NEWS: 

Online registration is now open for our September 2 for 1 seminar featuring Beanna Whitlock  

Enrolled agents with SSN's ending in 4, 5 or 6 whose renewals were suspended by the new tax preparer registration rules can now submit their renewal - fee is $30.  Electronic submission is available.

Review IRS Notice 2011-6 covering tax preparer registration and testing requirements

The early sign-up discount for the two "encore" piggyback sessions in Lansing on 12/2 and at Walsh College in Troy on 12/3 has been extended for 5 days.

IMPORTANT - due to a technical problem, if you faxed an order for either Quickfinder or the TaxBook between 10/14 through 10/20 it has been irretrievably lost.  Please re-fax that order - If you are not sure if your order was lost you can call Valorie Anderson at 616-534-0909.

          Next Newsletter Committee date change to Tuesday, October 26, 2010 @ Meredith Tax Service in Pt Huron.

          MI Electronic filing processing will be interrupted by the annual IRS Labor Day power down.  See the MI Treasury Activity
          page for more detail.

Date for Treasury Roundtable corrected to September 14.  Contact Jim Barry at jbarry2395@charter.net; Glen Mitchell at tcglenmitchell@yahoo.com; or Marilyn Meredith at idylmoment@aol.com.  Questions are to be submitted by September 7, 2010.

NOTE: one side of the Piggyback seminar flyer incorrectly swapped the dates of the Lansing and Detroit Area ENCORE piggyback sessions.  The Lansing Encore Piggyback is on December 2, 2010 and the Detroit Area Encore Piggyback is on December 3, 2010.  The "registration" side of the flyer shows the correct dates.  The education committee apologizes for any inconvenience.

          TaxBook and Quickfinder order forms are now available.

"Beginning with the 2010 tax year, Michigan will have an enforced Michigan Business Tax (MBT) e-file mandate.  Developers producing MBT tax preparation software and computer-generated forms must support e-file for all eligible Michigan forms that are included in their software package.  All eligible MBT returns prepared using tax preparation software or computer-generated forms must be e-filed.  Treasury will not process computer-generated paper returns that are eligible to be e-filed.  A notice will be mailed to the taxpayer indicating that their return was not filed in the proper form and content and must be e-filed.   Additional information will be published on Treasury's Web sites www.michigan.gov/taxes and www.MIfastfile.org as it becomes available."

IR 2010-87 announces that  small nonprofit organizations at risk of losing their tax-exempt status because they failed to file required returns for 2007, 2008 and 2009 can preserve their status by filing returns by Oct. 15, 2010, under a one-time relief program.

REG-139343-08 contains proposed amendments to the regulations relating to the imposition of certain user fees on certain tax practitioners. The proposed regulations establish a new user fee for individuals who apply for or renew a preparer tax identification number (PTIN). The proposed regulations affect individuals who apply for or renew a PTIN. The charging of user fees is authorized by the Independent Offices Appropriations Act of 1952.   

IRS 1099 Seminar on video: A link to the video of the March 30 FSLG webinar on Form 1099-MISC is now live at http://www.irs.gov/govt/fslg/index.html

There are 2 corrections/clarifications in newsletter on page 3:
1.  MBT question refers to Line 41 of MBT return.
2.  The Energy Cost Recovery Surcharge Credit:  a NON-refundable credit....  It should say non-refundable instead of refundable.

NEWSLETTER GLITCH...
It seems that some members are being charged 20˘ additional postage for delivery of our
chapter newsletter because postal service procedures changed and our methods did not.
The Board of Directors and the Newsletter Committee offer their sincere apologies to any
member who is inconvenienced by this unfortunate and embarrassing situation.
We are taking steps to ensure that this situation is not repeated in the future.

IRS offers new way to check "economic recovery payments"
call 866-234-2942.  Data needed is: SSN, DoB, ZipCode
an online version is now live at: https://sa2.www4.irs.gov/irfof-mwp/start.do

IRS OPEN HOUSE(s): Two hundred IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers across the country will open on Saturday, May 15, to provide help to small business owners and individual taxpayers dealing with notices and payments, return preparation and a variety of other tax issues. Each office will be open from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. local time. Locations in Michigan:

Detroit: 477 Michigan Ave.
Detroit, MI 48226

Flint: 815 S. Saginaw
Flint, MI 48502

Grand Rapids: 3251 N. Evergreen Dr. N.E.
Grand Rapids, MI 49525

GRAND RAPIDS provides guidance on ROTH IRA conversions
and considerations based on Form 1099-R distribution codes
(NOTE:  various City tax ordinances are very similar but not always identical)

IRS Issues Q&A on preparer regulation:  click here

Updates and questions from January "Last Chance" seminar are on the class downloads page.

Although the IRS will begin accepting business e-file returns on January 7, Michigan will not begin retrieving and accepting MBT e-file returns until January 25, 2010, and therefore, will begin issuing acknowledgments for MBT e-file returns on January 26, 2010.
 

Read the SUMMARY of the 12/3/09 ITAG Meeting

MICHIGAN QUALIFYING CHARITABLE DEDUCTION 

To the extent included in AGI, a distribution from a pension or retirement plan that is contributed to a qualifying charitable organization is a miscellaneous subtraction on Line 20 MI-1040 Schedule 1.

To qualify, you must make the payment to the charity within 60 days of receiving the distribution – AND- reduce the amount of the contribution by any pension subtraction taken and two times the total amount of credits claimed for a public contribution credit, homeless shelter/food bank credit and the community foundation credit.

For more information see MCL – Section 206.30(1)(z).

 

IRS Announces 2010 Standard Mileage Rates (Rev Proc 2009-54)

(1) Business -- 50 cents per mile
(2) Charitable contribution -- 14 cents per mile
(3) Medical and moving --16.5 cents per mile

NEW - Indiana DOR emailed information about potential fail to file penalty for MI residents under reciprocal agreement (note there is only one page even though it says page 1 of 2)

Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land is making it easier for residents to participate in the federal “Cash for Clunkers” program by offering them a new, convenient way to obtain the registration history of their current vehicles.    (summer, 2009)
read announcement

Check out MI Chapter Enrolled Agent Exam Study Sessions   (summer, 2009)

UPDATE ON AUTOMOTIVE BUYOUTS  (spring, 2009)

NEW from MI Treasury:   (winter, 2009)

There has been some confusion when filling out Form 4577, column F, percentage of stock with attribution.  

Form 4577 Instructions state the following.

“Column F: Enter the percentage of outstanding stock each shareholder owns, including attribution of ownership from family members under IRC 318(a)(1). If no attribution exists, enter the percentage from column E in column G and leave column F blank.”

Column F should be filled out only if and when attribution exists.