Tag Archive for security

Tax Security 2.0 – Taxes-Security-Together Checklist – Step 1

IRS On Security

Using a new “Taxes-Security-Together” Checklist, the Internal Revenue Service and the Security Summit partners urged tax professionals to review critical security steps to ensure they are fully protecting their computers and email as well as safeguarding sensitive taxpayer data.

The Security Summit partners – the IRS, states and tax industry – urge tax professionals to take time this summer to give their data safeguards a thorough review. To help the tax community, the Summit created a “Taxes-Security-Together” Checklist as a starting point for analyzing office data security.

In the first of a five-part weekly series, the initial step on the checklist involves the “Security Six” protections. These steps fall into several major security categories.

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Written by | Posted in Cybersecurity • Security Issues

Fighting Tax Identity Theft

Annette Nellen

Our tax filing systems are not perfect! How does the IRS or a state tax agency really know if the person filing a return is the true owner of the taxpayer identification number used? In IRS Publication 1345, on procedures for authorized e-file providers, the IRS states that if the preparer/e-filer does not know the client, they should get two forms of verification (ideally picture IDs that include the client’s name and address (page 11 of Pub 1345)). That should help. What else is needed?

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Written by | Posted in Individual

Tax Preparation Questions To Ask Yourself

Milton Boothe

When you leave your tax preparer’s office each year, there are two very important questions you should probably be asking yourself.

Question #1:

How secure is your personal information after you leave it with your tax preparer? Probably not very secure! Do they leave your paperwork lying about the place, accessible to all, after they have completed your taxes? Are their computers adequately protected by firewalls and effective anti-virus software? Is there adequate background checks done on their employees, who obviously will have unlimited access to your sensitive personal information? The honest truth is that you really don’t know.

Also, you should be concerned about hackers. These criminals have been successful in hacking into supposedly very secure government computer systems; the Office of Personnel Management, and even the IRS itself come to mind immediately. These people know that they will have access to a treasure trove of personal information if they were to hack into the computers of H&R Block, Liberty Tax, or any CPA or other tax preparation office. So what is to stop them from hacking into your tax preparer’s computer, which obviously will be a lot less protected than the government’s computers? Read More

Written by | Posted in Tax Filing • Tax Refund • Tax Return • Tax Risk Management • Tax Tips

5 Questions You Should Ask Of Everyone In Your Tax Department In January

Kat Jennings

Recently, I read a quote that caught my attention and it was “The two things in life you are in control of is your attitude and your effort”. January is the perfect time for refreshing the minds of your tax organization that each of us is in control of our attitude and effort.  This is the opportune time to help your team get on track with their goals for the year. The best strategy to employ for getting your team on track is to identify what will motivate every unique person in your tax organization.

People are extremely motivated to achieve if this means they can get what they want and need! After asking thousands of tax professionals what motivated them to stay and succeed with a tax organization or conversely leave a tax organization, I identified  triggers for motivation. The most important thing to remember is people in your organization have different needs. In 1943, American psychologist Abraham Maslow was  best known for creating a theory of psychological health predicated on fulfilling innate human needs: self-actualization needs; self-esteem needs; belonging needs; security needs; and physiological needs. I am going to break down the 5  needs people in a tax organization display according to Maslow’s theory and my experience.  When you identify the individual needs of your tax team and work with them fulfilling their desires,  the result is increased motivation and productivity in your tax organization.

 

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Written by | Posted in Tax Management • Tax Tips • TaxConnections

Trader In Securities

TaxConnections Picture - Business DiceIf you are an individual who buys and sells securities you may qualify as a “trader in securities,” for tax purposes. This post attempts to explain how traders must report the income and expenses from being in the trading business.

First it is important to understand the meaning of the terms: “security,” “investor,” “dealer,” and “trader,” and the different manner in which income and expenses are reported.

Internal Revenue Code Section 1236 defines “security” basically for all intents and purposes as any share of stock in any corporation, certificate of stock or interest in any corporation, note, bond, debenture, or evidence of indebtedness, or any evidence of an interest in or right to subscribe to or purchase any of the above.

“Investors” typically buy and sell securities and expect income from dividends, interest, or capital appreciation. If you are an investor you tend to buy securities and hold them for personal investment; generally speaking you are not conducting a trade or business. Most investors are individuals. Sales of these securities result in capital gains and losses that must be reported on Form 1040, Schedule D (PDF), Capital Gains and Losses and on Form 8949 (PDF), Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets, as appropriate. Investors are subject to the capital loss limitations described in IRC 1211(b), in addition to the IRC 1091 wash sales rules. Read More

Written by | Posted in United States