IRS Introduces Sales Tax Calculator

Earlier today the Internal Revenue Service announced a new online tool to help individual taxpayers. The tool is an online calculator designed to help people who itemize to determine if they will benefit more from deducting their local sales tax or their state income tax. For those not wanting to use the calculator, the IRS also has an online worksheet you can use to calculate the amount. You check out the calculator by clicking here.

IRS Extends Deadline for Filing

Recently the IRS announced that the deadline for filing 2006 tax returns, or paying any taxes that are due, would be pushed to April 17th. The extension was made because the 15th falls on a Sunday, and the 16th is a holiday in the District of Columbia. Originally the extended deadline only applied to the District of Columbia and six other states that are served by the Massachusetts processing facility. However, this year the April 17th deadline will apply to everyone. For more information check out AccountingWeb.

Grand Opening Press Release

"Roni Deutch is celebrating the grand opening of the first Roni Deutch Tax Center with a community celebration aimed towards raising money for the Hannah Rose Foundation. The company is promising a celebration to be remembered with thousands of dollars in prizes, free food and beverages. "
View the press release from the following links:

Yahoo: Tax Attorney Roni Deutch Celebrates the Grand Opening of the First Roni Deutch Tax Center

PRweb: Tax Attorney Roni Deutch Celebrates the Grand Opening of the First Roni Deutch Tax Center

Photos From Annual Awards Luncheon

Five new pictures from the annual Roni Lynn Deutch, A Professional Tax Corporation awards luncheon have been added to the Roni Deutch Flickr Page.

Annual Awards Luncheon Press Release

"Roni Lynn Deutch, A Professional Tax Corporation celebrated the end of 2006 with an awards luncheon on Sacramento's Delta King. The event featured a keynote address from Roni Deutch where she spoke on the power of positive thinking and how it helped her build her tax law firm. Later she awarded one employee with the company's first ten years of service award, and also selected twelve exceptional employees as the firm's All-Star team."
View the press release from the following links:

PRweb:Roni Deutch Celebrates Sixteen Years in Tax Law as She Thanked Employees, and Spoke on the Goals and Vision of the Company

Yahoo: Roni Deutch Celebrates Sixteen Years in Tax Law as She Thanked Employees, and Spoke on the Goals and Vision of the Company

Nine Craziest Tax Write-Offs

Bankrate.com has added a new article to their website with the nine craziest tax write-offs that you’ve ever heard of. Included in the top crazy deductions is a landlord who claimed he was renting a limousine to drive his tenants around, a woman who tried to take a day care tax credit for her dog sitter, and a man who tried to deduct expensive meals and theater tickets. To read details on all nine crazy tax write-offs click here.

Health Care Changes Could Raise Taxes

The White House recently announced their plan for improving the country’s health insurance coverage which included a proposal to make health insurance costs tax deductible. The plan will allow a $15,000.00 tax deduction for families, and $7,500.00 tax deduction for individuals. However, for those individuals who receive employer provided health insurance that costs more than $15,000.00 would face a tax hike, as their health insurance premiums would be counted as taxable income. Early estimates suggest that the plan will increase taxes for as many as 30 million taxpayers. For more information check out Reuters.com.

Senate Tax Writing Committee Approves Tax Breaks

The bill that proposed an increase to the minimum wage and that was approved by the U.S. House of representatives was met with some changes in the U.S. Senate Tax Writing Committee. Democratic leaders in the Senate opted to add over eight billion dollars in tax relief aimed at helping small businesses that typically hire minimum wage workers. It is expected that the bill will now be approved in the Senate, avoiding a fight with business lobbyists and possible filibusters. Visit Mail Tribune for more details on the new minimum wage bill.

New IRS Information Reporting Committee

Earlier today the IRS appointed eight new members to its Information Reporting Program Advisory Committee. The group was established in 1991 and serves the purpose of reporting information from the IRS to the public. For more information on the committee or to learn who the new members are visit the IRS’s website.

US House Passes Minimum Wage Increase

The United States House of Representatives ignored the advice of President Bush and passed a minimum wage increase without any associated tax breaks. The House passed the bill with a three quarters majority vote, as it now moves to the Senate for approval. The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 (if passed to law) will raise the federal minimum wage to $7.25 per hour. To learn more on the new minimum wage changes visit Tax-News.com.

2007 Nissan Altima Qualifies for Hybrid Credit

Last week the IRS announced that the new 2007 Nissan Altima Hybrid meets the requirements of the Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit as a qualified hybrid motor vehicle. The full credit amount for the vehicle will be $2,350 but will only be available to a limited number of taxpayers. For more information visit the IRS’s website.

Getting Your Phone Tax Refund

On August 1, 2006, congress eliminated an excise tax on long-distrance telephone calls. Additionally, the IRS erronesoulsy collected the tax from thousands of phone users. The IRS has promised to refund the money erroneously collected. Depending on your situation, there are a number of different ways to get the refund. You can claim it as a credit on your 2006 tax return, use the IRS' 1040EZ-T form or use the IRS' estimated amounts. Businesses, however, do not get to claim a simple dollar amount and must calculate their return amount. For more information on getting your phone tax refund visit Kiplinger.com.

IRS Reaches Agreement on Gift Bags

Guests who attended the Golden Globe Awards last year received lavish gift bags that included jewelry, electronics and even trips. To ensure that that recipients pay taxes on such gifts and promotional items the IRS reached an agreement with the Hollywood Foreign Press. The agreement now requires that gift bag recipients be issued appropriate tax forms from the Hollywood Foreign Press so that the recipients can include such gifts in their income taxes. For more information visit the IRS’s website.

IRS Sets Processing Date

Beginning on February 3rd, the IRS will begin processing tax returns that claim deductions for state and local sales taxes, higher education tuition fees, and educator expenses referred to as the "extender" provisions. The IRS had previously announced that there would be a delay in processing returns with such deductions. Most taxpayers do not claim any of these extender provisions and should not be affected. People are welcome to submit their returns at any time, however they will not be processed until February 3rd. Any tax return that does not claim these deductions will be processed as normal. For more details, visit IRS.gov.

Changes To Frivolous Tax Policy

Thinking of filing a frivolous tax return? Think again! The recently passed Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 made several changes to the "frivolous tax submissions penalty" (Section 6702). Previously, the penalty for filing a frivolous tax return was only $500 and was not much of a deterrent. The new penalty has been increased from $500 to $5,000. This is a dramatic increase and should serve as a greater deterrent from filing a frivolous tax return. Also, the revised legislation gives the IRS the authority to determine what qualifies as a frivolous return. For more information on the new regulations click here.

Installment Agreement Fee Increase

The IRS is raising it fees to establish an Installment Agreement because of increased labor and processing costs. Beginning January 1st 2007 the fee for entering into a non-direct debt installment agreement will be raised from $43 to $105, and the fee for direct debt installment agreements will be raised from $43 to $52. For more information on the new fees visit the IRS’s official website.

Happy New Year - 2007 Tax Breaks

With a new year comes new tax breaks. On January 1st several new tax breaks went into effect. Some of the most noteworthy include higher limits on 401(k) plans and a decline in estate tax rates. For a detailed list on all of the changes in 2007 visit Post-Gazette.com. From every one at the office of Roni Lynn Deutch, A Professional Tax Corporation and the Roni Deutch Tax Center we wish you a happy and healthy New Year!

Commercials on YouTube & Google

We recently added a few of our commercials for Roni Deutch, A Professional Tax Corporation and the Roni Deutch Tax Center to Google Video and YouTube. You can view these commercials by visiting the following links.

Roni Deutch, A Professional Tax Corporation
Commercial 1 (YouTube Google), Commercial 2 (YouTube Google)

Roni Deutch Tax Center
Commercial 1 (YouTube Google), Commercial 2 (YouTube Google)

2007 IRS Mileage Rates

Good news for those who track their mileage expenses. The IRS recently announced that they are raising the tax mileage rate from 44.5 cents per mile to 48.5 cents starting January 1, 2007. This is up 4 cents from the 2006 mileage rate. For more information on calculating your mileage rate deduction visit 2007s.org.

Certain Deductions May Delay the Processing of Your Return

The IRS announced that due to recent changes in the law they announced that a certain percentage of returns would be delayed in their processing. In particular, returns with a state and local sales tax deduction, higher education tuition and fees deduction, and educator expenses deduction. If you will be claiming any of these deductions and would like to have your return processed faster you should e-file your return. Returns that are e-filed tend to have fewer errors and are processed faster which means that if you are entitled to a refund you will get that faster too! You can read all of the IRS’s advice at www.IRS.gov.