Don't Fall for Scam Calls and Emails Posing as the IRS

Don't Fall for Scam Calls and Emails Posing as the IRS

Scammers and cyber-thieves continue to use the IRS as bait. The most common tax scams are phone calls and emails from thieves who pretend to be from the IRS. Scammers use the IRS name, logo, fake employee names and badge numbers to try to steal money and identities from taxpayers.

Taxpayers need to be wary of phone calls or automated messages from someone who claims to be from the IRS. Often, these criminals will say taxpayers owe money and demand payment right away and tell you that there is a warrant out for your arrest. Other times, scammers will lie to taxpayers and say they’re due a refund. The thieves ask for bank account information over the phone. The IRS warns taxpayers not to fall for these scams.

Below are several tips that will help filers avoid becoming a scam victim.

IRS employees will not:

• Call demanding an immediate payment. The IRS won’t call taxpayers if they owe taxes without first sending a bill in the mail.
• Demand payment without allowing taxpayers to question or appeal the amount owed.
• Demand that taxpayers pay their taxes in a specific way, such as with a prepaid debit card.
• Ask for credit or debit card numbers over the phone.
• Threaten to contact local police or similar agencies to arrest taxpayers for non-payment of taxes.
• Threaten legal action, such as a lawsuit.

If taxpayers don’t owe, don’t think they owe, or do owe any tax, and they receive an inquiry like this, they should just hang up.

In most cases, an IRS phishing scam is an unsolicited, fake email that claims to come from the IRS. Some emails link to sham websites that look real. The scammers’ goal is to lure victims to give up their personal and financial information. If the thieves get what they’re after, they use it to steal a victim’s money and identity.

For those taxpayers who get a phishing email, the IRS offers this advice:

• Don’t reply to the message.
• Don’t give out your personal or financial information.
• Forward the email to phishing@irs.gov. Then delete it.
• Don’t open any attachments or click on any links. They may have malicious code that will infect your computer.

Think you've been scammed? Call us today at (610)863-8347 for a free consultation.

Why Direct Deposit?

5 Reasons to Choose Direct Deposit

It's Fast!
The quickest way to get your refund is to electronically file your tax return and use direct deposit. We have seen refunds directly deposited within 2 weeks of electronically filing.

It's Secure!
Since refunds go right into your bank account, there is no risk of lost or stolen paper checks. The direct deposit transfer system is the same one that is used for 98% of all Social Security and Veterans Affairs benefits that are deposited into millions of accounts each month.

It's Convenient!
No waiting for that check to arrive and then, taking it to the bank.

It's Easy!
Bring your bank information with you when you come for your tax preparation. The best way to ensure that the correct information is entered is for you to bring your checkbook with you.

It's Versatile!
You can split your refund into several financial accounts including checking, savings, health, education, and certain retirement accounts.

* You should deposit the refund into an account with your own name on it. The IRS limits the number of refund directly deposited into a single account to three and will send a paper check if you exceed the limit.

Rental Property as a Business

Rental Property as a Business Yields Big Benefits

If your rental property activity meets the definition of a trade or business activity, then your rentals produce the best possible tax benefits. In general, you report your rental properties on Schedule E of your tax return. When your activity rises to the level of a business, you continue to report the rentals on Schedule E, but with the business classification, you qualify for four big benefits:

1. Tax-favored Section 1231 treatment
2. Business use of an office in your home
3. Business (vs. investment) treatment of meetings, seminars, and conventions; and
4. Section 179 treatment of your business-use assets.

Section 1231

The two big tax benefits of Section 1231 treatment are that you can use Section 1231 losses as ordinary losses to offset ordinary income, and you use the Section 1231 gains as long-term capital gains.

This gives you the best of both worlds: ordinary losses and long-term capital gains.

Home Office

You can claim the home-office deduction only for trade or business activities, not for investment activities. When your rental property activity meets the definition of a trade or business activity, you get this terrific deduction to offset your income.

Meetings, Seminars, and Conventions

Tax law grants no deduction for travel or other costs of attending a convention, seminar, or similar meeting unless the activity relates to the taxpayer’s trade or business.

Thus, if your rental property is an investment, kiss goodbye those deductions for rental property conventions, seminars, and similar meetings.

Section 179 Expensing

With respect to rental properties and Section 179 expensing, you need to pay attention to the following two rules, which can impact your expensing.

You may not claim Section 179 expensing on most assets used for residential rental properties. To qualify for Section 179 expensing, you must purchase and place the Section 179 property in use in the active conduct of your business.

Have questions? Give us a call at (610) 863-8347 today for a free consultation!

Lock Down Vehicle Deductions with a Home Office

The IRS gives you two possible strategies for turning otherwise personal mileage into business mileage:

1. Going to a temporary work location
2. Establishing an office in the home as a principal office

The temporary work location strategy contains some real unknowns, such as what is technically considered a temporary work location and whether the work performed at that location is for one year or less.

These unknowns make it difficult or impossible to use your facts and circumstances to produce your desired business-mileage results. The easy solution is the office in the home as a principal office.

The first reason this type of home office is an easy solution is that the rules are crystal clear, making compliance easy. The second reason is that with this office you know that all trips from home for this trade or business are business trips, including the trip from your home to your regular office outside the home.


Have questions? Give us a call at (610) 863-8347 today for a free consultation!

Tax Reform and Rental Real Estate

Two scary words in tax reform are “fairness” and “simplification”. In most cases, this combination raises your taxes and makes the law more complex.

As you likely know, tax reform has occurred again, and it brings its share of good and bad news. But for your rental real estate loss deductions, the good news is that the reform does not alter the beneficial strategies here.

In general, rental properties are passive activities subject to the dreaded passive-loss rules. IRS regulations contain six non-rental exceptions to the definition of rentals. In most cases, the non-rental exceptions are businesses for tax purposes. To deduct losses of any of the six exceptions, you simply need to materially participate in the activity.

Feel free to contact us to discuss these strategies and how they may provide you big deductions. Give us a call at (610) 863-8347 today for a free consultation!

Organizing Your Tax Documents

Creating Order Out of Chaos

As important tax records start filling mailboxes, how can you make sure your tax preparation goes smoothly and efficiently this year? Here are some tips.

1. Keep it all in one place. It seems obvious, but how often have you found yourself going through piles of paper looking for that elusive 1099 or 1095 form, business expenses, stock sales report, or charitable deduction receipt? If you only do one thing, this is it!

2. Time to sort. Now that everything is all together, best practice is to sort your information into the same categories used in your tax return as shown below:

• Income: wages (W-2s), alimony, interest income (1099-INT), dividend income (1099-DIV), business income (1099-MISC, K-1s), winnings (W-2G/1099G), Social Security, investments (1099-B), IRA/pension distributions (1099-R)
• Income Adjustments: student loan interest, tuition & fees deductions, alimony paid, educator expenses, moving expenses, IRA contributions, HSA/MSA contributions
• Itemized Deductions: taxes paid, medical/dental expenses, charitable contributions, interest expense (1098), investor/other expenses, gambling losses, casualty/theft losses, unreimbursed employee expenses
• Credit Information: child & dependent care expense, adoption expenses, education expenses, other credit-related expense

*For education credits, it is wise to acquire a transcript from the college that will detail all of the expenses paid, which is likely more than is on your 1098-T.

• Business/Rental: income, expenses, bookkeeping information, etc. 

*Real Estate Agents: Call our office for a special organizer for your income and expenses! 

3. "Not sure" pile. There may be things you receive that you are not certain about needing for tax filing purposes. These items should be gathered in one place and brought in with all of your tax information.

4. Sum it up. Once the information has been categorized, create a summary of the information. This summary can be a printed copy of an organizer or it could be a simple recap you create. This summary could also keep your fee down as we won't have to organize and summarize each category for your return. 

5. Is something missing? Pull out last year’s tax return or the organizer we mailed to you and create a list of things you needed last year. Use this as a checklist against this year’s information. While this process will not identify new items, it will help identify missing items that qualified in prior years.

6. Finalize required documentation. Certain deductions require substantiation and/or logs to qualify your expense. Common areas that require this are business mileage, charitable mileage, medical mileage, moving mileage, non-cash charitable contributions, meals and entertainment, and certain business expenses. These logs should be maintained throughout the year, but now is a good time to make sure the logs are complete and ready to go for tax filing.

It is very easy to overlook something given the lengthy list of taxable income items, deductions and credits. By following these tips you can greatly reduce that risk.

Need help organizing your information or want one of our special organizers, call (610) 863-8347 for your free consultation and/or organizer! 

Using your Child's IRA to Pay for College

If your child has earned income (maybe from working in your business), you may want to consider establishing an IRA for your child. The IRA funds can, in turn, be used to help pay your child’s college expenses. When your child withdraws money from an IRA, tax law imposes taxes on the withdrawals, but no 10 percent penalty applies when the money is used to pay for qualified higher education expenses.

The big hurdle to avoid is the kiddie tax. IRA withdrawals are subject to the kiddie tax rules. Under these rules, an under-age-24-student pays taxes on unearned income at the parents’ high tax rate when the child’s unearned income is more than $2,100 and the child’s earned income is not more than half of his or her support. This makes the kiddie tax a true destruction force when it comes to saving for college. Your children need your help to avoid the dreaded kiddie tax.

Most minor children do not earn enough to need the tax deduction that the traditional IRA offers. This makes the Roth IRA a great vehicle for the working child’s college planning because the withdrawals of contributions are free of both penalties and taxes when used for qualified higher education.

If you have children who fit this profile, make sure your children start making their Roth IRA contributions at a young age and earn a good rate of return on the investments.

The Roth IRA habitually proves superior for the child’s college funding when compared with the traditional IRA. With the traditional IRA, the child gets a deduction while in a low tax bracket but, because of the kiddie tax, pays taxes in the parents’ high tax bracket upon withdrawal for college. This is a bad deal.

Another point of consideration is that the IRA and other retirement assets of both the parents and the children are not counted as assets available for education on the FAFSA or CSS profile applications for financial aid.


Have a question about your child's IRA? Give us a call at (610) 863-8347 today!

New Tax Reform for 2018

Individual Tax Changes in New Tax Reform Legislation

Just before the holidays, Congress passed the "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act," a sweeping piece of tax reform legislation which was signed into law on December 22, 2017. This email provides a quick breakdown of some of the biggest changes upcoming for individual taxpayers for the year **2018**.

• Standard Deduction Increase. For tax years beginning after December 31, 2017 and before January 1, 2026, the standard deduction increases to $24,000 for married individuals filing a joint return, $18,000 for head-of-household filers, and $12,000 for all other taxpayers.  

• Personal Exemptions Eliminated. Personal Tax exemptions which previously were subtracted from a taxpayer's adjusted gross income to determine their taxable income are reduced to zero.

• Child Tax Credit Increased. The amount a taxpayer can claim as a per-qualifying-child tax credit doubles to $2,000 per child under the age of 17. Additionally, the phase out income levels increase to $400,000 for married taxpayers filing jointly ($200,000 for all other taxpayers.)

• State and Local Tax Deduction Limited. An itemized deduction for taxes paid state and local taxing authorities and real estate taxes are limited to $10,000. 

• Mortgage and Home Equity Indebtedness Interest Deduction Limited. The deduction for interest on home equity indebtedness is effectively gone and the deduction for mortgage interest decreases to the interest paid on a mortgage up to $750,000. 

• Medical Expense Deduction Threshold Temporarily Reduced. The threshold for the deduction which allows for expenses paid during the tax year for the medical care of the taxpayer, or their spouse, and/or their dependent(s) which are not reimbursed by insurance or an employer is temporarily reduced from 10% to 7.5%. 

• Miscellaneous Itemized Deductions Eliminated. Previously, taxpayers could deduct certain miscellaneous itemized deductions if they exceeded, in aggregate, 2% of the taxpayer's adjusted gross income. The new tax bill removes these deductions. 

• Overall Limitation on Itemized Deductions Suspended. Higher-income taxpayers who itemize their deductions previously were subject to a limitation on those deductions, reducing the allowable amount by 3% for adjusted gross income exceeding the threshold. This limitation on itemized deductions will now be eliminated and higher itemized deductions can be deducted. 

These are just some of the highlights of the new tax bill. If you have any questions regarding this new legislation and how it will affect you, give us a call at (610)863-8347 for a free consultation.

Important Dates for 2018 Tax Filing Season

2018 Tax Filing Season Important Dates

Monday, January 29, 2018:  The IRS will begin accepting tax returns.

* NOTE: The IRS cannot issue a refund due to Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) until mid-February. The IRS expects the earliest these refunds to be available in taxpayer bank accounts is February 27, 2018.

Thursday, March 15, 2018: S Corporation and Partnership returns are due.

Tuesday, April 17, 2018: Individual (1040) and C Corporations returns are due.

We are accepting appointments now and look forward to seeing you!
Call (610) 863-8347 for an appointment today! 

Update: 2018 Health Insurance for S Corporation Owners

S corporations continue to enjoy good news in 2018 when it comes to health insurance, and this also applies to 2017 taxes.

You first have to thank the 21st Century Cures Act for:

• Reinstating and extending IRS Notice 2015-17 to eliminate the $100-a-day penalty 

• Creating the qualified small employer health reimbursement account (QSEHRA) that works well if there are employees in the corporation

The good news is, the old rules still apply as we write this, and we don’t expect any changes in 2018. Under these rules, the S corporation first establishes a health insurance plan for the owner in one of two ways:

• Choice 1. The S corporation makes the premium payments for the accident and health insurance policy covering the owner-employee who has more than 2 percent ownership (and his or her spouse or dependents, if applicable).

• Choice 2. The owner-employee makes the premium payments to the insurance company and furnishes proof of the premium payments to the S corporation, which in turn reimburses the owner-employee for the premium payments.

Step 1 —getting the cost of the insurance on the S corporation’s books.

In Step 2, the S corporation has to include the health insurance premiums on the owner-employee’s W-2 form. The income is not subject to payroll taxes (Social Security and Medicare).

In Step 3, the owner-employee then claims the health insurance deduction on page 1 of Form 1040, providing he or she otherwise qualifies for the page 1 deduction.


Have questions about Health Insurance or Taxes for S Corporation Owners?

Give us a call at (610) 863-8347 today for a free consultation!

Stay tuned for more tax tips from Corvino and Verwys.

Buying a Business with a Co-owner

Buying a Business with Co-Owners? 

You Need a Buy-Sell Agreement!

If you are buying a business that will include more than one co-owner, you need a buy-sell agreement. You have multiple reasons to put a buy-sell agreement in place and not one reason not to have a buy-sell agreement.

A well-drafted agreement can do these valuable things for you:

•      Transform your business ownership interest into a more liquid asset
• Prevent unwanted ownership changes
• Save taxes and avoid hassles with the IRS

There are two types of buy-sell agreements: (1) cross-purchase agreements and (2) redemption agreements (sometimes called liquidation agreements).

When you enter into a cross-purchase agreement, it’s a contract between you and the other co-owners. Under the agreement, a withdrawing co-owner’s ownership interest must be purchased by the remaining co-owners when a triggering event occurs, such as death or disability.

When you enter into a redemption agreement, it’s a contract between the business entity itself and its co-owners (including you). Under the agreement, a withdrawing co-owner’s ownership interest must be purchased by the entity when a triggering event occurs.

If you are buying a business that will include more than one co-owner, give us a call at 

(610) 863-8347 today for a free consultation! 

Stay tuned for more tax tips from Corvino and Verwys.

Major Tax Savings

Heavy Vehicle + Deductible Home Office = Major Tax Savings

You can reap major tax savings with the heavy vehicle and home-office combo. The heavy vehicle produces quick deductions. The home office that qualifies as a principal office eliminates commuting miles, and such an elimination can dramatically increase your business-use percentage of vehicles.

For example, say you bought a $50,000 vehicle that you use 60 percent for business. Your depreciation and expensing elections apply to $30,000. But if you can increase your business percentage to 90 percent with a tax code–defined principal office in your home, your base for tax deductions increases to $45,000—that’s a $15,000 increase, and you did not spend a penny or drive a mile farther to capture it.

Give us a call at (610) 863-8347 today for a free consultation!

Stay tuned for more tax tips from Corvino and Verwys.

How to Protect Your Gambling Winnings from the IRS

Your gambling income is taxable. And—just as important—it’s reportable. The good news is that you can offset your gambling winnings with your gambling losses provided you keep good proof of those losses. The IRS and courts expect you to maintain a “contemporaneous gambling diary.”

You face specific rules for a gambling diary depending on the type of gambling. For example, with slot machines, the IRS advises that you record the machine number, date, and time played to support your winnings. Often, you can find the machine number clearly displayed on the machine. If not, simply ask the casino operator for the machine number.

If your gambling losses exceed your winnings, you get no deductions for your net loss. Further, the net loss does not carry forward. It simply disappears.

As you can see, you need to know how the rules work if you gamble. Don’t reach the end of the year with lots of income on Form W-2Gs and no appropriate tax records for your losses.

Have questions? Give us a call at (610) 863-8347 today for a free consultation!

Stay tuned for more tax tips from Corvino and Verwys

Selling to a Related Party?

Selling to a Related Party can Kill Your Tax Losses

If you sell property to a related party, you may not deduct your loss on the sale. And it gets worse; the loss you cannot deduct no longer belongs to you. It moves to the related party, and that can really complicate matters. This brings up two questions:

  1. Who are your related parties?
  2. What happens to the loss that the government took away from you?

Related Parties: The tax code says that your related parties include, among others, you and your spouse, brothers and sisters, parents, children, grandparents, or grandchildren. Additionally, it includes corporations and partnerships in which you own, directly or indirectly, more than 50 percent (e.g., stock, value, profits interest).

The constructive ownership rules expand your network of related parties because you are deemed to own what you and your family members own, and if you are a shareholder or partner, you own a proportionate share of the stock owned by the corporation or partnership.

Where the Loss Goes: Your tax-deductible loss is lost to you when you sell to a related party. But here’s a possible (although often unlikely) silver lining: the loss you lost travels to the buyer, and the buyer can use that loss to reduce any taxable gain on a later sale of the property.

For example, say you incur a loss when you sell your business vehicle to your brother. You can’t deduct the loss. If your brother later sells the vehicle for more than he paid you, then he can use your loss to offset his gain. If he sells it for less than he paid you, then he can’t deduct the loss.

You need to know that the related-party loss-disallowance rule exists, so you don’t mistakenly make your tax-loss deductions disappear. If possible, don’t sell to a related party. Instead, sell to a remotely related person, such as an in-law, aunt, niece, cousin, or employee of the business.

Thinking of selling to a Relative? Give us a call at (610)863-8347 for a free consultation. 

Stay tuned for more tax tips from Corvino and Verwys

Thinking of Sending Your Child to Summer Camp?

Claim a Tax Credit for Sending Your Children to 

Summer Camp

You may be able to claim the child and dependent care credit if you pay expenses for the care of your under-age-13 child or another qualifying person to enable you (and your spouse, if filing a joint return) to work or look for work.

The tax credit is a percentage of the expenses you paid during the year for the care of a qualifying person, such as your child under age 13. The cost of camps and before- and after-school programs qualifies for the credit if the camps are primarily for the protection and well-being of your child. On the other hand, the cost of overnight camps, summer schools, and tutoring programs does not qualify.

Although the credit is not large, it’s free money. You would, and likely did, spend this money without regard to the credit. This means you have likely done all you need to do to claim the credit when it comes time for us to prepare your tax return.

Have questions? Give us a call at (610) 863-8347 today for a free consultation!

Stay tuned for more tax tips from Corvino and Verwys.

Hire Your Child and Get Paid

You can pay your child to work in your business and get paid yourself for this arrangement. Sound too good to be true? The basic mechanics of this are (a) you deduct the wages and (b) your child pays zero or very little in income taxes.

The three points below elaborate on this:

1. The child pays zero taxes on earnings up to the $6,350 standard deduction amount. Say you pay tax-deductible wages of $6,350. This reduces your taxes or gives you tax refunds, and the child pays no taxes.

2. The child can use the traditional IRA to avoid taxes on $5,500, for a total of $11,850 on which he or she can avoid taxes. You can pay this amount and reduce your taxes.

3. The child can use the 10 percent tax bracket, the standard deduction, and the traditional IRA so as to pay low taxes on earnings up to $21,175, while you reap the tax benefits of paying your child this much larger amount.

To get this right, you need to file a W-2 for the child, have him or her keep a time sheet, and create proof of a reasonable wage. And you will be happy to know that the IRS has approved employing children as young as seven years old.

Here’s another benefit: If the child working for a parent is under age 18, both the child and the parent or parents are exempt from payroll taxes. In these cases, the parent operates a Schedule C business or both parents are the sole owners of a partnership.

Corporations are not parents. They do not qualify for this exemption from payroll taxes. Even so, corporate hires of the owner’s children usually produce good tax benefits.

In summary, all business owners can achieve tax benefits by hiring their children, regardless of the type of business entity.

Thinking about hiring your child? Give us a call at (610) 863-8347 today for a free consultation!

Stay tuned for more tax tips from Corvino and Verwys

Big Deductions for Temporary Work Assignments

You may already know you can deduct your away-from-home overnight travel expenses. However, what tax rules do you need to know if you want to travel, or need to travel, to an out-of-town business location for an extended period?

First, your travel to and expenses of living in this out-of-town location are deductible only if this is a temporary work location, which the IRS defines as a location where you expect to spend less than one year.

Second, you have to travel away from your tax home. Your tax home is not your personal home. Your tax home is the location of your principal place of business.

You can run into these rules when you create a second business location in a second state.

For example, a business owner who has an operation in Wisconsin creates a second business location in Florida. One of the two locations is going to be the principal place of business. Traveling to and living in the second location is going to create tax deductions for travel.

If you meet the requirements listed above, you can deduct all of your out-of-town travel expenses to the extent they were not reimbursed by your employer.

Have questions? Give us a call at (610) 863-8347 today for a free consultation!

Stay tuned for more tax tips from Corvino and Verwys.

Buy Your Employees Flowers

Buy Your Employees (and Yourself) Flowers and Fruit, and Deduct the Cost

Under the de minimis fringe benefit rules, your business deducts the cost of giving you or your employees flowers, fruit, books, and similar property under special circumstances. The recipients—you or your employees—receive these fringe benefits tax-free.

You can’t do this too often or spend too much money, but it’s easy to see that this is a great benefit, especially when you give to yourself.

For your business to make this fringe benefit tax-free, it must meet two requirements—value and frequency. Unfortunately, the IRS has not been very helpful in defining either criterion. With some research, we arrived at $70 as the maximum value for the flowers, fruit, books, and similar property.

How often is too often? The IRS doesn’t say, but it adds some common sense to the regulation with this guidance as to when this fringe benefit is appropriate: “Examples of de minimis fringe benefits are … flowers, fruit, books, or similar property provided to employees under special circumstances (e.g., on account of illness, outstanding performance, or family crisis).”

Just don’t use gift cards or certificates. The IRS considers the coupon or gift card taxable to the recipient no matter how small the amount, even if that small amount is used solely to buy the flowers or fruit.

How much is too much? Give us a call at (610)863-8347  for a free consultation. 

Stay tuned for more tax tips from Corvino and Verwys

Be Sure It's Really the IRS

Constantly changing scams require your attention 

Believe it or not, pretending to be an IRS agent is common among scam artists, according to the Better Business Bureau. Scam artists impersonate the IRS to either intimidate people into making payments over the phone, or in phishing attempts to trick people into sharing personal information via email.

You can defend yourself against these scammers by knowing these simple rules:

Rule 1: Expect a letter first

In almost every case, the IRS will send you a letter via standard mail if they need to get in touch with you. This will alert you to expect future communication from the agency and instruct you on the best ways to get in touch with them.

Rule 2: Never over email

The IRS will never initiate contact with you using email. A common scammer trick is to send emails to taxpayers using accounts and graphics that imitate the agency's. They may threaten imprisonment or fines if you don't pay up, or promise an extra refund if you send money to "prepay" your taxes. Often the emails contain links to an official-looking but fake website to collect payments. Clicking on them may also trigger the installation of viruses on your computer.

What to do: Don't respond to any email communications that look like they’re from the IRS. Don't click on any links. Delete the email or forward it to phishing@irs.gov to help catch the scammers.


Rule 3: Proper phone call etiquette

After notification via the USPS, the real IRS may call you to discuss options to handle delinquent taxes or an audit. A real IRS agent or a debt collector won't demand immediate payment without giving you an opportunity to question or appeal the bill, nor will they threaten lawsuits, arrest or deportation. Their tone should not be hostile or insulting. Finally, if they ask for payment, they should be asking you to make it out only to the United States Treasury.

What to do: If you get a call from the IRS or an IRS debt collector, politely ask for the employee's name, badge number and phone number. They shouldn't hesitate to provide this information. You should then end the call and dial the IRS at 1-800-366-4484 to confirm the person's identity.

Rule 4: Check in-person visits

Ask the person for their credentials. Every IRS agent should be able to produce two forms of credentials: a pocket commission card and a personal identity verification card issued by the Department of Homeland Security, also called an HSPD-12.

What to do: Never provide sensitive information nor confirm information they may have without first independently verifying they are legitimate representatives of the IRS. If you have concerns you can call the IRS at 1-800-366-4484 to confirm the person's identity.

You do not need to navigate this problem on your own. Call immediately for assistance. It is good to have a knowledgeable expert on your side.

To be sure it's really the IRS, give us a call at (610)863-8347  for a free consultation.

Stay tuned for more tax tips from Corvino and Verwys.

Did you get married this year?

If so, here are a few ways how getting married affects your taxes:  

1. Name Change: If you are changing your name, you will need to notify the Social Security Administration. Your name on your tax return must match what is on file at the Social Security Administration.

2. Address Change: If you have moved, you will need to notify the IRS of your address change.

3. Filing Status Change: You have the option to file married filing jointly or married filing separately. In most cases, married filing jointly is more advantageous, but both statuses are something to consider before filing.

4. Withholding Change: You may want to change your tax withholding at work to take into consideration the new filing status and possibly additional deductions.

5. Tax Form Change: Now that you are married, you may be able to take itemized deductions, which requires additional forms and a longer tax return.

We are here to help determine the most advantageous filing status and get all of the proper forms filed after you get married. Give us a call at (610) 863-8347 for a free consultation!