You must check your employee elegibility to work in the US

Employers’ must verify that each new employee is legally eligible to work in the United States. Have the employees you hire fill out Form I-9. You are required to get each employee's name and Social Security Number (SSN) and to enter them on Form W-2. (This requirement also applies to resident and nonresident alien employees.)

You should ask your employee to show you his or her social security card. Do not accept an ITIN if your employee have a SSN.
(Source: IRS)

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Gambling winnings and losses.

Are they reportable items? Yes, they are.

Generally gambling winnings are considered reportable events regardless of their type (i.e., rafles, lotto, pocker, cassinos, and trips, etc. ). The payer ussually gives you a W-2G with the amouts reportable as income. These winnings are reported in line 21, of your 1040, and losses gets reported on schedule A. You must keep your tickets, receipts and any other statements to proff all winnings and losses reported.

Job Seekers tax breaks.

Looking for job? Well, you may get some tax breaks from the IRS.

1. Expenses related to job serach are deductible if you are seeking employment in the same occupation, but not on another job field.
2. If you pay someone (agency fee) to help you find a job, these are deductible expenses, provided you did not get reimburse by your employer.
3. First time job seekers gets no tax breaks.
4. What expenses are deductible? mostly those to gain you employment (e.g., typing resumes, stationary, travel expenses and qualify incidentals, etc.)
Source: IRS

Starting a new business? Please consider these...

1. Selection of the business entity or form of organization will determine the taxes you will pay and the paperwork to file with the IRS.

2. Generally some business entities requires to have an EIN.

3. You may choose your tax year: fiscal or calendar year. Most people choose a calendar year, but is that the only available choice?

4. Do you have time to do your own books or have your books be prepared by a professional. You may want to figure out the time it would take away from running your business and what records to keep.

5. Have you figure out what method of accounting is best for you? You have the choice of preparing your books under the cash, accrual or hybrid method.

6. Can you run your business from your home? Not all business can be run in hour principal residence.

7. How do you know when you need financing?

(Source: IRS)

Tax rates on qualified dividends

Do you know that your taxable income thresholds will determine if your qualified dividends are taxed at a 0% tax rate.  Yes, that is not a typo, no tax at all.  

Source IRS.

Credit available for first time homebuyers

Are you a first-time homebuyer?... You could qualify!  You must not own a main home during the prior three years.  The credit could go up to $7,500.  However, you must have bought your home by the applicabe date to qualify, even if you purchase your home in in the first part of 2009. 

Source IRS.

Recovery Rebate credit

The economic stimulus payment we receive last year is tax free and should not be reported on the 2008 tax return.  However, this rebate could affect your Revovery Rebate Credit.  How so?  A tax payer may qualify for the credit if he/she did not get a stimulus payment or had a child last year.  

2009 changes

Key changes affecting 2009 returns, filed by most taxpayers in early 2010, include the following:

• The value of each personal and dependency exemption, available to most taxpayers, is $3,650, up $150 from 2008.
• The new standard deduction is $11,400 for married couples filing a joint return (up $500), $5,700 for singles and married individuals filing separately (up $250) and $8,350 for heads of household (up $350). Nearly two out of three taxpayers take the standard deduction, rather than itemizing deductions, such as mortgage interest, charitable contributions and state and local taxes.
• Tax-bracket thresholds increase for each filing status. For a married couple filing a joint return, for example, the taxable-income threshold separating the 15-percent bracket from the 25-percent bracket is $67,900, up from $65,100 in 2008.
• The maximum earned income tax credit for low and moderate income workers and working families with two or more children is $5,028, up from $4,824. The income limit for the credit for joint return filers with two or more children is $43,415, up from $41,646.
• The annual gift exclusion rises to $13,000, up from $12,000 in 2008.

Interest Rates Drop for the First Quarter of 2009

The Internal Revenue Service today announced in Revenue Ruling 2008-54 that interest rates for the calendar quarter beginning Jan. 1, 2009 will drop by one percentage point. The new rates will be:

• Five (5) percent for overpayments [four (4) percent in the case of a corporation];
• Five (5) percent for underpayments;
• Seven (7) percent for large corporate underpayments; and
• Two and one-half (2.5) percent for the portion of a corporate overpayment exceeding $10,000.
  

(Source: IRS)

IRS Speeds Lien Relief for Homeowners

The Internal Revenue Service an expedited process that will make it easier for financially distressed homeowners to avoid having a federal tax lien block refinancing of mortgages or the sale of a home.

If taxpayers are looking to refinance or sell a home and there is a federal tax lien filed, there are options. Taxpayers or their representatives, such as their lenders, may request that the IRS make a tax lien secondary to the lien by the lending institution that is refinancing or restructuring a loan. (Source: IRS)