Monthly Archives: June 2014

Great Miscalculations

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When you spend your days working with numbers, you become familiar with miscalculations. Something is coded as travel expense when it’s really a meal, someone transposed a 5 and an 8, and you’d swear that 7 really looked like a 1. All of these are things we need to get right in our business, the same way engineers need to be exact in their calculations and contractors measure twice and cut once.

Once in a while though, everyone makes a misstep in the process, most times it’s caught, rarely it’s not. This article, inspired by an order of trains by the French that are too wide for most of the platforms in the stations, describes a few of the more humerus ones, proving asking “does this make sense” is usually the right thing to do. It’s from the BBC, so please excuse the British English.

About the author

Brady is the owner of Ramsay & Associates. He specializes in financial statement preparation and personal, fiduciary and corporate tax and accounting.

His professional experience includes seven years' experience for local and national CPA firms before joining Ramsay & Associates in 2006.

He has a Bachelor of Accounting degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth. He is a Certified Public Accountant, a member of the Minnesota Society of CPA's, an Eagle Scout, as well as an active volunteer in the community.

Minnesota Property Tax Refund

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During the last few weeks of the legislative session, the legislature passed, and Governor Dayton signed, a bill that will provide additional property tax refunds for those that qualify.

For renters, the amount of the refund they will receive will increase by 6%, while homeowners will see a 3% increase.  There is no change in who is eligible for the refunds, just more money for those that already do.

For those who have already completed their property tax returns, nothing more needs to be done.  The Department of Revenue will recalculate the additional refund and send the correct amount along with a letter explaining the calculation. Property tax returns filed going forward will be correct from the outset.

The Department will also be sending letters to those taxpayers that appear to qualify for the refund but haven’t filed a 2011 or 2012 property tax return. We make a habit of checking to see which of our clients will qualify, but if you do get a notice from them, please let us know.

About the author

Brady is the owner of Ramsay & Associates. He specializes in financial statement preparation and personal, fiduciary and corporate tax and accounting.

His professional experience includes seven years' experience for local and national CPA firms before joining Ramsay & Associates in 2006.

He has a Bachelor of Accounting degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth. He is a Certified Public Accountant, a member of the Minnesota Society of CPA's, an Eagle Scout, as well as an active volunteer in the community.

Beware of Unqualified Tax Professionals

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There is an odd fact most people don’t know about tax professionals. Unlike doctors, attorneys, or other professionals, there is no requirement for someone to have a certain level of education, training, or a license to prepare tax returns. In fact, unless a court bars someone from preparing tax returns, recent developments mean the IRS can’t prevent someone from preparing tax returns for the public, even if they have been disciplined or fined by the IRS in the past.

How do you choose a reputable tax professional? The Minnesota Society of Certified Public Accountants, MNCPA, has a great resource on the benefits of using a CPA and questions to ask when interviewing potential tax professionals.

About the author

Brady is the owner of Ramsay & Associates. He specializes in financial statement preparation and personal, fiduciary and corporate tax and accounting.

His professional experience includes seven years' experience for local and national CPA firms before joining Ramsay & Associates in 2006.

He has a Bachelor of Accounting degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth. He is a Certified Public Accountant, a member of the Minnesota Society of CPA's, an Eagle Scout, as well as an active volunteer in the community.