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Showing posts from August, 2005

Big Accounting Firm Pays for Fraudulent Tax Shelter Advice

KPMG, the accounting firm under investigation for selling questionable tax shelters, will pay $456 million and accept an outside monitor of its operations under terms of an agreement with prosecutors that heads off an indictment of the firm, people briefed on the deal said yesterday. The agreement means that KPMG has dodged a potentially fatal indictment and avoided the fate of Arthur Andersen, the accounting firm that collapsed after prosecutors charged it with obstruction of justice in their investigation of Enron, an Andersen client. See the full NY Times Article (free account registration required)

Facsimile Signatures Allowed for Some Employment Tax Returns

Facsimile Signatures Allowed for Some Employment Tax Returns The IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2005-39 to clarify new rules for allowing corporate officers or duly authorized representatives to sign employment tax forms by facsimile or other allowable automated means. The new procedure will reduce the burden in filing employment tax returns because it will make filing employment taxes simpler and reduce the number of returns the IRS rejects due to signature issues. Rev. Proc. 2005-39 applies to the following forms: Any form in the 940 series, including Form 940, Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment Tax Return (FUTA); Form 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return; Form 943, Employers Annual Federal Tax Return for Agricultural Employees; and Form 945, Annual Return of Withholding Federal Income Tax; Form 1042, Annual Withholding Tax Return for U.S. Source Income of Foreign Persons; Form 8027, Employer’s Annual Information Return of Tip Income and Allocated Tips; Form CT-1, Employer’

Do you have to live/work in the same state that you incorporate?

=========== Question: =========== Category: Business Law Location: NJ Subject: Forming a Corporation Question: Do you have to live/work in the same state that you incorporate? So, If I were to buy/rent a mailbox from a UPS store (the mail box would have a street address) would I be able to incorporate in a different state from where I live simply by using that address as the corporate address? This question comes from the fact that I want to start an e-commerce website so there wouldn't really be a brick and mortar store. I currently live and work full time in NJ but if I file to incorporate a business in say Delaware or any other state that has more favorable tax structure, would I then have to file a Non-Resident state income tax in Delaware? =========== Reply: =========== Category: Business Law Location: NJ Subject: Re: Forming a Corporation No. As long as you have a local registered agent and registered office, you do not need to live or work in a state to set up a coporation

IRS Must Pay Taxpayers for Diclosure of Private Info

An IRS investigation may be a business owner's worst nightmare. But here's a case in which the target turned the tables on the tax man. On Tuesday, a federal judge ordered the government to pay more than $250,000 to three taxpayers after finding that an IRS agent had disclosed confidential information to witnesses in a criminal tax investigation. Senior U.S. District Judge Scott O. Wright assessed statutory and punitive damages after finding that special agent Robert Jackson of the IRS' Criminal Investigative Division in Kansas City "knowingly, willfully and intentionally" made 78 illegal disclosures of taxpayer information. Click here for full article.

IRS Gets More $ for Audits and Collections!

The IRS is getting everything they asked for in their upcoming budget year. While it has not been signed sealed and delivered even the IRS Commissioner believes the IRS will get their full budget requested for the forthcoming year. So part of this means is they are getting an extra $500 million for compliance work. In other words the IRS will be perfoming more audits and significantly increasing collection activity in the coming year.