Did You Miss Me?

It has been about three weeks since I wrote a blog post. Tax season took over my life as April 15th approached. Afterwords, I played catch-up with all the work I've been putting off for months. Now, all I want to do is sleep.

I have been writing on a much lighter schedule over on HubPages. You can catch all the articles I have published and other news on my profile.

I am off to the Wisconsin Regional Writers' Association spring conference. The board meeting is today. Since I am the treasurer, it might be a good idea if I show up, head cold and all.

The spring conference is one day this year: Saturday, May 1st. They have some very good speakers lined up. Hope to see you there.

If you see a balding, middle-aged guy sleeping on the lobby couch, that is me.

Happy Easter or Passover

I hope everyone has a pleasant weekend.

Since everyone is different, I wish you:

Happy Easter
Happy Passover

or, if you prefer neither:

Happy Spring Break.

The keyword here folks is: Happy.

Form 1127: An Extension of Time to Pay

A surprise tax bill can be more than inconvenient, it can be impossible to pay. Few people are aware of the IRS extension to pay. Form 1127 offers taxpayers the time needed to pay their taxes without a failure to pay penalty. You can read more here.

Form 4868: Your Ticket to an Automation Tax Extention

If you are not able to file your taxes by April 15th, file IRS Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File.

For Form 4868 to be valid, you must:

1. File by April 15th.
2. Estimate your tax liability with information you already have.

If you are out of the country on April 15th, you have until June 15th to file your extension.

Form 4868 is an extension of time to file, not an extention of time to pay. Interest, late payment, and late filing penalties still apply.

I published an in-depth article on this subject on HubPages. You can read the article here.

Amending a Tax Return

It happens to everyone from time to time. You file your tax return and a W-2 shows up in the mail or you realize you forgot to deduct your property taxes. All you need to do to fix the problem is amend the return.

There are times when you make no mistake, but still need to file an amended return. Foreign tax credits and deductions, net operating losses, bad debt, and worthless securities may require an amended tax return.

You have a limited time in which to file an amended return. In most cases, an amended return must be filed:

1. Within three years of the due date, including extensions, of the original return, or
2. Within two years of paying the tax.

You use form 1040-X to file an amended return. More details are available here.

Protecting Your Family: Uninsured Motorist Insurance Coverage

I talk about uninsured/underinsured motorist insurance coverage in my office on a regular basis. This misunderstood part of the auto insurance policy needs explaining.

The liability portion of your auto policy covers everyone else. In an accident, your liability limits of your auto insurance policy will pay others for injury or death. The uninsured/underinsured limits will pay you and your family for injury or death if the other guy has little or no insurance.

Due to wrongful death laws, I think auto policies should have a $1 million liability minimum. And if you cover everyone else for a million, you should cover you and your familiy for the same. My opinion.

You can read full details on uninsured motorist insurance coverage and accident claims here.

Substantiation of Mileage

The IRS has a more strick set of rules for travel, entertainment, and listed property deductions. For a deduction of business miles, you must record the following information:

• Date,
• Where you went,
• Who you saw,
• The purpose of the trip, and
• the miles.

The record must be recorded at or near the time of the event. All entertainment and travel deductions require a log with the information listed above.

For full details, read this article.