I’ve had plenty of Sacramento clients over the years come to me in a terrible position with their taxes because they trusted the wrong person’s advice or fell prey to a scam… or both.  In fact, the third most commonly reported fraud is tax refund fraud, and every year millions of suspicious tax season activities are reported. The tough thing is, when money is thin and tax time rolls around, the possibility of owing Uncle Sam can hang heavy over your head. That kind of feeling can make any “get a bigger refund” ad a difficult lure to resist.  But, the IRS is wise to those scheme ..read more

Remember that frantic scramble to file your taxes on April 15th? Procrastination happens, especially with taxes. But a rushed job often leads to a botched job. Why? Because there’s no time to double check to make sure everything is right. Small mistakes can be a big deal on a tax return. Then, a letter from the IRS hits your Sacramento mailbox and, worse, it’s a penalty notice for that error you didn’t have time to double check. Yes, mistakes happen… but generally less often if you give yourself time to check your work. Tax penalties come in various flavors, but each one has its own bite. Her ..read more

Picture this: You’ve been dabbling in cryptocurrency – Bitcoin, Ethereum, maybe even a few of those meme coins. You’ve made some decent trades, seen some gains. Life is good. But there’s that nagging feeling in the back of your mind – did you handle the taxes on all those crypto transactions the right way? Lately, headlines about the IRS ramping up crypto tax investigations haven’t exactly eased your concerns. You hear about others (maybe some Sacramento neighbor got a letter) facing the consequences of unreported crypto activity, and suddenly, those tax questions become impossible to ig ..read more

The most common money management tips that experts give to people with tax or financial difficulties involve saving, budgeting, and planning. But there’s another money habit that never makes those lists of money management tips, and it’s worth sharing, because it can have a profound effect on your attitude toward money and life in general. So I’m here to encourage you to add this tip to your money and debt management strategies this year: giving. Yes, giving. A study by researchers at the University of British Columbia and Harvard University has shown something that I hope will inspire you: s ..read more

The IRS is delivering on their December promises to ramp up compliance and collection efforts with big hitters on the tax side of things (high-income individuals, complex partnerships, and large corporations).  This comes as the result of unbelievably high audit rates among low-income wage-earners taking the earned income tax credit (EITC) – five and a half times more than virtually everyone else.  The latter group of taxpayers have historically been targeted not because they account for the most tax under-reporting, but because 1) low-income earners taking the EITC were e ..read more

The start of the year is almost here, and with that comes a shifted mindset toward new beginnings. New year, fresh start. But, that doesn’t mean wiping the slate on everything in 2023, and that includes any tax debt you’ve piled up and haven’t dealt with.  So if you really want to start off on the right foot in 2024, you have to face that debt. Here’s why: If you keep ignoring it, eventually, the IRS will take it upon themselves to seize your property. They’ll start with wage garnishment, but if your debts are large enough and undealt with, it’ll lead to them seizing your Sacramento home ..read more

As a tax professional, I’ve seen it all when it comes to tax deductions – from the ordinary to the, well, let’s say ‘creatively ambitious’ when it comes to small business deductions — like claiming a pet as a ‘security expense’ or insisting that a daily cappuccino is essential to business survival.  While these examples might make you chuckle, they underscore a serious point: It’s easy to get caught up in pitfalls with business deductions (some more humorous than others). Navigating the world of deductions is crucial not only to avoid the glaring eye of the IRS but to make sure you’re al ..read more

Often, when you’re faced with IRS debt, there are other nasty little financial problems that can crop up. I have to tell you though, as I sat down to write this, it made me think about some Sacramento clients that I’ve walked with over the years who fought their way — successfully — out of debt that would have crushed other families. How did they do that? Today I’ll tell you. But here’s something those Sacramento clients did NOT do: Borrow money to pay off more borrowed money (and call it savings).  That only works for Uncle Sam, apparently. The average credit card balance for an Am ..read more

The events of 2020 were both a reprieve for West Sacramento taxpayers (like you) and a nightmare for tax pros (like me). And the complications of that year and the one following created a backlog for the IRS. That’s one of the reasons they shut off the reminder notices to non-filers and those with tax debt still owed.  The only problem is, now — three years later — those reminder notices are still on pause. In the absence of IRS notices, it’s easy to get a little too comfortable with evading your tax obligations. After all, out of sight, out of the IRS’s mind… right? (not really) Beware ..read more

I gotta say, every time I hear a new disaster being reported on the news, I am struck by how different my daily existence is from the devastation I see in the photos in my feed. I must confess to feeling some “disaster fatigue” setting in. It’s hard to see hard things on repeat. It seems that the world keeps spawning disaster after disaster… But that doesn’t mean we can turn away. The reality is that bad things can easily happen and throw us off completely — especially if we don’t expect them (which is most often the case).  You don’t want to wait until your world has been wrecked by a d ..read more