ncsa blog

  • Wednesday, July 13, 2016 12:40 PM | NCSA Website Admin (Administrator)

    Effective July 1 the Park Model RV is exempt from sales and use tax. A park model RV is one which meets the following:

    1. It is designed and marketed as temporary living quarters for recreational, camping, travel, or seasonal use;

    2. Is certified by the manufacturer as complying with ANSI A119.5; and

    3. Is built on a single chassis mounted on wheels with a gross trailer area not exceeding 400 square feet in the setup mode.

    The retail sale of a park model RV is subject to the highway use tax of 3% with a maximum of $2,000 payable to the NC DMV

  • Wednesday, July 13, 2016 12:37 PM | NCSA Website Admin (Administrator)

    The Social Security Board of Trustees released its annual report on the long-term financial status of the Social Security Trust Funds. The combined asset reserves of the funds are projected to become depleted in 2034 with 79% of benefits payable at that time. The Disability Insurance Trust Fund will become depleted in 2023, extended from last year’s estimate of 2016, with 89% of benefits still payable.

    In the Annual Report to Congress, the Trustees announced:

     The assets reserves of the combined OASDI Trust Funds increased by $23 billion in 2015 to a total of $2.81 trillion.

     The combined trust fund reserves still are growing and will continue to do so through 2019.

    Beginning in 2020, the total cost of the program is projected to exceed income.

     The year when the combined trust fund reserves are projected to become depleted, if Congress does not act before then, is 2034. At that time, there will be sufficient income to pay 79% of scheduled benefits.

     There were 60 million beneficiaries at the end of 2015.

     During 2015, an estimated 169 million people had earnings covered by Social Security and paid payroll taxes.

     The cost of $6.2 billion to administer the Social Security program in 2015 was only 0.7% of total expenditures.

  • Wednesday, July 13, 2016 12:35 PM | NCSA Website Admin (Administrator)

    In IR-2013-65 and FS-2016-20, the IRS announced an improved Get Transcript Online feature.

    Starting last year, the IRS began working to create a new e-authentication platform for Get Transcript Online.

    To get started, new users need:

     An email address.

     An SSN or ITIN.

     Filing status and address from last-filed tax return.

     Account numbers for either:

     Credit card, or

     Home mortgage loan, or

     Home equity loan, or

     Car loan.

     Mobile phone. Only US-based mobile phone may be used. User’s name must be associated with the mobile phone account. Landlines, Skype, Google Voice, or similar virtual phones as well as phones associated with pay-as-you-go plans cannot be used.

     A “credit freeze” on the records through Equifax must be temporarily lifted before the process can be completed successfully.

    Because the process involves verification using financial records, there may be a “soft notice” placed on the credit report. This does not affect the credit score.

    To securely access Get Transcript Online, first-time users must:

     Submit their name and email address to receive a confirmation code;

     Enter the emailed confirmation code;

     Provide their SSN, date of birth, filing status, and address on the last file tax return;

     Provide some financial account information (see account numbers above);

     Enter a mobile phone number to receive a 6-digit activation code via text message;

     Enter the activation code;

     Create a username and password, create a site phrase, and select a site image.

    Returning taxpayers who have completed the new secure access process:

     Log in with their username and password;

     Receive a security code text via mobile phone provided with the account;

     Enter the security code into secure access.

    If you cannot validate your identity, you may use Get Transcript by Mail. Get Transcript by Mail allows the user to go online and select the mail option. The transcript will be mailed to the address of record and will be delivered within 5 to 10 days.

  • Wednesday, July 13, 2016 12:34 PM | NCSA Website Admin (Administrator)

    Effective July 1, the White Goods Disposal Tax law is amended to provide that the tax applies to both in-state and out-of-state purchases of white goods for storage, use, or consumption in NC. A retailer-contractor is liable for the tax for any white good withdrawn from inventory to fulfill a real property contract in NC after July 1.

    The statutes define “white goods” as including “refrigerators, ranges, water heaters, freezers, unit air conditioners, washing machines, dishwashers, clothes dryers, and other similar domestic and commercial large appliances.

  • Wednesday, July 13, 2016 12:32 PM | NCSA Website Admin (Administrator)

    In IR-2016-85, the IRS announces the launch of a more rigorous e-authorization process that significantly increases protection against identity thieves impersonating taxpayers to access tax return information through the IRS Get Transcript Online services. After being disabled last Spring, Get Transcript Online now is available for all users to access a copy of their tax transcripts and similar documents that summarize important tax return information. The formal relaunch addresses increased cybersecurity threats by using a new, more secure access framework. This framework enables the IRS to require a two-step authentication process for all online tools and applications that require a high level of assurance.

    To access the new Get Transcript Online feature, taxpayers must have an email address, a text-enabled mobile phone, and specific financial account information such as a credit card number or certain loan numbers.

    As part of the new multi-factor process, the IRS will send verification, activation, or security codes via email and text.

    The IRS continues to support multiple options for those taxpayers who may be unable to access online features or who prefer to obtain information in more traditional ways.

  • Wednesday, July 13, 2016 12:30 PM | NCSA Website Admin (Administrator)

    In addition to the ecological benefits of a “plug-in” vehicle, the buyer of such a vehicle also may benefit from a generous tax credit. The credit, which is claimed on Form 8936, Qualified Plug-in Electric Drive Motor Vehicle Credit, is equal to the sum of $2,500 for a vehicle that draws propulsion energy from a battery with not less than 5 kwh of capacity plus $417 for each kwh of capacity in excess of 5 kwh, not to exceed $5,000 (yielding a maximum credit of $7,500).

    To qualify, the following must be met:

     The motor vehicle with at least 4 wheels must be manufactured primarily for use on public roads.

     The vehicle is treated as a motor vehicle for purposes of Title II of the Clean Air Act.

     The vehicle has a gross weight rating of less than 14,000 pounds.

     The vehicle is propelled to a significant extent by an electric motor that draws electricity from a battery that has a capacity of at least 4 kwh and is capable of being recharged from an external source.

     The vehicle is used predominantly in the US.

     The taxpayer is the original user of the vehicle and must have acquired it for use or lease and not for resale.

    The credit begins to phase out for a manufacturer’s vehicles when at least 200,000 have been sold for use in the US.

  • Monday, July 11, 2016 1:43 PM | NCSA Website Admin (Administrator)


    A source of seminars on almost any tax or accounting subject is available from Bob Jennings at his Tax Speaker site.  If you go to the NCSA website, then go to Useful Links, it is there.  Take that link to the Tax Speaker website and see the extensive catalogs. 

    Note that if you select a seminar, the price is crossed out and a lower price applies.  We get a discount on the seminars by going to his website through our website and NCSA gets some money.  However, the 1040 class is not discounted.

  • Friday, June 10, 2016 12:31 PM | NCSA Website Admin (Administrator)

    Effective March 1, funeral taxes were repealed. Charges by a person engaged in business as a funeral home retailer continue to be exempt from sales and use tax provided the charges are stated sepa-rately and identified on the invoice or other documentation given to the purchaser at the time of the sale. The list of items is extensive and goes from embalming to lowering a vault or casket into the grave and includes such incidental items as the tent at the grave site.

    However, charges by a retailer to a purchaser to place a memorial stone, monument, grave marker, or similar item are part of the sales price of the item sold at retail and are subject to sales and use tax no matter that the charges maybe stated separately by the retailer. The exemption for separately stated installation charges was repealed as of March 1.


  • Friday, June 10, 2016 12:31 PM | NCSA Website Admin (Administrator)

    The Treasury’s Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) has made arrests of people involved in phone scams aimed at separate populations.

    Five persons were arrested for calling people claiming to be from the IRS, and told the victims would be arrested if they did not make payment of overdue taxes immediately. They got an average of $5,700 per taxpayer.

    The phony tax collector scam has taken a new twist: targeting college students. NC college stu-dents are reporting calls from imposters posing as IRS agents demanding that students pay a federal stu-dent tax immediately (the tax really doesn’t exist). The scammers claim the tax is connected to student loans and threaten students with arrest or loss of degrees if they don’t pay right away.

    No legitimate IRS official will demand that anyone make payments by wiring money or by pre-paid debit cards. Hang up on these fraudulent callers, and report the call to the TIGTA (you can find the address and phone number on the IRS website


  • Friday, June 10, 2016 12:29 PM | NCSA Website Admin (Administrator)

    The NC Department of Revenue announced that, effective May 11, the statute of limitations for assessing a person for unpaid taxes of a business is amended to provide that the period of limitations expires the later of one year after the expiration of the period of limitations for assessing the business entity, one year after a tax becomes collectible from the business, when a taxpayer and the DOR agree on a settlement concerning the amount of tax due, when the DOR sends a notice of final determination concerning an assessment and the taxpayer does not file a timely petition for a contested case hearing on the assessment, when a final decision is issued on a proposed assessment of tax after a contested case hearing, or when the Office of Administrative Hearings dismisses a petition for a contested case for lack of jurisdiction because the sole issue is the constitutionality of a statute and not the application of the statute.

    Each responsible person in a business entity is personally and individually liable for the princi-pal amount of taxes that are owed by the business entity. If a business does not pay the amount it owes after the amount becomes collectible, the Secretary may enforce the responsible person’s liability for the amount by sending the responsible person a notice of proposed assessment. This applies to all sales and use taxes collected by the business, all sales and use tax due upon taxable transactions of the busi-ness but upon which if failed to collect the tax, all taxes due from the business but upon which it failed to collect the tax, and all income taxes required to be withheld by the business entity.

    The following are responsible persons:

     The president, treasurer, or chief financial officer of a corporation.

     A manager of a corporation, a member or company official of a limited liability company, or a partner in a partnership who has a duty to deduct, account for, or pay taxes.

     A manager of a limited liability company or partnership.

     A partner who is liable for the debts and obligations of a partnership.

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