The IRS recently reported that they have selected four new members and one chairman for the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee (ETAAC).

Organizing and discussing electronic tax administration issues as well as assisting with communication between tax professionals and the IRS via electronic interaction is what the ETAAC does.

David R. Williams, the director of the IRS Return Preparer Office, had this to say, “ETAAC provides the IRS with valuable input regarding the development and implementation of effective electronic tax administration. The IRS is pleased with the continued support of the committee.”

These new members are taking over for the members whose terms have ended. All of the new members have promised to maintained the continuity of the ETAAC. These new members are:

Timothy Blevins, Mayetta, Kansas: Timothy is a consultant with CGI’s Tax, Revenue, and Collections Center of Excellence. Timothy has more than 30 years of experience in the performance, management and improvement efforts of government information technology solutions with the Kansas Department of Revenue: Division of Taxation and Division of Motor Vehicles.

Cyrus Daftary, Newton, Massachusetts: Cyrus is a partner with Burt, Staples & Maner, LLP. His responsibilities include: consulting with multi-national corporations and financial institutions on their compliance in the IRS tax withholding and information return reporting rules, developing and implementing tax software solutions for withholding and information return reporting, and authoring a three series treaty on E-Commerce.

Yasmine (Mimi) Nolan, Kansas City, Missouri: Mimi is the director of Tax Forms Management with H&R Block. She develops tax software, validates tax calculation software, and tests tax law changes for regulatory accuracy. She is responsible for a team that monitors and analyzes changes to the federal and state income tax forms, as well as electronic filing development, tax forms management, and quality assurance in systems development. Nolan is a member of National Association of Computerized Tax Processors.

Timur Taluy, Oxnard, California: Timur is the CEO of FileYourTaxes.com. He is responsible for the development of the user interface, the secure external interface and tax intelligence platform. He also supervises the activity that contributes to the accuracy of the final tax product. He is a member of Council for Electronic Revenue Communication Advancement.

Mark Steber, Sarasota, Florida: Mark will serve as Chairman of ETAAC for the 2011-2012 term. Mark is a CPA and the chief tax officer for Jackson-Hewitt Tax Service. He has more than 25 years of experience in the tax industry and is responsible for the overall tax service delivery compliance. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

The ETAAC sends reports to Congress regarding the progress of IRS electronic tax enterprises every June. The ETAAC began in 1998 by the IRS Electronic Tax Administration. The IRS was required to set up the ETAAC because of the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998.

Daniel Stoica Accounting Professional

Maintaining a small business accounting system can be daunting for small business owners. Meticulous records must be kept at all times, which is a task that many businesses owners lack knowledge or experience in.

Most business owners like to keep their records themselves, but without the proper training in accounting, it could end up hurting their business; that’s why hiring a professional will save money in the long run.

There are four types of professionals that can help a small business owner with their accounting needs.

Bookkeeper

A bookkeeper is a professional who takes care of everyday accounting. These professionals handle the daily accounts payable and accounts receivable, as well as manage the general ledger and prepare tax records.

Accountant

A Certified Public Accountant, or CPA, has a certification in accounting and can handle daily bookkeeping along with more complicated tax issues. CPAs generally take financial information about the company they work for and give advice on financial planning and steps to help the business grow financially.

Controller

A controller is the auditor and general accountant, usually in larger corporations, who is responsible for the accounting activities of the company. They are often authorized to make decisions about the company’s finances and investments.

Chief Financial Officer

A chief financial officer, or CFO, is an executive in a large corporation who manages every aspect of the corporation’s finances. They oversee financial planning and report company finances to the CEO and president of the corporation.

Daniel Stoica Accounting Professional

The IRS announced that it will be sending letters to nearly 100,000 tax preparers who prepared returns this year, but didn’t follow the new PTIN (Preparer Tax Identification Number) rules. This part of the Internal Revenue Service’s oversight program of the tax preparer industry.

The IRS began an initiative to decrease the oversights of tax preparers who didn’t follow guidelines in 2010. The also began to regulate the conduct of those tax preparers. All preparers are now required to get a Preparer Tax Identification Number, or PTIN and, when preparing taxes, they must sign and include their PTINs on all tax returns refund requests they are paid to prepare.

Beginning July 7^th, 2011, the Internal Revenue Service started sending letters to preparers to preparers who had outdated PTINs or who used their Social Security numbers on the returns they prepared. This letter explained the IRS oversight program and explained how to register for a PTIN or renew an outdated one, and where to get help.

Many tax preparers have been in compliance, but some simply did not get the PTIN, so the letter from the IRS assisted them with getting in compliance. The IRS believes that everyone who is paid to prepare federal tax returns should be on the same page.

The IRS began the new PTIN registration program in the fall of 2010. Nearly 712,000 tax preparers have registered or renewed their PTINs since then. If they are not CPAs, attorneys, or Enrolled Agents, they must follow other requirements and pass a competency test and preparer suitability check. They will also be required to complete no less than 15 hours of continued education credits every year, beginning in 2010. 

The IRS is aware that some preparers might try to get out of this oversight program by not signing the returns they prepare, so taxpayers should hire a preparer who will sign their returns and add their PTINs.

The IRS’s attempts to find these “ghost preparers” will be to send letters to taxpayers who had their returns professionally prepared, but the preparer neglected to sign the tax return. The letter will let taxpayers know how to file a complaint against the preparer and will tell them how to find a preparer who is in compliance. This tactic is an effort to protect taxpayers from preparers who refuse to follow the law by being registered with the IRS.

Being in compliance is the major focus of the new program and the letter from the IRS is a step closer to getting preparers registered with new or renewed PTINs and follow the regulations. The IRS also says it will do its best to find the non-compliant preparers and meet with them face-to-face over the next two years.

Daniel Stoica Accounting Professional

The cop who tried to write off his flattop haircut. The interstate cheeseburger incident. These are just a couple of examples of some strange things people have tried to claim as deductions on their taxes.

According to Behold Bankrate, the following are some of this year’s strangest, but true, attempts at claims for tax deductions.

For several years, Behold Bankrate has published a list of some of the strangest tax deduction attempts desperate taxpayers thought they could slip past the IRS. Everything from breast implants to barking security systems have been added to some taxpayer’s 1040s in an effort to get as much of a tax break as possible.

This is meant to deter anyone considering trying to dupe the IRS by trying to claim their pet parrot as a speech therapy tool. The IRS doesn’t take attempts to get out of your tax obligations lightly.

With that said, here are just a few of Bankrate’s 10 strangest tax deductions of 2011. For a complete list, please visit http://www.bankrate.com/finance/taxes/10-craziest-tax-deductions-for-2011-2.aspx.

The tale of the wedding deduction! This is, and always has been, a nondeductible expense, but it turns up every year in different forms. Many people try to use that $50,000 wedding as a business travel and entertainment expense. “I had a client who insisted on deducting the cost of his wedding,” said a Massachusetts CPA. “He could not understand why this was not deductible as a charitable donation, and I could not understand where he expected to take the deduction. Like he was nice enough to marry her?”

The “Tony Soprano” Incident! Tax preparation can sometimes involve not quite on the up-and-up “negotiations”, as a New Jersey CPAs tells. “The manager and family member of a famous entertainer suggested the purchase of a $2 million building for office and production space, certain it would be a $2 million write-off that year,” the CPA says. “When the manager found out that it would take over 30 years to recover the expense, the manager was angry, embarrassed and annoyed. At one point, a suitcase with a very large amount of cash was given as an incentive to his accountant to somehow ‘make it work.’ The money was refused and the outrageous claim never made it onto the tax return, at least not the one the accountant prepared!”

The Subscription Ploy! Sometimes a self-employed person will try to take as much of a deduction as they can with dues and subscriptions, as a Massachusetts CPA found out, completely by accident. “A self-employed real estate professional had thousands of dollars in dues and subscriptions. When we reviewed the details of the account, the client was trying to deduct some personal subscriptions to adult magazines. We convinced the client that this type of subscription was considered a nondeductible personal expense.”

So, before you try to deduct something you aren’t sure about, it’s probably a good idea to ask your tax professional before you add it to your tax return. It keeps the IRS from possibly auditing you, and it will keep you off this list.

Danie Stoica Accouting Professional