain things maybe that we don't use every single day
or once or twice a week. But if maybe only once every six months or every
couple months, we may forget some of these things. So, but if we get good
documents and videos of these, we're going to be able to remember about what
needs to be done then. So that we can make sure you get either the proper
amount of insurance claim put in or be able to file it for the correct amount
for our tax return purposes as well. Now, as part of this as well, if you're a
business the same holds true with your records.
Try to keep as much of them in a digital format and stored
not only on site of your business, but also off site of your business using
some type of cloud storage but depending on the type of business you're in, and
business in general, you may want to look like if you're gonna use some type of
cloud storage, you may want to use something that will really secure your documents.
Very good, secure company that can store especially if you're dealing with the
information like we deal with the cashtracksfinancial deal with a lot of person
person's private personal information. And with that information, we got to use
a higher level of security, Central is what we have to do. And because of that,
we pay certain amounts for that level of security, not just locally, but as
well as for our protection for backups, and so on. So that's something as a
business you need to consider looking at perhaps doing and just general
business documents while having a good level of security there for your backup
as well as your life.
Also, if you are an employer, you're encouraged to make sure
and use EFTPS, The Electronic Funds Tax Payment System directly from the IRS.
That is excellent. I've had great success with that in recording, keeping track
of payments I've had, in the 20 years, I've basically been using the system,
I've had it happen only once or twice where I've actually had to send in a copy
of the confirmation notice to the IRS and say, yes, we did make this payment,
as well as what's good about EFTPS is that you can go in, you can take a look
and see what payments you actually made. And for what quarter you actually made
them. If you're talking employer payroll taxes, please see exactly what you did
and keep track of it. Also, perhaps if you use some type of payroll provider,
like I use a service here as part of my payroll.
And what we do is we pre fund all of the payments, we don't
wait to the quarter or we don't wait to the end of the month, we process and we
get those amounts from the employer with each payroll. And with those amounts,
the IRS amounts are paid on a monthly basis, or by weekly basis, whatever,
whatever the employer happens to be with their scheduling with the IRS for
making the payments, so we get all of that done. And so those are areas once
again, keep in mind and use if you're in one of these disaster areas or a
victim of a disaster, make sure you're using these electronic tools from the
IRS to help you to keep track of the payments. Farmers and Ranchers when I have
several in my area here, where due to extreme drought conditions, you can be of
course, able to take deferral on the sale of cattle. Yes areas, these are areas
that are determined by the National Drought Mitigation Center, that where
farmers are able to take certain deferrals on the sale of cattle, because every
year as ranchers go through and update their cattle every so many years, due to
a drought, they may be required or they may have to sell have a forced sale of
livestock because of drought conditions, some of their breeding livestock and
so because of this.
If it's due to
drought, they can defer the gains on those, which is really great benefit. I've
done this before for some clients and it's worked out very well. It's getting
the correct documentation to the IRS; you get those deferred now usually
there's only four years to replace them. And usually not that hard to do. But
in some areas the drought has been persistent and it hasn't been as easy to
replace the cattle. So right now, for example, this year, the IRS has actually
extended that deferral period. For those that sold cattle in 2018, their
replacement period was actually ending on December 31 2022. Well, that has now
been extended for those who have who filed for that until the end of 2023 to
replace those cattle. So, a fine extension that the IRS has given for, for
ranchers to be able to continue to defer that capital gain otherwise they'd
have to pay the tax on that gain from that unexpected sale of the capital,
which for some can be a very large gain, or actually could be double or triple
of what they normally have done in prior years. So that deferral is a real good
benefit.
And I've done that, once again, it's for ranchers can turn
out to be just a wonderful, wonderful benefit for them. One other area I'm
going to touch on here is that PPP, the Payroll Protection Plan loan
forgiveness, want to remind those who took advantage of these loans, which they
were great, they provided good relief at a particular time, but the IRS is
going to be ramping up. And it's going to be important that documentation is
kept for five years on this, especially if you had employees if you're a sole
proprietor, you may not really have anything to worry about when it comes to
audits, but the IRS could come looking for ones or the SBA maybe. So, some
loans, perhaps were forgiven on misrepresentations. And if you are anyone who
anyone who has done this, just be where the that if you misrepresented, you
could be on the IRS radar, you could be on the radar there to have that changed
or have something reclassified because we keep in mind one's got us PPP loans
for them to be properly forgiven.
You had to use the proceeds for eligible expenses and these
included items such as payroll, rent, interest on the mortgage, and utilities,
which a vast majority of employers I'm sure, follow the rules and follow the
walk and basically had to be a small business. To qualify as well as he had to
apply for forgiveness, although in some of the lower loans it was like given
automatic. But if you were up to certain amounts that you had to apply for
forgiveness, as well as you had to sign a disclosure that you use it for
eligible expenses. Now, as I go through and check which there's going to be
some follow through on this if you had a loan, and it was inappropriately
forgiven, because you didn't use it for the qualified expenses, well, you need
to be compliant.
And what does that mean? Well, what that means is that you
the individual or business, who used funds for PPP, loan funds for items other
than what was legal or what was eligible and eligible expense, you will, if the
IRS goes in and catches and reclassifies this, which can happen over the next
few years, as they go through and look at this. You need to amend your return
and include that PPP loan amount in income. And so, and what happens with that,
if it gets reclassified as income, guess what, you got failure to report income
penalties, you got late payment penalties, plus you got interest, and thus, an
amended return. And all the penalties that go right along with it. It's
something very important to keep in mind and to consider. So please keep that
documentation for your PPP loan, and be ready, just in case have all your
documentation ready to support the fact that you did use the funds for proper
use. So yes, as we've gone through today, and we looked at a lot of
misinformation, reminders on watching out for scams, with the higher IRS ones
that are imitating the IRS for some reason, they just never get tired of it,
they get more and more creative.
They're looking for new ways to get on to your information.
And that's why as a tax professional, I take client security extremely seriously,
we have a no click policy here, which basically means if we don't know who's
sending it, we don't click on it. We delete the email. And that is something even
if you don't use cashtracksfinancial to do your taxes. You should be asking
questions to your tax professional, what kind of measures do you take to
protect my information? And it can be both physical measures. And also,
software measures. What are you taking for online measurements because even
here in this office, we take physical means to protect client information, such
as locking file cabinets, locking desk drawers, wherever client information is
located alarm System in the building these kinds of areas are what we think
about and what we use on a regular basis. Because we don't want our clients to
be scammed.
We don't want our client’s information to be out there
floating around for someone to use and exploit. And so that's what a tax
professional can do. But yet you as an individual need to take the lead as
well, your personally and just watch out for these scams watch out for any
phone calls, haven't heard the phone calls so much lately, but they could
return especially if they're talking about things like Student Loan Relief, or
that the President put through or approved. So that's something to think about
as well, be watching out for those. Keep in mind the IRS only communicates
through regular mail to you. And sometimes they get a little aggressive when
sending you a certified letter if you have ignored them. So just don't ignore
the IRS. Watch out for anyone who demands payment, immediate payment from you
via email, text message or telephone. The IRS does not do that. They send you
many notices.
Because I've had once again many people contact me and say
well, I had so and so from the IRS call me and I'm like well, I look at the
record they say no you don't have any issues and they don't have any issues.
There's nothing there. So that's they don't do it. They don't have to worry
about it. So don't click on any of these deals in emails. Don't tap on anything
that shows up in your, in your text messages as well be very, very careful
about that. Also, if you're getting solicitations for the Employee Retention Credit
for your business, I recommend you really check out any company who claims to
be offering help with this. In fact, I would even go to the point of talking to
your tax professional, whoever does a tax return regularly or works with your payroll
taxes. Talk to them, get your tax professional involved, find out if you even
qualify depending on your situation so that you can make sure you're ready.
Make sure disaster wise, that you have proper backup set up,
you can use both physical backups, and you can use electronic backups, use some
type of online service to help store some of the documents if you have a
relative or someone that you trust, to keep copies of your documents and
somewhere outside of the local area. Do that as well. That's another valuable
way to do and keep in mind how important it is to have documentation of your
valuables and what you have in the home.
Things that are valuable to you and will need to be replaced
or even stuff that cannot be replaced. Just keep a good list of those items,
it's very, very valid to have so for both insurance purposes, and for tax
purposes, if you're an employer, make sure you keep in mind to use like EFTPS
to help track any payments you have made. And then of course, make sure if you
had a PPP loan, you keep your documentation for five years. And if you have any
misrepresentations on there, be aware, you could cap to come back and report
income on your tax return and pay penalties for not properly having a PPP loan
forgiven. And so, all of these are just excellent reminders that we provide on
a regular basis for all because planning for the lowest income taxes, paid
clients security, all of these are just a big part of the pie that cashtracksfinancial
offers for you. Because as a tax professional, I really strive to make tax time
less taxing. And by working with us, we can help you to minimize tax liability,
help you to plan throughout the year, help you to establish goals, have regular
meetings, which I have regular meetings with some clients, either monthly or
quarterly, depending on the client needs.
Through that we look at the goal. What kind of goals have
established for this year? Where are we wanting to go? Are we getting there?
Are we on target? How's our withholding doing? Or if you're starting a new
business, this is also vital. If you're even thinking about starting a
business, you need to talk to a tax professional. I don't know how many times
I've spoken to individuals who come in after the fact and say, well, I just
didn't know what I was doing as well. Who did you talk to? Well, so and so over
here well, whether you're a client of Cash Tracks Financial or not, and you're looking to
start a new business, you need to highly recommendation here you need to talk
to a tax person, if it's the person currently doing your taxes, and you don't
feel confident in what they're talking about. You can definitely give us a call;
we can set up a meeting. And we can do it virtually that's the great part about
being an enrolled agent, I can serve you no matter where you live in the United
States.
We do video interviews, we do calls, we have a secure portal.
So, you can easily upload documents, secure communication systems within that
portal as well. Electronic signatures which a system working very nicely within
that and even secure electronic signatures with the knowledge-based
authorization so when there's a tax form or something that needs to be signed,
you have to answer some specific questions to be able to even see the form so
just keep these points in mind. This is Marcelino Dodge Enrolled Agent here to
help you to make tax time less taxing. When you work through Cash Tracks Financial, we want to certainly again express our appreciation for
your listening to this vital information today about both scams and preparing
for natural disasters, you can always look on the FEMA website for more
information on how to properly prepare for a disaster.
So, to schedule an appointment here to talk about any of our tax planning, tax resolution or any of the year-round services offered by Cash Tracks Financial, you can email me it's success@cashtracksfinancial.com. Give me a call. It's 844-394-4287. Learn all about me and my wonderful new tax and accounting assistant Jordyn Olsen at cashtracksfinancial.com and schedule an in person or virtual appointment today. Whatever way you'd like to go. We're very flexible and we're ready here to serve you. So once again, I thank you so much today for listening to The Tax Answers Advisor with Marcelino Dodge, Enrolled Agent.
525 N Cascade Ave., Ste 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
O: (719) 359-8789
Wednesday, July 20, 2022
Colorado Springs: How Can I Get My IRS Penalties Reduced or Eliminated?
Is it really that easy to get your IRS Penalties reduced or eliminated as some advertisements claim? In a previous blog I discussed the reasons why the Internal Revenue Service charges penalties to taxpayers.
Some penalties such Failure to File, Failure to Pay, and Failure to Deposit can be abated under some circumstances. However to qualify for abatement, taxpayers must meet some specific criteria including not being penalized in the prior 3 years. Marcelino Dodge, Enrolled Agent is well versed in this process and can help you to get these penalties abated if you qualify.
If a taxpayer does not qualify for the penalty abatement discussed above, then you may need to use the IRS appeals process. In this all the penalties can be appealed and used in the negotiation progress with the possibility of abatement during this negotiation time, which may include the filing of an offer-in-compromise. I recommend that taxpayers do not try to navigate these waters on their own. The recommendation is to find an Enrolled Agent or CPA that works in tax resolution to guide you through this process.
Marcelino Dodge, EA
525 N Cascade Ave
Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
(719) 359-8789
(Call for an appointment)
Colorado Springs: Why Does the IRS Charge Penalties?
There are many advertisements from national companies claiming that they can eliminate penalties from the Internal Revenue Service. If it was only that easy to get an IRS penalty abated. Before we can discuss how IRS penalties can be abated, we need to cover why the IRS charges penalties.
- IRS penalties are to encourage voluntary compliance -- Our tax system is voluntary, but not everybody files or pays their tax on time. Penalties for non-filing and non-payments are designed to encourage taxpayers to handle their personal and business tax matter in a timely manner.
- Conserves IRS resources -- When people comply with their tax obligations, because they want to avoid paying penalties, that frees up IRS resources to pursue those who are seriously and perhaps criminally avoiding the paying of their taxes.
- Provides clear guidance to taxpayers -- When taxpayers fail to file their tax return or fail to pay their taxes the guidance is clear on the percentage of penalty they will pay for not meeting their tax obligations.
- Ensure consistent and fair treatment of the issues -- When a taxpayer fails to file their tax return on time, a 5% penalty of the unpaid taxes can accumulate up to 25% of the unpaid taxes.
- Ensure noncompliant behavior is penalized -- For taxpayers who just do not want to cooperate with the IRS, the penalties are designed to motivate such behavior into compliance.
Now that we know why the IRS charges penalties, we will discuss in the blog about penalty abatement and why a tax professional such as an Enrolled Agent is important in helping you to deal with the IRS.
525 N Cascade Ave
Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
(719) 359-8789
(Call for an appointment)
Sunday, July 3, 2022
Colorado Springs: Can I Sell My Property If the IRS Has Filed a Lien?
Received a notice from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) threatening to file a lien? Or, has the IRS already filed the lien and you are concerned how that affects your ability to sell some of your assets?
If you are in the position of the IRS sending you notices about liens, have you been not responding to prior collection efforts on taxes owned to the IRS? Do you perhaps have unfiled tax returns?
The Internal Revenue Code Section 6321 authorizes the filing of a lien on a taxpayer to protect the government's interest against 3rd parties, if the IRS is owed more than $10,000. The government then steps into the shoes of the taxpayer with the limit to what is owed to the government. Even with the filed lien, you can still sell your home, but your lender and the IRS will be paid before you receive any proceeds. You can also still make offers to collections, set up a payment plan, and submit an offer-in-compromise.
To carefully maneuver through this tax resolution process we suggest contacting an Enrolled Agent such as Marcelino Dodge, EA with Cash Tracks Financial Inc.
Marcelino Dodge, EA
525 N Cascade Ave
Suite 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
(719) 359-8789
(Call for an in person or video conference appointment)
Saturday, July 2, 2022
Colorado Springs: How to Deal With IRS Collections Notices
Are you one of the 15 million taxpayers to receive an IRS notice of collections? Do you have unfiled tax returns? Has the IRS filed a substitute return for you? Did you know that IRC section 6020 allows the governments to prepare a valid return based on 3rd party information? If you answered "yes" to any or all of the above questions, getting compliant with the IRS will be the start of solving your tax issues. How do you get compliant with the IRS?
Step1: Find the right tax professional -- This not just the person who prepared your tax return. We recommend either an Enrolled Agent or a CPA who specialize in tax resolution to guide you through process.
Step 2: Have the tax professional file that last 6 years of tax returns.
Marcelino Dodge, Enrolled Agent of Cash Tracks Financial of Colorado Springs will guide you through the process, get you compliant, and help to resolve your tax debt.
Marcelino Dodge, EA
Colorado Springs: (719) 359-8789
(Call to schedule an in person or video conference appointment)
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Colorado Springs: Expert Tax Preparation and Planning Tips from Marcelino at Cash Tracks Financial
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