Category Archives: General

General

IRS Figures Reflect Improvements In Economy

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In a report released on August 28th, the IRS reported that individual income reported in 2012 jumped by 8.7% over the year before, and the number of tax returns reporting Unemployment Benefits dropped by an encouraging 22.9%, and cancellation of debt income, common in foreclosures or short sales, fell by nearly 10%.

Both of these statistics point to an economy that is slowly improving overall, since people are making more money, less of which is made up of unemployment benefits, which points to rising wages and decreased unemployment.

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.

Summer Is Passing Quickly

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Winter this year seemed to hold on extra hard, then we had a month of torrential rain, and just as the weather is getting nice, it’s already time for the State Fair.

This also means that corporate, partnership, trust and estate tax returns that are on extension are due in a mere three weeks. If you’ve not gotten started putting that information together, now is the time to start.

As fall approaches, this is also a good time to consider tax planning for the year. With more than half the year passed, projections now can provide great insight both into how your taxes will look come next April, as well as reveal tax saving possibilities with time to get them implemented.

Lastly, if you have kids going off to college this fall, know that there can be some great tax breaks to dull the pain of college expenses. Keep your receipts for required books and fees, and those, along with a 1098-T that the college will send in January, will allow your CPA to get the most out of education tax savings.

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.

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.

IRS Warns of Tax Scams

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Each year, the IRS publishes a list of the 12 most pervasive tax-related scams, nicknamed the “Dirty Dozen”.  For 2014, 3 of them involve some form of identity theft.

Basic identity theft is something many people don’t associate with taxes, but mostly with thieves opening credit cards, taking out loans, or fraudulently using stolen bank information to make purchases.  For the past few years though, fraudsters have been using the IRS E-File system, along with the direct deposit option for refunds, to file fraudulent tax returns, claim false income and withholding, and get refunds deposited to their accounts before the IRS or taxpayer can take notice.  Most only find out once they try to file their own, legitimate tax return and find that one has already been filed.

The next two are the same scam in different forms.  The scammers reach out to taxpayers, either via phone or e-mail, and try to trick their targets into revealing personal information about themselves that can then be used to steal the victim’s identity.  These scams have become increasingly complex in the last couple of years, with scammers now “spoofing” caller ID systems to show the call is coming from a legitimate IRS call center, and that e-mails are coming from actual IRS e-mail addresses.

The best defense in these cases is still a good offense.  Shred or otherwise destroy any documents that you no longer need and which have your name, address, date of birth, or especially social security number on them. Keep documents you need to retain with that kind of information in a safe place.

Know that the IRS almost always reaches out via a letter through the mail, and not via phone or e-mail.  If you get a call or e-mail stating it’s from the IRS and you have no reason to think they would be trying to get in touch with you, don’t provide any information, and instead call the IRS back on one of their published contact numbers, such as 1-800-829-1040, to confirm the contact is legitimate.

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.

Best Wishes!

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For any of you that have been through our doors over the last couple of decades, you’ve probably at least met Margie Horning.  After a long, highly accomplished career in public accounting, with the great majority of it spent at Ramsay, Margie has decided it’s time to retire.

Margie has added a great deal of depth to our knowledge over the years, especially in the areas of estate, trust, and high net worth individuals. She has a nearly unbelievable memory for detail, and has mentored all of the associates that have passed through the firm, including those that are here today.

Her presence will be missed, but she has certainly earned some time with her family.  To Margie, we send best wishes for a retirement that is exciting as the career that came before it.

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.