Dear Clients and Friends, The Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service announced that the 2019 income tax filing and payment deadlines for all taxpayers who file and pay their Federal income taxes on April 15, 2020, are automatically extended until July 15, 2020. This relief applies to all individual returns, trusts, and corporations. Taxpayers do […]
2013 Business Standard Mileage Rate Increases - November 30, 2012
by Michael W. Blitstein, CPA The IRS has announced increases in both the optional business standard mileage reimbursement rate and the standard mileage rate for medical and moving expenses for 2013. All increased by one cent, to 56.5 cents and 24 cents per mile, respectively. Also showing a slight increase in 2013 is the maximum […]
IRS Increases Standard Mileage Rate for 2013 - January 7, 2013
by Michael W. Blitstein, CPA Optional standard mileage rates for use of a vehicle will go up by 1 cent per mile for 2013. Taxpayers can use the optional standard mileage rates to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile. For business use of a car, van, pickup truck, or panel truck, the 2013 […]
IRS Increases Audit Examinations - March 27, 2013
by Michael W. Blitstein, CPA The Internal Revenue Service has stepped up its examinations in the past year of taxpayers with high adjusted gross income. The IRS released its 2012 IRS Data Book on March 25th, providing a snapshot of agency activities for the fiscal year. The report describes activities conducted by the IRS between […]
Tax Audit Red Flags - April 1, 2013
by Michael W. Blitstein, CPA The IRS audits only slightly more than 1% of all individual tax returns annually. So why do they pick some returns to investigate and ignore others?  Although there’s no sure way to avoid an IRS audit, you should be aware of the following red flags that could increase your chances of […]
Will You Be Paying More Tax on Similar or Less Income? - December 5, 2013
by Michael W. Blitstein, CPA Most taxpayers would agree that paying more tax on similar or less income does not sound appealing. The health care reform package (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010) imposes a new 3.8 percent Medicare contribution tax on the net […]
House will not consider tax extender legislation in 2013 - December 11, 2013
by Michael W. Blitstein, CPA Legislation to extend the group of expiring provisions commonly known as “tax extenders” will not be considered by Congress in 2013. House lawmakers will begin their winter district work period on December 13th, but tax extender legislation is not on the legislative floor schedule and no markup is planned in […]
Forensics is About Teamwork… - February 17, 2014
by Larry Goldsmith, JD, CPA, MAFF, and Julieann Chaet, CPA, MAFF So much is always happening in each of our own lives. We have our kids, our parents, our friends, our jobs. We have the maintenance of our homes, our cars, and even ourselves, if we allow that. The Forensics Team at CJBS can be broken […]
Tax Reform Proposals Released From White House, Congress; Next Steps Uncertain - March 7, 2014
by Michael W. Blitstein, CPA Shortly before President Obama unveiled his proposed fiscal year 2015 Federal budget on March 4th, House Ways and Means Chair Dave Camp (R-Mich.), introduced a sweeping tax reform bill. While President Obama did not call for such a mammoth overhaul of the Tax Code as Camp did, the President did […]
My Perspective of Accountants and CPAs - May 7, 2014
by Larry Goldsmith, JD, CPA, MAFF, and Julieann Chaet, CPA, MAFF I’ve always looked at accountants, CPAs or not, as instruments or tools to be used by the IRS or the banks, or buyers and sellers of businesses. What I mean by that is, accountants working in public accounting firms complete the tasks for the Internal […]