WHAT’S THE BUZZ, TELL ME WHAT’S A HAPPENNIN’ - TUESDAY EDITION

Vanity license plate spotted in downtown Hawley PA yesterday – HOO-DMAN.

* Jim Blankenship of GETTING YOUR FINANCIAL DUCKS IN A ROW continues his series on the “Mechanics of 401(k) Plans” by discussing “Loans”.

* William Perez from ABOUT.COM reminds us that “Foreign Bank Accounts due June 30^th”.

He is talking about the FinCEN Form 114.  You can file it online – a client did so two days ago and said it was quick and easy.

This filing is part of FBAR, not to be confused with FUBAR.  Although, as with any government paperwork, there is certainly an element of FUBAR involved.

* NJ Tax Pros – are you a member of the National Association of Tax Professionals?  If so you are automatically a member of the NJ chapter.  You should belong to the NJNATP Facebook group!  This is also a good group to follow if you are not a NJ resident but prepare a lot of NJ returns, like me.

Click here to request “membership”.

* David John Marotta provides us with a review of the various capital gains tax rates in “Tax Brackets and Capital Gains” at USA TODAY.

David correctly warns that taxpayers who think they are paying a maximum of 15% on their capital gains may actually be paying 18.8%.  And the effective rate may be higher, as I pointed out in my recent posts on how the Tax Code has screwed some of my clients (click here, here, and here).

* Congratulations to my sometime debating adversary Joe Kristan (although we probably agree more than we disagree) of THE ROTH AND COMPANY TAX UPDATE BLOG on “2 Million Served”!

I did not have a site meter set up when I first started in the summer of 2001, and changed “hosts” twice, so I really have no idea of the total number of visitors to TWTP.  I am sure Joe has me beat.

* I agree with Diane Gilabert on the issue of LLCs filing/operating as partnerships vs S-corps.  At the TAX MAVEN BLOG she lists “10 Reasons Partnerships Trump S Corporations”.

“The key is flexibility – LLCs/partnerships have more, S corps have less.”  

* A client recently asked me about receiving a gift from a relative in India.  And a week later I came across “IRS Reporting Requirements for Gifts from a Foreign Person” by William D Hartstock at THE TAX LAWYER blog.

TTFN