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STRATEGIC ISSUES...ONLINE
For week
of September 11, 2006, Issue #276
Featured
Articles:
1.
Telephone Consumers Get a Break From IRS
2. Tech
Tip Weekly:
Don't Forget to
Create Restore Points
3.
Compliance Calendar
If you would
like to have further information on any of these
articles, let us know. We would appreciate
receiving your comments and/or suggestions,
anytime!
acarroll@pmcpa.com
acarroll@pmcpa.com
1. Telephone
Consumers Get a Break From IRS
The Internal Revenue Service
announced that you can claim a standard $30 to $60
refund next year for a tax on long-distance telephone
calls that the government declared invalid.
If you are a telephone
customer that means you have been paying a 3 percent
federal excise tax on local and long-distance calls
after businesses repeatedly fought the tax in court and
won. Next year, you can use your 2006 tax returns to
claim a refund on long-distance telephone taxes paid
since March 2003.
The standard refund starts
at $30 and increases by $10 for each additional
exemption claimed on a tax return, up to $60. A married
couple with two dependent children, for example, could
claim a $60 refund. The Treasury Department has said it
expects to return $13 billion to consumers, including
businesses and other organizations.
The IRS will be adding a
line to the 2006 tax returns, enabling individuals to
claim the refund. The tax agency also will create a
special form for those not otherwise required to file
tax returns so they can request their money back.
The IRS said it based the
refund amounts on telephone usage data, and that
standard amounts reflect averages for households of
different sizes. You do not have to use the standard
amount, however. If you have your old phone bills you
can instead add up the taxes you paid between March 2003
and July 2006 and apply for a refund.
2. Tech Tip
Weekly: Don't Forget to Create Restore Points
When everything's going
particularly well with your computing day, you don't
usually think about MS Windows XP System Restore. But
you should. The more good restore points you've
created, the easier it will be to return to good times.
To maximize System Restore's
potential, create your own restore points with your own
labels. Here's how:
1. Call up System
Restore by going to the Start menu's All Programs menu.
From there, pop open the Accessories menu and then the
System Tools menu, where you find System Restore. The
Welcome to System Restore window appears.
2. Choose Create a
Restore Point and then click Next.
3. When Windows
asks you to describe your new restore point, type in
something that helps you remember why you made the
restore point. For instance, type in Nothing
has crashed for a week -- if only my computer could
always run this smoothly! You needn't add the date in
your description because Windows automatically gives it
a date stamp.
4. Click the Create
button, and you're done!
3.
Compliance Calendar
September 15
-Deposit payroll tax for
payments on September 9-12 if the semiweekly deposit
rule applies.
-Deposit payroll tax for
August if the monthly deposit rule applies for returns
that were extended.
-Corporations: File a 2005 calendar year income tax return (Form 1120 or 1120A) and pay any tax, interest and penalties due.
-Corporations: File a 2005 calendar year income tax return (Form 1120 or 1120A) and pay any tax, interest and penalties due.
-Retirement
Plan: Deadline for making final required minimum
contributions for 2005 calendar-year money purchase and
defined benefit plans that were extended.
September 20
-Deposit payroll tax
for payments on September 13-15 if the semiweekly
deposit rule applies.
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