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Click to watch a short video to prepare yourself for tax season with this helpful video that highlights important law changes that you need to know.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service and its Security Summit partners today issued an alert to taxpayers and tax professionals to be on guard against fake emails purporting to contain an IRS tax bill related to the Affordable Care Act.
The IRS has received numerous reports around the country of scammers sending a fraudulent version of CP2000 notices for tax year 2015. Generally, the scam involves an email that includes the fake CP2000 as an attachment. The issue has been reported to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration for investigation.
The CP2000 is a notice commonly mailed to taxpayers through the United States Postal Service. It is never sent as part of an email to taxpayers. The indicators are:
These notices are being sent electronically, even though the IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email or through social media platforms;
The CP2000 notices appear to be issued from an Austin, Texas, address;
The underreported issue is related to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requesting information regarding 2014 coverage;
The payment voucher lists the letter number as 105C.
The fraudulent CP2000 notice included a payment request that taxpayers mail a check made out to “I.R.S.” to the “Austin Processing Center” at a Post Office Box address. This is in addition to a “payment” link within the email itself.
IRS impersonation scams take many forms: threatening telephone calls, phishing emails and demanding letters. Learn more at Reporting Phishing and Online Scams.
Taxpayers or tax professionals who receive this scam email should forward it to phishing@irs.gov and then delete it from their email account.
Taxpayers and tax professionals generally can do a keyword search on IRS.gov for any notice they receive. Taxpayers who receive a notice or letter can view explanations and images of common correspondence on IRS.gov at Understanding Your IRS Notice or Letter.
To determine if a CP2000 notice you received in the mail is real, see the Understanding Your CP2000 Notice, which includes an image of a real notice.
A CP2000 is generated by the IRS Automated Underreporter Program when income reported from third-party sources such as an employer does not match the income reported on the tax return. It provides extensive instructions to taxpayers about what to do if they agree or disagree that additional tax is owed.
It also requests that a check be made out to “United States Treasury” if the taxpayer agrees additional tax is owed. Or, if taxpayers are unable to pay, it provides instructions for payment options such as installment payments.
The IRS and its Security Summit partners — the state tax agencies and the private-sector tax industry — are conducting a campaign to raise awareness among taxpayer and tax professionals about increasing their security and becoming familiar with various tax-related scams. Learn more at Taxes. Security. Together. or Protect Your Clients; Protect Yourself.
Taxpayers and tax professional should always beware of any unsolicited email purported to be from the IRS or any unknown source. They should never open an attachment or click on a link within an email sent by sources they do not know.

August 15, 2016

Department of Labor Overtime Regulations Effective December 1, 2016

On May 18, 2016 President Obama and Labor Secretary Perez announced the publication of the Department of Labor’s final rule updating the overtime regulations, which will automatically extend overtime pay protection to over 4 million workers within the first year of implementation. The federal overtime provisions are contained in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Unless exempt, employees covered by the Act must receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek, at a rate not less than one and half their regular rates of pay.

 Any worker making $47,476 or less must be paid overtime for hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a given week. This is true whether the employee receives a salary or hourly pay. The overtime rate must be at least one and half their regular rates of pay.

 COMP time can not be used to satisfy overtime obligations of covered employees. If an employee qualifies for overtime, overtime must be paid.

 Highly compensated employees (HCE) are now defined as $134,004 or higher. The previous rate was $100,000.

 Up to 10% of the compensation amount can be in the form of nondiscretionary bonuses or incentives.

 The new rule is effective December 1, 2016

 The wage amount will automatically update every three years, next update will be January 1, 2020.

 Actual implementation documentation has not been published yet. Final regulations could still change slightly.

For all WFS payroll clients, please account for these adjustments on your data entry worksheets starting December 1, 2016. If we do not process your payroll, please make the necessary adjustments. Please call our office if you have any questions about the minimum wage rate increase or need help with any other accounting matters.

Sincerely,

Walker, Fluke & Sheldon, PLC

Thank you for being a valued client of Walker, Fluke & Sheldon, PLC.  Friday, April 15, 2016 will be the final day Walker, Fluke & Sheldon, PLC will electronically file completed 2015 tax returns. Any tax return not completed by the April 15^th deadline will have an extension filed.

In addition, any tax return dropped off after Thursday, March 31, 2016 may have an extension filed.  It is necessary to have this cut off so that we can continue to provide the quality service you have come to expect from us.

Please call your local Walker, Fluke, & Sheldon PLC office if you have any questions or concerns.

We are pleased to announce that, effective January 1, 2014, James Jasiak, CPA has merged with Walker, Fluke & Sheldon, PLC (WFS), a Hastings based tax and accounting firm with offices in Hastings, Ionia, and now Richland. WFS who have been in Hastings for over thirty-seven years are looking forward to servicing Mr. Jasiaks tax and accounting clients.

Jasiak stated, Our clients will continue to work with virtually the same staff and myself in the Richland office. Both clients and staff will have the added benefit of the support and expertise of a broader pool of talent as well as a more comprehensive array of services. Serving the tax and accounting needs of individuals, businesses, governmental and not-for-profit organizations throughout southwest Michigan continues as the focus of what we do. We will now offer a full array of new services including, monthly and quarterly bookkeeping and write up, business financial statement reviews and audits, payroll processing, not-for-profit and governmental audits. Personally I look forward to continuing the practice of accounting for many years and I know that our clients, who have generously supported us over the years, will have their tax and accounting needs capably addressed well into the future.

In a world where speed seems to be valued above all else, WFS will continue to strive in providing their existing and new clients with timely and valuable service and information. What sets WFS apart is their passion to build and maintain long-lasting business relationships. WFS offer specialized personal attention and take the time to get to know their clients. As your current and new advisor, WFS will work to find effective solutions for all of your business and personal accounting and financial needs.