tax problems for realtors: Some Rural Areas Face Loss of Federal Loans
- 09/23/13 11:14 PM
The number of communities defined as rural for purposes of US Rural Housing Service (RHS) programs is poised to fall at the start of the new federal fiscal year, which is October 1st, because of changes to the way rural communities are defined. As a result, households in some communities could lose access to the Sec 502 and other housing loan programs. Congress passed two earlier one-year extensions at NAR’s request, and the association is working with members of Congress to extend it once more, but it’s unclear whether an extension can be secured before the end of the fiscal year. … (1 comments)
tax problems for realtors: We are Having a Party!!
- 09/23/13 10:30 PM
On October 1st at The Golf Club of Oklahoma we are hosting a three hour seminar presented by National Speaker Dick Betts. For the last 13 years he has traveled North America presenting to all types of businesses. His down-to-earth style of speaking and understanding the subject material he covers has led Dick to be one of the industry’s top speakers. Dick’s topics include Mobile Technology ( he’s known as the guru of Smartphones); Web Presence/Marketing, and Business Management. He understands the Facebook Generation and how to market on the web to reach your intended audience. When Dick visits Tulsa he … (1 comments)
tax problems for realtors: Having a Great Year Part 2
- 09/22/13 11:09 PM
With that great year you should consider whether or not you need a new car. If so do not forget about the 50% bonus depreciation on new vehicles. Bring your mileage logs up to date. Do you need the new IPhone released a few days ago or a new laptop? How’s your supply of signs and riders? Purchases between now and the end of the year will reduce your taxes. Most of all, call your tax guy or gal and make an appointment. Send him your estimate of your income and expenses before hand so they can be prepared . Ask … (0 comments)
tax problems for realtors: Are You Having a Great Year?
- 09/22/13 11:00 PM
Real estate has been making some real comebacks and this year is no exception. How about you? Are you having an exceptional year too? Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if you’re having a great year, so is the IRS and at your expense. Stop! Right now! With three months left in the year you have a pretty good idea what your commissions are going to be for the entire year. First of all, go back to your calendar and make sure you have records of all your meals, tolls, car washes. Be sure to separate … (1 comments)
tax problems for realtors: Deducting a Motorhome
- 09/20/13 12:35 AM
There are two problems when using a motorhome. The motorhome is both a traveling hotel that can be deducted and it is a form of transportation which has business miles that make it a deduction. Would you believe that you can write off up to $$108,000 if it has a gross vehicle weight rating of over 14,000 lbs. Once again you have to have a mileage log to prove business use as a mode of transportation. To be able to qualify the motorhome as a transient hotel you must show: 1) The motorhome eliminates the need for a hotel and 2) … (2 comments)
tax problems for realtors: Mileage Logs – Don’t Leave Home Without It
- 09/19/13 11:31 PM
The biggest disaster you will ever see, if audited, will be not having a mileage log. I know it is a pain to keep but that two minutes a day can save you thousands of dollars and a whole lot of grief. Here’s an example of what can happen. Molly is being audited by the IRS. She is a successful agent whole deducts her actual expenses on her car she uses in business. She spends $6,575 for gas, $1,500 for insurance, tolls of $500, repairs, $2,000, new tires $1,000, and here depreciation for the SUV was $25,000. That’s a grand total … (3 comments)
tax problems for realtors: Fall is Football so how does that Affect Me?
- 09/18/13 10:57 PM
Well the obvious would be the tailgating with friends. But how does this fit into your real estate business? Well think of it like this. In football there are two competing sources - Offense and Defense. The offense is trying to score as many points as possible while the opposing defense is trying to keep you from scoring. Kind of like tow Rams butting heads. So how does that relate to your business. First of all think of your offense as trying to make as much money as you can. Marketing planning to increase sales and referrals.. Now that you are … (1 comments)
tax problems for realtors: Talk about Abuse of Power - IRS Agent Sentenced to Prison
- 09/18/13 10:38 PM
This past week a former IRS agent was sentenced to 12 months in prison, 12 months of supervised release and $20,000 fine. Jeanne L Gavin ran her own tax business that she had on the side from her IRS position. Apparently, Miss Gavin was committing criminal conflict of Interest. She was a supervisor in the Baton Rouge, La. Office were she supervised about 10 revenue agents. This agent asked her subordinates to access IRS records on over 2,000 occasions while preparing tax returns for her clients. The prosecutor made the point that Gavin had defrauded her subordinates by leading them to … (0 comments)
tax problems for realtors: Clean Out That Closet!
- 09/18/13 12:27 AM
The IRS can audit the last 3 tax years that have been filed. So once you file your 2012 taxes you will need to also keep 2010 & 2011. If you under report your income (by more than 25%) you need to keep your records 6 years. Julie Morgenstern, author of Organizing From the Inside Out, suggests archiving tax documents in a rotating six year file: “Outfit a banker’s box with six box-bottom file folders labeled Years 1 through 6 (rather than by the year itself to avoid having to label annually). Keep last year’s tax records and related receipts in … (0 comments)
tax problems for realtors: When the IRS Comes a-Knockin'
- 09/17/13 11:00 PM
If you get an IRS audit notice, you probably expect to spend hours responding to endless document requests, visiting bland government offices, and meeting with faceless bureaucrats. You might hope you get lucky and find yourself assigned to a pleasant, friendly examiner, one who acknowledges how intrusive and annoying the audit process can be. But you certainly wouldn't expect to wind up in bed with the auditor! Vincent Burroughs is a 40ish contractor and amateur motorcycle racer in Fall Creek, Oregon. When the economy collapsed in 2008, his business suffered and he got behind on his taxes. In 2011, the IRS … (0 comments)
tax problems for realtors: Buying Antiques for Office Furniture
- 09/16/13 11:32 PM
Due to our growth over the past few years we need larger office space. We have been looking for about six months at Class A space that is being built in South Tulsa. But we decided that while new buildings were very nice, we needed more space not more rent. So we found space in our current building. We will just be moving across the hall and not across town. The space is on the ground floor, which we like, and it has its own private outside entrance as well as an entrance from inside the building. Of course with more … (0 comments)
tax problems for realtors: When to do Tax Planning
- 09/16/13 11:11 PM
I hear from a lot of agents from all over the US and it sounds like most everyone is have a very good year. This, of course, means that the IRS is having a banner year as well. Best thing as real estate agents you can do is to start planning now. This begins with a forecast of your income for the last 8 months. If your commissions are up 20% than you can expect your net income for 2013 will be 20% higher than last year. Call your tax pro and ask him to project your tax liability for the year … (0 comments)
tax problems for realtors: Quarterly Estimates Due September 16th 2013
- 09/15/13 11:44 PM
Just a friendly reminder for those who have to make quarterly tax payments. The September 16th 2013 deadline for estimated tax payments is here. Team Zumwalt provides taxpayers an easy way to pay their federal estimated tax payment electronically using their credit or debit card. Taxpayers can go to www.1040PayTax.com at any time to make their payment. Remember that most tax preparers used the 2012 tax liability and divided by 4. So if your federal tax liability was $10,000 they just divided that by 4 and came up with $2500 for your quarterly payments. Problem is that your income for 2013 will … (0 comments)
tax problems for realtors: Guilty Until you Prove Yourself Innocent
- 09/15/13 11:21 PM
With all our freedoms we have as this great nation, it has always confounded me how when dealing with the IRS you are guilty until you prove yourself innocent. Since taxes are one of your largest expenses it would seem that realtors would pay closer attention to this money eating machine. I see many times when an agent just guesses at his business mileage and uses 100 percent for business usage. This is a house cards that will fall down and cost you a lot of money if signaled out by our taxing authority. It just takes a couple of minutes … (2 comments)
tax problems for realtors: When Bragging is Stupid
- 09/13/13 03:02 AM
Let's imagine, just for a minute, that you decided on a new line of work: ripping off the IRS. How do you think you would launch your new business? Maybe you'd open a secret bank account in one of those "sunny places for shady people" like the Cayman Islands or Bahamas. You might rent a secret flop house where you could hide evidence of your crimes. And you'd probably look for someone who could make you a fake passport, just in case the heat comes down and you have to flee the country under a secret identity. You probably wouldn't post … (0 comments)
tax problems for realtors: It's Friday the 13th, How About Some Fun Facts?
- 09/13/13 02:18 AM
When most of us think "taxes," we think of federal taxes -- the IRS, Form 1040, and everyone's favorite holiday, April 15. It's true that the IRS is full of Very Serious People collecting Very Serious Taxes. But we can't forget state and local governments either. They collect their fair share of serious taxes -- but they impose some pretty silly tax laws, too. Here are some of our favorites:
California offers a tax exemption for income you receive to settle claims arising out of the Armenian genocide. If you or your ancestors were persecuted by the Ottoman Turkish Empire between 1915 … (3 comments)
tax problems for realtors: Another Audit Risk
- 09/11/13 11:26 PM
When it comes to audits, our friends at the IRS are interested in examining returns as accurately as possible. (No, they're not just interested in squeezing out more tax, and some audits actually result in refunds.) So the folks in the Small Business/Self-Employed area have compiled a series of Audit Technique Guides to help examiners with insight into issues and accounting methods unique to specific industries. As the IRS explains, "ATGs explain industry-specific examination techniques and include common, as well as unique, industry issues, business practices and terminology. Guidance is also provided on the examination of income, interview techniques and evaluation … (0 comments)
tax problems for realtors: So Got Talent or you a Genius
- 09/11/13 10:06 PM
Our world is full of modern conveniences that make life easier or more pleasant. Central air conditioning, of course, Zero Coke, for sure. But for sheer time-wasting, brain-numbing power nothing beats the internet. If my kids took all the time they waste onYouTube videos and channeled it into something productive, they would be absolute prodigies.
Of course, we adults can find our own sorts of distractions. I’m not a Twitter user myself, but on Tuesday, I came across a hysterical Twitter feed purportedly repeating gossip and comments overheard on the elevators at Goldman Sachs. It’s so thoroughly offensive I don’t dare link … (1 comments)
tax problems for realtors: Spice up Your Sales Meetings
- 09/11/13 12:46 AM
A Seattle company had become so bogged down by meeting blues – so much so that everyone dreaded their monthly meetings. To make the meetings more fun and inviting, several people organized tournaments, which are played at the end of the meeting. Most popular is Boggle, a game where you try to create words out of jumbled letters. The tournaments have proven to be both fun and engaging for the staff.
Might want to give this a try at your next sales meeting! Bill Zumwalt Helping REALTORS with Tax Solutions and Solving Tax Problems for REALTORS REALTOR Tax Preparation, REALTOR Tax Accountant, Tax Preparation … (0 comments)
tax problems for realtors: Changing to an LLC or S Corp, One Potential Problem
- 09/11/13 12:28 AM
If you have just converted to an LLC or S corp be aware that you need to go an additional step to avoid a big problem. This tip is also for established LLCs or S Corps. Be sure to have your commission checks assigned to your new entity. This will mean that your commissions will show up on a 1099 with the correct employer identification number or EIN. If you forget to do this then your commissions will be made out to your social security number. The IRS computer will not find your commissions reported on your tax return and they … (2 comments)
The number of communities defined as rural for purposes of US Rural Housing Service (RHS) programs is poised to fall at the start of the new federal fiscal year, which is October 1st, because of changes to the way rural communities are defined. As a result, households in some communities could lose access to the Sec 502 and other housing loan programs. Congress passed two earlier one-year extensions at NAR’s request, and the association is working with members of Congress to extend it once more, but it’s unclear whether an extension can be secured before the end of the fiscal year.
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