The IRS Audit Blog

Archive for March, 2007

Question: I quit my job at the end of 2008, filed 2008 taxes, and couldn’t find a job since, will I be audited?

Ran out of room in the question title –

since I had no income for 2009, I am afraid that not filing taxes for 2009, the income drop will trigger a red flag and result in an audit. How worried should I be? I have nothing to hide however I do not want to go through this.

Answer: You may or may not get audited. Not having a job and filing for 2009 may trigger something, but since you’ve had no job, the audit will be quick if it even happens at all. Don’t worry about it.

Top Scoops

Investors benefit from understanding the federal budget, credit policies and covert intervention that drive markets — often overriding fundamental economics. How has the US governmental apparatus become so powerful in the marketplace and what does it mean to the health of our economy?

Inman Boredom VI: The Tax Audit

Question: Any US Citizens working for an foreign embassy been audited by IRS?

The embassy I work for, neglected to inform me of a Settlement that would only go back 3 year in taxes. Now I am being told the IRS will go back 6 years. Is there negligence involved to take the embassy to court?

Answer: The IRS settlement initiative was only supposed to go back for 2 years – - 2004 and 2005 – they missed the cutoff for 3 years when they extended the deadline to June 30, 2006.

According to the settlement initiative, if you accepted the terms, they will only audit in cases of suspected fraud.

The IRS sent faxes out to all embassies and consulates in the U.S.A. so your employer should have told you. Maybe the IRS will show some leniency in this case, given your situation.

Here is a link to an IRS press release on the settlement initiative: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/international/article/0,,id=164364,00.html.

Personal Finance: Uncle Sam had to say uncle

I’m always telling people not to mess with the Internal Revenue Service, given the power the agency wields for taxpayers who step outside the bounds of the tax code.

Tax help today: Must you file; should son file independently; and hybrid tax breaks

Members of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants are answering your tax questions at USATODAY.com through April 15.

download kzh. lj record 260.5812. new link

Eyes of the world are turning to Copenhagen Climate Change Conference 2009. Delegates from 192 countries are trying to come up with a global agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Deforestation is one issue that is high on the agenda, the intergovernmental panel on climate change now estimates that the cutting down of forests contributes almost 20 per cent of global carbon emissions. We are facing the melting ice sheets, rising sea levels, expanding desertification, widespread drought and a series of problems, so we have to do something to avoid those in our daily life.

Some people might say, I have never cut down a tree in my life. Think about it, how much paper you consume every day? According to a case study by Heinz Center, 0.30 to 0.32 tons of carbon (1.11 to 1.17 tons of CO2) are emitted for every ton of paper produced. So building a paperless lifestyle is essential for reducing carbon emissions.

Building paperless office

PDF format plays an important role during the process. Use PDF format to create, display, interact and store can greatly reduce the consumption of paper. Also, wide use of PDF format can lower the cost for the office.

According to Adobe, over 1.5 billion PDF files have been downloaded from the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website since 1998. Distributing PDF files online costs about a penny for 1,000 tax documents and forms, compared with about US$6 for each individual taxpayer order sent via mail.

For enterprise, dealing with paper flow is one of the troublesome challenges. Everything is paper-based, accompany with manual processes in the past. But now with the concept of building paperless office, we keep everything in PDF format. Contracts are saved in PDF format and sent via Email instead of fax. PDF/A is a file format for the long-term archiving of electronic documents, so keeping all the data in PDF format for future review and backup is reliable. A free Adobe Reader is the only requirement for viewing PDF files. Creating a PDF files is as easy as ABC since Microsoft Office 2007 has the save as PDF add-on. And it is easy to convert PDF to Word using AnyBizSoft for editing. Dealing with PDF format is much easier than handling paper. Of course, a company can save the warehouse for data storage, the cost for paper, copy machines and fax facility. Meanwhile, paperless office has the power to benefit the environment and the communities.

Personal paperless lifestyle

Paperless lifestyle is also a fashion in our daily life. With the boost of E-reader, like Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader, publishing and related print industries are facing revolution. We will change the traditional reading experience forever.

Do you still remember the last time you write a letter to your friends? Maybe some teenagers have never write a letter in their life because we are getting use to communicating with others via Internet and Email. We have Facebook, Twitter and some other social media. We send greeting e-cards instead of sending paper cards during Christmas. If a person have a good command of using Internet, creating and editing PDF, paperless world will make them more colorful and easier in daily life.

Transforming paper-based documents to digital-based documents is a main concept of reducing of paper consumption, which will control the deforestation, so that we can reduce the greenhouse gas emissions. Copenhagen Climate Change Conference is just a call to action.

Briefs – Dec. 30

Senior Meal every third Sunday at Clarinda Regional Health Center

IRS Gag Order

Question: Have the IRS 1040 forms been sent out yet?

We usually get our tax forms in the mail by now. Have they been sent out yet? We had our mail stopped for a few days and are becoming a little paranoid.

Answer: If you efiled last year, you won’t get a package in the mail. If you need or want a paper form, download them at irs.gov

Post offices and libraries will have them sometime soon, but I haven’t seen them there yet.

Tax Tips for Small Businesses

A few basic ways to stay on the IRS’s good side.

COURT SAYS EBAY IS A CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE. SERIOUSLY