Should the IRS File Your Taxes for You?
Imagine a world where you didn’t have to file your own taxes. Of course, you can use an experienced and professional tax and accounting firm like GROCO to do your taxes for you, but what if you didn’t even have to send your tax return information to an accountant? Could that ever really happen? In reality, probably not, but that isn’t stopping one U.S. senator from at least proposing the idea.
Democratic senator, Elizabeth Warren, from Massachusetts, has introduced the tax Filing Simplification Act of 2016. The senator hopes to “simplify and decrease the cost of the tax filing process for millions of American taxpayers.” Her proposal would actually force the IRS to come up with a preparation and filing service that all taxpayers could use for free to directly file their taxes with the government.
The service would require the IRS to fill in all the necessary information, which would come from W-2s and 1099s, which the agency already receives. Each taxpayer would then be responsible to make sure the information was correct. Some taxpayers that have very basic tax situations might not even have to file a return at all.
So what is the likelihood of this ever passing? Chances are the bill will not go anywhere, as Congress has always been reluctant to making these kinds of changes in the past. So while this might not ever become a reality, your tax accounting and tax preparation can still be stress-free. Just contact GROCO for help by clicking here or by calling 1-877-CPA-2006.
CA Credit for New Home Purchase – Fund Running Out
CA Credit for New Home Purchase – Fund Running Out By Ron Cohen, CPA, MST Partner Greenstein, Rogoff, Olsen & Co., LLP California allows a nonrefundable credit against net tax equal to the lesser of 5% (.05) of the purchase price of the qualified principal residence or ten thousand dollars ($10,000). But only a limited amount…
More Work for Accountants! President Obama’s Corporate Tax Proposal
More Work for Accountants! President Obama’s Corporate Tax Proposal By Ron Cohen, CPA, MST Partner Greenstein, Rogoff, Olsen & Co., LLP In the White House summary of corporate tax proposals: http://media.npr.org/documents/2009/may/whitehouse_taxhavens.pdf At “Backgrounder” Article I. Sec. 1, it states: “Current Law Companies Can Defer Paying Taxes on Overseas Profits Until Later, While Taking Tax Deductions…
Deducting “Other” Business Expenses
Deducting “Other” Business Expenses The mysterious “other.” Some tax deductions are not mentioned by name on a tax form but can still be quite valuable to a taxpayer. If you own a trade or business, you can deduct a number of expenses under the broad category of “other.” In general, taxpayers may deduct ordinary and…
Commonly Overlooked Tax Deductions
Commonly Overlooked Tax Deductions As the tax filing deadline approaches, taxpayers are always looking for legitimate tax deductions they may have overlooked. For example, did you know you can deduct the money your business spent to purchase office supplies during the year? As long as these expenses were for items that are ordinary and necessary…