MCB Accounting Blog

May 31st: SBA Form 468 (Long Form) Economic Data Due

Wed, 15 May 2013 14:24:00 -0400

May 31st is the deadline to file the schedule called "Economic Data for Portfolio Concerns" contained on page 22 of SBA Form 468 (Long Form).

May 15th - 990s Due

Wed, 08 May 2013 23:59:00 -0400

May 15th is the deadline for all calendar year exempt organizations to file Forms 990, 990-PF, and 990-T.

You may file a 5-month extension.

May 10th - 1Q Form 941 Due

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 23:59:00 -0400

File Form 941 for the first quarter of 2013. This due date applies for calendar year taxpayers and only if you deposited the tax for the quarter in full and on time.

Note: If you are a Fiscal Year Taxpayer, you should calculate your quarterly due dates based on your fiscal year end date.

May 1st: Participating Securities Distribution Date (Required Annual Distributions Due)

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:21:00 -0400

May 1st is the required annual participating securities distribution date.

April 30th: Notification of Material Adverse Valuation Changes (Quarterly Notification) Due

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 14:19:00 -0400

April 30th is the deadline to file the Notification of Material Valuation Changes (quarterly notification; changes of +/- 20% since last valuation report).

April 30th: SBA Form 468 (Short Form) Due

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 14:17:00 -0400

April 30th is the deadline to file SBA Form 468 (Short Form). An electronic copy must be filed and two certified copies must be delivered to the SBA.

April 15th: Partnership Federal Income Tax Return Due

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 14:15:00 -0400

Partnerships: File 2012 Form 1065 and furnish a copy of Schedule K-1 to each partner. For automatic 5-month extension, file Form 7004.

March 31st: Notification of Material Valuation Changes (Semi-Annual Notification) Due

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 14:08:00 -0400

March 31st is the deadline to file the Notificiation of Material Valuation Changes (semiannual notification; changes of +/- 10% since last valuation report.

March 31st: SBA Form 1031A (Semi-Annual 1031 Certification) Due

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 14:05:00 -0400

March 31st is the deadline to file SBA Form 1031A (Semi-Annual 1031 Certification).

April 15th: It's Tax Deadline Day

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 23:59:00 -0400

Individuals: File 2012 Form 1040, 1040A, or 1040EZ. For automatic 6-month extension file Form 4868 and deposit estimated tax. Pay the first installment of 2013 estimated tax.

Household Employers: File Schedule H with Form 1040 if you paid $1,700 or more to a household employee.

Partnerships: File 2012 Form 1065 and furnish a copy of Sch. K-1 to each partner.

Electing Large Partnerships: File 2012 Form 1065 calendar year return.

Corporations: Deposit the first installment of your estimated tax for 2013.

Employers: Deposit payroll tax for March if the monthly deposit rule applies.

March 15th: Corporate Tax Returns Due

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 23:59:00 -0400

Corporations: File Form 1120 for 2012 calendar year and pay any tax due. For automatic 6-month extension, file Form 7004 and deposit estimated tax.

S Corporations: File Form 1120S for 2012 calendar year and pay any tax due. Furnish a copy of Schedule K-1 to each shareholder. File Form 2553 to elect S Corporation status beginning with calendar year 2013.

Employers: Deposit payroll tax for February if the monthly deposit rule applies.

Note: These tax due dates are based on calendar year taxpayers. If you are a fiscal year taxpayer, you should calculate your quarterly due dates based on your fiscal year end date. Estimated tax payment due dates are the 15th day of the 4th, 6th, 9th, and 12th months of the corporate tax year.

Increase Patient Satisfaction with Your Medical Practice

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 20:25:00 -0400

Are your patients satisfied with their treatment and care at your practice? Satisfied patients tend to follow your medical recommendations, feel valued, and return for follow-up care. More often than not, getting a few things right consistently is all it takes to increase patient satisfaction levels.

Review Your Hours of Operation

Many patients who are employed may find it difficult to get time off during the workday for doctor visits. Offer early morning, evening, and/or weekend appointments to accommodate these individuals and your practice may earn an enormous amount of patient goodwill.

Return Calls Promptly

Patients who call asking to speak to a nurse or physician should have their calls returned as promptly as possible. Practices that set aside one or two specific periods during the day when medical staff can return calls generally have much higher levels of patient satisfaction.

Offer Online Services

With smart phones and tablets so prevalent, it only makes sense to give patients the option to schedule appointments online. And if you are confident in your security measures, you could consider giving patients the option of completing and submitting new patient registration forms online. Your Web-savvy patients will appreciate the convenience and your practice won't have to spend so much time obtaining and entering data at the time of the patient's visit.

Eliminate Patient Wait Times

Waiting to see a physician can be a source of significant patient dissatisfaction. Your practice may need to review the number of patients it schedules to see each physician per day or expand office hours if bottlenecks in patient flow are common.

Make Paying Convenient

Offer a variety of payment methods -- credit and debit cards as well as checks or cash -- and you may find that patients are more likely to pay their balance.

Enhancing your patients' experience with your practice can have a positive impact on your practice's bottom line. It takes time to get the details right, but the end result can make the effort worthwhile.

Contact Bob Baldassari, MCB's Medical Practice tax and consulting leader, for a best practice review of your medical practice and tax planning and compliance services.

Pink Ribbon Best Practices Provide Guidance for Cause Marketing

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 19:05:00 -0400

With the recent release of recommended practices for specific types and forms of cause marketing, the New York Attorney General (NY AG) has taken oversight of these "doing good" promotional activities to a new level. While the report on "pink ribbon" campaigns, Five Best Practices for Transparent Cause Marketing, was specific to breast cancer charities, the guidelines are broadly applicable to all cause-marketing efforts.

It All Started with a Few Questions

These types of promotions are intended to create goodwill for the company and generate income for a charity and are classified as "commercial co-ventures" under New York law. With an increase in cause marketing, questions have arisen about whether consumers are made aware of the relevant information in such promotions and whether the charities are actually receiving the benefits that consumers think they are.

In October 2011, National Breast Cancer Awareness month, the NY AG sent questionnaires to 40 charities and more than 130 companies asking for detailed information on cause marketing -- promotions during which the sale of a product or service is advertised to benefit a charitable cause. In this case, it was breast cancer awareness.

A Year Later, the Rules Are in Place

After analyzing responses to the questionnaire, in October 2012, the NY AG released the Best Practices. They appear to be intended as far-reaching reforms to the way in which some cause-marketing promotions are currently conducted.

While they have not been directly adopted into law, the guidelines contained in the Best Practices could be used by the NY AG and other state regulators to inform enforcement of general prohibitions against unfair and deceptive marketing as found in state mini-Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Acts. If used as benchmarks for advertising standards, the Best Practices could have far-reaching effects on how charities and companies conduct cause-marketing campaigns.

Click here for complete article.

MCB has over 60 years of experience working with not-for-profit organizations on their accounting, audit, tax and compliance needs. Contact Kathy Flaherty or Charles Deppe at 703.218.3600 or at information@mcb-cpa.com for more information.

All 2012 Tax Returns Can Now Be Filed with the IRS

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 18:51:00 -0400

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced that it has finished updating its processing systems and is now accepting all 2012 tax returns. This includes returns that contain the 29 forms that were delayed by the late passage of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012.

The IRS could not accept these forms when tax season opened because the forms needed extensive form and processing systems changes to reflect changes made by the American Taxpayer Relief Act.

Click here to view the complete JournalofAccountancy.com article.

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

Valuable Tool for Exempt Organizations: IRS 2012 Annual Report and 2013 Workplan

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 10:25:00 -0400

We are pleased to provide our Not-for-Profit clients and friends this update regarding the Exempt Organizations 2012 Annual Report and 2013 Workplan, recently issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). We encourage Not-for-Profit organizations to review this information.

2013 Workplan

This is a valuable tool that provides information and guidance for tax-exempt organizations regarding key compliance issues that the IRS has identified from prior years and the steps it will take in the upcoming year to address those issues. It indicates that the IRS will continue to use compliance checks and Forms 990 to target exempt organizations for examinations throughout the year.

2012 IRS Examinations

In 2012 the IRS examined 10,743 returns. In 2011 it examined 11,699 returns. Based on information reported over the last three years, it is projected that the IRS will likely examine between 10,000 and 12,000 returns in 2013.

In addition to its regular examinations, in 2012 the IRS conducted 3,277 compliance checks. Compliance checks are used to more efficiently obtain information from taxpayers about the activities of both individual taxpayers and entire industries. Though they are less formal and intrusive, it is important to understand that compliance checks may, and often do, result in full IRS examinations.