Taxable Talk

Linda Stiff, Deputy Commissioner of the IRS, speaks to Americans that they may need to file a tax return in order to get the stimulus/rebate payment. Here's the video:

The IRS today released the schedule of when the stimulus payments will be received:

By Direct Deposit:

Last Two SSN Digits	Payment Will be Transmitted By:
00 through 20	May 2
21 through 75	May 9
76 through 99	May 16

By Paper Check:

Last Two SSN Digits	Payments will be mailed by:
00 through 09	May 16
10 through 18	May 23
19 through 25	May 30
26 through 38	June 6
39 through 51	June 13
52 through 63	June 20
64 through 75	June 27
76 through 87	July 4
88 through 99	July 11

More here from the IRS.

One of my favorite television shows is Get Smart. In the episode called "The Decoy," Maxwell Smart is brainwashed back to his childhood, is doing multiplication tables, and can't figure out that 7 x 2 = 14. It's one thing for a character not being able to complete that equation; it's another thing for an accountant to not be able to add or subtract correctly...on Form 1040-EZ.

Yet the IRS announced that there were 1,161 errors made on Form 1040-EZ, including "Amounts in the payments section was added incorrectly: 30." Of course, these were returns done on paper. It's hard for me to imagine a paid preparer messing up the easiest tax form around. Unfortunately, it's true.

Joe Kristan has more.

A good friend of mine called me late this afternoon and asked me for a referral. I asked him what he needed, and he told me, "Your side business." I'm a writer (and I'm certain he knew that), so this made no sense. After I expressed my bewilderment he said, "Can't you provide me with the same kind of service you did for Eliot Spitzer?"

Ah yes, the Governor of New York. Mr. Spitzer, a Democrat who decided to partake of the world's oldest profession, chose a rather expensive prostitution ring. He apparently paid somewhere between $1000 to $4300 an hour, and may have spent $80,000 of his own money.

So why did my friend call me? He had heard that the ringleader of the prostitution ring (called the Emperors Club VIP) was an Enrolled Agent. Of course, ABC gets some details of what an Enrolled Agent is wrong:

"He is also a licensed "enrolled agent" of the IRS, spokesman Rob Marvin confirmed. That means Brener was allowed to prepare and submit other people's taxes, represent others in tax court and in negotiations with the IRS, and receive information directly from the IRS on behalf of others."

For the record, an Enrolled Agent represents taxpayers before the IRS; we are not employees of the IRS. We do prepare tax returns and represent individuals and businesses in negotiations with the IRS and other tax agencies.

I had to disappoint my friend; I didn't have a Kristen to send his way. My side business doesn't earn me $4000 an hour in illegal income. Unless your name is Tom Clancy or John Grisham writers just don't make that kind of money.

On the positive side, at least Enrolled Agents are making the news....

Section 1031 exchanges are complex. The IRS has just released a fact sheet on these exchanges. These exchanges are used to defer gains on real estate.

Hat tip: Roth Tax Updates

If I told you that $1 equals $300, you'd rightly tell me that I need to take remedial math. However, there is an instance where that's the case.

The IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2008-21 yesterday. This Revenue Procedure allows an individual to add $1 as Adjusted Gross Income when that individual would normally have $0.

Why would you do that? So that you can electronically file and get the tax rebate (stimulus) payment this Spring of $300. Joe Kristan has more.