Showing entries for category: ‘Michigan Business’

Critical Michigan Tax Deadlines for 2015

Saved in: Michigan Business, Tax News

Everyone knows and dreads the yearly April 15 deadline for filing federal and state income taxes. But did you know that there are at least 16 other major tax deadlines spread throughout the year from January 15 to December 31?

 

Some of these deadlines have already passed. There was the January 15, 2015 deadline for paying estimated tax for the last quarter of 2014. This is usually for those with income that is not subject to withholding tax, such as from business, rental, investments, and capital gains. These can be calculated using the IRS Form 1040-ES. You can also still avoid estimated tax penalty if you file and pay in full by February 2, 2015.

 

Last January 20,2015 was the date the IRS started processing tax returns for the tax year, whether those filed electronically or on paper. February 2, 2015 was also the deadline for employers and businesses to furnish Forms W-2 and 1099, including non-employee compensation, interest on bank accounts, and dividends.

 

Below are the rest of the major tax deadlines for 2015.

March 2, 2015

 

This is the deadline for employers to send Forms 1099 and 1096 to the IRS, if filing on paper. If filing electronically, you’ll have until March 31. If you happen to earn from farming or fishing, this is also the deadline for filing and paying for any balance due on your tax return.

 

March 16, 2015

 

This is the deadline for corporate tax returns using the corresponding type of Form 1120. If an extension is needed, this is also the deadline to file Form 7004 for a 6-month extension for businesses using the calendar year. This is also the last chance to file an amended corporate tax return for tax years back to 2011 to claim any pending refunds (3 years maximum). These deadlines actually should fall on March 15, but this happens to fall on a Sunday this year.

 

April 15, 2015

 

This is the big one. This is the deadline for filing your individual tax return (Form 1040 or subtypes), or filing for a 6-month extension (Form 4868). Note, however, that even if you file for an extension, you still need to pay your taxes on this date or face penalties.

 

This date is also the last day to make contributions to IRA, Health Savings Account, or your 401(k). If you file for an extension, you will have until October 15, 2015 to contribute to your SEP-IRA or 401(k). For those making estimated tax payments, this is the deadline for the 1st quarter of 2015. As with corporate tax returns, this is also the deadline for filing an amended tax return for tax years back to 2011 or you will forfeit any refunds you are entitled to for 2011.

 

This is also the deadline for filing estate or trust income tax returns (Form 1041) or partnership tax returns (Form 1065). Extensions granted for these last only 5 months (Form 7004). Again, this is also the last chance to file for amended tax returns of the same type for refunds from tax year 2011.

 

May 15, 2015

 

This is the deadline for filing information returns for tax-exempt organizations (Form 990). Extensions can be requested using Form 8868.

 

June 1, 2015

 

This is the deadline for financial institutions to report balances on individual retirement accounts for 2013 (Form 5498).

 

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This is the deadline for estimated tax payments for the 2nd quarter of 2015. US citizens living abroad also need to file and pay for their individual tax returns by this date, or request for a 4-month extension (Form 4868).

 

June 30, 2015

 

If you have over $10,000 held in foreign bank accounts, you may have to file a Foreign Bank Account Report by this date (FinCEN Form 114). Extensions are not allowed.

 

September 15, 2015

 

This is the deadline for estimated tax payments for the 3rd quarter of 2015. This is also the extended deadline for corporate, trust, and partnership tax returns.

 

October 1, 2015

 

This is the deadline for self-employed and small employers who want to open a SIMPLE-IRA for this year.

 

October 15, 2015

 

This is the extended deadline for individual tax returns and for funding SEP-IRA or 401(k), and the last day for electronic filing for 2014 taxes.

 

December 1, 2015

 

You may be able to contribute to a Health Savings Account for the year if covered by an eligible policy by this date.

 

December 31, 2015

 

This is the last day to make any tax moves for the year or set up a 401(k) if self-employed.

 

If you need help with any of your 2015 Michigan tax needs Hazzouri Accounting is here to help. You can contact us today at 734-844-1614 or fill out our on-line contact form and someone will be in touch with your shortly. We can help!

 

You can also find us on-line at our social media accounts:  Facebook fan page / Twitter Feed / Google+ Account

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February 26th, 2015
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5 Reasons Why You Should File Your Michigan Taxes Early

Saved in: Michigan Business, Tax News

Tax season starts on January 20, which is just a few days from now. The last day to file taxes in Michigan follows the federal deadline of April 15, 2015. The well organized and financially savvy are already preparing their paperwork, if they haven’t already submitted it to a CPA to double check everything and file it as soon as the date comes around. If you’re like most people, however, you’re probably not looking forward to filing your taxes at all, let alone early. Here are five reasons you could be making a mistake:

 

#1 – Avoid Identity Theft Tax Return Fraud

 

As discussed in another blog post, identity theft tax return fraud has exploded in recent years, amounting to $5.2 billion in 2013 alone. Some unscrupulous people have found easy ways to get the Social Security Numbers (SSN) and other information of unsuspecting victims and use them to claim tax refunds in their name. This has become a ridiculously big “business,” with almost 15 million foiled attempts and almost 2,000 pending cases from the past few years. The IRS is struggling to catch up and find ways to bring these numbers down.

 

Along with keeping your information secure and entrusting it only to reputable establishments, filing your taxes early is your best defense against ID theft tax fraud.

 

#2 – Get Refunds Faster

 

If you’re owed money, the sooner the better, right? If you get a tax refund, you could have extra cash on hand for any unforeseen expenses. This is also always better than getting additional interest and charges on a credit card or loan. Processing time will also be faster since many people across the country will still wait until April when the IRS will get bogged down by the sheer volume.

 

#3 – Have More Time to Pay

 

If you will owe the IRS this year, filing early will also let you know early on just how much you need to pay. This gives you time to prepare, set aside the money, and avoid any nasty surprises.

 
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#4 – Avoid Additional Penalties and Paperwork

 

Life is unpredictable. According to Murphy’s Law, “anything that can go wrong, will.” Filing early gives you time to anticipate and address any problems that may surface. It gives you time to prepare the money you owe, or if needed, to file for an extension.

 

Figuring everything out in the first place can be complicated and time consuming. If you do things in a hurry at the last minute, you’re much more likely to make costly mistakes. You could miss out on significant deductions you’re entitled to just because you forgot to do the paperwork. On the other hand, you could underestimate how much you’re supposed to pay, leading to penalties and even an audit and criminal charges. Remember also that even if you file on time or file for an extension, you will be charged a stiff interest and penalties on the amount you owe if not paid by the deadline.

 

#5 – Avoid the Crowds

 

Waiting until the last minute will mean longer lines, whether at the IRS, the post office, the local CPA office, the bank, etc. Do yourself a favor and get it over with early on. That way, it won’t keep bothering you in the back of your mind for several months to boot. Tax season is an inevitable part of each new year. Since you can’t avoid it, you may as well get it over with and get on with the rest of your year hassle-free.

 

Contact Hazzouri Accounting and Tax Service Today!

 

Hazzouri Accounting is here to help. We have over 16 years of experience helping the communities of Canton, MI and the surrounding areas with all their tax needs. We take care of all the paperwork and filing to give you peace of mind, knowing everything was done right, on time, and with the utmost protection of your information. Call us today at (734) 844-1614 to get started! You can also fill out our website contact form or stop by our social media accounts to learn more:

 

Facebook fan page / Twitter Feed / Google+ Account

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January 19th, 2015
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An Important Advantage to Filing Your Taxes Early that You Probably Don’t Know About

Saved in: Accounting Services, Michigan Business, Tax News

According to 60 Minutes, it is “the biggest tax scam around now,” tripling in the past three years. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), it has cheated U.S. taxpayers out of $5.2 billion in 2013 alone (the Treasury Department thinks it’s actually much more). How did they do it? They filed other people’s tax returns before they themselves did, basically stealing their tax refunds.

 

Although identity theft tax return fraud only really started in recent years, the terms “gone viral” and “epidemic proportions” have been used to describe this problem today. According to the IRS itself, they have stopped close to 15 million suspicious returns from 2011 to 2013, amounting to over $50 billion. According to CBS, over 565,000 cases of identity theft were resolved by IRS agents in 2013, three times the number of cases resolved the previous year. It took an average of almost a year to resolve the cases closed between August 2011 and July 2012.

 

These refunds also go to all sorts of places, including Bulgaria, Lithuania, Ireland, and Shanghai. In the U.S., Miami tops the list for identity theft tax fraud, partly because of a thriving underground community there, and partly because of the high number of retirees in the state. A big chunk of identities stolen belong to retirees, children, prisoners, and even people who have passed away.

 

Detroit is included in the list of top cities for identity theft tax fraud, along with Chicago, Atlanta, and Houston.

 

How It Works

 

Despite the many criticisms the IRS gets over the years, they’re actually pretty quick about sending tax refunds. They are generally required to send your refund within six weeks, but are usually able to send it within 1-3 weeks. Generally, you can file for your return as early as the end of January, all the way up to midnight of April 15. All you really need in order to file your return is your Social Security number and birth date. To detect fraud, the IRS needs to check your tax return against the W-2 your employer files. Employers have until March to file this, and this is first sent to the Social Security Administration before being forwarded to the IRS. All in all, the IRS can’t even begin checking tax returns against employers’ W-2’s until July.

 

The effectiveness of Kamagra tablet and its counterpart sildenafil price in india or sildenafil are the most recognized selections for treatment though these medicines and others with the same benefit do not really crush or even break all of them. Order buy cialis is very much smart decision and special care is taken to manufacture this medicine. Thus there is an increased blood supply to the penis causing firm erections. secretworldchronicle.com viagra online Parents opt to get their newborn baby’s spine checked immediately to check if there are any attractive discounts available for you. cialis tadalafil 10mg Now, unscrupulous people have discovered a way to take advantage of this wide window of opportunity. The first step is to get the Social Security Number (SSN) and other needed information of unsuspecting people. In the report by 60 Minutes mentioned earlier, a former scammer who had been caught and convicted revealed that it’s “very easy” to get the needed information from the likes of banks, medical offices, schools, or simply by people being careless about keeping their SSN private. Then, the fraudsters simply file tax returns for the stolen identities as early as they can. The people who had their identities stolen often don’t discover this until months later when they try to file their real tax return and are told by the IRS that they’ve already been filed.

 

How to Avoid It

 

First of all, you should be careful about giving out your Social Security Number (SSN) and other sensitive information. Even those who’ve protected this information have been victimized because they provided it to offices or clinics that turned around and sold it to scammers. It has become more and more important to provide sensitive information only to institutions with extensive track records and strict policies on keeping your data private.

 

The IRS is also providing an annual Identity Protection PIN (IP PIN) to ensure only the rightful person can file his or her tax return. However, it will probably take a lot more time for this to fully address the problem. While the IRS doubled the number of IP PINs issued for the second year in a row in 2013, it only amounted to 1.2 million out of more than 120 million taxpayers.

 

Filing your tax return as early as you can remains your best defense against identity theft tax return fraud. Hazzouri Accounting has over 15 years’ experience helping the Canton, MI and surrounding communities with all their Michigan tax needs. Being a local operation, we can ensure the safety of your information when handling and filing your IRS forms on top of affordable rates and quick service. Contact Hazzouri Accounting today at 734-844-1614 or fill out our contact form to get started on your tax return!

 

You can also find us on-line at our social media accounts:  Facebook fan page / Twitter Feed / Google+ Account

 

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January 19th, 2015
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Michigan Payroll Taxes: What You Need to Know to Avoid Penalties

Saved in: Michigan Business, Tax News

It can be incredibly easy to fall into the many pitfalls of payroll tax. Not only do they add up really fast, honest mistakes are common and lead to big penalties and interest. Things can quickly get out of hand and lead to civil and/or criminal lawsuits.

 

The Statistics

 

There are more than 15,000 tax laws in the U.S., averaging one change a day from 2001 to 2012.

 

A full one third of small businesses get fined for payroll mistakes, according to the Yahoo! Small Business Advisor.

 

Payroll taxes are even more problematic, with 40% of small businesses getting fined an average of $845 each year in penalties. This is a huge unnecessary cost, especially for those just starting out.

 

What’s more, according to the National Small Business Association (NSBA), business owners spend an average total of three weeks each year just sorting out payroll taxes. That’s three weeks of your time times your average ideal rate per hour/day, which equals a whole lot more $ down the drain.

 

Federal Withholding Forms

 

IRS forms start with the W-4, which also has a Spanish version and a version for Non-resident Aliens, depending on your employees.

 

There is also Form 673 for Claiming Exemption From Withholding on Foreign Earned Income based on Section 911 of the tax law.

 

Then, there’s Form 8233 for Exemption From Withholding on Compensation for Independent (and Certain Dependent) Personal Services of a Nonresident Alien Individual.

 

State Withholding Forms and Rates

 

Michigan tax forms can be even more specific. In fact, Michigan is the only state that has different W-4 for many individual cities.

 

Michigan has the state W4 and Certificate of Nonresidency, the MI-W4 and MI-NR respectively.

 

Cities that have their own W4 forms are, in alphabetical order:

 

  • Albion (AL-W4)
  • Battle Creek (BS W-4)
  • Big Rapids (BRW-4)
  • Detroit (DW-4)
  • Flint (FW-4)
  • Grand Rapids (GRW-4)
  • Grayling (GR W-4)
  • Hamtramck (HW-4)
  • Highland Park (HPW-4)
  • Hudson (HU W-4)
  • Ionia (IW-4)
  • Jackson (JW-4)
  • Lansing (LW-4)
  • Lapeer (LW-4)
  • Muskegon (MW-4)
  • Muskegon Heights (MHW-4)
  • Pontiac (PW-4)
  • Port Huron (PH-W4)
  • Portland (PW-4)
  • Saginaw (SW-4)
  • Springfield (SF W-4)
  • Walker (WW-4)

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Withholding rates and exemption values also vary widely depending on the city:

 

  1. 00% residents; 0.50 non-residents; $600 exemption
    1. Albion
    2. Flint
    3. Hamtramck
    4. Jackson
    5. Lansing
    6. Lapeer
    7. Muskegon
    8. Muskegon Heights
    9. Pontiac
    10. Port Huron
    11. Walker
  2. Cities with same rate as (1) but with different exemption values:
    1. Battle Creek ($750)
    2. Grayling ($3,000)
    3. Hudson ($1,000)
    4. Ionia ($700)
    5. Portland ($1,000)
    6. Springfield ($1,500)
  3. Cities with same exemption value as (1) but different rates:
    1. Big Rapids (1.50% / 0.75%)
    2. Detroit (2.40% / 1.20%
    3. Grand Rapids (1.30% / 0.65%)
    4. Highland Park (2.00% / 1.00%)

 

Other State Payroll Requirements

 

Aside from Federal/State withholding taxes, there are other contributions and laws that apply in Michigan:

 

  1. State Unemployment Insurance (SUI): 0.06% to 10.3% depending on situation
  2. Minimum Wage: $8.15 effective September 1, 2014
  3. New Hire Reporting: Within 20 days (Form 3281 or MI W-4)
  4. Withholding Child Support
  5. Reciprocal States: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin

 

Bottom line

 

As you can see, payroll and especially payroll taxes are something almost all small businesses will want to leave to the experts. Unfortunately, entrepreneurs by nature tend to try to do everything themselves. Do not make this costly mistake.

 

We at Hazzouri Accounting offer you over 16 years of expertise to ease this burden from your shoulders. We believe that our relationship with the local communities of Canton, MI and the surrounding areas take top priority, and easing their burdens in making a living is our calling. Contact us today at 734-844-1614 or fill out our contact form for more information on our complete, flat-rate payroll services.

 

You can also come find us on the web:  Facebook fan page / Twitter Feed / Google+ Account

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December 10th, 2014
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What an Employer Needs to Know About Michigan Payroll Taxes

Saved in: Accounting Services, Michigan Business, Tax News

Successful entrepreneurs often have more willpower, independence, and individualism than others. But while these are seen as important success factors, those who are just starting out can end up having a “superman complex,” and trying to do everything themselves.

 

Business owners already have so many roles to play in the first place. Many start out thinking that they’ll just be selling a product, how hard could that be? Then they quickly realize that they need to pay the lawyer, the accountant, the marketing director, the human resources director, and many other different roles at different times. Established companies often have entire departments to handle each of these, but small business owners are often faced with the difficult choice between spending what little capital they have on outsourcing or saving that money and doing it themselves.

 

Spoiler alert: payroll is almost always one of the things you will want to outsource.

 

While other tasks are easy enough to learn and manage on top of actually running your business, payroll can be quite complex and tedious. It is also one aspect of your business that can have severe ramifications if mistakes are made. First of all, employees will leave or underperform if they are not paid enough or on time. Violations of minimum wage and other laws regulating pay will have severe legal consequences. The taxes, especially, can drown you in confusion and IRS penalties. Numerous forms for the different taxes, such as Form 940, Form 941, Form 1099 (and its many variants), the W-2 Form, and the W-4 Form are just some of the IRS forms you will usually have to deal with.

 

Aside from the specific tax types and rates that may apply (a topic that can be worth a whole other blog post), there are things to remember that may be unique to Michigan (information is from the official state website).

 

– All employers who are required to withhold federal income tax are also required to register for and withhold state income taxes.

 

– Those with companies located in a different state, but with employees working in Michigan, are also required to register for and withhold taxes in Michigan. They would have to create a “nexus” or a physical presence of the company in the state.

 

– For companies out of state with no nexus in-state, but have employees who are residents of Michigan, things get more complicated. Those located in Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois, Ohio and Minnesota may voluntarily register for and withhold taxes in Michigan; otherwise, the employees are required to make estimated income tax payments directly to Michigan. Companies in all other states are only required to withhold that state’s withholding tax.
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– Non-profit organizations are all also required to withhold state income tax in Michigan.

 

– Businesses are required to send a copy of their Form 1099 to the Michigan Department of Treasury if state taxes were withheld. This is submitted along with any 1099-MISC forms at the same time as Form 165 (Annual Return for Sales, Use and Withholding Taxes).

 

– Specific cities also impose their own income tax, with their own corresponding city tax forms. These cities are Albion, Battle Creek, Big Rapids, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids, Grayling, Hamtramck, Highland Park, Hudson, Ionia, Jackson, Lansing, Lapeer, Muskegon, Muskegon Heights, Pontiac, Port Huron, Portland, Saginaw, Springfield and Walker.

 

This is just a general overview of payroll taxes. The situation can change depending on location, type of business, and even from one employee to the next. Sure, if you have a strong background in accounting and have studied the IRS Employer’s Tax Guide (it’s 67 pages long), you may be able to save some money and handle payroll yourself.

 

Because of all the complexity and risks involved with payroll and taxes, payroll service providers are growing in number and sophistication. There are companies that focus solely on handling others’ payrolls, going as far as “hiring” their clients’ employees themselves. Such services can be complicated, however, and quite expensive. Unless you’re running a large operation, hiring an experienced accounting firm that offers full payroll services can be much more cost effective.

 

Khaled Hazzouri is a Michigan CPA with over 16 years of expertise in helping local companies with all their accounting needs. Hazzouri Accounting offers complete payroll services for all your business payroll requirements. Contact us today at 734-844-1614 for more information.

 

You can also visit us on our social media accounts:  Facebook fan page / Twitter Feed / Google+ Account

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November 12th, 2014
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