WE MOVED OUR BLOG

Still the same great information so come check it out: CLICK HERE

WATCH WHAT YOU PUT ON A CREDIT APPLICATION

IRS may use it against you, as a woman who ran a cash-intensive massage therapy business at home discovered.  She failed to file tax returns and didn’t cooperate with the Service during the audit.  IRS reconstructed her income, relying on the income she listed on a credit application she filed with a bank. The Tax Court sided with IRS (Trescott, TC Memo. 2012-321).

NEBRASKA INHERITANCE TAX

I recently had a question on the Nebraska inheritance rates. The rate depends on who is inheriting your estate. For example, if a part of your estate goes to a nephew, the county gets a 13% tax.

NEBRASKA INHERITANCE TAX AS OF AUGUST 16, 2012

	Exemption	Rate
Surviving Spouse	All	0%
Class 1 – Near Relatives Father Mother Grandfather Grandmother Brother Sister Son Daughter Child Children legally adopted Grandchild Any lineal descendent Any person to whom the deceased for not less than 10 years prior to death stood in the acknowledger relation of a parent Spouse of any of the personal listed above Surviving spouse of any of the persons named above	40,000.00	1%
Class 2 – Distant Relatives Uncle Aunt Niece Nephew Any of the above related by adoption Lineal descendents of the above (first cousin) Spouse of surviving spouse of any of the above	15,000.00	13%
Class 3 – All Other Inheritances More distant relatives Second cousin Great-Uncle Great-Aunt Great-grandparent Unrelated people		18%

All states are different and there is talk in the Nebraska legislature and by the governor of some changes.

We will keep you posted.

MOVING OUT OF CALIFORNIA

I am sure you have heard about Mickelson saying publicly about moving from California to a state with no income tax, check out this article on The Wall Street Journal that discusses why California residents are doing just that…moving out

HOW TO TRACK YOUR TAX REFUND

After taxpayers file a return, they can track the status of the refund with the "Where's My Refund?" tool available on the IRS.gov website. New this year, instead of an estimated date, "Where's My Refund?" will give people an actual personalized refund date after the IRS processes the tax return and approves the refund.

"Where's My Refund?" will be available for use after the IRS starts processing tax returns on January 30th. Here are some tips for using "Where's My Refund?' after it is available on January 30th:

• Initial information will generally be available within 24 hours after the IRS receives the taxpayer's e-filed return or four weeks after mailing a paper return.
• The system updates every 24 hours, usually overnight. There is no need to check more than once a day.
• "Where's My Refund?" provides the most accurate and complete information that the IRS has about the refund, so there is no need to call the IRS unless the web tool says to do so.

To use the "Where's My Refund?" tool, taxpayers need to have a copy of their tax return for reference. Taxpayers will need their social security number, filing status and the exact dollar amount of the refund they are expecting.

SCIENCE GOES WILD #4

And, finally, the last of the Ig Nobel prize winners:

Researchers looked at the how liquids slosh, to find out what occurs when someone walks around while carrying a cup of coffee.

Two researchers discovered that chimpanzees can identify other chimpanzees individually from seeing photographs of their rear ends.

It will be interesting to see next year's winners!

IRS REMINDER ON PHONY WEBSITES

The IRS just posted a tax tip on phony IRS websites. It is worth the couple minutes it takes to read.

DON'T FALL FOR PHONY IRS WEBSITES

The Internal Revenue Service is issuing a warning about a new tax scam that uses a website that mimics the IRS e-Services online registration page.

The actual IRS e-Services page offers web-based products for tax preparers, not the general public. The phony web page looks almost identical to the real one.

The IRS gets many reports of fake websites like this. Criminals use these sites to lure people into providing personal and financial information that may be used to steal the victim’s money or identity.

The address of the official IRS website is www.irs.gov. Don’t be misled by sites claiming to be the IRS but ending in .com, .net, .org or other designations instead of .gov.

If you find a suspicious website that claims to be the IRS, send the site’s URL by email to phishing@irs.gov. Use the subject line, 'Suspicious website'.

Be aware that the IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email to request personal or financial information. This includes any type of electronic communication, such as text messages and social media channels.

If you get an unsolicited email that appears to be from the IRS, report it by sending it to phishing@irs.gov.

The IRS has information at www.irs.govthat can help you protect yourself from tax scams of all kinds. Search the site using the term “phishing.”

Links:

• Suspicious e-Mails and Identity Theft
• Reporting Phishing
• Identity Theft resource page
• Publication 4523, Beware of Phishing Schemes (PDF)

IRS YouTube Videos:

• Phishing-Malware - English | Spanish | ASL

IRS Podcasts:
Protect Yourself From Identity Theft - English| Spanish