It’s here – the height of tax filing season. That means there are a number of important tax filing deadlines coming up.
March 1, 2010: Yes, that was YESTERDAY. What was due: Paper Form 1099, 1098, W-2G, and associated summary report, Form 1096. For employers filing on paper, you have to submit copies of W-2’s and form W-3 to the government today. If you are filing these electronically, rather than on paper, you have until the end of the month to get them. In other words, if you missed the deadline, just file them electronically.
March 10, 2010: Employees that receive tips, report all tips over $20 to your employer by this date on Form 4070.
March 15, 2010: Corporate tax returns (Form 1120 or 1120S) are due this date. Also, if you are a small corporation wishing to elect treatment as an S corp, this is the due date for filing Form 2553 to make that choice effective for 2010. Also, large partnerships must have their K-1’s out to partners by today. If you have employees and are a monthly depositor, your Federal Tax Deposit is due today.
March 31, 2010: Electronically filed Forms 1099, 1098, W-2G, W-2, W-3, and 1096 due. For those of you that fall under it, your Heavy Vehicle Highway Use Tax is due today along with Form 2290 for heavy vehicles placed on the road in February.
April 12, 2010: Tip reporting time again for employees that earn tips over $20.
April 15, 2010: Individual tax returns are due! If you filed an extension, remember that an extension of time to file is NOT an extension of time to pay. If you are going to owe taxes on your return, you will accrue penalties and interest on that tax liability until you pay it. Also, household employee taxes are due today, as are your first estimated tax payments for 2010 if you are required to make them. On the business side, partnership tax returns, Form 1065, are due today. Monthly depositors with employees – you have another Federal Tax Deposit due today, as well.
April 30, 2010: First quarter Form 941 is due for employers. If your total payroll taxes are under $2500, then pay them with the return today. Also, deposit Federal Unemployment Tax today if it is over $500 due through the end of March.
Fun stuff, eh? Well, if you need help or have questions about any of these taxes, forms, or filing requirements, please feel free to leave a comment below. If it’s a bit more personal in nature, feel free to contact me directly for assistance.
Jassen Bowman
Enrolled Agent
Omni Financial is a tax resolution services firm with offices in Broomfield, CO and Vero Beach, FL. The company was a pioneer in the nationwide tax relief industry after the passage of the Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 that created new tax resolution options for delinquent taxpayers. Omni Financial offers a number of services, such as:
- IRS Installment Agreements
- IRS Offers in Compromise
- Lien Releases
- Levy Releases
- Business financing options
- Asset protection planning
- Business restructuring
The Florida office handles personal tax matters, while the Colorado office handles business tax matters. The BBB record for Omni Financial Florida is located here:
http://www.bbbsoutheastflorida.org/Business-Report/Omni-Financial-30005392
The BBB has processed a total of 71 complaints against Omni Financial in Florida over the past 3 years, and has given them a C- rating.
The Denver BBB has given the Colorado office an A- rating, processing 29 complaints against the company in the past 3 years. The Denver BBB report is located here.
Additional history and complaint information from Omni customers is available at the following places:
RipOff Report: Omni Financial Complaints
Complaints Board: Omni Financial Complaints
This guy used to work here, and details on his blog his ethical issues with the company: Jon Harrington
This blog outlines multiple lawsuits against the company, tax liens filed against the company for failure to pay their own taxes, and much more: Tax Consultants Uncovered
Hopefully, this information will helpful to you in deciding whether or not to hire this firm. There are definitely associates within Omni Financial that do excellent work for their clients, and achieve successful tax resolutions for them. However, as with all consulting services, be sure to do your homework and exercise full due diligence before spending thousands of dollars on such services.
If you have questions about anything that this, or any other firm, might be telling you, particularly from their sales guys calling you on the phone, please feel free to contact me. In other words, feel free to contact me as your “BS filter” if you feel so inclined.
When it comes time to select tax representation, you generally have three options: Attorneys, CPAs, and Enrolled Agents. Each of them brings something a little bit different to the table, and depending on the nature of your IRS problem, you will want to choose wisely.
First, you need to understand that most attorneys do not specialize in tax representation. Even tax attorneys, who specialize in tax matters, normally specialize in tax law, not IRS collections or audit representation. If you are facing a criminal tax investigation or are taking a matter straight to tax court, then an experienced tax attorney is your logical choice. For other types of IRS matters, you will probably need somebody with the accounting background on top of the legal background.
Your next logical person to consider is a CPA, and depending upon the nature of your IRS issue, a CPA is the way to go. If your tax problem is primarily based on direct accounting matters, such as justifying mathematical calculations, validating specific deductions or income items, or filing missing returns, then a CPA is probably the person you need.
You will most likely want to secure the services of an Enrolled Agent if your tax problems involve any of the following:
- General audit investigation covering multiple years
- Collections action from a Revenue Officer (field collections agent)
- Any sort of administrative Appeals involvement
- Liens, levies, wage garnishments, etc. that you need released
- Payroll tax issues
- Attempting to reduce penalties
- Filing an Offer in Compromise
An Enrolled Agent is specifically licensed directly by the U.S. Treasury Department to represent taxpayers on matters involving issues like those listed above, and is generally more experienced than CPA’s and attorneys in regards to these specific issues.
In my upcoming book (to be published soon) about resolving your IRS issues on your own, I’ll be writing very specifically about the issues listed above. The book will be able to help you wisely select your representative if you decide not to pursue tax resolution on your own (which, for complicated cases, I really don’t recommend).
I hope this provides some basic help in selecting the type of licensed representative to help with your IRS problems. Most important of all — make sure the person working your case really is licensed. There are a lot of companies in my industry that employ unlicensed representatives to work your case, so beware of this.
Until next time,
Jassen Bowman
Let’s take a hypothetical situation. Let’s say you owe the IRS a small bank vault of back taxes. Let’s also say that your own bank vault happens to be empty, and next the IRS is coming to seize your cardboard box from the alley you sleep in. You need help, and you need it fast.
When it comes down to choosing who is going to represent you in front of the IRS, you have some decisions to make. A big one is what kind of representation you’re looking for. For all intents and purposes, your choices are a CPA, an enrolled agent, or an attorney. In other words, your choices are a number cruncher, a tax expert, or, well, ya know, one of those folks that’s the butt of the best jokes ever written. :p
So, back to our scenario. When your fighting back against the IRS, pick the guy you want on your side:
The CPA:
The Lawyer:
The Enrolled Agent:
Granted, these are just stereotypes, and we all know how accurate stereotypes are…but still….I’m just sayin! 
Being a tax wonk and a statistics junkie, I’m highly intrigued by data such as this:
New data released by the IRS today offers interesting insights into the distributional spread of the federal income tax burden, new analysis by the Tax Foundation shows. The new data shows that the top-earning 25% of taxpayers (AGI over $62,068) earned 67.5% of the nation’s income, but they paid more than four out of every five dollars collected by the federal income tax (86%). The top 1% of taxpayers (AGI over $364,657) earned approximately 21.2% of the nation’s income (as defined by AGI), yet paid 39.4% of all federal income taxes. That means the top 1% of tax returns paid about the same amount of federal individual income taxes as the bottom 95% of tax returns.
So, what does that mean? In short, it means that rich people are the one that support the vast majority of all federal programs. The top 1% of all income earners paid in 95% of all total taxes collected by the federal government.
The reason I like to point this out is because, as a tax preparer and tax consultant, I hear a lot of people complain about the tax breaks that rich people get. However, it really just isn’t so. A huge example is that the Earned Income Credit that lower income families receive, which is the credit that enables them to receive thousands of dollars in tax refunds every year beyond the tax liablility they had had, is actually PAID FOR BY RICH PEOPLE. Yes, the money has to come from somewhere in the IRS system, and it comes from other taxpayers.
The other thing I like to point out is that rich people are usually the folks that own the businesses that the rest of us work for. In other words, the wealthy, evil rich people and evil, wealthy corporations are the ones that provide the rest of us with a job. Working that job is a voluntary arrangement, so if we don’t like it, we’re welcome to leave.
That right there is the reality of our economic and tax situation. So, the next time you hear somebody complaining about how unfair the system is, keep these things in mind. Particularly with the earned income credit, the IRS is acting as a wealth distribution service to GIVE FREE MONEY to lower income families that was taken from higher income families that actually EARNED that money.
There’s the old saying, “Don’t steal, the government hates competition,” and I personally believe it’s true. The system will never be fair, but it’s actually quite balanced. Lower income earners get free money they never earned, and higher income earners, through their businesses, get significant tax write-offs that not everybody does.
Thus ends my rant for the day.
Be happy, be great!
Jassen Bowman, EA