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House and Senate negotiators finalized a deal to extend the payroll tax cut, emergency unemployment benefits and the Medicare reimbursement rate for doctors.  Although a few minor details remain to be worked out, a majority of conferees have endorsed the package.  It looked possible at one point that the plan would be derailed over a provision that would have included cuts to federal pensions.  In the end, a compromise was reached that mandates that new federal employees contribute more to their pension funds than workers already on the federal payroll.

The deal extends the payroll tax cut through 2012, with its $100 billion cost added to the deficit. The agreement also reforms the unemployment insurance program, reducing the maximum number of weeks an unemployed worker could receive benefits from 99 to 73 by the end of the year.  Those benefits are to be funded by roughly $15 billion in revenue from the sale of spectrum rights.  The third part of the deal averts a 27 percent cut in the reimbursement rate for doctors under Medicare, paid for with savings from the 2010 health care overhaul, Medicaid and Medicare.

Contact an MCB Tax Adviser at 703.218.3600 and start building a relationship with a CPA firm who strives to earn your RESPECT and CONFIDENCE as a TRUSTED business adviser.

The Internal Revenue Service has released withholding tables for employers to use in 2012.  This information is contained in the 2012 Publication 15 Employer's Tax Guide.

However, there is continued uncertainty regarding the future of 2011's temporary payroll tax cut, with lawmakers debating whether to extend the Social Security tax cut and how to pay for it if it is extended.  To address this uncertainty, the IRS has created a web page specifically to track any future developments (such as legislation) that affect employers' withholding obligations.  Any such information will be posted at www.IRS.gov/notice1036.

Contact an MCB Tax Adviser for your tax and accounting needs at 703.218.3600 or at info@mcb-cpa.com.

Employment in the private sector rose by 212,000 jobs in December 2011, reducing the unemployment rate two-tenths of a percentage point to 8.5%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is the lowest unemployment rate since February 2009.  Job gains were mostly in transportation and warehousing, retail, manufacturing, health care and mining.

Employment in professional and business services changed little in December, for the second month in a row. The industry added, on average, 42,000 jobs per month during the first ten months of 2011. Government employment changed little in December, but it was down by 280,000 jobs over the year. Job losses in 2011 occurred in local government; state government, excluding education; and the U.S. Postal Service.

Click here to view the complete AccountingToday.com article.

Contact an MCB Tax Adviser for your tax and accounting needs at 703.218.3600 or at info@mcb-cpa.com.

The IRS has extended the filing deadline for tax-exempt organizations with January and February 2012 filing due dates until March 30, 2012.  It is granting the extension because the e-file system that processes electronically filed returns of tax-exempt organizations will be off-line in January and February to implement changes for the 2011 tax year.

The extension also applies to organizations that have already obtained a three-month extension and now have an extended filing deadline of January 17 or February 15, 2012.  The majority of tax-exempt organizations are unaffected by the extension because they operate on a calendar-year basis and have a May 15 filing deadline.

The extension applies to affected organizations that file Forms 990, Form 990-EZ, 990-PF or 1120-PF.  Form 990-N filers are not affected.

No form needs to be filed to receive the March 30 extension.  To avoid receiving a late filing penalty notice, a reasonable cause statement should be attached to the tax return.  If organizations receive late filing penalty notices, they should contact the IRS to abate the penalties.

The IRS is encouraging affected to consider e-filing early--before the end of December 2011--or wait until March 2012 to file electronically. In addition, certain affected organizations normally required to file electronically have the option to file a paper return during January and February.

The IRS reminded organizations that an extension of the time to file is not an extension of time to pay any tax liability that may be due for the year.

Click here to view IRS Notice 2012-4, which provides further details.

MCB has over 60 years of experience working with not-for-profit organizations on their accounting, audit, tax and compliance needs. Contact Kathy Flaherty at 703.218.3600 or at info@mcb-cpa.com  for more information or to schedule a meeting to discuss your not-for-profit compliance requirements.

Although we're already into the holiday season, there's still time for you to make some personal or business tax-saving money moves before year end. "If you own your own practice, there are some especially good perks that are going to disappear in 2012, so you should plan to take them now," says Robert G. Baldassari, CPA, a Principal with Matthews, Carter & Boyce, in Fairfax, Virginia.

Even if you follow only a few of these tips, chances are you'll owe less next April than you would ordinarily -- keeping more cash in your pocket. Some of these tips relate solely to your personal tax return, some pertain to physicians who own their practice and thus file a corporate return, and some could apply to either personal or corporate returns.

Click the download button below to view the entire article by Dennis G. Murray, MS recently published in WebMD.

Contact Bob Baldassari for your medical practice accounting and tax planning & compliance needs.