CSTC Orange County Chapter Monthly Newsletter July, 2013 President s Message Well July is here and I would like to wish everyone a happy and safe 4 th of July. There are so many tax related topics to discuss that it s often hard to choose what to write about. What are your thoughts? Let me know what you want to see in the newsletter. My contact information is below. But for now here a few items that I want to mention. Our membership is holding steady and many of you hope that we can continue to grow. In order for us to grow we need to speak to more tax practitioners regarding the benefits of joining CSTC. July 1 st is here, renew your membership. You can pay online or send a check to the Society office. The mind is a terrible thing to waste so remember the mind only grows with more education and within CSTC there are many educational opportunities, you just need to attend. When you miss dinner meetings or workshop you miss the opportunity to increase your tax knowledge. So please, attend the dinner meetings and workshops. If you did not attend the June dinner meeting sorry you missed our guest speaker, Linda Beckett EA., her discussions was very informative. So with July arriving please attend. We have another great speaker and I know many of you will enjoy our speaker s information. I read an article that questioned if credentials in tax prep really matters. What do you think? Should the tax industry be more regulated or good as is? Don t forget about the IRS Forum it will be held in San Diego September 17 th 19 th. If you have any questions or concerns about our Chapter, please feel free to call me at (714) 364-5173 or e-mail me at runinco2@dslextreme.com. Speaker & Topic SPEAKER: Anthony D. Bustos, EA IRS Audit Representation Federal: 1 hour Hrs: 1 Federal and 1 State IRS: 18QC1-T-00091-13-I CTEC: 1000-CE-3628 Hrs: 2 IRS Hrs. A former IRS Revenue Agent. Anthony graduated from California State University at Fullerton with a BA in Business Administration-Accounting in 1986. He was employed by the IRS for several years as a Revenue Agent auditing individuals, businesses, corporations and partnerships as well as researching tax laws, court cases and revenue rulings. In 1992, shortly after leaving the IRS, his tax practice began in Tustin and has remained in Tustin. He represents clients before the IRS and FTB in audits and collection matters such as the release or modification of wage levies, obtaining payment agreements, or hardships and also handling special problems in which the Taxpayer Advocate Office must become involved and also prepares tax returns (both current and past due returns) and offer business consultations and planning to individuals who are either anticipating starting or currently operating a corporation, partnership, or a sole proprietorship. He has appeared on Trinity Broadcasting Network's 'Battlelines" television program regarding tax issues and have been a speaker to the CSTC, Riverside Tax Consultants Association, Latino Tax Preparers Association and the CA Society of Accounting and Tax Professionals. Anthony served as president of CSTC from 2006 to 2008, and is a past president of the Orange chapter. Respectfully submitted, Alex C. Schneider, President Orange County Chapter CSTC Page 1
CSTC Newsletter Month, year CSTC Newsletter July, 2013 MEMBERSHIP! New Members CSTC Mission Statement To promote professionalism by providing quality education events for tax professionals, by creating and encouraging networking opportunities for members and by advocating professional standards and positions within the tax industry. IMPORTANT LOCATION UPDATE! for the July Chapter Meeting. For July, the Phoenix Club is keeping us in the Restaurant, which may be our new meeting place. On the Web Additional information about the Orange County Chapter can be found on the web. For up-to-date information on continuing education, seminars, chapter meetings, this newsletter and more, please visit our website at www.cstcsociety.org 2013 Board of Directors President Alex Schneider 714-364-5173 Vice President Michael Mergen 714-924-3093 Secretary Deborah Jones 714-524-7195 Treasurer Ray Mew 714-572-3650 Past President Lynette Perkins 714-437-1040 Director Sasi Batalon 714-894-1044 Director/Newsletter Daniel Palacios 714-454-4942 Director Rosemary Garrido 714-974-7044 Director Debbie Daniels 949-833-7333 Director Linda Morlang 714-528-4290 Director Fred Saah 714-879-9880 x105 Director John Day 714-449-2099 Classified Ads Free to members. Submit to Editor e-mail of taxpro65@yahoo.com (Word format, please). MORTGAGE COMPANY When it's time to purchase or refinance... Mulberry Street Mortgage Company wants to help. We are locally owned and operated and provide all processing in-house, free prequalifications and competitive rates. Getting approved for a mortgage has never been easier. For more information please call: Offices For Rent 3 Single office in large suite: 12X10 = $450.00/mo 12X12 = $550.00/mo 12X15 = $650.00/mo Additional $200 for use of a secretarial bay Reception area, Conference Room, WiFi Located at 17th and Flower in Santa Ana Close to 5 and 22 frwy. Phone 800-540-9090 Dinner no-shows All no-shows of reservations will be billed back to you if not cancelled by the call-in date. Fred will be keeping track if you make a reservation, or are on the permanent list, and do not cancel your dinner reservation. The restaurant charges us for all meals whether you show up or not. Unforeseen circumstances are always taken into consideration on a case by case basis. Society Address 12419 Lewis Street, Suite 106 Garden Gove, CA 92840 Tel (714) 750-2782 Fax (714) 750-2722 PAM DUNN (714) 289-0047 Page 2
CSTC Newsletter July, 2013 IRS News: Criminal Investigation - Identity Theft Florida Resident Sentenced for Identity Theft On June 12, 2013, in Miami, Fla., Josue Faustin was sentenced to 27 months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $43,591 in restitution for engaging in a fraud scheme using stolen identities to file fraudulent tax returns. According to court documents, the tax returns falsely claimed refunds and requested that the refunds be directdeposited onto debit card accounts which Faustin had opened in the names of unwitting identity theft victims. Faustin subsequently went to various ATM machines and withdrew funds from the debit card accounts. After being pulled over for a traffic stop, Faustin was found in possession of bundles of cash totaling $5,881, three cell phones, 15 debit cards loaded with approximately $30,000 from tax refunds, and four newly purchased debit cards. Former IRS Worker Sentenced for Extortion and Tax Fraud On June 11, 2013, in Philadelphia, Pa., Patricia Fountain, a former employee of the IRS, was sentenced to 228 month in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $1.7 million in restitution. Fountain was convicted on March 13, 2013, of conspiracy and filing false claims/tax returns to the IRS. For abusing her public office, she was also found guilty of extortion under color of official right. According to court documents, Fountain solicited claimants whose personal information was used to file false tax returns claiming the Telephone Excise Tax Refund (TETR) in 2007 and the First Time Homebuyer Credit in 2009. Fountain also claimed the TETR by filing false tax returns for herself and her co-conspirator, and used one of the claimant s information to file a false tax return in 2008. In addition, Fountain filed false claims claiming the American Opportunity Tax Credit between 2010 and 2012. For each of the schemes, Fountain charged claimants a cash fee. With respect to her TETR scheme, which Fountain engineered using inside information from the IRS, Fountain warned that she would red flag those claimants who received a refund without paying her $400 fee. She then filed amended returns for certain claimants whom she believed had not paid the fee, causing the IRS to demand repayment from them For more Financial Institution Fraud articles, go to the site below: www.irs.gov/uac/financial-institution-fraud-criminal-investigation-(ci) IRS - IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Need some Continuing education hours? The society has various self-study courses available on their website such as: 1. Return Information Disclosure 2. Return Preparer Penalty Defense 3. Home Based Businesses: Tax Issues 4. Ethics: Pride, Passion & Penalty, Revisited Also available are Tax Code Review courses which are designed to aide in taking the Enrolled Agent Exams. Choose all three parts or each part individually. Part 1 Individual Part 2 Businesses Part 3 Representation, Practices and Procedures Go to the society website @ cstcsociety.org for more information or for purchases the courses. Free FTB Webinar: The Do s and Don ts of Filing a Business Entity Return Their next webinar will be held on August 6 just in time for the mini-filing season. During this webinar they will go over the do s and don ts of filing a business entity return. They will provide you with quick and easy tips on filing business entity (BE) returns and how to handle BE related filing issues. Date: Tuesday, August 6, 2013 Time: 10 to 11 (50 minutes) For more information, go to ftb.gov and search for webinar. Register at the website below: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/599883506. IRS DA and EAR Applications to be Retired The IRS will retire the Disclosure Authorization (DA) and Electronic Account Resolution (EAR) products August 11th primarily due to low usage. Fewer than 10 percent of all authorizations were processed through the application, even fewer for EAR users at 3 percent. If you normally use these applications, you will need to submit Forms 2848 and 8821 by mail or fax when the applications are retired. For tax account issues, you should call the Practitioner Priority Service at 1-866-860-4359 for assistance. The IRS strives to improve its current processes and for an electronic replacement for DA and EAR. Please feel free to continue using these applications until they are retired August 11th. Page 3
CSTC Newsletter July, 2013 FTB TAX NEWS: Criminal Corner San Francisco Tax Attorney Accused of Evading His Own Taxes According to the San Francisco Examiner, San Francisco tax attorney, James P. Kleier, is accused of tax evasion. A prominent San Francisco tax attorney has been charged with failing to report more than $1.3 million in earnings to the Internal Revenue Service. James P. Kleier, who has lectured at universities and was the chairman of local and national bar associations for his tax expertise, faces up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine for failing to pay his taxes from 2008 to 2010, according to northern California-based U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag. In 2008, prosecutors said, Kleier failed to pay taxes on $624,923 of gross income he received that year. The following year, he allegedly neglected to report $476,088, and in 2010, the amount was $200,734. The veteran attorney was formerly a partner working in the San Francisco law offices of Reed Smith. In 2009, he earned a spot on California s list of the top 250 delinquent taxpayers. MORE FTB TAX NEWS: HOH Audit Questionnaires Coming Soon! In mid-july, the FTB will begin mailing HOH questionnaires for the 2012 tax year. Taxpayers who fail to respond to the questionnaire or whose responses indicate they do not qualify for the HOH filing status can expect a notice of proposed assessment that disallows their filing status. Taxpayers who e-filed and claim the HOH filing status have the option of electronically completing and including the HOH questionnaire (FTB 4803E) with their e-filed return. The FTB will not mail an HOH audit letter to taxpayers who submitted this information electronically. Those taxpayers may, however, still receive a follow-up letter if they provided incomplete or conflicting information. Taxpayers who receive a 2012 HOH Audit Letter can complete the questionnaire in any of the following ways: Go to ftb.ca.gov and search for HOH web response ; Fax the completed questionnaire and any supporting information to 866.223.8195; or Mail the completed questionnaire in the enclosed preaddressed envelope FTB LEGAL ASSISTANCE: Legal Guidance Franchise Tax Board Provides Legal Guidance on its Public Website? Did you know the FTB frequently provides guidance in the form of written advice? The FTB releases legal guidance on their public website, in some cases in redacted form. The type of legal guidance includes: FTB Notices Technical Advice Memorandums Legal Rulings Chief Counsel Rulings Law Summaries Information Letters Legal Division Guidance The legal significance of many of these documents is explained in FTB Notice 2009-08. This document also explains what type of written advice may be given, and how taxpayers may request such advice. Go to https://www.ftb.ca.gov/professionals/taxnews/2013/july/chief.shtml to read the entire article and be sure to check out the Franchise Tax Boards website of https://www.ftb.ca.gov/law/documents.shtml for a wealth of info. Page 4
CSTC Newsletter July, 2013 Society Events: Calendar of Events PLACE: 1340 S. SANDERSON AVE, ANAHEIM, CA 92806 COST: $33 FOR MEMBERS WITH ADVANCE RESERVATIONS $40 FOR MEMBERS AT THE DOOR, STAFF/SPOUSE $45 GUESTS OC BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING 4:30 PM TIME: REGISTRATION 5:30 PM DINNER 6:00 PM SPEAKER 7:00-7:50 PM BREAK 7:50-8:00 PM SPEAKER 8:00-8:50 PM Excellent Speakers & Topics for Continuing Professional Education Credits for CTEC, CPA s & EA s Tax Bridge to 2014: December 5-6, 2013 Crown Plaza Anaheim Resort, Garden Grove, CA Upcoming Events To Plan Ahead Fall Workshops: Orange (Anaheim) Sep 27, 2013, and South OC Oct 4, 2013 Handling conversions of personal residence to residential rental and vice versa" "Mortgage interest limitation" "Interest tracing rules" IRS Forum: September 17 th 19 th in San Diego Tax Bridge to 2014: December 5 & 6, 2013 Holiday Party: December 2013 at the Phoenix Club Quickfinder Workshop: January 2014 Go to CTSC calendar at www.cstcsociety.org for info. OTHER CHAPTER MEETINGS... Greater Long Beach: Last Wednesday monthly Call Shirley Blanton 562-433-3420 Los Angeles: 1 st Tuesday monthly Call Johnny Diaz Jr. 562-692-0983 South Orange County : 4th Tuesday monthly Call Haydee Robinson 949-361-9373 DINNER RESERVATION Please reserve place(s) for the dinner meeting of the Orange County CSTC on Wednesday, July 10th All reservations must be received by noon Friday, July 5th or please call by Thursday pm July 4th. Name: Enclosed is my check payable to CSTC for $. Advance Registration $33 members only. Members at the door and Staff/Spouse $40. $45 non-members BUFFET: Green Garden Salad, Spinach with Raspberry Bacon Pork Schnitzel, Thai Style Crispy Fish Garlic Smashed Red Potatoes, Green Beans Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Carrot Cake Buffet will include hot rolls/bread & butter, coffee (decaf/reg/ hot or Iced Tea) MAIL TO: Fred M. Saah Name: 2501 E Chapman Ave Ste 140 Address: Fullerton CA 92831-5419 City, ST, Zip. (714) 879-9880 ext 105 Registration Number: TPP EA Other Fax 714-879-0710 e-mail fsaah1129@aol.com Name(s): Affiliation: Guests Name RESERVATIONS: Notify FRED SAAH if you wish to be on the permanent list for the year. Remember that if you are on the permanent list, you must still pay unless you notify Fred the Monday before the Wednesday meeting. Your reservation and payment must reach FRED by noon the Friday before the Wednesday meeting. Members not making reservations will pay $40 at the door. Guests and non-members pay $45. All reservations (permanent or not) that are no shows will receive a bill for the missed meeting. (A paid missed meeting does not qualify as a meeting for the free RIA books.) You must cancel by the Monday before the Wednesday meeting. Page 5
CSTC Orange County Chapter 1154 E YORBA LINDA BLVD PLACENTIA, CA 92886 15 CHAPTERS STATEWIDE OUR NEXT MEETING: Wednesday, July 10th, 2013 TO: The Phoenix Club 1340 S Sanderson Ave, Anaheim, CA 92806 Directions... Conveniently located off the 57 & 5 Freeways 5 Southbound exit Ball Road and follow Ball Road east to Phoenix Club Drive, follow the directions below or 5 Southbound & Northbound exit to 57 Freeway Northbound then follow directions once on 57 Freeway. Northbound 57 Freeway Northbound exit Ball Road, turn right onto Ball Road and drive east to the first signal, which is Phoenix Club Drive then... 57 Freeway Southbound exit Ball Road, turn left onto Ball Road and drive east to the first signal, which is Phoenix Club Drive then Turn right onto Phoenix Club Drive. Drive past the auto dealers to the second street on the right, Sanderson Avenue. Turn right onto Sanderson Ave, The Phoenix Club is at the end of the street on the left side. Page 6