If the taxpayer is an eligible retired public safety officer (law enforcement officer, firefighter, chaplain, or member of a rescue squad or ambulance crew), they can elect to exclude from income distributions made from an eligible retirement plan that are used to pay the premiums for coverage by an accident…

Ministers are individuals duly ordained, commissioned or licensed by a church.  ‘Church’ is used generically and does not refer to any particular religion.  Compensation paid to a minister or clergy member typically is reported to them on Form W-2 (if the minister is an employee of the church), or Form 1099-MISC (if the minister…

An injured spouse is a taxpayer who files a joint return and all or part of the portion of the joint overpayment (refund) is, or expected to be, applied against legally enforceable past obligation of the other spouse. An injured spouse is different from an innocent spouse which is a taxpayer that believes, taking into…

A non-dividend distribution is a distribution that is not paid out of the earnings and profits of a corporation or a mutual fund.  A Form 1099-DIV or other statement showing the non-dividend distribution should be issued to the taxpayer. On Form 1099-DIV, a non-dividend distribution will be shown in box 3 and…

Per Diem is an allowance given by employers that is used to cover meals, lodging, and incidental expenses of employees on business trips away from home. There are two types of plans that exist: Accountable Plan: a plan where the employee is required to adequately account for any expenses that were…

Effective January 1, 2013, the IRS implemented new procedures for issuing new Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs). Designed specifically for tax-administration purposes, ITINs are only issued to people who are not eligible to obtain a Social Security Number. Specifically, the new procedures apply to most applicants submitting Form W-7.  ITINs for…

You can amend a Married Filing Joint (MFJ) return to a Married Filing Separate (MFS) return and vice versa. When amending a MFJ return to a MFS return, first delete all information associated with the spouse on that return. This includes all Form W-2s, Schedule Cs, Schedule SEs, etc. Anything…

The closing statement to a real estate purchase contains many potential tax deductions.  Treatment of closing statement line items differ depending on whether the property is business (rental) property or used for a personal residence. Below is a summary of a typical tax treatment of major line items of the…

Every 6 months you will be required to reset your password for security purposes. When this happens, you will get a message when logging in stating that your password will expire in XX number of days. This will start happening 14 days prior to your password expiration.   There is…

Audit Maintenance Pro is a low-cost audit protection solution integrated in your Keystone Tax Solutions software that will protect your clients in the event of an IRS audit. For detailed information on Audit Maintenance Pro, click here. To enroll with Audit Maintenance Pro, log in to your Account. Click on Bank Product Info on the…