Cromwell Tax and Bookkeeping

The deadline for filing 2019 tax returns has been automatically extended to July 15, 2020. This means that any deadline to FILE or PAY that was on April 15, 2020 is now July 15, 2020. This covers federal income tax payments and 2020 estimated tax payments only. California has the same July 15th deadline to file and pay.... See IRS Notice 2020-18 https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-20-18.pdf

The IRS just provided official guidance on the April 15th deadline. FILING - you must file your return or an extension by April 15th. The date for filing has NOT CHANGED. PAYING - there IS an extension for PAYING the amount due. All federal income tax payments that are normally due on 4/15/2020 will now be due on 7/15/2020. This includes tax return payments for 2019 and your Q1 Estimate for 2020.... We expect California to conform to these deadlines but there has been no official announcement yet. The IRS notice is available here: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-20-17.pdf

There has been a lot of misinformation spread by the media and on social media regarding yesterday’s announcement that the Treasury Department will be providing some type of tax payment relief or delay. As of this moment (and it could change minutes from now) the IRS has issued no official guidance; therefore, any details you have heard are premature. I encourage you to continue the path of filing your return or an extension by April 15th. (We love extensions!)... Why should you file now? If you have a refund, we want you to get your money, especially with the uncertainty out there. If you owe, let’s figure out how much you owe and make a plan. At a minimum, you have until April 15th to pay, and it looks like there may be an extension to pay. We will know more (hopefully) in the next few days. California has extended the deadline for filing and paying of CA tax returns to June 15th and may extend further depending on what the IRS does.

We are open for business!

We are still in the mandatory evacuation area thus will not be able to provide any client services until the order is lifted. Sorry for any inconvenience!

Our office is in the evacuation zone so we will be closed until the order is lifted. If you have a payroll due, our office will contact you by email the day prior to your payroll date with payroll options. If you have an emergency, please call the office and the answering service can get a message to us.

We are open today! (It's nice to be on the same power grid as PG&E headquarters)

Taxpayers should beware of property lien scam With scam artists hard at work all year, taxpayers should watch for new versions of tax-related scams. One such scam involves fake property liens. It threatens taxpayers with a tax bill from a fictional government agency. Here are some details about the property lien scam that will help taxpayers recognize it: This scheme involves a letter threatening an IRS lien or levy. The scammer mails the letter to a taxpayer.... The lien or levy is based on bogus overdue taxes owed to a non-existent agency. The non-existent agencies might have a legitimate-sounding name like the Bureau of Tax Enforcement. There is no such agency. This scam may also reference the IRS to confuse potential victims into thinking the letter is from a real agency. For anyone who doesn’t owe taxes and has no reason to think they do should: Contact the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration to report the letter. The taxpayer should use their IRS Impersonation Scam Reporting web page. When reporting the scam, they should include the key words IRS Lien. Scan a document received as a letter or fax, and send it to [email protected]. Report it to the Federal Trade Commission using the FTC Complaint Assistant on FTC.gov. Report it also to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, known simply as IC3. Taxpayers who do owe tax or think they might owe should: Review their tax account information and payment options at IRS.gov. Reviewing tax account information online will show the taxpayer if they indeed owe the IRS and how much. This is the fastest way to get this information. Call the IRS at 800-829-1040 to confirm the notice if they’re still not sure they owe.

IRS Scam Alert This week, the IRS detected this new scam about unsolicited emails from IRS imposters. The email subject line may vary, but recent examples use the phrase "Automatic Income Tax Reminder" or "Electronic Tax Return Reminder." The emails have links that show an IRS.gov-like website with details pretending to be about the taxpayer's refund, electronic return or tax account.... The emails contain a "temporary password" or "one-time password" to "access" the files to submit the refund. But when taxpayers try to access these, they infect their computers with malware. The imposters may then gain control of the taxpayer's computer or secretly download software that tracks every keystroke, eventually giving them passwords to sensitive accounts, such as financial accounts. Remember, The IRS doesn't initiate contact with taxpayers by email, text messages or social media channels to request personal or financial information. This includes requests for PIN numbers, passwords or similar access information for credit cards, banks or other financial accounts.