Shizuoka Business

Archive for March, 2011

The IRS is at it again. The stealthy and highly aggressive agency has added two new 1099 tax forms for businesses, requiring extra caution and countless more hours in reporting and preparing your tax returns. This means all business, no matter how small, will be affected. Whether big or small, it is essential to be aware of these new tax extensions NOW- or you could find yourself in BIG trouble when filing your tax return next year.

Additionally, we can expect the number of IRS audits to continue to rise for small-business owners in 2010. About 25% to 30% of my tax relief clients are small businesses with tax problems – so I know how important it is to avoid IRS penalties, IRS audits or other tax problems that could be detrimental to your business.

Neil deMause revealed in his CNNMoney.com article “Stealth IRS changes mean millions of new tax forms” these two new tax extensions:

1) 1099-K – an extension to the 1099 form, which requires businesses to report non-wage income (dividends, earned interest, contract work). The 1099-K addresses “hard -to-track” payment streams used by businesses: credit cards. From 2011, businesses making over 200 payment transactions per year (and totaling over $20,000) through credit or debit cards have to fill out the 1099-K, documenting the year’s transactions and send this to their clients and the IRS. ?This will have little effect on companies currently reporting all credit card transactions to the IRS, though if you are not currently in the practice of doing so, it’ll be worth it to anticipate this for the near future.

2) 1099-Misc – used by companies use to record payments to individual service providers and freelance workers, has been massively expanded to include, from 2012, all annual business payments and purchases over $600. While previously payments to corporations and purchases of goods have been excluded, now all?businesses?need to obtain the taxpayer ID number of firm or individual you are paying. This form will now be a tracking mechanism used for any and all business transactions.

What This Means For Your Business: Swimming in Paperwork and Receipts!

The simple truth is that these extensions to tax legislation are quite the burden. There is a high probability you may?get lost in the paperwork and tracking of receipts. ?A small business currently spends 3 – 5 hours a year on average filing 1099 forms. A survey conducted by Pennsylvania-based SMC Business Councils, shows that filing these two 1099 extensions for services purchased from corporations only would cause a standard small business at least 200 filings per year and an additional cost of $6,000 in preparing yearly tax returns. This estimate excludes the requirement for filing 1099s for purchases of goods – this would cause a staggering increase.

How did this tax provision blizzard come upon us??This new legislation has been in the works since 2007 when a tax-gap study was conducted.?This ‘tax gap’ between businesses and individuals costs the government about $300 billion per year in lost revenue.?The study showed that adding additional 1099 tax extension forms could produce $345 billion per year in federal tax revenue and this is?where the health reform bill comes into play. These two extension requirements are part of the health reform bill – snuck in the 2,000 page bill, allowing the government to track down unreported income. The goal of this new tax legislation is to catch income that is not currently reported to the IRS.

For more information on these tax extensions, ?view draft versions of the 1099-K form and watch a video on “How to avoid a tax audit by the IRS” read the full article on CNNMoney.com.

If your business is under audit or you owe back taxes or IRS penalties – it’s important to get immediate tax relief to protect the future of your business. And you don’t want to go up against the IRS alone without the expert help of a professional tax attorney or Certified Tax Resolution Specialist.

In 2002 my wife and I bought our business. I submitted our business to the Google Local Business Center. I kept checking to see if I was listed. After about 3 months it was was but my listing was on page 4 of the listings. Well I thought I was listed but how in the world is my listing ever going to get found when there are 35 other businesses ahead of mine.

I failed……

Google only lists the TOP 10 listings on page 1. So if someone searches for “WHAT WE DO” in the “CITY WE DO IT IN”, Google will display a map with 10 businesses, their phone number and a hyperlink to their website.

Lets face it, if you are not on this first page what are the chances of ever getting a phone call? Think about it, If someone needs a service or product they might check 3 different businesses to get price quotes or ask the questions they need to make decision. There are plenty of businesses to choose from on the Google Map and the rest of the listings in the sponsored links and regular organic listings.

So I worked o this listing for 3 years. Honestly for 3 years I tried to figure out how to get my rankings to improve. in 2005 I was still not on page 1. Arrrg!! I was frustrated. Why are my competitors here and not our business!!!!They were getting my customers and I was quite frankly getting pissed off. The Google Map was a new thinking back then and there wasn’t hardly any information on ow to improve your map listing.

But then I “cracked the code”…..

Yep, I had literally spent thousands from self proclaimed internet gurus and sepnt thousands of hours figureing this stuff out. I was self teaching myself and still getting nowhere. Their techniques were not locally targeted and were way to confusing. But then I stumbled upon something called the 30 Day Challenge. And what this course taught was the fundamentals of Internet Marketing. It was a hard course as you had to work on it everyday for 30 days straight. It was basic SEO that I learned. About this time I also got the job at Reach Local. I then applied these basic skills to my Google Local Business Listing.

And then the magic happened. Our Local business cracked the top 10 and was on the first page of Google. And I dint have to pay for clicks or pay an SEO firm or anything like. that. It’s on the first page day in and day out……FOR FREE!!!!!

……And it’s moved up from #10 up to #4 now.

……And it appears for multiple search terms.

Its all about how you load your information. Basic SEO applies here. I can show you exactly how to do it.

Tax relief is any deduction from taxes allowed to taxpayers by federal or state tax authorities for certain expense categories. An example is allowing the deduction of interest paid on educational loans from the income tax payable. Tax relief also takes the form of full or partial tax exemptions for low- and moderate-income families. In some cases, tax relief includes releasing citizens from paying taxes immediately, particularly during cases of natural disasters and similar contingencies. An example is tax relief granted to families following the devastation caused by hurricanes in the south during 2005.

Tax relief helps everyone, particularly the low-income families. It is normally provided as deductions from any of the various taxes like income tax, state tax, property tax, etc. In 1992, a tax-relief program introduced by the Internal Revenue Service was specifically targeted at helping individuals and corporations settle back taxes. This helped persons who were in financial hardship to pay back at least a part of the taxes that they owed. This process, which allows taxpayers settle the back taxes that they owe for less than the full amount, is known as an offer in compromise.

Normally, tax relief works through a process where tax authorities review the ability of a taxpayer to pay taxes based on information regarding the person’s income and assets. A tax relief is granted if it’s found that the recovery of a certain tax is unreasonable on the grounds that asset values have significantly decreased. However, tax authorities grant a tax relief only if the taxpayer’s request for relief is based on a valid reason as defined under law. Tax relief is also granted under special circumstances. In the case of taxes on inheritance and gifts, a relief can be granted if it’s ascertained that the value of the assets received has significantly reduced.