Q: Where are you located?
A: The ITL office is located in Ponchatoula, Louisiana at 155 N. 4th Street. Wanna see it on a Google Map?
Q: What areas do you service?
A: ITL services companies in various cities throughout Louisiana. A few of the cities are Ville Platte, Lafayette, Baton Rouge, Denham Springs, Hammond, Ponchatoula, Mandeville, Metairie, Kenner and New Orleans. The parishes range from Evangeline, Lafayette, East Baton Rouge, Livingston, Tangipahoa, St. Tammany, St. John, Jefferson and Orleans Parish. ITL has out of state clients as well from Arkansas, Alabama, Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia.
ITL also offers local pick-up and delivery services available upon request.
Q: What are your office hours?
A: In order to best serve our clients we offer seasonal hours. To accomodate the tax preparation season, our January hours are Monday-Friday 9am-5pm. Our tax season extended hours begin February and extend through April 15th: Monday-Friday 9am-6pm. And our regular hours of operation in effect April 16th through December are Monday-Thursday 9am-5pm.
Q: What is an "Enrolled Agent" (EA)?
A: An Enrolled Agent (or EA) is a tax professional recognized by the United States federal government to represent taxpayers in dealings with the Internal Revenue Service. To become an enrolled agent an applicant must pass the Special Enrollment Examination or present evidence of qualifying experience as an IRS employee. Here at ITL we have a dedicated Enrolled Agent on staff and ready to assist you with your financials.
Q: What forms of payment do you accept?
A: We currently accept cash, check, Visa, Mastercard and Discover.
Q: Do you offer a referral bonus?
A: YES! For those of you who refer your friends & family to us, our Referral Program is in place for your benefit! We appreciate your business & your referrals. Over the years we have found our best source of new clients is through our satisfied customers. Therefore we established a Referral Program. When you refer a friend or family member, you will receive 10% off of your tax prep fee and your friend or family member will receive the same discount!
Q: What do I need to bring to a tax return preparation appointment?
A: All year end reporting documents. Such as: W2’s, 1099’s for interest, dividends, rents, pensions and other income, 1098’s for mortgage interest paid and real estate taxes paid. If you itemize (long form), total out of pocket expenses such as medical, charitable and/or mileage. Any unreimbursed employee expenses including all receipts and detailed mileage logs.
Q: Is the organization of my receipts really important?
A: YES! You definitely want to send us all of your receipts. You can help us in a huge way by organizing and totaling your receipts! For example, medical, dental, prescription and any other receipts that are multiple receipts for the same category. If not, we may have to charge a recordkeeping/bookkeeping fee for the time we spend organizing and adding them for you.
Q: Do I need to keep all of my receipts that have atready been turned in for a tax return? Why?
A: Save ALL receipts & documents pertaining to your tax return, as well as bank statements and of course the copy of your tax return for ten years. As your paid preparer, we are only required to maintain the records of our work for you for three years.
Q: How "detailed" does my mileage log need to be?
A: Mileage deductions are great. But you cannot take the deduction if you don’t keep accurate records. You will need to keep all of these notations in one place, ask us for one of our free calendars to help make this process easy for you! We don’t want you to miss out, so here is exactly what you need to record in order to comply with the substantiation requirements: 1. Beginning odometer reading, 2. Ending odometer reading, 3. Destination, 4. Purpose, 5. Date, 6. Total miles driven, 7. two or three invoices of repairs, maintenance, oil change etc. for the year which will reflect the vehicle description and odometer reading.
Q: Is there any limitation or time frame for the IRS to collect on assessed tax?
A: YES! The IRS has 10 years to collect assessed tax. Unless, the taxpayer agrees to extend this statute the balance due on this assessed tax will disappear 10 years from the date of assessment.
Q: How do I classify my worker? Should they be classified as an employee or independent contractor?
A: In the past, the main issue in determining a worker’s tax status is whether or not the employer can control the worker. In recent years, the IRS’s “20 factor test” was the key tool to deciding whether a worker qualified as an independent contractor or an employee, but gave way to revise standards in a new training manual issued in July 1996. IRS Revenue Ruling 87-41 sets forth a checklist of 20 factors. If unsure about your classification or that of an individual providing services to your business, please schedule your consultation with an ITL Account Representative soon!
Say bye, bye to low tax rates?
Possibly! The lowest tax rates in recent years are due to expire on December 31, 2010. We’ll all be watching closely to see what happens throughout the year when they revisit this issue.
Do the tax rates just totally confuse you?
Let’s see if we can simplify it for you. Our country uses marginal tax rates not a flat tax or consumption tax. See the simple chart below (as simple as we could make it!) to see how our tax structure works.
Income
|
Formula |
Resulting Tax |
|
$0 - $16,050
|
X |
10% | = TAX |
$16,051 - $65,100
|
X |
15% minus $802.50 | = TAX |
$65,101 - $131,450
|
X |
25% minus $7,312.50 | = TAX |
$131,451 - $200,300
|
X |
28% minus $11,256.00 | = TAX |
$200,301 - $357,700
|
X |
33% minus $21,271.00 | = TAX |
$357,701+
|
X |
35% minus $28,425.00 | = TAX |
Income
|
Formula |
Resulting Tax |
|
$0 - $25,000
|
X |
2% | = TAX |
$25,001 - $50,000
|
X |
4% | = TAX |
$50,001+
|
X |
6% | = TAX |
In reality, a family of four would have a ZERO tax liability on the first $24,900 and if they earned $40,900 they would only pay $1,600 in federal income taxes!
$24,900 - $10,900 (less standard deduction) - $14,000 (less personal exemption amount times 4) = $0 tax due!
Traditional IRA's vs. Roth IRA's
Now may be the time to convert some or all of your Traditional IRA’s to Roth IRA’s. Our historically low income tax rates which we currently enjoy, is due to change in 2011. For this reason along with the downturn in economy and potential lower earnings, paying the income tax on the conversion now may be the wise thing to do.
Louisiana Department of Revenue is reminding taxpayers of a deduction this year for tuition and other school costs. The deduction is for 50 percent of money spent on education, up to $5,000 per student. The deduction applies to tuition for private and parochial schools and to expenses for uniforms, school supplies, and study materials for all primary and secondary school students. Home-schooling expenses are also eligible for this tax deduction! Of course, you will need to keep all receipts pertaining to this deduction.
Remember the Energy Credit from 2007? Well, it’s back! That’s right, for 2009 & 2010 you will receive a CREDIT of up to $1,500 for the purchases of energy-efficient insulation, windows, doors, roofs & heating/cooling equipment. Please save your receipts and documentation to verify that these items qualify.
For those of you who don’t itemize deductions, you will get to increase your standard deduction by the amount of state & local sales & excise taxes paid on a qualified new vehicle purchased between 2/17/2009 – 12/31/2009.
Can you say tax free income? Yep, that’s right. The first $2,400 of your 2009 unemployment compensation is tax free!
