The people you’re most likely to deal with are ordinary people, probably a lot like people you talk to every day. I have a friend who works for the IRS who is totally in love with her grandson and is one of the best cooks who’s ever invited me to share the fruits of their...Read More

Keeping Your Money and Peace of Mind Step 2 – Your Rights The Tax Code includes a Taxpayer Bill of Rights The right to be informed You have the right to be informed about the amount of tax you owe and any interest and penalties you owe. The IRS must also explain why you owe...Read More

The IRS has limited resources. IRS management doesn’t want to spend $10,000 of their employees’ time to get $2,000 of additional tax.  Their performance is monitored by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and the IRS Oversight Board, and their budget must be approved by Congress. Since the IRS has to show positive results...Read More

“HELP! I just received a notice that I’m being audited by the IRS!” Getting an IRS audit notice is usually not just annoying. For most people, it’s scary enough to make the top of their worry list. There are things you can do to minimize the impact of an IRS audit so that it’s just...Read More

The two main reasons for hiring a tax lawyer are confidentiality and expertise. If IRS’s position is easy to understand and you agree with IRS (for example, when you filed your tax return you forgot to include $30 of interest  paid to you by your bank) there’s probably no reason to hire a professional. In...Read More

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, COMPILATIONS, REVIEWS, AND AUDITS Your basic financial statements, the Profit and Loss Statement, Balance Sheet, and Statement of Cash Flow are for your, the business owner’s or manager’s use. The other three kinds of statements are for third parties, such as lenders , bonding companies, and customers. Lenders are concerned with the business’s...Read More

What advantages does the merchant derive from book-keeping by double entry? It is amongst the finest inventions of the human mind. – Jahann Wolfgang von Goethe If you can carry around all your worldly assets in your pocket, and you spend all the money you receive every day on basic living expenses, then you don’t...Read More

A Business Owner’s Trash Can Be Treasure to a Community From Trashy Liability To Paradise, With Tax Benefits to Boot: Making Charitable Contribution in Lieu of Abandoning Unwanted Real Estate Note: the examples provided in this article for the use of land by not-for-profit organizations are included for the purpose of showing how real estate...Read More

The major effect of computer technology on U.S. tax administration from the taxpayer’s point of view has been a staggering increase in complexity. Aside from the single individual with no source of income other than wages, taxpayers have been forced to either retain the services of a paid tax return preparer, or to use tax...Read More

The following invented scene is based on many disheartening real-life encounters with clients: MR. CLIENT: I’ve been going to a business consultant, and I’m just not sure about the advice he’s been giving me. I just felt sort of uncomfortable with some of it and thought it would be good to get a second opinion....Read More