Michael Gray, CPA's Tax and Business Insight

April 8, 2011

© 2011 by Michael C. Gray

ISSN 1539-395X

A monthly report to help you prepare for your financial future, keep more of what you earn by minimizing your taxes, and build an extraordinary business!

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Clive in the bath
Bath time can be fun time for my grandson, Clive Baker.

Only 10 days left in tax season! Time to think about extensions.

There isn’t enough time left to give preparing tax returns the attention they deserve, but we can help a few more new clients with extensions and finish their returns later. To make an appointment, please call Dawn Siemer on Monday, Wednesday or Friday at 408-918-3162.

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April family celebrations.

April is a big birthday month for my family. My daughter, Dawn Siemer, her husband, John, and daughter, Kara, all celebrate birthdays very close together. Kara will be celebrating her fourth birthday. My mother, Eleanor Gray, is celebrating her 89th birthday. Thank God she is still fairly healthy and thinking clearly. With the end of tax season, Easter and birthday celebrations, it’s going to be a busy month.

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Repeal of expanded information return requirements passed by Congress.

Congress has passed H.R. 4, The Comprehensive 1099 Tax Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011. President Obama is expected to approve the Act. The Act repeals expanded information reporting for payments to corporations and payments for goods or other property. (Huge sigh of relief!) The Act also repeals the application of information reporting requirements to operators of rental real estate. (Second big sigh of relief.) The information reporting requirements are the same as they were before the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (federal health care reform) and the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010.

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Extensions - and when you don't have the money to pay the tax.

(This is a reprint from past newsletters.)

What do you do when you don't have the money to pay the tax?

My first recommendation is to file your income tax returns, certified mail, by the initial filing date. One of the nastiest penalties in the IRS's arsenal is for late filing - 5% per month to a maximum of 25%. Some people who owe money don't file their returns because they are afraid. THIS IS A HUGE MISTAKE! The best approach is to be honest about your situation and work with the tax authorities to resolve it.

When you file an extension, any balance of tax due when the tax return is filed represents an exposure for the late filing penalty.

Please don't misunderstand me. I regularly use extensions for my clients and myself as a workload "safety valve." We often don't have the information to complete a return by the due date. They just aren't appropriate when there will be a significant balance due that won't be paid by the original filing due date.

Remember the automatic extension of time to file for 2010 individual income tax returns is for six months to October 15, 2011.

Remember to state a good (high side) estimate of total tax liability for 2009 on line 4 of federal Form 4868 or the extension will be invalid. According to the Treasury regulations for the requirements to file a valid automatic extension request, "an application for extension must show the full amount properly estimated as tax for the taxable year." (Reg. § 1.6081-4(a)(4).) The regulations relating to reasonable cause for failure to file a tax return state that if a taxpayer satisfies the requirement of showing the full amount estimated as tax, the taxpayer has a reasonable cause for failure to file during the extension period provided (1) the excess of the amount of tax shown on the return over the amount of tax paid by the original filing date (including the amount paid with the extension form) is no greater than 10 percent of the amount shown on the return (restated, 90% of the tax is paid by the due date), and (2) any balance due shown on the return is paid with the return. (Reg. § 301.6651-1(c)(3).)

(For California taxpayers, the extension is paperless, so the amount of the tax need not be stated. You are still required to pay at least 90% of the tax by the original due date with Form FTB 3519 to avoid the late filing penalty.)

If you have filed an income tax return for 2009, you can process your federal extension electronically (using tax return preparation software or through a tax return preparer). If you make a tax payment using a credit card, you can extend your income tax return by calling 888-729-1040 or 800-272-9829 by April 18. (For California extension payments, the extension is 1555.) Better call early to beat the rush! Mailing a paper form is still acceptable and is the only way a person who didn't file a 2009 income tax return can request an automatic extension.

You can also make a credit card payment online at www.pay1040.com or www.officialpayments.com. To avoid service charges, you may be able to designate a bank withdrawl on an efiled extension form or use the EFTPS system if you are already set up. California also has a web payment option at www.ftb.ca.gov.

A taxpayer can still avoid the late filing penalty by demonstrating a "reasonable cause," but this can be a hassle and the taxpayer is at the mercy of the subjective judgment of a representative of the tax authority.

Should you borrow using a margin account? In most cases, this is not a good choice because of the exposure to margin calls if the market declines.

Should you use an equity advance loan, secured by your principal residence? In some cases it might be to your advantage, if you can get a favorable interest rate. Remember that interest for an equity loan not used for a home improvement is only deductible on a loan amount up to $100,000. This interest is not deductible when computing the alternative minimum tax.

Remember that IRA accounts and even other retirement accounts can be temporary sources of funds. Distributions from IRAs that aren't minimum required distributions can be rolled over to another IRA or returned to the same IRA within 60 days after a withdrawal. This exception only applies to one rollover per year. (You must wait more than one year after a rollover is completed before making another one.)1

Certain distributions from other qualified plans can also be rolled over within a 60-day period to an IRA or another qualified plan.2 Using IRAs or qualified plans as a temporary source of funds to pay taxes can be useful if the funds to complete the rollover will soon be available, such as when there is a lockout "window" that will soon be open. The cost of an error can be high, because if the rollover isn't completed before 60 days have expired, the distribution may be subject to tax as ordinary income plus a 10% early distribution penalty.3

The IRS has a form for installment agreements, Form 9465. They would prefer that you submit the form with your income tax return. You can take up to five years to pay off your tax liability. An advantage of arranging an installment agreement is the penalty for late payment of tax is reduced from 1/2% per month to 1/4% per month. In addition to penalties, interest is charged for late tax payments. The interest rate is adjusted quarterly. Recently, the rate has been eight percent.

Another alternative is to make an Offer in Compromise, Form 656. With this procedure, the IRS can actually reduce your tax based on your ability to pay. You don't have to wait until you have owed the tax a long time to use this procedure. I think it's best to work with an attorney, CPA or enrolled agent when making an Offer in Compromise. If the amount is large, an attorney is probably the best choice. (This may be an exercise in futility. The IRS has recently been rejecting almost all offers. You are required to make a non-refundable deposit of 20% of the compromised tax in most circumstances. It’s sad, because taxpayers really need this relief.)

Although it may provide relief from your other creditors, bankruptcy doesn't offer much help for recent debts for income taxes. When you make payments on your tax bill, be sure to specify to apply the payments to taxes due. Penalties and interest are dischargeable in bankruptcy, but income taxes aren't.

It may be to your advantage to plan how to use regular tax or alternative minimum tax capital loss carryovers or minimum tax credit carryovers. You might need to generate capital gains, which can be difficult when you're in financial distress.

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What to do when your state is holding refunds.

Some states, such as Hawaii, are holding refunds due to the current cash crunch. Consider making an arrangement to apply the overpayment to next year’s estimated tax and reduce your withholding at work or next year’s estimated tax payments.

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First individual estimated tax payment is due April 18.

(This is a reprint from past newsletters.)

Remember to review your estimated tax situation for 2011.

There is no estimated tax penalty, provided the taxpayer pays at least 90% of the tax (including AMT) on the current year's tax return through withholding and/or equal quarterly estimated tax payments.

For taxpayers who have no more than $150,000 of adjusted gross income ($75,000 for married persons, filing separately) on the previous year's income tax return, there is no penalty for underpayment of estimated tax provided at least the income tax on the previous year's income tax return (including AMT) is paid in equal quarterly estimated tax payments plus withholding.4 For taxpayers who have more than $150,000 of adjusted gross income ($75,000 for married persons, filing separately) on the previous year's income tax return, there is no penalty for underpayment of estimated tax provided at least, for 2010, 110% of the income tax on the previous year's income tax return (including AMT) is paid in equal quarterly estimated tax payments plus withholding.5

Remember, California now requires 30% of the estimated tax liability to be paid for the first quarter of 2010, 40% for the second quarter, none for the third quarter and 30% for the fourth quarter.

Also remember that California now requires taxpayers with more than $1 million of adjusted gross income, or who were required to make electronic payments before, to make their estimated tax payments electronically. The payments can be withdrawn directly from your bank account using Web Pay at www.ftb.ca.gov. Once you do it a couple of times, it won't seem so bad.

When you make payments using a credit card, there is a stiff service charge, so do it sparingly.

Taxpayers who have uneven income and deductions may also compute their estimated tax on an "annualized" basis. You multiply the year to date income and deductions to arrive at amounts for a year, compute the tax for that amount, then pay federal amounts to cumulatively pay in 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 and 100% of those amounts. You should probably get help from a professional tax return preparer to do this. (California wants cumulative amounts of 30%, 70%, 70% and 100%.)

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Last chance to make an IRA or Roth contribution for 2010.

Remember the final due date for IRA and Roth contributions for 2010 is April 18, 2011. We don’t think making an election to have a tax overpayment deposited to an IRA or Roth account is a good idea for income tax returns filed during the last two weeks of tax season. It’s too easy for a refund to be delayed past the due date.

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Have a foreign trust? File Form 3520.

Taxpayers who have foreign trusts should remember that Form 3520 is required to be filed by the due date, including extensions, for your individual income tax return. This can be a good reason to file an extension form. Some taxpayers may be subject to this filing requirement even when the trust is a revocable living trust or grantor trust, such as a Mexican Residence Trust. For more details, see your tax advisor.

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Property tax payment due in California.

The second installment for California real estate property taxes is due on April 10. Avoid the penalty for late payment by mailing your payment on time.

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Financial Insider Weekly broadcast schedule for April and May.

Financial Insider Weekly is broadcast in San Jose and Campbell on Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m., Pacific Time. You can watch it on Comcast channel 15 for San Jose and Campbell. The show is broadcast as streaming video at the same time at www.creatvsj.org.

Here are the scheduled interviews for the rest of April and May:

April 6, Don Pollard, Advanced Professionals, “Business group medical insurance"
April 13, Tom Oviatt, Wymac Capital, “Home mortgage market developments"
April 20, Greg Carpenter, BTI Group M & A, “How to prepare to sell a business"
April 27, Phil Price, EA, The Price Company, “Qualified retirement plans for small businesses"
May 4, Raymond Sheffield, attorney, “Estate planning for retirement accounts"
May 11, Dick Blakely, The Blakely Group, “Setting family financial goals and reaching them"
May 18, William Mahan, Attorney, “Why you need a will"
May 25, William Mahan, Attorney, “Income and estate considerations of how you hold title to property"

Financial Insider Weekly is also broadcast as follows:

Past episodes are available at https://www.youtube.com/user/financialinsiderweek.

Let me know any ideas that you have for topics or guests. Guests will usually have to be located in or near the Silicon Valley in California.

Hope you can watch or record the show. Please tell your friends about it!

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Michael Gray regrets he can no longer personally answer email questions. He will answer selected questions in this newsletter.

For your questions about dependent exemptions, see IRS Publication 501 at www.irs.gov.

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Michael Gray regrets he can no longer personally answer email questions. He will answer selected questions in this newsletter.

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Visit our new articles!

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Follow me on Twitter!

If you enjoy Twitter, please follow me at www.twitter.com/michaelgraycpa. I would especially appreciate retweets of our messages announcing episodes of Financial Insider Weekly.

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I'm also on Facebook and LinkedIn.

you can also follow me on other social media sites, Facebook and LinkedIn.

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If you have employee stock options, have you subscribed to Michael Gray, CPA's Option Alert at no charge or obligation?

To learn more, visit stockoptionadvisors.com/subscribe.shtml

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Real estate investors, have you subscribed to Michael Gray, CPA’s Real Estate Tax Letter at no charge or obligation?

For details, visit www.realestatetaxletter.com

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Check out my blog.

I have also started a blog at www.michaelgraycpa.com. Check it out!

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P.S.

My daughter and her husband, Holly and Dan Baker, have a Southern French Restaurant at 23 Ross Common, Ross, California, about 15 minutes north of the Golden Gate Bridge. The name of the restaurant is Marché Aux Fleurs and their website address is marcheauxfleursrestaurant.com. For the best meal of your life, call 415-925-9200 for a reservation and give them a try! For directions, visit our website at www.taxtrimmers.com/directions.shtml.

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IRS Circular 230 Disclosure: As required by U.S. Treasury Regulations, you are hereby advised that any written tax advice contained in this communication was not written or intended to be used (and cannot be used) by any taxpayer for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.


1 Internal Revenue Code § 408(c)(3) RETURN
2 Internal Revenue Code § 402(c) RETURN
3 Internal Revenue Code § 72(t) RETURN
4 Internal Revenue Code § 6654(d)(1) RETURN
5 Internal Revenue Code § 6654(d)(1)(C) RETURN


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Michael Gray, CPA
2482 Wooding Ct.
San Jose, CA 95128
(408) 918-3162
FAX: (408) 938-0610
Hours: 8am - 5pm PDT Monday - Friday

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