Executive's Tax & Management Report articles from June 2006

Executive's Tax & Management Report archives from June 2006

Expiring provisions create tax planning challenges.
June 1, 2006... Last year, certain taxpayers could take an itemized deduction for state and local sales taxes, but this year they cannot because a higher income exemption that kept them out of the alternative minimum tax (AMT) expired at the end of 2005....

Study identifies trends in CEO compensation.
June 1, 2006... CEOs saw only modest changes in their compensation last year, and their pay and corporate performance were more closely aligned, according to the Mercer Human Resource Consulting 2005 CEO Compensation Survey (www.mercerhr.com). In a survey...

Professor learns hard lesson about deducting casualty loss.(BUSINESS DEDUCTIONS)
June 1, 2006... Under certain circumstances, taxpayers can deduct the value of damaged property on their tax return. However, they must be able to back up the amount claimed with proper documentation. That was what a professor recently learned after the IRS...

Options for responding to an IRS notice.(DEALING WITH THE IRS)(Internal Revenue Service)
June 1, 2006... Taxpayers owed a refund are happy to see the IRS's return address when getting their mail, but even the IRS acknowledges that many taxpayers dread receiving one of the millions of letters and notices it sends each year. However, the IRS reports...

Privacy advocates oppose sale of tax info.(TAX RETURNS)
June 1, 2006... When hiring a professional to prepare their federal income tax returns, most taxpayers assume that their information will remain confidential. But that's not necessarily the case. Late last year, the IRS proposed regulations that would...

Will you outlive your retirement savings?(RETIREMENT PLANNING)
June 1, 2006... Fifty percent of working Americans in a recent survey indicated that they are concerned about whether their retirement savings will last a lifetime--even more than the 38 percent who said they're concerned about saving enough for retirement....

IRS knocks out SIMPLE Plan deduction.(RETIREMENT PLANNING)
June 1, 2006... Taxpayers are entitled to deduct qualified contributions made to a Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees of Small Employers (SIMPLE) Plan, but the timing of the contribution determines in what year the contribution can be deducted. ...

Sympathetic court finds couple still liable for AMT.(PERSONAL TAXES)(alternative minimum tax )
June 1, 2006... Although Congress has made proposals to repeal or modify the alternative minimum tax (AMT) and the National Taxpayer Advocate has criticized the AMT, its "confusing and complex" nature does not excuse taxpayers from paying, according to the Tax...

Filing, deposit deadlines for rest of 2006.
June 1, 2006... A "federal tax action" calendar for January through June 2006 was included in the January 2006 issue of Executive's Tax & Management Report. On the next four pages of this issue is the schedule of federal tax filing and deposit deadlines for...

Federal tax action calendar for July-December 2006.
June 1, 2006... JULY Thursday, July 6 FICA and withheld income tax. Semiweekly depositors deposit the tax on wages paid June 28-June 30 Friday, July 7 FICA and withheld income tax. Semiweekly depositors deposit the tax on wages paid July...

Executives focus on business continuity management.(Executive's Briefcase)
June 1, 2006... More than 83 percent of surveyed companies say they have developed formal business continuity management (BCM) programs, compared to 30 percent of organizations that had done so six years ago. Management's intolerance for operational...

Income tax revenue on the rise.(Executive's Briefcase)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... U.S. taxpayers filed 132.4 million individual income tax returns for tax year 2004, according to the recently released Winter 2005-2006 issue of the Statistics of Income (SOI) Bulletin. The figure marks an increase of 1.4 percent from the 130.6...

More taxpayers turn to e-filing for 2005 returns.(Executive's Briefcase)
June 1, 2006... A record number of taxpayers--70 million--filed their 2005 federal tax returns electronically this year, and the number is expected to rise before the close of the e-file season in October, the IRS recently reported. "Overall, we received...

Hybrids certified for new energy tax credit.(Executive's Briefcase)
June 1, 2006... If you purchase a new hybrid vehicle this year, you might be eligible for a new tax credit enacted by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. According to the IRS, the tax credit applies to certified vehicles that are bought on or after January 1,...

Schedules M-3 draft updated again.(Executive's Briefcase)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... As you read in the May issue of Executive's Tax & Management Report, the IRS recently released updated drafts of Schedules M-3 (for Forms 1120, 1120-L, 1120-PC, 1120S and 1065) and a new Form 8916, Reconciliation of Schedule M-3 Taxable Income...

Sales tax outsourcing available at no charge?(Executive's Briefcase)(Brief article)
June 1, 2006... The Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board recently certified three service providers to allow businesses to outsource fully all sales tax compliance functions. Sellers who are not required to collect sales taxes on products sold online,...

Special rules apply to summer help.(COMPENSATION & BENEFITS)
June 1, 2006... If you own a small, seasonal business, you re probably gearing up to hire extra help over the summer. If so, now is a good time to make sure you are familiar with IRS and Department of Labor (DOL) regulations regarding summer employees. ...