This advice is from the IRS. Make sure you have all the needed documents, including all your Forms W-2, before you file your 2011 tax return. You should receive an IRS Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, from each of your employers. Employers have until Jan. 31, 2012 to issue your 2011 Form W-2 earnings statement.
If you haven’t received your W-2, follow these four steps:
1. Contact your employer If you have not received your W-2, contact your employer to inquire if and when the W-2 was mailed. If it was mailed, it may have been returned to the employer because of an incorrect or incomplete address. After contacting the employer, allow a reasonable amount of time for them to resend or issue the W-2.
2. Contact the IRS If you do not receive your W-2 by Feb. 14, contact the IRS for assistance at 800-829-1040. When you call, you must provide your name, address, Social Security number, phone number and have the following information:
• Employer’s name, address and phone number
• Dates of employment
• An estimate of the wages you earned, the federal income tax withheld, and when you worked for that employer during 2011. The estimate should be based on year-to-date information from your final pay stub or leave-and-earnings statement, if possible.
3. File your return You still must file your tax return or request an extension to file by April 17, 2012, even if you do not receive your Form W-2. If you have not received your Form W-2 in time to file your return by the due date, and have completed steps 1 and 2, you may use Form 4852, Substitute for Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement. Attach Form 4852 to the return, estimating income and withholding taxes as accurately as possible. There may be a delay in any refund due while the information is verified.
4. File a Form 1040X On occasion, you may receive your missing W-2 after you file your return using Form 4852, and the information may be different from what you reported on your return. If this happens, you must amend your return by filing a Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return.
Form 4852, Form 1040X and instructions are available on this website or by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).

We wanted to inform you that we will soon be changing our company name to Sound Tax Consulting, Inc, nothing else is changing. Our phone numbers, personnel, and address all remain the same. Our existing email address will forward to the new email addresses to make the transition easier for you.

We decided to make the name change for a few reasons. When we selected our company name in 2004 our business model was somewhat different than it is today and people were just starting to use smart phones .
Our firm has been very fortunate and has grown over the years. In addition to helping individuals and businesses solve their tax problems, our firm prepares tax returns for individuals and businesses that do not have any tax problems, set up corporations, and provide payroll and booking services. The old company name only described the tax problem portion of our business.

Millions of people now search online via their smart-phones for
IRS phone numbers, to request missing W-2s, ask the IRS about refunds, and numerous other questions about their tax matters. When they search for the IRS on their phones, Google and other search engines highlight the first three letters of IRS/State Tax Relief Associates in our company name and our phone number; the user clicks on our number, resulting in hundreds if not thousands of calls. You can imagine how happy our receptionist is about the
name change.

We thank you for your business and look forward to continuing to help you as Sound Tax Consulting, Inc.

Remember tax season is just around the corner, contact us if you have any questions.

Are you up to date about the Heavy Highway Vehicle Use tax, Form 2290, for the tax period beginning July 1, 2011? Special provisions still apply through November 30 for filing your return and/or registering your vehicle.

Updated as of November 1, 2011
The Form 2290 is available now. If your truck was first used in July, August, September or October 2011, you are required to file Form 2290 by November 30, 2011. You will not be liable for any late filing penalty or interest if you meet this due date. Beginning November 1, 2011, IRS will provide a stamped (receipted) Schedule 1 to those who file and pay their tax.

e-filing and Paying Your 2011 Excise Tax
IRS e-file for 2290 is now available for the tax period beginning July 1, 2011. Contact our firm to e-file.

An Option for Getting Your Tags and/or Registering Your Vehicle
You can get your tags for the tax period beginning July 1, 2011 because existing regulations require states to register a heavy highway vehicle when the application for registration is received between July 1 and November 30, 2011. If you have your receipted Schedule 1 for the previous year’s taxable period, in this case, July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011, states can continue to accept it as proof of payment through November 30, 2011.

An Option for Registering Your Newly Acquired Vehicle
Through November 30, 2011, states also must register newly acquired heavy highway use vehicles without proof of tax payment if:

you present the original or a photocopy of a bill of sale showing that the vehicle was purchased by the owner during the 150 days before the date the state received the application for registration; and,
the vehicle has not been registered in any state subsequent to the date of purchase.

I am writing this letter to express my sincere gratitude to both Sound Tax Consulting (IRS/State TRA)for their help. Because of their expertise, we saved over $23,000!

In February, we had our taxes done by the same local tax service we had counted on for years. Except this time, they said we owed over $26,000 in State and Federal taxes! We were devastated and could not understand how this could happen. After I was able to collect myself a little bit, I did some research and found IRS Tax Relief. I called their 800 number and Jeff answered. We talked for over 1/2 hour, he was very professional…and patient! I was impressed from the start. We sent our information from 2009 and 2010 as requested. They started contacting me with questions right away. They are so very thorough!

After a few weeks and many conversations/emails, Jeff called and we were informed that we had to pay back $3800 State and Federal from 2009. For 2010 we were getting a refund of $4000 from Federal and had to pay $800 to State. We also had approximately $1800 in penalties and interest due to the error in 2009 and delay for 2010. So we went from $26,000 (plus penalties and interest) to approximately $2800!

First there was an $8,000 correction as a result of Ali instituting appropriate accounting practices for a construction company (which we incorrectly counted on our original book keeper to know how to do this) The remaining difference was the result of an error on our 2009 tax return. Our small business had $47,000 in business expenses and our previous tax preparer accidentally reported it as $17,000. That little documentation error made a HUGE impact on our taxes!!!

It is hard to describe the immense relief we felt when they called with the news. We were ecstatic to say the least! I must have thanked them two dozen times over the phone and via email and that still doesn’t feel like enough!

Needless to say, Jeff and Ali will be handling our taxes from now on! As far as we are concerned the are the best in the business and we highly recommend them.

Sincerely,
K. in Michigan

The Internal Revenue Service has launched a new program that will enable many employers to resolve past worker classification issues and achieve certainty under the tax law at a low cost by voluntarily reclassifying their workers.
This new program will allow employers the opportunity to get into compliance by making a minimal payment covering past payroll tax obligations rather than waiting for an IRS audit. (carrot and stick) Eligible employers can obtain substantial relief from federal payroll taxes they may have owed for the past, if they prospectively treat workers as employees. This is available to many businesses that currently erroneously treat their workers or a class or group of workers as nonemployees or independent contractors, and now want to correctly treat these workers as employees.

Contact our firm or the IRS to find out if your business is eligible. Interested employers can apply for the program by filing Form 8952, Application for Voluntary Classification Settlement Program, at least 60 days before they want to begin treating the workers as employees.
Employers accepted into the program will pay an amount effectively equaling just over one percent of the wages paid to the reclassified workers for the past year.
No interest or penalties will be due, and the employers will not be audited on payroll taxes related to these workers for prior years. Participating employers will, for the first three years under the program, be subject to a special six-year statute of limitations, rather than the usual three years that generally applies to payroll taxes.

It might be in your best interest to research this program to make sure you fully understand the benefits and potential pittfalls before contacting the IRS on your own.

Tax tip.

The Internal Revenue Service today announced an increase in the optional standard mileage rates for the final six months of 2011. Taxpayers may use the optional standard rates to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business and other purposes.
The rate will increase to 55.5 cents a mile for all business miles driven from July 1, 2011, through Dec. 31, 2011. This is an increase of 4.5 cents from the 51 cent rate in effect for the first six months of 2011, as set forth in Revenue Procedure 2010-51.
In recognition of recent gasoline price increases, the IRS made this special adjustment for the final months of 2011. The IRS normally updates the mileage rates once a year in the fall for the next calendar year.
“This year’s increased gas prices are having a major impact on individual Americans. The IRS is adjusting the standard mileage rates to better reflect the recent increase in gas prices,” said IRS

We became aware of this problem today for Roni Deutch when a client of hers (crying on the phone after their bank account was levied) couldn’t reach anyone at her office this week. The client would call and be told “no one was in the office”, this client paid over $4,000 over a 16-month period, a quick review of the facts and it is pretty clear this client is an installment agreement.

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/04/20/3568022/state-ag-says-tax-lady-roni-deutch.html

Please, please don’t if you have tax problems, DON”T hire firms that advertise heavily on TV, Radio, et. The likelihood of getting positive result is slim. Due your due diligence

You might find this news story ABC ran on April 13, 2011 about Tax Masters informative. Always please do your due diligence and research any firm before you hire them. In many cases you do not need to hire a firm.

“The Minnesota attorney general says many of the company’s employees are skilled tele-marketers who have little knowledge of the complicated tax issues faced by people who have fallen behind in filing their returns or making tax payments.

“When you call, you think you’re talking to a tax professional,” said Swanson. “You’re really talking to just a salesperson who’s trying to get you to sign up.” ”

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/taxmasters-accused-fraud-deception/story?id=13364502

Why does CNN and Fox and local radio stations continue to run the commericals.

To be fair and ethical, the follow link is the response from TaxMasters to the news article.

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/statement-tax-masters-founder-patrick-cox/story?id=13374548&page=2

Our firm was notified by the BBB on January 11,2011 that we had been nominated for the Better Business Bureau’s 2011 Business of year Torch Award. We are honored to be nominated.

IRS reported today: Generally, taxpayers who itemize their deductions by using Schedule A, who claim the higher education tuition and fees deduction or who claim the educator expense deduction must wait a few more weeks to file their returns. Based on historical filing patterns, the IRS anticipates the delay impacts about 9 million taxpayers; in 2010, the IRS received more than 141 million tax returns. While the delay impacts both paper and electronic tax returns, most taxpayers can file immediately. More details are available on IRS.gov.