Tax Laws

  • NYS Tax Department Launches NY’s First Tax Preparer Continuing Education Program

    Continuing education is phase two of New York’s first tax preparer regulations; training is vital because 70% of New Yorkers hire tax preparers each year. The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance today launched the continuing education component of New York’s historic regulations to protect consumers who hire tax preparers.   The training program…

  • IRS Issues Revenue Ruling on Employee Mass Transit Benefits

    The Internal Revenue Service has issued a new revenue ruling, 2014-32, on companies that provide mass transit passes as fringe benefits to employees. The ruling covers eight specific situations, and updates previous guidance on this topic.

  • Most Retirees Need to Take Required Retirement Plan Distributions by Dec. 31

    IRS YouTube Videos: Required Withdrawals from Your IRA: English | Spanish | ASL Podcasts: Required Withdrawals from Your IRA: English | Spanish IR-2014-112, Dec. 8, 2014 WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today reminded taxpayers born before July 1, 1944, that they generally must receive payments from their individual retirement arrangements (IRAs) and workplace retirement…

  • ACA Basics – Hardship Exemptions

    If any of the following circumstances apply to you, you may qualify for a “hardship” exemption from the penalty:

  • Deducting Business Expenses

    One of the thornier questions at tax time centers on what may and may not be deducted as a business expense. The rules change frequently, in response both to new rulings and to policies enacted by the Internal Revenue Service. But the general guidelines are contained in the Publication 535, Business Expenses. Here is a…

  • AICPA Advancing Effort to Secure .CPA Domain on Behalf of Global Accounting Community

    Alliance Formed With CPA Australia on Potential Rollout of Online Identity Tied to CPA Designation November 10, 2014 10:40 AM Eastern Standard Time NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The American Institute of CPAs is working to secure a new .cpa domain extension on the Internet, which would provide a globally recognized calling card for CPAs in the digital…

  • IRS Publishes One-Page Guide to Exemptions to the Health Coverage Requirements of the ACA

    This provides information for taxpayers who qualify for and may claim exemption from minimum essential coverage so that they do not need to make individual shared responsibility payments when they file their federal tax returns. The Congressional Budget Office and Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation estimated in a report they released last week that nearly…

  • Tax Payments Top the One Million Mark with New IRS Direct Pay

    IRS Issue Number:    IR-2014-89 Tax Payments Top the One Million Mark with New IRS Direct Pay; Free Online System Makes it Easy for People to Pay Their Federal Taxes Washington — With more than one million tax payments already processed this year through IRS Direct Pay, the Internal Revenue Service today encouraged anyone facing upcoming tax…

  • Accounting and Tax Prep Among the 15 Most Profitable Industries

     The 15 Industries with the Highest Net Profit Margin – Last 12 Months Based on an analysis of the financial statements of privately-held companies, Sageworks, a financial information company, ranked all industries by net profit margin over the last 12 months and found that accounting services topped the list, with a net profit margin averaging…

  • Microsoft: Windows 7 Support Ending

      At the height of tax season, Microsoft retired Windows XP and announced the debut of Windows 8.1.  Now the company is warning of other major software changes coming in the next six months.