Definition: Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is a journal or newsletter, frequently updated for general public consumption. Blogs generally represent the personality of the author or the Web site.~
01/04/09 During the last quarter of 2008, there have been many changes for Personal Management Services/Liberty Tax Service and for myself. Because some of these will be of interest to our clients in Charlotte and elsewhere, I’ll list the things that come to mind:
- The loss of Becky Easter to a fatal stroke on October 31 has affected all of us, and we will miss her for a long time.
- December 15th was my last day as an employee at SIM (Serving in Mission). Though my hours per week were few, it kept me in close touch with the goings-on there. My SIM e-mail address is no longer in service and quick access to SIM missionary information will be less quick! Don Harling and Alethea Vissers at SIM will continue to provide information on W-2s, 1099s, trust information, etc. I will visit there about once a week during the tax season.
- Effective January 1st, my business is now registered with NC as an LLC (Limited Liability Company) using the name of Personal Management Services, LLC, with a dba of Liberty Tax Service. This will have virtually no effect on your dealings with us.
- A second Liberty office was opened late in 2008. The new office will be “primary” and the Johnston Rd office secondary. Check the Contact Page on this website for more details. “Out-of-town” tax returns will likely be completed from the main office. Email addresses remain the same, but phone numbers for the main office have changed. Johnston Rd phone numbers remain the same.
- With Google Analytics it is possible to have a better understanding about the use and value of this website. (For example, a day or two ago, someone from Nairobi, Kenya spent 13 minutes on the website.) On the down side, it shows how little we can depend on a public site to get information to our general clientele.
Please send any comments. They can help us improve and may stimulate a helpful blog for another day.
12/24/08 ESTIMATED INCOME TAX PAYMENTS: If you must make estimated income tax payments, the fourth quarter installment is due January 15, 2009. To avoid late payment penalties, individuals are required to pay in the lesser of: (1) 100% of the prior year’s taxes (line 63 on your 2007 Form 1040), or (2) 90% of the current year’s taxes. If your Adjusted Gross Income in 2007 was greater than $150,000 ($75,000 if married filing separately), then you must pay in 110% of your 2007 taxes rather than 100%.
If you itemize your deductions, consider making your state estimated tax payment on or before December 31, 2008, even though it is not due until January 15, 2009. You are allowed to deduct your state tax payments on your federal return in the year that you make your payment. By paying in 2008, you may deduct these taxes on your 2008 return. If you pay after December 31, you will have to wait until you file your 2009 return a year later to take this deduction.
Keep in mind that estimated payments must be made for both income taxes and social security taxes. If you have non-wage income from services you have provided as a contractor, a personal business, independent sales agent, clergy member, etc., social security taxes are usually not withheld. These must be paid by including the tax of 14.13% with other estimated payments for income tax.
11/04/08 To all of you who corresponded with Becky during the past few years, you will understand our grief. On October 15 Becky suffered a severe stroke, and on October 31 passed on to be with the Lord.
In a number of letters to our overseas clients, she mentioned her desire to be an overseas missionary. She also expressed joy to be able to serve many of you who work in that capacity.
Two daughters in their twenties had close home ties with their mother. Please pray for them to remain strong during their time of grieving, and pray for their financial well being as they strive to maintain their home.
07/09/08 What does a tax office do after the main season and before the next deadline? For the most part, it’s a time for more training and developing new business to spread the overhead costs. Spreading overhead makes it possible to keep future prices in line.
This week I’m in Roswell, GA (Atlanta) learning more about Ministers returns and discovering ways to help Truck Drivers take the best advantage of the special CONUS per diem rules to lower their tax bills.
Summer is also the time to answer your questions about last year’s tax return and about ways to reduce your taxes for 2008. We look forward to receiving your queries and comments. Among our permanent staff of Becky, Linda and me, one of us will get back to you ASAP. Our personal addresses at the office are becky.libtax @hotmail.com, linda.libtax@hotmail.com and harley.libtax@hotmail.com. The BEST address, though, is usually the one that reaches all three of us – libtax01@hotmail.com. END
04/02/08 This morning I’m catching up on some outstanding e-mails from the past several days. I want to share one reply, because you may need to know as well.
It is critical that by April 15 the IRS receive any payment for taxes owed. For most Americans Abroad, that depends on whether you spent extensive time in the U.S. during 2007, had personal use of ministry from SIM, or had other significant income from investments, pensions, etc.
If we are doing your tax return, we try our best to let you know if you owe in enough time to make an IRS payment. Since we’re getting short on time, please review your own situation and let us know if there may be a payment due that we have overlooked. Were you in the States for more than six months in 2007? Might you owe SECA tax on personal use of ministry funds from your mission? Did you take distributions from your IRA or other pension funds?
Now is also a good time to re-read these blog notes from March and April 2007, look at the Q&A page and any other pages that seem relevant to your situation. END
03/27/08 As tax information comes in from our Americans Abroad clients, we're noting quite a few improper IRA contributions. Unless corrected, there is a penalty of 6% per year on excess contributions. IRA contributions are limited to the amount of "taxable compensation". Most US citizens living abroad for the entire year HAVE NO taxable compensation. For more information, check Item 6 on our Q & A page.
03/26/08 Detailed instructions for uploading your files to our shared CyberCabinet are posted on the Americans Abroad page. If you don't have a user ID and password to use this encrypted (secure) feature, send an email to libtax01.hotmail.com and ask to be set up.
01/31/08 Note that the web based Tax Organizer accessed through this website may show "2006" instead of "2007". There is a "calendar" icon near the top right area of the Organizer page. Use this icon to advance your information to 2007.
01/29/08 To SIM Missionaries: Yesterday we at Liberty Tax started sending our 2008 Instruction Letter and Tax Organizer information by email. You should receive yours sometime this week.
SIM has begun releasing W-2s related to personal use of ministry funds. I understand the W-2s for regular wages will be released about Thursday.
We have started inputting information for those who need FAFSA information. You should receive your tax instructions from us no later than tomorrow. Please complete and return those as soon as you can. The “Tax Organizer, Part II” with the travel and location chart is particularly important.
01/09/08 Preparations for the 2008 tax season are well underway. The first version of LibTax software was installed in December. Yesterday we completed update training for returning employees and for several new staff members. Sending Tax Organizers to our “Out-of-Town” clients is our next priority.
Many of you will need tax information for FAFSA college financial aid forms, and some of you have alerted us of that need. If you need FAFSA information and haven’t told us, please email a note to becky.libtax @hotmail.com. W-2s are generally not available before the end of January, and most 1099 information is received between February 1 and 10. To do a complete return, we must have all tax information available.
Internet security continues to be a reality of our times, and we want to be as careful as possible in our communications to you. This year, we will rely more heavily on the CyberCabinet which uses encryption on documents uploaded and downloaded between us. END
07/19/07 I’ve just posted a new item about tax planning that would be good to check out. Look at the headings and see whether any of them may be helpful to you. Click on the Newletter tab on the left and look for the “Plan Now” item.
4/10/07 We are busy scanning and e-mailing tax returns to our Americans Abroad clients. These must be reviewed, signed and MAILED to the IRS, and there may be a state return to mail as well.
We have received a couple of return messages which imply that our cover letter is being ignored or misread. THIS IS TO THOSE “READERS’ PERIL!! If there is a balance owing to the IRS or a state, the payment must be postmarked by April 17 to avoid a penalty for under payment of estimated taxes. If there is a balance owing AND the return is not postmarked by April 17 (and no extension for filing has been sent), there may also be a penalty for late filing as well. i.e. late payment AND late filing.
Full payment of at least enough to cover all taxes due by April 17th is the surest way to avoid any penalties. To both owe money and not file by the 17th will almost certainly lead to both penalties mentioned above. (There is an exception to the late filing penalty – but not for late payment of estimated taxes -- for those who are outside the U.S. on April 17. They have an automatic extension until June 15th, if the extension is properly noted with their return.) Please share this information with other Americans around you. END
3/9/07 Some of you are considering whether an IRS estimated tax payment on personal use of ministry funds from SIM is needed. During the week of January 22, Ron Muesing at SIM sent information showing the total for “personal use”. A second W-2 was later issued for this amount. The SECA tax on this amount is 14.13% of the total. I suggest you send a payment for the SECA tax amount to the IRS as soon as possible.
To make an estimated payment to the IRS, send a check to Internal Revenue Service, P.O. Box 660406, Dallas, TX 75266-0406, USA. On the memo line write your SSN and "2006 Form 1040-ES". END
3/6/07 Your cards, letters and web visits continue to pour in! 116 of you have checked the website since the beginning of March. E-mail and regular mail seem to be working well. I’m not aware of any losses, though some pieces waiting to be sorted or filed may make it appear that way. We’re running about a week behind schedule in general, but hope to make that up during March. Several of you are still waiting for FAFSA information. We’re working hard to get those figures to you.
At this time, don’t be overly concerned about lack of acknowledgements from us or the April 15 deadline. It was normal for SIM to apply for extensions beyond that date, and for this first year of handling your return, an extension is very likely. We are monitoring your files to alert you if you will owe federal taxes, payable by April 17. We aren’t able to monitor state obligations. If you were in a state for an extended period of time (three weeks or more) there is a likelihood you will owe some tax there. END
2/16/07 We have received virtually all W-2 forms for SIM missionaries for whom we’re preparing tax returns. We were missing a few authorizations for SIM to transfer those, so those missionaries will have to send the W-2 back to Liberty Tax. The Stewardship Department has also provided K-1s for revocable trust accounts. They will also send a copy to you.
Are the tax organizers working OK for you? Many of you have responded to the Tax Organizer, Part I, that we emailed between Jan 13 and 20. As far as I can tell, that seems to be working OK. The Tax Organizer on our website is harder to access and use. We’ve had to reset some passwords and exchange e-mails to explain strange abbreviations or give better instructions on how to enter information. [3/5/07. MSN Explorer is the recommended browser to login to the website. Other browsers may not accept your Login and Password.]
We are working to complete tax returns for those with FAFSA financial aid requirements. Our goal is to have FAFSA information to you by the end of the February. Most other returns will be done during March and early April. When information is missing or the return is more complex, we will file for automatic 6 month extensions. THIS DOESN’T ALLOW EXTRA TIME TO PAY ANY TAXES DUE.
We are receiving your mail to Liberty Tax Service, P. O. Box 416, Pineville, NC 28134. Please direct mail there – not to our street address or to SIM USA. (Mail coming to SIM is being screened for tax information that should be coming to Liberty Tax. Even so, we know some has gone from SIM to the field.)
11/1/06 This morning SIM missionaries with personal use of ministry funds came to mind. Because this is "earned" income, it will be taxed for social security at 14.13%. Anyone with several thousand dollars of this income (or income from churches), should consider making an estimated tax payment between now and Jan. 15.
I have been using the CyberCabinet feature that is available to our clients with a login ID and password. Once logged in, I find it is as easy to use as attaching a document to an email. It has the advantage of keeping our joint "things" in one location and it's protected by the SSL encryption feature.
10/17/06 This is Day 1 for this page. I will initially use it to informally communicate with my client friends; especially those who live outside the Charlotte area. Because it's not a true weblog site you can't reply here. Send comments to harley.snyder@pms01.com.
END