Why Use a Tax Accountant?

If you’ve ever tried to do your own taxes by hand, you know just how difficult it can be. If you’re not well-versed with IRS tax codes, you can really be sure that you are getting the maximum amount of deductions and credits that you are entitled to. If you are unsure of how to do a tax return or how to engage in tax planning, hiring a qualified tax accountant could be in your best interests.

Tax Planning

Hiring a tax accountant can provide you with the help you need in planning out your taxes. While most people simply go about their business and then file a tax return at the end of the year, others are proactive about saving money on taxes. By taking certain steps throughout the year, you can lower your taxable income and the amount of taxes that you have to pay. If you are running a business, there are a number of deductions that you can take that others are not entitled to. For example, you can deduct any supplies or equipment that you buy from your taxable income. A qualified tax accountant will be able to look at your business situation and determine what areas you could save money in.

Filing Returns

In addition to planning out your tax saving strategies, and accountant can also help you file your tax return. At the end of the year, the Internal Revenue Service expects you to file a tax return and report all of your income and expenses. This process can be very confusing if you do not have any experience with it. An accountant will be able to take your financial records and come up with the necessary information for your tax return.

If you have a business and a personal tax return to handle, separating the two can be difficult. A good tax accountant can help you file both tax returns and make sure that each area of your financial life is divided appropriately.

Avoiding Audit

If you do not complete your tax return correctly you were you leave something out, the Internal Revenue Service may audit your return. When an audit occurs, the IRS may disallow certain deductions or credits that you claim if they are not legitimate. A qualified accountant will be able to look at your return and see if anything looks out of the ordinary. Certain items are more likely to trigger audits by the IRS. A good accountant will be able to see if your return looks like it might be selected for audit or if it is fine.

If you’ve ever tried to do your own taxes by hand, you know just how difficult it can be. If you’re not well-versed with IRS tax codes, you can really be sure that you are getting the maximum amount of deductions and credits that you are entitled to. If you are unsure of how to do a tax return or how to engage in tax planning, hiring a qualified tax accountant could be in your best interests.

Tax Planning

Hiring a tax accountant can provide you with the help you need in planning out your taxes. While most people simply go about their business and then file a tax return at the end of the year, others are proactive about saving money on taxes. By taking certain steps throughout the year, you can lower your taxable income and the amount of taxes that you have to pay. If you are running a business, there are a number of deductions that you can take that others are not entitled to. For example, you can deduct any supplies or equipment that you buy from your taxable income. A qualified tax accountant will be able to look at your business situation and determine what areas you could save money in.

Filing Returns

In addition to planning out your tax saving strategies, and accountant can also help you file your tax return. At the end of the year, the Internal Revenue Service expects you to file a tax return and report all of your income and expenses. This process can be very confusing if you do not have any experience with it. An accountant will be able to take your financial records and come up with the necessary information for your tax return.

If you have a business and a personal tax return to handle, separating the two can be difficult. A good tax accountant can help you file both tax returns and make sure that each area of your financial life is divided appropriately.

Avoiding Audit

If you do not complete your tax return correctly you were you leave something out, the Internal Revenue Service may audit your return. When an audit occurs, the IRS may disallow certain deductions or credits that you claim if they are not legitimate. A qualified accountant will be able to look at your return and see if anything looks out of the ordinary. Certain items are more likely to trigger audits by the IRS. A good accountant will be able to see if your return looks like it might be selected for audit or if it is fine.

Considerations

If you are interested in hiring an accountant to handle your taxes, make sure that you do your homework first. You have to put a lot of faith in an accountant and you do not want to simply hire anyone. Get some referrals and find out how long the accountant has been in business. If you find a good accountant, it can make your life a lot easier overall.

If you are interested in hiring an accountant to handle your taxes, make sure that you do your homework first. You have to put a lot of faith in an accountant and you do not want to simply hire anyone. Get some referrals and find out how long the accountant has been in business. If you find a good accountant, it can make your life a lot easier overall.

This article was written by the tax accounting experts at Tax Resolution Centre.  http://www.taxresolutioncentre.ca/

How to Choose A Good Accountant or Tax Attorney

Depending on your situation, you may look to obtain services from a tax preparer such as an accountant or tax attorney in completing your income taxes. A tax professional can help assure you receive all deductions you qualify for and make sure your income tax return is filed according to standards set within tax laws.  The following tips can help you find the right person to assist you in tax preparation.

Learn about different tax professionals and types of tax preparers.  This allows you to choose someone that is qualified based on your financial situation.  There are preparers and professionals that deal with tax issues related to divorce, small businesses, rental property and more.  Titles may include Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Enrolled Agents (EA) and Accredited Tax Advisors and Tax Preparers.

Review their qualifications.  Qualifying professionals may have affiliation with different organizations that provide ongoing education and resources for tax professionals.  Practicing tax professionals should have a preparer tax identification number.

Review their history with the Better Business Bureau.  Know the status of their license and learn of any disciplinary action taken against them.  There are state board organizations that can provide status of a tax professional.

Learn about services they provide and fees charged.  Those who base their fee on a percentage of your refund or claim they get you a higher refund amount than another preparer should be avoided.

A tax professional you are considering to work with should be easily accessible. Should you have questions or concerns after filing your return, you should be able to contact them.

A reputable tax preparer will review records and paperwork along with asking related questions to your finances.  A preparer should thoroughly review your situation to determine qualifications for deductions review your expenses and take time to learn in depth about your income.

Avoid tax preparers that want you to sign a blank tax return form.

Make sure to review tax forms in detail before signing them.  Ask questions when you are unsure about details and make sure you are comfortable with information on the form being accurate.

By law, a tax preparer should include their prepare tax identification number or PTIN when signing a completed tax form.  The preparer should also give you a copy of your tax return.  Although they sign the return along with your signature, the taxpayer is responsible for information presented on the form.  It is important to make sure items presented are truthful and honest as possible.

 

Andrew is a tax blogger and financial journalist. He writes about everything tax and finance related, from 401K to tax avoidance and from credit cards to mortgage loans.

Learning About Currency Trading Taxation

Before starting to trade in the Forex market, there are some basics about currency trading taxation a Forex trader should be aware of. Notwithstanding the fact whether a Forex trader is going to become a long-term investor, or whether he/she just plans to try and see how it goes, it must be mentioned that currency market provides enormous tax advantages, especially in comparison with other financial markets.

It doesn’t matter whether a forex trader focuses on forex options/futures or on the spot market – there are tax benefits for both of them. Forex options/futures traders are taxed according to the IRC 1256 contracts in which 60% of gains/losses are calculated as long-term gains/losses and 40% as short-term ones. So, the total tax rate appears to be 23% (compare this to 35% tax rate in stocks trading). Spot forex traders are taxed on the basis of IRC 988 contracts, which provide an enormous loss protection – all losses can be calculated as ordinary losses as opposed to the first 3000 US dollars.

IRC 1256 contracts are more difficult in comparison with IRC 988 contracts – the latter provides the same tax rates for the gains and losses, which makes calculations much easier. In addition, IRC 988 contracts are more favorable for counting losses, while IRC 1256 contracts are more advantageous for the gains calculations.

When deciding which tax group to choose, a forex trader should ground on the expected amount of gains and losses.

If a forex trader consults an accounting firm, they will refer him/her to IRC 988 contracts if he/she has decided to trade on the spot forex market and to IRC 1256 contracts if he/she has chosen to be a futures/options forex trader. The key thing to keep in mind is that it is impossible to change from to IRC 988 contracts to IRC 1256 contracts during the trading year.

It must be mentioned that certainly most of the forex traders expect their gains to exceed the losses, so they often opt for IRC 1256 contracts, since they are more beneficial to gains.

What is important to keep in mind when it comes to forex taxation are the deadlines for filing (it is crucial to choose your tax group before the beginning of the trading year), keeping the detailed tax records and the importance of paying taxes, actually, since some forex traders believe they can get away with it, but are eventually caught up by the IRS.

A sensible forex trader will pay close attention to taxes if he/she wants to maximize the profits and minimize the losses. Proper taxation can save great sums of money, in point of fact, so it is well worth doing.

Alexander Collins is CEO at Forexeasystems, who is chief developer of forex trading strategy ProFx and creator of free metatrader prugin Fx Pulse that shows accurate forecasts and historical data from Forex news, etc.

How To Use Your IRA To Buy Property In Central America

A growing number of North Americans are using funds from their IRA to purchase foreign real estate. While the process may appear convoluted at first, all it involves is a few steps taken in sequence. The steps have been followed by hundreds of investors purchasing real estate in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and Belize. The same process works for 401K investments, Roth IRA and other retirement plans.

The first thing you need to do is to set up what is called a “self-directed IRA”. You’ll typically need a new custodian to do this. So either search online for a self-directed custodian or review the three main firms offering this service: Entrust, Equity Trust and Lincoln Trust.  As you decide on your custodian make sure that their program allows investment in foreign real estate.

Practically all types of real estate in Central America are eligible for purchase using the funds in your IRA. So this will include raw land, condos, multi-unit apartments or a house. The key factor to bear in mind is that the property needs to qualify as an investment rather than as a personal use purchase. But that’s only before you retire. Once you retire you can take the property as an IRA payment and live in it full-time. Many investors who are of pre-retirement age use their IRA funds to buy rental real estate as an investment with a plan on moving into the property once they retire.

Although in some countries it’s possible to buy property in the name of your IRA account, across Central America the local legal systems do not recognize these account names. The solution is to set up a corporation to own the property. Your IRA invests all of its funds in that corporation and then you as the manager of that corporation purchases the real estate that you have chosen.

Getting a Tax Refund Loan on the Internet

Sometimes, there are some people who are often hesitant to apply for loans over the internet for different reasons. Whatever their reasons are, I personally find online loan applications very convenient and easy. Over the internet is where I usually file for a tax return advance. Here, processing the loan will only take a few minutes and will never have me fill-out loads of paperwork as compared to offline loan applications.

Can you ever imagine what a hassle and how time-consuming applying for a loan offline is? You need to meet and talk to loan agents, fill out forms manually, and then prepare some necessary documents. By doing that it would take so much of your time. This is why I would always choose to apply for tax refund anticipation loan over the internet.

Convenience of Online Loan Application

Several lenders on the internet offer these kinds of loans at very low and reasonable interest rates. This means that using your tax refund checks as security for the loan will still let you enjoy the rest of the money apart from the nominal loan fees. There are no physical documents to be accomplished because all the processes during the entire application are done digitally. You will fill out forms over the internet and in just a few minutes you can submit these forms with just a few clicks of your mouse. Isn’t that convenient?

All the account information is secured because all the websites of the lenders are configured with security scripts. All the personal and account information are kept confidential. This is one of the good things about applying for tax refund advance online. There are also a lot of lenders over the internet with good reputation so finding one will never be hassle.

Fast Online Loan Application

Every thing is done digitally from filling out of forms to submitting the requirements for the loans when applying online. Requirements are very minimal because the lender for this kind of short-term loan will never ask for more security except for the assurance that the borrowers are anticipating a tax refund from the IRS.

In my own experience with some of the lenders for this loan, it only took me about less than an hour to accomplish all that needs to filled-out in the digital forms that are required by the lenders. They only asked a few personal and account information which I gave them and then waited from a few hours. In less than a day, a representative from the lender called me at home and announced the release of the tax refund advance amount to my personal bank account. It was really a convenient experience.