Just had a realtor in my office that had her 2012 tax return prepared by her CPA of many years but felt that they had made some mistakes. She had multiple rental units as well as a successful real estate business.
First red flag was that her mileage on her car was an even 9000 miles and showed no other miles or total miles for the year. I asked her how many miles she drove and she said it was more like 24,000 miles per year. She had just bought a new SUV in 2012 and she could clearly tell her total miles driven. The CPA had used the standard mileage rate of 55.5 cents per mile (given the new SUV this was likely the wrong method to use).
Next problem was that she had a note on this car and paid some $2400 in interest and she had tolls that added up to over $600. If you take the standard mileage rate repeat after me “Standard rate plus business usage of interest expense plus business usage of tolls equals car expense. Many preparers forget to capture the deduction for interest expense and tolls that are added to the standard rate.
Be sure to review your tax return before it is filed. Even the best of us make mistakes and the numbers on the return are your responsibility.
Bill Zumwalt
Helping REALTORS with Tax Solutions and Solving Tax Problems for REALTORS
REALTOR Tax Preparation, REALTOR Tax Accountant, Tax Preparation Tulsa, OK
The Tax Coach for REALTORS
William T Zumwalt CPA,CTC, PLLC
5416 South Yale Ave
Suite 120
Tulsa, OK 74135
918-583-1040
888-773-9323
Bill@TeamZumwalt.com
www.TeamZumwalt.com
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