Monthly Archives: November 2018

Education

NSAC Cooperative Accounting Webinar Dec 11

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If you’re a client, friend or regular reader of this blog (or all three), you’ll know that I am passionate about education, especially when it comes to accounting for cooperatives. I believe that the cooperative structure is the most viable entity when it comes to achieving balance between social and economic goals. It is conducive to conducting both small- and large-scale businesses while not ignoring the needs of the community, its members, and our broader culture and society.

As such, I’ve encouraged my clients to consider adopting co-op structures and policies, and have encouraged my accounting colleagues to consider broadening the scope of their offerings to include co-op accounting and taxation. In my work with the National Society of Accountants for Cooperatives (NSAC), the National Cooperative Business Association‘s Co-op Professionals Conference (NCBA CPC), and the Cooperative Economy Summit, I’ve tried to build bridges and help mentor and develop the next generation of co-op accountants.

This upcoming course offered by NSAC is a three-hour introduction to accounting for cooperatives (plus a one-hour break for lunch). It covers the basics of what a co-op is, co-op taxation, and co-op GAAP.

Basic A&A Session 1
Date: Tuesday, December 11, 2018
Time: 11:00 AM ET / 10:00 AM CT / 09:00 AM MT / 08:00 AM PT
Approximate Duration: 240 minutes
Presenter(s): Phil Miller, Asst. NSAC Education Director & Meegan Moriary, USDA
Objective: This will be a 3 part CLN covering, What is a Cooperative, Basic Co-op Tax and Basic Co-op Accounting. There will be a 1 hour lunch break from 1-2 PM ET.
Field of Study: .5 tax .5 accounting
Program Level: Basic
CPE Credit: 3 Credit Hours
Delivery Method: Group-Live
No advanced preparation or prerequisites are required for this course.

Course Description
Introduction to Co-ops
This 50-minute course is one of the modules contained in the NSAC Basic Accounting Course, taught at a basic level. The course discussion includes:
What is a Cooperative?
Cooperative History
Cooperatives in the Community
Benefits of Cooperatives

Basic Co-op Taxation I
This 50-minute course is one of the modules contained in the NSAC Basic Accounting Course, taught at a basic level. The course discussion includes:
Tenets of Co-op Taxation
Co-op Taxation History
Applicable Internal Revenue Codes
Patronage Refunds
Section 521
Examples

Co-op GAAP
This 50-minute course is one of the modules contained in the NSAC Basic Accounting Course, taught a basic level. The course discussion includes:
GAAP Applicability
AICPA AcSEC SOP 85-3
AICPA Audit & Accounting Guide
FAS 71 Accounting for Regulation
Co-op GAAP Within FASB Codification

Source: NSAC Cooperative Learning Network – Basic A&A Session 1

IRS, Tips

New IRS “Tax Transcript” Email Scam

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From the IRS, November 27th 2018:

The IRS and Security Summit partners recently warned the public of a problematic scam affecting businesses. A surge of fraudulent emails impersonating the IRS and using tax transcripts as bait to entice users to open documents containing malware are on the rise. If a business’s employees open the malware, it can spread throughout the network and potentially take months to successfully remove.

This well-known malicious code, known as Emotet, generally poses as specific banks and financial institutions in its effort to trick people into opening infected documents. However, in the past few weeks, the scam masqueraded as the IRS, pretending to be from “IRS Online.” The scam email carries an attachment labeled “Tax Account Transcript” or something similar, and the subject line uses some variation of the phrase “tax transcript.”

Businesses should instruct employees to not open the email or the attachment, and to instead delete or forward the scam email to phishing@irs.gov.

Source: Tax Scams/Consumer Alerts | Internal Revenue Service

IRS, Tips

Censured Tax Professionals Can Now Be Looked Up Online

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When looking for a tax professional, you want to make sure they’re in good standing with the IRS. However, until recently, the public could only learn that a practitioner was sanctioned by reviewing each of the announcements of discipline published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin (IRB) on irs.gov, or by using a commercial subscription service that reports instances of “Circular 230” discipline (Circular 230 is the document that describes who is covered by the standards we must follow, and what those are).

The Office of Professional Responsibility’s (OPR, the organization responsible for making sure tax professionals follow the standards of their practice) solution was to compile the information into a searchable Excel document file; their disciplinary look-up contains searchable information regarding censures of practitioners for Circular 230 misconduct and suspensions and disbarments of individuals from practice before the IRS.

The list contains basic information on over 3,000 OPR censures, suspensions, disbarments, and miscellaneous restrictions on practice, such as permanent injunctions and denials of limited practice to unenrolled tax return preparers due to misconduct; it covers the last 25 years. The spreadsheet is searchable using the “Sort & Filter” and “Find & Select” features, and will be updated to add new entries when a disciplinary announcement is published in the IRB.

Hopefully this new tool will make folks more inclined to report unprofessional behavior to the OPR, knowing that it will be made public and others could be prevented from similar experiences. To report issues, concerns or any problems, contact the OPR at Internal Revenue Service, Office of Professional Responsibility, SE:OPR, Room 7238/IR, 1111 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20224 or fax to (202) 317-6338.

Source: Search for Disciplined Tax Professionals | Internal Revenue Service

Education

End-Of-Year Payroll Considerations Webinar, Nov 28

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Today I came across a free one-hour webinar that I’d love to share with those in my line of work — or with clients who want to better understand how different types of income are reported (for themselves or their partners, employees and contractors).

The webinar is titled, “End of Year Payroll Considerations for Your Clients: W-2, 1099 & K-1 Distributions” and is being offered for free by CPA Academy on November 28, at 11 am Central Time.

Their description:

In this webinar, a TriNet payroll expert will provide information to help attendees guide their clients through the end of the year payroll process, including how to explain the difference between a W2, 1099 and K1 distribution, when each is required, as well as why this information is important to HR compliance and business success. Attendees will leave with more information on how to prepare their clients with the information they need for accurate, compliant payroll reporting and filing.

The difference between these types of income has even more effect on the bottom line where taxes are concerned than ever before, thanks to the new tax laws, and confusion still exists as to what goes where and why. Get a leg up on this before it’s time to issue these documents for clients or to employees.

Source: CPA Academy

Education, Illinois

City of Chicago Pop-Up Business License Workshop Nov 28

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Wed, November 28, 3:00pm – 4:30pm
City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St. – 8th Floor, Room 805
 

Starting December 1st, the City’s new Pop-Up User and Pop-Up Host business licenses will be available for short-term general retail or food sales, providing new options to entrepreneurs and owners of commercial spaces. Learn about the unique features which allow the User to “pop-up” around the City during the license term, the license application requirements and process, as well as the benefit provided to existing Shared Kitchen Users and Retail Food license holders. Be ready to become one of the first to obtain these innovative licenses.

To register, please email BACPoutreach@cityofchicago.org or call 312.744.2086.

Source: City of Chicago :: Business Education Workshop Calendar

Education, Tips

Help Clients Save Money On Prescription Drugs & Medicare Part D

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When studying to become an accountant, it never occurred to me to take psychology classes; but in fact, much of the work we do involves areas of clients’ lives that are deeply personal. Yet no one ever trains us in divorce consulting, human resources, vehicle purchasing, credit counseling, health insurance brokerage, or, in the case of this recent interesting article I’d like to share: prescription drug coverage.

The author, James Sullivan, is a financial planner who specializes in working with clients suffering from chronic illnesses (and their families). He recently published a piece on how to assist clients when choosing a Medicare Part D prescription coverage plan, and related tips on saving money at the pharmacy. He offers a simple follow-along example that illustrates the main points:

Clients need to consider more than cost when choosing a Part D plan. Before selecting one, they should think about several questions:

Is your prescription drug(s) on the plan’s formulary?

Is your favorite local pharmacy in-network, a preferred pharmacy, or out-of-network?

What is your out-of-pocket cost if you use the local pharmacy versus using mail order?

Are you comfortable using mail order?

Once these questions are answered, the client should consider the plan’s annual deductible, the co-payments and co-insurance, its drug tiers, and any drug restrictions.

I encourage you to read the full article in Journal of Accountancy here, especially for the real-life illustration that offers some great tips.

Source: Help clients save money on prescription drugs

Illinois

2017 Illinois Business Income Tax Deadline Extended through Nov 15

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The Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) recently extended the deadline for business taxes filed for the state of Illinois. The reasoning is that the new tax law has many businesses confused and struggling with its complexity. Since the state due date coincided with the federal due date, IDOR chose to extend the state deadline one more month, to allow these businesses to file their federal returns first, and then follow up with their state return.

The Department will approve requests for abatement of penalties for late filing of any Forms IL-1120, IL-1120-ST, IL-1065 and IL-1041 due to reasonable cause on a case-by-case basis, provided those returns are filed on or before November 15, 2018. Please note: Requests for abatement should be made after a notice has been sent and received by the taxpayer.

More here, including contact information for filing abatements: Illinois Business Income Tax Deadlines Extended – Press Releases & News Archive

IRS, Tips

Tax Year 2017 E-filing Ends Nov 17

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An important announcement from the IRS today:

Do you still need to file a 2017 tax return? If you intend to file electronically, do so by Saturday, Nov. 17. E-File closes for 2017 tax returns on that date, even if the taxpayer is in a presidentially declared disaster area. Paper filing will remain available.

Preparers and taxpayers — make sure you get those final lagging returns e-filed asap, or you just bought yourselves a bunch of extra processing time, as well as unnecessary administrative effort.

In case you’re wondering why the cut-off, the IRS explains:

IRS Modernized e-file, the system that processes electronically-filed individual returns, will shut down after Nov. 17, enabling the IRS to perform annual maintenance and to reprogram the system for the upcoming 2019 tax-filing season.

Source: For Tax Year 2017, e-file closes on Nov. 17; After that, disaster victims, others need to file on paper | Internal Revenue Service

Education, IRS, Tips

IRS Side-By-Side Comparison For Businesses Of Tax Cuts & Jobs Act

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I found the recent IRS release on the new tax law — a side-by-side comparison for businesses showing “before-and-after” rules — to be well-written and clear, and it does a good job of highlighting the key changes in order of relative importance to most companies. As such, I’m reprinting the recent IRS newsletter to small businesses in its entirety below.

From the IRS e-News for Small Business, Issue #36:

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) changed deductions, depreciation, expensing, tax credits and other tax items affecting businesses. This side-by-side comparison can help businesses understand the changes and plan accordingly.

Some provisions of the TCJA affecting individual taxpayers can also affect business taxes. Businesses and self-employed individuals should review tax reform changes for individuals and determine if and how these provisions may concern their business situation.

Visit IRS.gov/taxreform regularly for tax reform updates. Businesses can find details and the latest resources at Tax Reform Provisions that Affect Businesses.

IRS

IRS Releases New Publication 5307 on Tax Reform

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Big news from today’s CPA Practice Advisor — the IRS has finally released their new Publication 5307 on Tax Reform.

Publication 5307 focuses on the changes affecting 2018 federal income tax returns that must be filed in 2019. It includes valuable information about the following:

  1. Increases in the standard deduction;
  2. Changes to itemized deductions, including state and local tax (SALT) payments, mortgage interest, charitable contributions, casualty and theft losses and miscellaneous expense deductions;
  3. Suspension of personal exemptions;
  4. Removal of moving expense deduction and reimbursement exclusion;
  5. Changes for Child Tax Credit (CTC) and other family-based credits;
  6. Increase in alternative minimum tax (AMT) exemption amounts;
  7. Repeal of deduction for alimony payments;
  8. Reporting on health care coverage;Rules for recharacterizing a Roth conversion;
  9. Rules for retirement plan loans for employees leaving employment;Changes for ABLE plans; and
  10. Expansion of use of Section 529 accounts.

Taxpayers can access Publication 5307 at the IRS website in their “get ready” section.

Source: IRS Releases New Publication 5307 on Tax Reform | CPA Practice Advisor