tax

Q3 Estimated Tax Payment Amount

Cindy Yu, Managing Partner of CPG, CINDIE Professional Group , , , ,

And Year-round tax planning tips for taxpayers from IRS

by CINDIE http://www.cindiellc.com

Please review your YTD income in addition to your W2 income. Please consider 1) how much tax was paid in last year 2) how much tax you might owe on the additional income. A 20% on additional income for federal and 8% for state might be a safe net for potential estimated tax penalty and interests.

Here are some simple things taxpayers can do throughout the year to make next filing season less stressful.

Organize tax records. Create a system that keeps all important information together. Taxpayers can use a software program for electronic recordkeeping or store paper documents in clearly labeled folders. They should add tax records to their files as they receive them. Organized records will make tax return preparation easier and may help taxpayers discover overlooked deductions or credits.

Check withholding. Since federal taxes operate on a pay-as-you-go basis, taxpayers need to pay most of their tax as they earn income. Taxpayers should check that they’re withholding enough from their pay to cover their taxes owed, especially if their personal or financial situations change during the year. To check withholding, taxpayers can use the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator. If they want to change their tax withholding, taxpayers should provide their employer with an updated Form W-4.

Save for retirement. Saving for retirement can also lower a taxpayer’s AGI. Certain contributions to a retirement plan at work and to a traditional IRA may also reduce taxable income.

Source: IRS Issue Number:  Tax Tip 2025-38

第三季度预计纳税额 以及美国国税局为纳税人提供的全年税务规划建议

除了 W2 收入外，请检查您的 YTD 收入。请考虑 1) 去年缴纳了多少税款 2) 您可能欠这笔额外收入多少税款。联邦额外收入 20% 的税率和州额外收入 8% 的税率，或许可以有效规避潜在的预估税罚款和利息。

以下是纳税人全年可以做的一些简单的事情，以减轻下一个报税季的压力。

整理税务记录。创建一个将所有重要信息汇总在一起的系统。纳税人可以使用软件程序进行电子记录保存，或将纸质文件存放在标签清晰的文件夹中。他们应该在收到税务记录后立即将其添加到文件中。整理好的记录将使纳税申报表的准备工作更加轻松，并可能帮助纳税人发现被忽视的扣除额或抵免额。

检查预扣税。由于联邦税采用现收现付制，纳税人需要在赚取收入时缴纳大部分税款。纳税人应检查自己是否从工资中预扣了足够的税款来支付所欠税款，尤其是在个人或财务状况在一年中发生变化的情况下。要检查预扣税，纳税人可以使用美国国税局预扣税估算器。如果纳税人想要更改预扣税，应向雇主提供更新后的 W-4 表格。

为退休储蓄。为退休储蓄还可以降低纳税人的调整总收入 (AGI)。对工作退休计划和传统 IRA 的某些贡献也可能减少应税收入。

IRS Audit Triggers IRS 审计

Cindy Yu, Managing Partner of CPG, CINDIE Professional Group , , , ,

You may contact Us if you receive an IRS audit letter:
Main Address: 200 Centennial Avenue, Suite 106, Piscataway, NJ 08854
Florida office: 14767 Lattice Ct, Jacksonville FL3226
Phone: (732) 896-0272 Email: cpa@cindiellc.com

What Triggers an IRS Audit? The IRS uses sophisticated computer algorithms to decide on which returns to audit. If your return looks strange, your chances of being audited go way up. Here are some reasons the IRS might audit you:

  1. Taking Large Deductions – Returns with extremely large deductions in relation to income are more likely to be audited. For example, if your tax return shows that you earn $25,000, you are more likely to be audited if you claim $20,000 in deductions than if you claim $2,000.
  2. Claiming Certain Kinds of Deductions – Certain types of deductions have long been thought to be hot buttons for the IRS, especially auto, travel, and meal expenses. Casualty losses and bad debt deductions might also increase your audit chances.
  3. Claiming a Business Loss – Businesses that show losses are more likely to be audited, especially if the losses are recurring. The IRS might suspect that you must be making more money than you’re reporting—otherwise, why would you stay in business? Most likely to be audited are taxpayers reporting small business losses.
  4. Claiming Deductions That Don’t Make Sense – Deductions that seem odd or out of character could increase your audit chances, like a plumber who deducts the cost of foreign travel might raise a few eyebrows at the IRS.
  5. Not Reporting All of Your Income – The IRS also goes to great lengths to ensure you report all of your income. Its computers match the information on W-2s and 1099-NEC forms with the income amount reported on tax returns using Social Security and other identifying numbers. If the IRS finds discrepancies, it will probably start asking questions.
  6. Having Evidence of Intent to Mislead or Being Sloppy With Your Return
    Filing a tax return with missing schedules or not providing all the information asked for on the forms can increase your chances of being audited. Similarly, a sloppy return, especially with math mistakes, increases your chances of an audit. Also, using round numbers—for example, $6,000 for business advertising costs or $4,000 for transportation expenses—indicates that you’re estimating, not using records to report amounts.
  7. Being a Higher Earner – If you make over $500,000 per year, your audit likelihood is greater than the likelihood for the general population. As shown in the chart above, 0.7% of filers who earned between $500,000 and $1,000,000 were audited. So, Can I Get Away With Cheating on My Taxes? Even if you earn far less than $500,000, don’t think that you can easily get away with cheating on your taxes. (See “Are Increased IRS Audits Coming?” below.)
  8. Having Self-Employment Income – The IRS tends to be suspicious of people in business for themselves. Depending on their income, sole proprietors are up to five times more likely to be audited than wage earners.
  9. Having Foreign Accounts – Keeping money or other assets in foreign banks or other financial accounts increases audit chances.
  10. Owning Digital Assets – Having digital assets, including cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin, might increase your chances of an audit. IRS Form 1040 asks whether you received, sold, exchanged, or otherwise disposed of a digital asset during the year. If you say “yes,” your answer increases your audit chances.
  11. Claiming Too Many Charitable Deductions – Claiming $20,000 in charitable deductions on your $50,000 salary will probably make the IRS suspicious. And if you don’t have documentation to back up your charitable deductions, don’t deduct them.

什么会触发 IRS 审计？
IRS 使用复杂的计算机算法来决定审计哪些申报表。如果您的申报表看起来很奇怪，您被审计的可能性就会大大增加。以下是 IRS 可能对您进行审计的 11 个原因。

  • 扣除大额 – 扣除额与收入相关的金额非常大的纳税申报表更有可能被审计。例如，如果您的纳税申报表显示您的收入为 25,000 美元，那么如果您申报扣除额为 20,000 美元，那么您被审计的可能性要高于申报扣除额为 2,000 美元的情况。
  • 申报某些类型的扣除额 – 长期以来，某些类型的扣除额一直被认为是 IRS 的热门话题，尤其是汽车、旅行和餐费。意外损失和坏账扣除额也可能增加您的审计机会。
  • 申报企业亏损 – 显示亏损的企业更有可能被审计，尤其是如果亏损是经常性的。IRS 可能会怀疑您赚的钱一定比您申报的要多——否则，您为什么要继续经营下去？最有可能被审计的是申报小企业亏损的纳税人。
  • 申报不合理的扣除额 – 看起来奇怪或不合常理的扣除额可能会增加您被审计的机会，例如，扣除国外旅行费用的水管工可能会引起国税局的怀疑。
  • 不报告您的全部收入 – 国税局也会不遗余力地确保您报告所有收入。其计算机会将 W-2 和 1099-NEC 表格上的信息与使用社会保障和其他识别号码的纳税申报单上报告的收入金额进行匹配。如果国税局发现差异，它可能会开始提出质疑。
  • 有证据表明有意误导或申报表草率
    提交缺少时间表的纳税申报表或未提供表格上要求的所有信息可能会增加您被审计的机会。同样，草率的申报表（尤其是有数学错误）会增加您被审计的机会。此外，使用整数（例如，商业广告费用为 6,000 美元或交通费用为 4,000 美元）表明您正在估算，而不是使用记录来报告金额。
  • 收入较高 – 如果您每年的收入超过 500,000 美元，那么您被审计的可能性就大于一般人群。如上图所示，收入在 500,000 美元至 1,000,000 美元之间的纳税人中有 0.7% 被审计过。那么，我能逃税吗？即使您的收入远低于 500,000 美元，也不要认为您可以轻易逃税。（请参阅下面的“国税局审计是否会增加？”。）
  • 拥有自营职业收入 – 国税局倾向于怀疑为自己做生意的人。根据他们的收入，独资经营者被审计的可能性比工薪阶层高出五倍。
  • 拥有外国账户 – 在外国银行或其他金融账户中存钱或其他资产会增加被审计的机会。
  • 拥有数字资产 – 拥有数字资产（包括比特币等加密货币）可能会增加被审计的机会。IRS 表格 1040 会询问您是否在一年内收到、出售、交换或以其他方式处置了数字资产。如果您回答“是”，您的答案会增加被审计的机会。
  • 申报过多慈善扣除 – 在您的 50,000 美元薪水中申报 20,000 美元的慈善扣除可能会引起 IRS 的怀疑。如果您没有文件支持您的慈善扣除，请不要扣除。

Credit to source: https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/irs-tax-audits-