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STRATEGIC ISSUES...ONLINE
For week of January 31, 2005, Issue #197
 
Featured Articles:
1.  Forget Your Refund Check?
2.  LexisNexis RiskWise and Quova Align to Prevent Credit Card Fraud for Global E-Commerce Transactions
3.  Tech Tip Weekly: Turning Off Your Computer
4.  Compliance Calendar
 
 
1.  Forget Your Refund Check?
 
If you have moved within the last year, the IRS might be holding a refund check for you.  Currently, the IRS has over 87,000 refund checks that are undeliverable.  At an average of $836 per check, that's over $73 million waiting to be collected.
 
In some cases, the taxpayer entered a wrong address on the original tax return.  But in most cases, somebody moved after filing their return and forgot to notify the IRS.  It's easy to do when you're dealing with the hassles of moving to a new home.
 
If you think you might have a check waiting for you, first check your tax records.  If it looks as if you never received your refund, go to the Web site http://www.IRS.gov and select "Where's My Refund?"  After entering some data from last year's tax return, you'll see the status of your refund.  Contact our office for help if you have problems.
 
You can avoid problems with tax refund checks by authorizing direct deposit of your refund into your checking or savings account.  Almost 50 million taxpayers chose this option last year.  You can request direct deposit at the time you file your return.  But even with direct deposit, you should notify the IRS when you move.  Otherwise, you might miss receiving an important IRS notice or an important deadline if there are questions about your return.  You notify the IRS of a change of address by filing IRS Form 8822.
 
 
2.  LexisNexis RiskWise and Quova Align to Prevent Credit Card Fraud for Global E-Commerce Transactions
 
LexisNexis RiskWise and Quova today announced an alliance to help e-commerce merchants fight global credit card fraud, which industry experts project to reach $60 billion by the end of 2005.
 
Click to read all about it:
 
 
 
3.  Tech Tip Weekly: Turning Off Your Computer
 
Choose the Turn Off option when nobody else will be using the computer until the next morning.  Windows XP saves everything, and tells you when it's okay to turn off your computer.  (Sometimes it turns it off for you.)  When you choose Turn Off Computer, Windows clings like a sleepy cat, tossing up these three options:
 
-Standby: Also called Hibernate on some laptops, this option quickly saves all your work and puts the computer in virtual sleep -- a delicate mode between on and off.  Avoid it.
 
-Turn Off:  Choose this option when you're done for the day.  Let you -- and your computer -- get some real sleep.  When Windows XP leaves the screen, turn off the computer and the monitor, if Windows XP doesn't do it automatically.
 
-Restart: Only choose this option when Windows XP screwed something up: Several programs crashed, or Windows seems to be acting awfully weird.  Windows XP turns off and reloads itself, hopefully feeling refreshed.
 
When you tell Windows XP that you want to quit, it searches through all your open windows to see whether you've saved all your work.  If it finds any work you've forgotten to save, it tosses a box your way, letting you click the OK button to save it.  Whew!
 
You don't have to shut down Windows XP every night.  In fact, some people leave their computers turned on all the time, saying it's better for their health.  Others say their computers are healthier if they're turned off each day.  However, everybody says to turn of your monitor when you're done working.  Monitors definitely enjoy cooling down when not being used.
 
 
4.  Compliance Calendar
 
February
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Prangley Marks, LLP
Accountants and Consultants
"The Way We Figure, We Are The Only CPA Firm You Will Ever Need"
333 Bridge Street, NW, 11th Floor Bridgewater Place, Grand Rapids, MI  49504-5356
Phone#:  616-774-9004, Fax#:  616-774-9081