Featured
Articles:
1. Is the
Alternative
Minimum Tax in
Your Future?
2. Focus on
Fraud: The
Effect of Gender
3. Tech Tip
Weekly: A Taste
of "Paste
Special" in MS
Word
4. Compliance
Calendar
1. Is
the Alternative
Minimum Tax in
Your Future?
Were you among
the several
million
taxpayers who
had to pay the
alternative
minimum tax
(AMT) last year?
Even if you
escaped in 2004,
keep reading!
Unless the law
changes, you
could be among
the millions
more who’ll have
to pay AMT in
the years ahead.
Congress set up
the AMT in 1969,
when it found the
very wealthy were
sheltering much of
their income under
the regular tax
rules. The AMT is
a parallel tax
system, allowing
fewer deductions
and tax breaks.
You calculate your
tax under the
regular tax system
and the AMT and
pay whichever
amount is higher.
Under the AMT,
you’re allowed a
sizable basic
exemption. Above
that amount, you
generally pay tax
at a 26% rate on
the first $175,000
of income. The
problem is that
the exemption
amount is not
indexed for
inflation. So what
started as a
generous exemption
is much less
generous today.
And for the AMT,
you can’t use many
of the deductions
and exemptions
that reduce your
regular tax. For
example, there’s
no standard
deduction or
personal
exemptions under
AMT rules.
As a result,
many middle-income
taxpayers find
that they owe
extra taxes under
the AMT. Congress
provided partial
relief in recent
years by
increasing the
basic exemption,
but it’s scheduled
to drop back to a
lower level after
this year.
A number of
factors can put
you at higher risk
for the AMT, such
as claiming many
dependents or
claiming large
itemized
deductions for
state taxes,
home-equity loan
interest, or
miscellaneous
deductions.
Contact our office
for more
information on how
the AMT might
affect you and
planning that
could minimize
your exposure.
2. Focus on
Fraud: The
Effect of Gender
From 2004 Report
to the Nation on
Occupational
Fraud and Abuse,
ACFE:
In our first
occupational
fraud study,
conducted in
1996, men
dominated the
reported frauds,
accounting for
two-thirds of
the cases.
Since then, that
dominance has
largely
evaporated. In
2004, we found
that the number
of schemes was
divided almost
evenly between
men and women,
with only
slightly more
cases (53%)
having been
committed by
men. Whatever
strides women
have made toward
equality in the
arena of
occupational
fraud were not
evident when we
compared median
losses based on
gender.
Consistent with
results from our
earlier studies,
the median loss
in schemes
committed by men
remains
significantly
higher than the
median loss in
schemes
committed by
women, although
the gap has
narrowed
somewhat from
our 2002
results.
3. Tech
Tip Weekly: A
Taste of "Paste
Special" in MS
Word
You can tell
word how to
paste your text
before you paste
it, by using the
Edit, Paste
Special
command. If you
don't see this
command on the
Edit menu, click
the down arrow
at the bottom of
the Edit menu.
The full menu
appears,
including the
Paste Special
option.
Choose the Paste
Special
command. The
Paste Special
dialog box
appears, which
lists several
options for
pasting in the
text: Document
Object,
Formatted Text,
Unformatted
Text, Picture,
and so on. Each
of these items
tells Word how
to paste in the
information. To
discover what
each option
does, select it
from the list
and read the
description in
the Result area
of the dialog
box.
For example, if
you want to
paste in some
text from a Web
page but don't
want all that
HTML-blah-blah
formatting,
choose the
Unformatted Text
option. Click
OK, and the text
is pasted into
MS Word as plain
text and not as
some Web object.
4.
Compliance
Calendar
June 15
-Employers
deposit Social
security,
Medicare and
withheld income
tax for payments
June 8, 9, and
10.
-Monthly
depositors
deposit payroll
taxes for May.
-U.S.
citizens or
resident aliens
living and
working, or on
military duty,
outside of the
U.S. and Puerto
Rico, file Form
1040 and pay any
tax, interest
and penalties
due. Individuals
in a combat zone
may be able to
further extend
the deadline.
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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
