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Relief From Retirement Plan Rollover Time Requirements

Under the Internal Revenue Code, a taxpayer is entitled to withdraw assets from one qualified employer retirement plan or traditional Individual Retirement Arrangement (IRA) and place them in another qualified plan so long as the transfer occurs within 60 days of the taxpayer's receipt of the distribution. The Internal Revenue Service and various courts have stringently enforced the 60-day rule even when it was clear that the taxpayer intended to completed the rollover and acted in good faith but that the failure to complete the transfer was beyond his or her control.

Amended Returns

The way to handle an error on a tax return really depends upon the type of error. The Internal Revenue Service usually corrects math errors on its own, and it requests any missing forms or schedules that you might have forgotten to include. Therefore, you should not file an amended return to correct these mistakes. On the other hand, if your mistake was an error in reporting your filing status, total income, deductions, or credits, you should filed an amended return.

Prepaid Farm Expenses

Generally, taxpayers who use the cash method of reporting income and expenses must take deductions and credits in the year in which they are paid. There are exceptions to this rule for tax items such as prepaid expenses, which often must be accounted for in a different year in order to more clearly reflect income.

Who May File a Joint Tax Return

When a couple files a joint tax return, they are considered a single economic unit in the eyes of the Internal Revenue Service. But not every "couple" is entitled to file a joint return. Only a married couple may file jointly, They do not have to be married for the entire year. A husband and wife must be married on the last day of the tax year in order to benefit from the joint filing status for the entire year. These benefits include a lower tax rate and certain credits, such as the earned income credit, the tax credit for the elderly, and the credit for child and dependent care expenses, which are only available to married taxpayers who file a joint return.

Excessive Compensation of Officers by Tax-exempt Organizations

The Internal Revenue Service is concerned that some charities and private foundations are abusing their tax-exempt status by paying exorbitant compensation to their officers and other insiders. In an attempt to identify and combat this abuse, the IRS has established the Tax Exempt Compensation Enforcement Project, which seeks to gather information from almost 2,000 organizations about their compensation practices and procedures. The enforcement project consists of examinations as well as other contacts.