Archive for the ‘South Carolina’ Category

Hurricane Helene IRS Relief for all of Alabama, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Parts of 3 Other States

Wednesday, October 2nd, 2024

The damage from Hurricane Helene was horrific in and around western North Carolina, and several states have been declared federal disaster zones.  The IRS announced late yesterday that the entire states of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, along with parts of Florida, Virginia, and Tennessee have disaster extensions until May 1, 2025.

This will extend not only individual and corporate tax returns on extension due on October 15th but next year’s March and April tax deadlines (along with a host of other filing deadlines).  Any current client in a disaster zone with questions can contact our office for more information.

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Posted in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia | Comments Closed

Hurricane Debby Tax Deadline Relief; Deadlines Extended for Impacted Taxpayers to February 3, 2025

Friday, August 9th, 2024

This year is supposed to be a very active year in the tropics, with over 20 tropical storms (some of which will be hurricanes) predicted.  Hurricane Debby made landfall in Florida, and then made a second landfall in the Carolinas with ongoing issues in Pennsylvania and the northeast (much of the area is under flood and or tornado watches).

The IRS announced today relief for impacted taxpayers in Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas.  From the IRS announcement:

Affected taxpayers in South Carolina, North Carolina, Florida and Georgia now have until Feb. 3, 2025, to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments.

The IRS is offering relief to any area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Currently, this applies to:

  • All 46 counties in South Carolina.
  • The following 61 counties in Florida: Alachua, Baker, Bay, Bradford, Brevard, Calhoun, Charlotte, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Columbia, DeSoto, Dixie, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Glades, Gulf, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Hernando, Highlands, Hillsborough, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Lafayette, Lake, Lee, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Manatee, Marion, Monroe, Nassau, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Putnam, Santa Rosa, Sarasota, Seminole, St. Johns, Sumter, Suwannee, Taylor, Union, Volusia, Walton, Wakulla and Washington.
  • The following 55 counties in Georgia: Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Cook, Crisp, Decatur, Dodge, Echols, Effingham, Emanuel, Evans, Glynn, Grady, Irwin, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Lanier, Laurens, Liberty, Long, Lowndes, McIntosh, Mitchell, Montgomery, Pierce, Richmond, Screven, Tattnall, Telfair, Thomas, Tift, Toombs, Treutlen, Turner, Ware, Wayne, Wheeler, Wilcox and Worth.
  • The following 66 counties in North Carolina: Alamance, Anson, Beaufort, Bertie, Bladen , Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Caswell, Chatham, Chowan, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Currituck, Dare, Davie, Davidson, Duplin, Durham, Edgecombe, Forsyth, Franklin, Gates, Granville, Greene, Guilford, Halifax, Harnett, Hertford, Hoke, Hyde, Johnston, Jones, Lee, Lenoir, Martin, Montgomery, Moore, Nash, New Hanover, Northampton, Onslow, Orange, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Pender, Perquimans, Person, Pitt, Randolph, Richmond, Robeson, Rockingham, Sampson, Scotland, Stokes, Surry, Tyrrell, Vance, Wake, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wilson and Yadkin.

Individuals and households that reside or have a business in any one of these localities qualify for tax relief. The same relief will be available to any other counties added later to the disaster area. The current list of eligible localities is always available on the Tax relief in disaster situations page on IRS.gov.

Given flooding today in Pennsylvania, I expect at least some counties in the Keystone state to become a federal disaster area and be eligible for this relief.

Let’s hope that the prediction for an active hurricane season is wrong and this is the last such storm to impact the United States in 2024.

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Posted in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina | Comments Closed

The Almost-End of the 2023 Tax Season

Thursday, November 16th, 2023

It’s been a while since I posted: family issues, tax deadlines, and paper in every direction has made me concentrate on serving my clients, and not the blog.  I’ll have a recap of the 2023 Tax Season soon, but today is a celebratory day: Today is the almost-end of the 2023 Tax Season.  Thursday, November 16th is the filing deadline for California taxpayers (except for four counties in the northeast portion of the state).  I believe we have one signature document outstanding, but otherwise our outstanding California returns were filed.

It’s not the end of the 2023 Tax Season, though: taxpayers impacted by hurricanes in Florida (most of the state except for the Miami-Palm Beach area), South Carolina, Maine, and Massachusetts have until Thursday, February 15, 2024 to file their extended 2022 tax returns.  We have four such clients.

The IRS will be turning off electronic filing of individual returns this weekend until sometime in January.  The ancient IRS computer system (it dates to 1959) takes two months or so to be reprogrammed for the following year taxes.  If you need to electronically file a 2020 tax return (or a 2020 amended return), now is a great time to do so because after Friday you won’t be able to.

I’ll also soon have a preview of the upcoming paperwork tsunami disaster and what it means for both the 2024 Tax Season and Automated Underreporting Unit notices in 2025.

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Posted in California, Florida, IRS, Maine, Massachusetts, South Carolina | Comments Closed

IRS Extends Deadlines for Those Impacted by Hurricane Florence

Saturday, September 15th, 2018

Hurricane Florence is battering North and South Carolina. News reports indicate “biblical” amounts of rain will fall, with catastrophic flooding probable throughout the Carolinas. Today, the IRS announced that they are extending deadlines for those in the federal disaster zone to January 31, 2019.

Hurricane Florence victims in parts of North Carolina and elsewhere have until Jan. 31, 2019, to file certain individual and business tax returns and make certain tax payments, the Internal Revenue Service announced today.

The IRS is offering this relief to any area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as qualifying for individual assistance. Currently, this only includes parts of North Carolina, but taxpayers in localities added later to the disaster area, including those in other states, will automatically receive the same filing and payment relief. The current list of eligible localities is always available on the disaster relief page on IRS.gov.

While the list of impacted areas is a ‘work in progress’ right now (the IRS’s “Hurricane Florence” webpage doesn’t list them yet), FEMA has noted President Trump’s declaration of a disaster: Beaufort, Brunswick, Carteret, Craven, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, and Pender Counties. As the rains continue to fall, I would expect this list to (unfortunately) lengthen.

The North Carolina Department of Revenue will almost certainly conform to the extensions. (The South Carolina Department of Revenue will, too, as impacted regions are declared a federal disaster area.)

The extension impacts all tax filings for those in the federal disaster zone:

The tax relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred starting on Sept. 7, 2018 in North Carolina. As a result, affected individuals and businesses will have until Jan. 31, 2019, to file returns and pay any taxes that were originally due during this period.

This includes quarterly estimated income tax payments due on Sept. 17, 2018, and the quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on Sept. 30, 2018. Businesses with extensions also have the additional time including, among others, calendar-year partnerships whose 2017 extensions run out on Sept. 17, 2018. Taxpayers who had a valid extension to file their 2017 return due to run out on Oct. 15, 2018 will also have more time to file.

In addition, penalties on payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after Sept. 7, 2018, and before Sept. 24, 2018, will be abated as long as the deposits are made by Sept. 24, 2018.

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Posted in IRS, North Carolina, South Carolina | Comments Closed

Tax Relief for South Carolinians

Wednesday, October 7th, 2015

South Carolina was devastated by a 1000-year storm. Much of the state has been declared a disaster area. A friend of mine who lives in Columbia tweeted pictures that show the absolutely ridiculous amount of flooding. The IRS has offered relief for taxpayers in several counties in South Carolina.

Here is the IRS announcement:

WASHINGTON ––South Carolina flood victims, including individuals and businesses that previously received a tax-filing extension to Oct. 15, will have until Feb. 16, 2016, to file their returns and pay any taxes due, the Internal Revenue Service announced today. All workers assisting the relief activities who are affiliated with a recognized government or philanthropic organization also qualify for relief.

Following this week’s disaster declaration for individual assistance issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the IRS said that affected taxpayers in Berkeley, Charleston, Clarendon, Dorchester, Georgetown, Horry, Lexington, Orangeburg, Richland, Sumter and Williamsburg Counties will receive this and other special tax relief. Other locations may be added in coming days, based on damage assessments by FEMA.

The tax relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred starting on Oct. 1, 2015. As a result, affected individuals and businesses will have until Feb. 16, 2016, to file these returns and pay any taxes due. Besides the Oct. 15 extension deadline, this also includes the Jan. 15, 2016, deadline for making quarterly estimated tax payments. A variety of business tax deadlines are also affected including the Nov. 2, 2015, and Feb. 1, 2016, deadlines for quarterly payroll and excise tax returns.

The IRS will abate any interest, late-payment or late-filing penalty that would otherwise apply. The agency automatically provides this relief to any taxpayer with an IRS address of record located in the disaster area. Taxpayers need not contact the IRS to get this relief.

Beyond Designated Disaster Areas

The IRS will work with any taxpayer who lives outside the disaster area but whose records necessary to meet a deadline occurring during the postponement period are located in the affected area. Taxpayers qualifying for relief who live outside the disaster area need to contact the IRS at 866-562-5227.

The South Carolina Department of Revenue is following suit; they are providing the same relief as the IRS.

Note that the relief is automatic; impacted taxpayers need not do anything. The exception to this are impacted taxpayers who do not live in one of the counties noted in the IRS declaration.

Posted in South Carolina | 2 Comments »

Another South Carolina Politician Guilty of Tax Charges

Monday, November 26th, 2012

There must be something in the water in the Palmetto State: Yet another politician in South Carolina forgot about filing his taxes.

This time it was a Democrat, State Representative Harold Mitchell (D-Spartanburg) who claimed he just filed late. He had been accused of felony tax evasion; today he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of not filing his taxes timely. He’ll owe the amount of the tax due (just under $6,000) and court costs. His three-year sentence will be suspended provided he makes the payment (which he has promised to do).

South Carolina voters appear confident about Mr. Mitchell. He was reelected…without opposition.

Posted in South Carolina, Tax Evasion | 1 Comment »

CPA Allegedly Practices Theft of Funds

Sunday, May 20th, 2012

A few years ago, there was a tax blog called April15.com. The proprietor, William Murray, was a CPA in Sacramento. He had a “trust accounting” system. Payments were sent to him, and he supposedly forwarded those payments on. It was a lie. Millions were embezzled; Mr. Murray received 19 1/2 years at ClubFed. Unfortunately, Mr. Murray was apparently not the only person to practice such a system.

From Myrtle Beach, South Carolina comes word that Richard Voltz, a CPA, is alleged to have had clients forward payments to him. Those payments, supposedly over $480,000, didn’t make it to the tax agencies. Mr. Voltz is also alleged to have not reported the alleged defalcations on his own tax returns (illegal income is just as taxable as legal income) so he’s also been charged with tax evasion. He’s facing prison, fines, and restitution if found guilty on all the charges.

I haven’t met an accountant who want you to make checks for your taxes payable to the accountant. If that’s what your accountant wants, be afraid.

Finally, I’d like to point out that Mr. Voltz, like Mr. Murray before him, is a CPA. He presumably has taken his ethics requirements. That hasn’t stopped him from being accused of what would anyone would call a serious violation. I’m sure licensing every accountant will stop every accountant from committing a crime. (Sigh….)

Posted in South Carolina, Tax Evasion | 1 Comment »

Do Businesses Base Decisions on Taxes?

Sunday, November 1st, 2009

The answer to this question should be obvious, but many liberals believe that taxes can be hiked, and hiked, and hiked some more, and businesses won’t do a thing but verbally complain.

That’s wrong. Businesses will locate will locate their operations rationally. They will seek to maximize net income. That could mean locating in a high tax area if there will be additional revenue to offset the higher taxes.

I can think of an obvious example where a business relocated because of taxes. Nissan Motors of America moved their corporate offices from Torrance, California to Tennessee. Tennessee is a low tax state while California is anything but a low tax state.

Washington state discovered the truth behind this. Boeing will locate the final assembly line for its 787 Dreamliner in Charleston, South Carolina. Historically, most of Boeing’s airplanes have been built near Seattle.

Mish notes that the unions refused to give Boeing a ten-year no-strike pledge for work on the 787 in Seattle; this apparently led (along with grants and tax breaks offered by South Carolina) to the decision.

For those who still say that businesses won’t react to costs and move, think again. Taxes matter, and if you increase them too high businesses will relocate.

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Posted in South Carolina | 1 Comment »