Accounting Group LLC
January 2008 Newsletter

It's that time of year to be organizing your 2007 income tax return information to prepare yourself or have a professional tax preparer help you! Accounting Group offers individual and small business tax return preparation services.

By using a tax professional to prepare your tax return, you will be able to take the most tax advantages for your return. Should you prefer to do your tax return by yourself, we hope you find the following list of "Top 10 Taxpayer Mistakes", useful.

• Social Security numbers - This is the number one oversight. The IRS no longer preprints address labels that show the taxpayer's Social Security Number.
• Signature and date - Forgetting to sign and date the tax return (joint returns require both spouses to sign) is the second most common mistake.
• Interest income - Many taxpayers include stock and mutual fund dividends or annuity disbursements in their gross income, but they forget to include interest earned in savings accounts or interest-bearing checking accounts.
• State sales tax for Washington State - You can choose to claim the standard sales tax or the actual sales tax deduction if you have itemized deductions (Schedule A).
• Matching securities transactions - Be sure that all the numbers reported to the IRS on any 1099B forms that you receive for stock, mutual funds and bonds, are correct.
• Personal property taxes - Personal property tax is a commonly overlooked deduction. These are legitimate deductions if the tax is charged on an annual basis.
• Medical expenses - Deductions for medical expenses have been dramatically reduced, so many taxpayers don't consider this as a possible tax-saving deduction. But even small deductions are better than none.
• Charitable contributions - Canceled checks do not qualify as authentication of charitable contributions. For the gift to qualify as a contribution, taxpayers must have a receipt or an itemized contribution record issued by the charitable organization.
• Points - Many homeowners miss tax savings for points paid on money borrowed. The amount paid is deductible for the year the points were paid if the loan was made to buy or improve a primary residence.
• Foreign tax credits - Foreign countries and U.S. possessions or its subdivisions may impose taxes. These taxes can either be deducted as an itemized deduction or claimed as a credit against U.S. tax owed. Review your 1099B forms for foreign tax credits paid on dividends from foreign owned stock.

If you would like for Accounting Group to prepare your personal and/or small business tax return please contact me today. I have over 25 years in the accounting profession. Accounting Group LLC will answer any questions you may have regarding these taxpayer mistakes or any other tax issues for your personal, LLC or C-Corp tax returns.

Would you rather trust a professional tax preparer or a box? Please contact me for an appointment today, don't delay!

Sincerely,

Michelle J. Franz, Owner
Accounting Group LLC
http://acctgrp.com