The Internal Revenue Service, state tax agencies and industry partners today finalized plans for 2017 to improve identity theft protections for individual and business taxpayers after making significant inroads this year against fraudulent tax returns. Public and private sector leaders announced today that their collective efforts through the Security Summit initiative have led to a…

Same Sex Couples and Taxes On October 23, 2015, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and the IRS published in the Federal Register (80 FR 64378) a notice of proposed rulemaking (REG–148998–13), which proposed to amend the regulations under section 7701 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) to provide that, for federal tax purposes, the…

Arab, Alabama — Cook and Company Tax Advisors reminds employers and small businesses of a new Jan. 31 filing deadline for Forms W-2. A new federal law, aimed at making it easier for the IRS to detect and prevent refund fraud, will accelerate the W-2 filing deadline for employers to Jan. 31. New Jan. 31 Deadline for…

“Waiting for the other shoe to drop”… A common experience of tenement living in apartment-style housing in New York City, and other large cities, during the manufacturing boom of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Apartments were built, similar in design, with the bedrooms located directly above and underneath one another. Thus, it was…

Arab, Alabama — The Internal Revenue Service just announced that 401(k)s and similar employer-sponsored retirement plans can make loans and hardship distributions to victims of Hurricane Matthew and members of their families. This is similar to relief provided this summer to Louisiana flood victims. Participants in 401(k) plans, employees of public schools and tax-exempt organizations…

U.S. taxpayers with maquiladora operations in Mexico will not be exposed to double taxation. On Friday the Internal Revenue Service announced that U.S. taxpayers with maquiladora operations in Mexico will not be exposed to double taxation if they enter into a unilateral advance pricing agreement (APA) with the Large Taxpayer Division of Mexico’s Servicio de Administración…

If you are running a business, use online banking and do not get paper statements each month, listen up! You must save or print those statements and cancelled checks to a pdf file each month. Most banks and credit unions make historical documents available for a limited amount of time that normally ranges from 12 to…

Many Extension Filers in North Carolina Now Affected Relief for Other States Expected Soon North Carolina storm victims will have until March 15, 2017, to file certain individual and business tax returns and make certain tax payments, with similar relief expected soon for Hurricane Matthew victims in other states, the Internal Revenue Service announced today.…

Sole Proprietorships The most common (and easiest) form of business organization is the sole proprietorship. Defined as any unincorporated business owned entirely by one individual, a sole proprietor can operate any kind of business (full or part-time) as long as it is not a hobby or an investment. In general, the owner is also personally…