J & O Tax Bookkeeping, Incorporated

Tax Alerts

Tax Briefing(s)

Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012

2011 Tax Year In Review

2011 reporting for 2010 conversions to Roth accounts explained
Taxpayers who convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA must include the amount transferred in their gross income and pay tax accordingly. For the 2010 tax year, the IRS created spec...

Auto/ truck maximum values updated for 2012 cents-per-mile/fleet-average valuation
Taxpayers whose employers provide company cars (or trucks and vans) for their personal use must factor that usage into their gross income. Personal use of a vehicle provided by an employer is consi...

IRS audits of higher income taxpayers increase
The IRS audited one in eight individuals with incomes over $1 million in fiscal year (FY) 2011. While the overall audit coverage rate for individuals remained steady at just over one percent, the a...

IRS eliminates tort test for exclusion of personal injury/sickness damages
Recent IRS regulations provide that damages received from a lawsuit or settlement as compensation for personal physical injuries or sickness may be excluded from gross income, even...

Tax gap grows to $450 billion; compliance rate holds steady
The "gross tax gap," or the amount of tax owed to the U.S. government that is not paid on time, climbed from $345 billion in Tax Year (TY) 2001 to $450 billion in TY 2006, the IRS has reported. (Be...

AZ - Procedures specified for requesting extensions to file withholding returns
The Arizona Department of Revenue has released information on the current procedures for requesting extensions for filing annual withholding tax returns. Previously, the department...

AR - Standard mileage rate revised for second half of 2011
The Arkansas optional standard mileage rate used by individuals in computing personal income tax business deductions is 51 cents per mile for expenses paid or incurred during Janua...

CA - Independent contractor withholding webinar announced
The California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) is holding a free webinar on December 20, 2011, at 10 a.m. PST, for those who must withhold personal income tax on California source income...

CO - Time adjustment required when using comparative sales data
The Colorado appellate court reversed an order by a county board of assessment appeals that reduced the property tax assessment of vacant land because statutory assessment provisio...

CT - DRS addresses worker misclassification problem
The Connecticut Department of Revenue Services (DRS) has issued a notice encouraging employers that have misclassified their workers (e.g., as independent contractors rath...

IN - Extension guidance updated
The Indiana Department of Revenue has released an updated personal income tax information bulletin that outlines the procedures for obtaining an extension of time to file. Specific...

KY - Interest rates set for 2012
The Kentucky Department of Revenue has announced the tax interest rates for 2012. For unpaid taxes, the interest rate will increase to 6% (currently, 5%). For interest due on a ref...

LA - Ballot measure to prohibit new tax or fee on immovable property approved
Louisiana voters passed a state constitutional amendment (Amendment 1) to prohibit the state or any political subdivision from levying a new tax or fee upon the sale or transfer of...

MA - Conference bridging service taxable
Conference bridging service sold to Massachusetts customers by an out-of-state taxpayer is subject to Massachusetts sales and use tax because it falls within the broad definition o...

NY - Application for award of administrative costs denied
A taxpayer was not entitled to an award of administrative costs under Tax Law §3030 with regard to a New York sales and use tax settlement, even though the taxpayer established tha...

OR - No good cause for representative’s failure to appear
Regarding a taxpayer’s Oregon personal income tax appeal, good cause did not exist for the failure by her representative to either attend a case management conference or expl...

TX - Showroom was key to proving taxpayer was a retailer
A taxpayer was eligible for the 0.5% rate when calculating its taxable margin for Texas franchise purposes because, using an SIC Code Manual analysis, 100% of its revenue was deriv...

UT - Allocation and apportionment rule amended
A Utah rule relating to the allocation and apportionment of net income for corporate income tax purposes has been amended to reflect legislative changes made by S.B. 136, Laws 2008...

VA - Domestic production deduction properly allocated
A taxpayer that filed a federal consolidated corporate income tax return and a separate return for Virginia corporate income tax purposes properly claimed the IRC §199 deduction on...

WA - Taxability of insurers explained
The Washington Department of Revenue has updated an industry guide on the application of sales and use tax to the insurance industry. Insurers and affiliates are responsible for pa...

As you browse through our Website, you will see that not only have we highlighted background information on our firm and the services we provide, but have also included useful resources such as informative articles (in our Newsletter section) and interactive financial calculators (in our Financial Tools section). In addition, we have taken the time to gather many links to external Websites that we felt would be of interest to our clients and visitors (in our Internet Links section).

While browsing through our Website, please feel free to contact us with any questions or comments you may have - we'd love to hear from you. We pride ourselves on being proactive and responsive to our clients' inquiries and suggestions.