You decided to not only play Powerball, but also are sure you will win Powerball. With the purse hovering and climbing at 800M, it is easy to understand why lottery fever has captured the attention and — dollar bills, of countless people across the country. 

Whether you are among the lucky folk whose net worth increases January, 9, 2016 at 11pm, or as the odds predict, simply a few dollars lighter when you wake up on Sunday, there are some aspects you must consider from gambling winnings and losses. Mainly, understanding the tax rules for reporting your gambling activity on your tax return.

Gambling is a 240 billion dollar generator to the U.S. economy and some of us at one time or another have likely been part of the mix.  If you’re fortunate enough to win a qualified prize from the Powerball lottery, a contest, jackpot, or a similar game that gives you the option of receiving multiyear payments, you may not have to pay tax on the future years’ payments until they’re received.  This is an exception to the general rule that could otherwise require the entire prize to be taxed in the year of the win.

The holiday season often prompts people to give money or property to charity. If you plan to give and want to claim a tax deduction, there are a few tips you should know before you give. For instance, you must itemize your deductions. Here are six more tips that you should keep in mind:

Robin L. Baum, CPA, Managing Partner, announced the promotions and appointments of seven of its staff:

I recently had a discussion with a new client about their Executive Director’s worker status.  I was surprised to learn that the organization wanted to classify him as an independent contractor instead of an employee.  Because a position such as the Executive Director would fall into the IRS categories for employees instead of independent contractor,

I explained to them that there would be potential fines and penalties assessed for this classification.  They could not believe they would be charged payroll taxes on his salary, as well as additional penalties.  Because re-classifying him would save the organization thousands of dollars in potential taxes, fines, and penalties, I wanted to offer some guidance so that other organizations can avoid these worker classification pitfalls as well.

The IRS is always coming up with creative ways to generate revenue.  One of their favorite methods is to look at organizations to see if they are improperly classifying workers as employees.  To make sure your workers are all properly classified (and more importantly to avoid the tax consequences of misclassification), it is important to know the difference between an employee and an independent contractor.