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Plan for Tax Season

Plan for Tax Season

Many individuals may think the time to plan for tax season occurs during the tax season, which occurs after their tax year has ended.

Unfortunately, this is often too late to make any adjustments, which may have benefited the taxpayer.  

Similarly, businesses can also fall into this line of thinking and fail to plan for tax season during their tax year.

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Can You Deduct Your PJs and Coffee? Getting Creative with Home Office Deductions

Can You Deduct Your PJs and Coffee? Getting Creative with Home Office Deductions

home office deduction
Are you a business owner or contractor?  If your regularly work from home, you may be able to take advantage of a deduction for the business use of your personal residence. The home office deduction, however, has some specific requirements you should be aware of before claiming it on your tax return. read more…
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

One Effect of the Recent Tax Reform on Not-for-Profit Organizations

By Howard J. Kass, CPA, CGMA, AEP®

As often as employers are maligned, there are times where they try to do the right thing for their employees.  To be fair, many times, an employer may take an action or incur an expense that benefits its employees, knowing that the employer will benefit by a tax deduction for incurring an expense.  In some cases, Congress encourages such behavior by explicitly permitting favorable tax treatment for certain programs.

iStock-700777258_penalty Notice-zinner blog-1One such case was a set of fringe benefits known as the “qualified transportation fringe” benefits that, in fact, received a double-barreled tax benefit for years, by virtue of Internal Revenue Code Section (IRC) 132(f)(5)(C).  Under that section, employers were allowed to take a deduction for, among other things, qualified parking fringe benefits that they provided to their employees. What, exactly, was a qualified parking fringe benefit?  Under IRC 132(f)(5)(C), “qualified parking” meant parking provided to an employee on or near the business premises of the employer, or on or near a location from which the employee commutes to work by transportation described in Code Sec. 132(f)(5)(A) (relating to “transit passes”), in a commuter highway vehicle, or by carpool

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Scam Alert: Fraudsters Posing as Taxpayer Advocacy Panel

Scam Alert: Fraudsters Posing as Taxpayer Advocacy Panel

Some taxpayers receive emails that appear to be from the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP) about a tax refund. These emails are a phishing scam, trying to trick victims into providing personal and financial information.

Scam Alert written on the road.jpeg

 Do not respond or click any link. If you receive this scam, forward it to phishing@irs.gov and note that it seems to be a scam phishing for your information.

TAP is a volunteer board that advises the IRS on systemic issues affecting taxpayers. It never requests, and does not have access to, any taxpayer’s personal and financial information.
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Since 1938, Zinner has counseled individuals and businesses from start-up to succession. At Zinner, we strive to ensure we understand your business and recognize threats that could impact your financial situation.
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