Cincinnati Tax Problem Attorney Blog

The Senate finally passed a test vote that will allow increased Medicaid funding for the first half of 2011 to pass Congress after the House returns from its August recess. GOP Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, both from Maine, joined Senate Democrats to end debate on the legislation that will provide states with billions of dollars to shore up their Medicaid programs and prevent layoffs and program cuts.

In a letter to a member of Congress, the Internal Revenue Service recently re-iterated its position that the costs related to buying, training, and maintaining a service animal may be a deductible medical expense for a taxpayer. The tests regarding the deductibility of expenses for service animals are not different from other expenses that qualify for medical expense deduction.

Paul A. Nidich
http://paulnidich.webs.com/

Taxpayers can have major problems with the Internal Revenue Service when someone steals their social security number and gives it to their employer. The key is two-fold: protect your social security number from theft and respond aggressively to any notification by the IRS.

If you get this notification, immediately take the following action:

Continue reading "Tax Problem -- Identity Theft -- Someone Stole My Social Security Number" »

Employers are required to withhold three types of taxes from their employees' paychecks: income tax, social security tax, and Medicare tax. Depending upon the size of the business and the payroll, employers are then required to pay over to the government these withheld taxes within certain time periods.

Many employers who are having cash flow problems are tempted not to pay these withheld taxes to the government. Those that fall prey to this temptation instead use the withheld money to try to keep their businesses afloat. Not only is this illegal, but the IRS will usually catch up with these businesses and assert a civil trust fund recovery penalty against all people in the business whom it thinks fits the definition of a "responsible person."

Continue reading "Tax Problem -- Trust Fund Recovery Penalty" »

Employers received two new potential tax benefits in recent legislation signed by President Obama. The Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (HIRE) created two new incentives to encourage employers to hire and retain unemployed workers.

The second incentive, a general business tax credit, would be allowed to businesses who retain the newly hired employee for a period of at least one year. The credit will be worth up to $1,000 per employee and will be taken on the employer's 2011 income tax returns.

Continue reading "New Tax Benefits for Employers" »