Thompson & McCarty, P.C. CPA

For the 2008 tax year homeowner's will be getting a tax break for property taxes even if they are unable to itemize.  The deduction will be added to the standard deduction and is the lessor of actual property tax or $500 per taxpayer ($1000 for Married filing joint).  I think it is interesting that Congress feels that it is important enough to address this issue then limit the deduction to $500 per taxpayer.  That comes straight from the political handbook of tell them your helping them then take it back.

I recently had a client that had an issue with the IRS. This is their story and how it all turned out. The very start of the story began with us making a mistake on their 2006 tax return. We left a zero off of a deduction that cost the taxpayer a substantial deduction. The return had been transmitted before the taxpayer discovered the error. The balance due on the original return had not been paid. In our defense, the deduction was verbally stated and undocumented to us so it was impossible to discover the error with our review process. There is a lesson in that, but I digress.

There are two hot tax topics that are new for the 2006 filing season (that is right now). One biggie is the telephone excise tax refund which can only be claimed on your 2006 return. This is actually a refund of excise taxes that were charged on our phone bills on long distance telephone calls after February 28th, 2003. The IRS lost the right to charge this tax in Court then lost 5 different Federal Appeals before they gave up and quit charging us the tax on long distance phone services. The refund applies to individuals, businesses, and tax exempt organizations. The refund applies to any phone, including cell phones, and bundled services. There are different rules for each group so how you apply for it will vary.

We are in a global economy and it has come to my attention that many tax preparation firms outsource their tax preparation function these days. They are outsourcing much of the work to India. (exhibit one) Moreover, legal research is being outsourced as well. Check out this article. Honest CPAs, tax preparers, and lawyers are openly disclosing this fact and I have no problem with that. However, evidence suggest that many firms and preparers are outsourcing their work but not disclosing this fact. WE DO NOT OUTSOURCE our tax preparation nor our tax research. I feel that these functions are too improtant to my clients to rely on a third party. We have also just redesigned our internal training for tax preparers and formalized the training program to a level it is actually now a tax school. If you have any concerns about outsourcing please do not hestitate to contact us.

We could tell you all day how great we are and it would just be us talking. What you are about to read is what our customers say about us. Our customers are happy. You will be too!

"Barry,
The service that you offer is absolutely a life saver. Sandra and I were at our wits end concerned about how deep we had gotten ourselves and honestly, I was overwhelmed. You came to our home and intently helped me get things under control.
 
You completed and filed our 2006 taxes and we feel that you were very aggressive, open and completely legal with your findings.
 
I can't find anything negative to say against you. Not only are you our tax accountant, but you and your family are our friends. You have given me professional advice and advice as a friend. I don't think many accountants can attain that degree of wanting to help a client.
 
I'm still inputting receipts and transactions into Quickbooks and as soon as I'm finished, I'll send it to you. I'm sure I have made some misjudgments as to the proper class etc.
 
We plan to continue to use you for both our businesses and as our personal accountant. We're delighted."

L. Hussey

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Tax Preparation

Tax Prep: tax preparation including Individual, Corporate, Partnership, 5500, Trust, Estates. Sales tax, payroll tax, as well as many other industry specific statutory filings. Home based businesses and small corporations are our specialties.

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The IRS (Audit) Pass [tm] intervention takes you out of the pressure cooker and gives you necessary response time. You need to answer questions with some forethought and council instead of blurting out answers that give the Service new ammunition against you. If the IRS is convinced that you owe them more money, an appropriate answer is to tell them you dispute their claim. Often, this is a simple process that can save you money and harassment. Additionally, you should be careful not to inform the IRS, inadvertently, how to begin collecting the money you don't agree you owe. This is why professional representation is essential!