The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 was signed into law on January 2, 2013. This new law modifies or extends many business tax breaks, and also contains many changes to individual income tax. There are substantial additional changes in this act, but the following are most likely to impact you and/or your business.

Organizations with fewer than 100 employees significantly trail their counterparts in the implementation of formal antifraud controls, according to a worldwide survey by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE).  Antifraud experts say formal controls can help small businesses prevent and detect instances of fraud that, left undiscovered, could lead to costly losses and possibly...

The Internal Revenue Service is sending out penalty assessments regarding what they are referring to as improper reporting of taxpayer identification numbers on forms 1099.  They are assessing penalties at the rate of $50 per occurrence.  Many cooperatives issue thousands of 1099's and are receiving notices indicating problems with in excess of 150 1099's.  Penalties...

If you haven’t yet filed forms 1096 or W-3 with the IRS or SSA, it will be easier to fix a mistake on them without the need to file amended returns. However, if you have already filed forms 1096 or W-3 with the government, and there are errors on those forms, then you will also have to file amended reports which can be complicated and time consuming. So, file those 1096s and W-3s closer to their due date to avoid potential amended return filings.

Properly classifying a worker as an independent contractor can save a company payroll tax dollars, but an improper classification can subject the company to back payroll taxes, penalties and interest.

With the recent “relaxation” of the new tougher 1099 reporting requirements, there seems to be a misconception that 1099’s are no longer required. This misconception could prove costly to you and your organization.