1/25/13

The IRS has announced it is appealing the court decision barring it from regulating tax preparers. See our "Types of Tax Professionals" page.

1/18/13:

In a ruling which shocked the tax preparation community, a court has ruled the IRS does not have the authority to regulate tax preparers, only licensed practitioners (attorney, CPAs and Enrolled Agents) who represent taxpayers in their dealings with the IRS. See our "Types of Tax Professionals" page for details.

1/9/13

The IRS has announced delays in both acccepting returns and the issuance of refunds. This is due to Congress waiting until after the close of the year to pass tax legislation. The tax law changes require the IRS to change its forms and re-program its computers. While this in turn will require re-programming of commerical tax preparation software, the IRS states that these delays will affect paper returns in the same way.

The announced states that the IRS will not begin accepting any income tax returns (filed electronically or on paper) until January 30. Many taxpayers including those claiming the state sales tax deduction, tuition and fees deduction and those affected by the Alernative Minimum Tax (AMT) will be able to file on January 30. However, not all taxpayers will be able to start filing as of that date. The IRS estimates that many taxpayers will not be able to file their returns until late February or perhaps into March. This group includes taxpayers claiming energy credits and depreciation (e.g. rental property). For a complete list of affected forms click here.

The IRS had already announced delays in the opening date for accepting electroncially filed returns due to more stringent anti-fraud procedures even before the late tax law changes were passed by Congress. These late changes by Congress are expected to worsen the situation. Some tax industry leaders predict that most refunds will be delayed until at least mid-February even for almost everyone.

The IRS has the following on their website: "Caution.

Don’t count on getting your refund by a certain date to make major purchases or pay other financial obligations. Even though the IRS issues most refunds in less than 21 days, it’s possible your tax return may require additional review and take longer."

This does not mean you should delay coming in for your tax preparation interview. The information your preparer collects during the interview is from the past year and will not change after year-end. Basically your return will be "sitting on the shelf" waiting for the IRS to give the green light that it is finally ready to process your return.

1/7/13

See our "Recent Tax Law Changes" page for a discussion of recent changes to tax law effecting 2012, 2013 and future tax years.

12/13/12
The IRS announced the standard mileage rates for 2013 today. The rate for business use is 56.5 cents per mile, a one cent increase over 2012. The rate for medical and moving mileage is also being increased by one cent per mile to 24 cents. The rate for charitable purposes remains unchanged at 14 cents per mile.

7/19/11

The Texas legislature has extended the $1 million exemption of small business revenue from the Texas Franchise Tax.  However, this new extension is temporary (2 years only), and without further legislative action, the exemption amount will revert back to $600,000 at the end of 2013. This tax is also known as the "margin tax" and is a business income tax based on a company's revenue (not net income).

5/12/08

John Beck, owner of Beck McCarthy and Associates in The Woodlands, Texas passed away on Friday, May 2, 2008.  Mr. Beck was well known in the Houston area as a tax accountant specializing in preparing tax returns for car salesmen and other automobile dealership employees. He is survived by his wife Debra McCarthy-Beck and his children Tanya Kane, John, Kalen and Tyler Beck.