Posted in Real Estate Law,Tax Law & IRS Defense
The Firm is republishing a September 2013 blog post regarding the ability of Florida property owners to contest or appeal the assessed value of their property. The republished blog, below, includes updated information for 2014.
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The Florida Department of Revenue is authorized to levy a documentary stamp tax on deeds, bonds, promissory notes, written obligations to pay money, mortgages, liens, and other evidences of indebtedness. Florida law authorizes different taxation rates depending on the type of transaction. The documentary stamp tax is typically $0.70 per every $100.00 of consideration for instruments conveying an interest in real property including, but not limited to, deeds, easements, and contracts or agreements for deed.[1] Alternatively, the documentary stamp tax for bonds, mortgages, liens, promissory notes, and other written obligations to pay money is generally $0.35 per every $100.00 of consideration.[2] The documentary stamp tax for promissory notes or other written obligations to pay money typically may not exceed $2,450.[3]
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Whether filling out your new hire paperwork or preparing your tax returns, the IRS has guidelines for who may be claimed as a dependent for income tax purposes.
There are typically two types of dependents for federal income tax purposes:
The FDCPA was developed in part to help prevent abusive practices in debt collection and to allow consumers the opportunity to dispute the validity of a debt. The FDCPA applies when a debt collector attempts to communicate with a consumer debtor. While the initial communications may not violate the Act, generally, the Act prohibits further communication when the debtor notifies the debt collector that he or she is requesting more information on the debt or disputes the debt. The Act will typically apply to communications the collector may have regarding the location of the debtor and communications between third parties or the debtor regarding the debt collection. The debts subject to this Act are generally those incurred by a consumer primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, whether or not such obligation has been reduced to judgment. Florida adopted the Consumer Collection Practices Act (“FCCPA”) which acts to supplement the FDCPA. The FCCPA also protects debtors from a debt collector’s abusive collection practices but, unlike the FDCPA, the FCCPA also applies to the original creditor. As always, you should consult with a Florida licensed attorney who may be able to help protect you from improper collection efforts.
See 15 U.S.C. §1692 (a)-(p); see also, §§559.55-559.785, Fla. Stat.
The Internal Revenue Service’s (“IRS”) First Time Abate (“FTA”) policy provides for an abatement of certain financial penalties for taxpayers with a record of tax compliance who are current with filing and payment requirements. It is essentially a streamlined IRS process to abate or remove a first-time tax penalty as a one-time consideration based on a taxpayers’ compliance history.
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Posted in Tax Law & IRS Defense
Calendaring important IRS deadlines can save you a lot of headaches at tax time. To avoid paying penalties, keep a calendar and review tax deadlines with your accountant, CPA, or tax attorney. The following are a few examples of important dates:
January 15, 2014 is the deadline for the 2013 4th quarter estimated tax payment.
January 31, 2014 is the deadline for employers to distribute Form W-2 Earnings Statements to employees, businesses to issue Form 1099 Statements, and self-employed individuals to file and pay taxes.
February 28, 2014 is the deadline for businesses to mail in Forms 1099 and 1096.
March 17, 2014 is the deadline for corporate tax returns. It is also the final deadline for a corporate taxpayer to file an amended corporate tax return for tax year 2010 and still claim a refund.
April 1, 2014 is the deadline to file tangible personal property tax returns on Form DR-405.
April 15, 2014 is the deadline to file individual tax returns and make tax payments, final deadline for an individual taxpayer to file an amended tax return for tax year 2010 and still claim a refund, file estate income tax or trust income tax returns, final deadline to file amended estate income tax or trust income tax returns for year 2010 and still claim a refund, file partnership tax returns, final deadline to file amended partnership tax returns for year 2010 and still claim a refund, and for the 2014 1st quarter estimated tax payment.
May 15, 2014 is the deadline to file non-profit organization tax returns.
June 16, 2014 is the deadline for the 2014 2nd quarter estimated tax payment.
September 15, 2014 is the deadline for corporate, trust, and partnership tax returns if an extension was requested and the 2014 3rd quarter estimated tax payment.
October 15, 2014 is the deadline to file individual tax returns if an extension was requested.
Posted in Tax Law & IRS Defense
The penalty for failing to file your tax return is typically 5% of the unpaid taxes for each month (or part of a month) that your return is late (not to exceed 25% of the unpaid taxes). If you file your tax return more than 60 days after the date it was due, the minimum penalty is $135.00 or 100% of the unpaid tax, whichever is smaller. Generally, the failure to file penalties are greater than the failure to pay penalties. As a result, you should typically file your tax return, even if you cannot afford to pay the tax owed, in an attempt to reduce your potential tax penalties. If your failure to file your tax return was not due to willful neglect and you can show “reasonable cause” for not filing, you may be able to avoid the failure to file penalties. As always, it is best to consult with a Florida attorney who may be better able to evaluate the tax penalty assessments.
For more information regarding the failure to file penalties, please visit www.irs.gov.
Posted in Tax Law & IRS Defense
Ordinarily and generally speaking, if a bank relieves a taxpayer of mortgage debt (through a short sale or deficiency waiver for example), the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”) requires the taxpayer to report the cancelled or forgiven debt amount as taxable income (subject to any applicable exceptions or exclusions). This is commonly referred to as “cancellation of debt” or “discharge of indebtedness” income. Therefore, even though the taxpayer never actually realizes the forgiven debt as disposable income that year, the IRC holds the taxpayer liable for the appropriate tax amount based on the forgiven or cancelled debt. See Section 108 of the IRC.
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