Articles and Tax Tips
Given filing season is right around the corner one of the most important tasks every AP department should be engaging in well before the new year starts is to “validate the vendors.” With data validation in mind, the following thirteen tips are therefore designed to help you prepare for a smooth filing season in 2012:
TIP #1: Run your payees through the Free IRS TIN Match Program, checking for name/TIN mismatches
By Steven D. Mercatante Esq.
In recent years, the IRS has noticeably ramped up its efforts to close the tax gap (gap between tax revenue owed to the IRS and what the IRS collects). Increasing enforcement measures, including massively expanded audit programs, targeted at third party reporters (third party reporters chiefly include organizations making payments to non-employees) are among the primary means the IRS has sought to close a tax gap estimated at well over $300 billion in 2010. The period of minimal IRS Form 1099 examinations has long since ended.
This month's article focuses on an issue that recently came to my attention when speaking at IAPP's Fusion 2011 Conference in May - one that has crucial importance to AP departments and their staffs all across the country.
Our very own Steven Mercatante Esq. is quoted extensively in a featured article from the March-April 2011 Issue of Financial Matters regarding the reasons and means by which governing bodies around the world, especially U.S. federal and state governments, are ratcheting up their focus on noncompliance and tax evasion all at once. Make sure you take the time to see what leading industry insiders are saying about today's regulatory landscape!
International Accounts Payable Professionals (IAPP) has invited TIR's own Steven Mercatante Esq. to speak at Fusion 2011 held this year in Orlando, Florida from May 8-12th. Reserve your spot today!
Are you still filing your 1099s on paper forms? We hope not. Filing returns on paper forms takes more time and produces greater errors. When filing paper forms, there is a risk that the scanner will not properly read the information included on the return, as wll as a higher risk for payer errors when transferring data by hand. As opposed to paper filing, filing electronically through the FIRE system has many advantages...
It is now critical that you properly report to individual US states but knowing in which states you have reporting requirements and effectively reporting is easier said than done. This article will introduce you to the basics of state reporting....