Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 14, 2015 to attend FINANCIAL FEST –presented by Money Radio (KFNN 1510AM & 99.3FM) – a day of free seminars specialized to grow your wealth and help you retire comfortably.

Boudreau Consulting’s Kevin Boudreau will be presenting TAX BACKETOLOGY -- a review different ways of minimizing your personal & business income taxes --regardless of your tax bracket.

Boudreau Consulting is the only CPA firm presenting at this event. You will have a chance to meet the Boudreau Consulting tax professionals that can help you save money. TAX BRACKETOLOGY is scheduled to start at 11 am.

On the surface, this may seem like another scam, but your health insurance company may request that you provide them with the social security numbers for you, your spouse and your children covered by your policy.

This is because the Affordable Care Act requires every provider of minimal essential coverage to report that coverage by filing an information return with the IRS and furnishing a statement to covered individuals. The information is used by the IRS to administer – and individuals to show compliance with – the health care law.

Health coverage providers will file an information return, Form 1095-B, Health Coverage, with the IRS and will furnish statements to you in 2016, to report coverage information from calendar year 2015.

Opening the mail and seeing a notice from the Internal Revenue Service generally raises our blood pressure.  Here are some tips of how to address and resolve any issues when you receive a notice.

1. Watch out for Scams - The IRS only will initially notify you by mail – not phone or email.  The IRS does not contact people via email, text or social media. 
2. Don’t Ignore It. You can respond to most IRS notices quickly and easily. It is important that you reply right away.
3. Focus on the Issue. IRS notices usually deal with a specific issue about your tax return or tax account.  Understand the reason for the notice.

President Barack Obama announced that he will propose tax increases for higher-income individuals and provide tax relief for middle-class taxpayers in last night’s State of the Union address. He wants to simplify the Internal Revenue Code, eliminating loopholes, and help “middle class families get ahead and grow the economy.”

While it remains to be seen when and how anything may be implemented, the president’s wish list includes:

Do you donate your services to charity and travel as part of the service? Some travel expenses may be deductible for income tax purposes.

1. You must donate to a qualified charity if you want to deduct the gift. You can’t deduct gifts to individuals, political organizations or candidates.

2. In order for you to deduct your contributions, you must file Form 1040 and itemize deductions.

These brochures are a summary of the key tax law changes in 2013 for individuals and small businesses that may affect you.

2013 Individual Tax Law Snapshot
2013 Small Business Tax Law Snapshot

The following individual income tax deductions, credit and exclusions will expire at the end of this month:

• The non-business energy property credit
• The credit for health insurance costs of eligible individuals
• The deduction for certain elementary and secondary school teacher expenses
• Premiums for mortgage insurance deductible as qualified residence interest
• Deduction for state and local general sales taxes
• The special rules for contributions of capital gain real property made for conservation purposes
• The above-the-line deduction for qualified tuition and related expenses
• The exclusion for discharge-of-indebtedness income on principal residence
• Parity between the exclusion from income for employer-provided mass transit and parking benefits
• Tax-free distributions from IRAs for charitable purposes

As we enter the final 3 months of the tax year, here are a couple of strategies to consider with your non-retirement investment portfolio.

• 0% rate on long-term capital gains and dividends. If your income other than gains and dividends is in the 10% or 15% bracket, profits on sales of assets owned for over a year and dividends are tax free until they push you into the 25% bracket. That bracket starts at $72,500 of taxable income for couples and $36,250 for singles. The balance of your long-term gains and dividends is taxed at 15% or possibly 20%.

Syndicated talk show host Dave Ramsey has selected CPA Kevin Boudreau as one of his Endorsed Local Providers in the Phoenix area for tax services. For more information, contact Kevin at (480) 776-3358.

As some companies look to avoid certain administrative and financial headaches of employing workers, they make arrangements with individuals to be independent contractors who generally get paid without benefits and worker protections.

But be careful. The IRS and courts have certain working environment aspects that are used to evaluate the true definition of the worker.

This comes to light again as a federal judge ruled earlier this week that Rick’s Caberet, a strip club, has to pay its dancers minimum wage and treat them as employees. The club had long classified its dancers as independent contractors and were only paid in customer tips, thus skirting minimum wage rules. This week’s ruling means that 1,900 of Rick’s Caberet International current and former dancers can seek back wages, according to NBCNews.com.