June 2006 Newsletter continued

EDITOR'S NOTE:  Should you have questions with respect to the information contained in this newsletter or need help with your personal or business financial, tax and accounting activities, please call.

This newsletter offers factual and up-to-date information on the subjects discussed, but should not be regarded as a complete analysis of these subjects.  No party assumes liability for any loss or damage resulting from reliance or use of this material.

  • 2nd quarter individual & corporate estimated tax payment due 6-15-2006.

 

incomers applies for tax years 2008-2010.

 

Current year code section 179 (the amount of business asset purchases that can be expensed in one year rather than depreciated) expensing will remain in place.  The scheduled decline to $25,000 is now postponed until 2010.

IRS audits for sole proprietors on rise

IRS is examining more sole proprietors.  In fiscal year 2005, the IRS audited 3.68% of Schedule C filers with gross receipts of less than $25,000 for a total of 118,000 exams.  That is up significantly from 2004.  For sole proprietors who gross receipts are $100,000 or more, one out of every 27 filers was audited, almost double the audit rate for 2004.

Dependent tax strategy

Since there is no more support test for claiming a dependency exemption for a child, a sibling can claim a brother or sister if the parents do not.  This can pay off if a college graduate returns to live at home and has a job.  If the parents make too much to take a full exemption for a younger child living at home, the older child can claim the younger one as a dependent and can qualify for the child tax credit and earned income credit.