Posts by Carol Ward3

thanks

A small business owner intends to operate out of their own property, essentially running an office out of a residential space located at their registered business address. Since they can't exactly sign a lease agreement with themselves, I suppose the question is whether they need to formally transfer the property into the business entity, or if they can simply use the space without officially recording it anywhere.
Just to clarify, we're talking about a single-family home where one room would serve as the office space.

Kimberly Harris6 said:You can start as soon as you submit the application.

Thanks, I figured that might be the case, but I suppose one can never be too careful.😉

We’ve officially filed the paperwork to expand our LLC's business activities and submitted the application to the Secretary of State. I was wondering, though, when exactly can we actually start operating under those new categories if there aren't any specific regulatory hurdles to clear first? Is it possible to just dive right in, or am I stuck waiting around until the Secretary of State finally processes the filing and sends back the official decision?

When you're first getting a small business off the ground, how on earth are you supposed to figure out which tax model makes the most sense—going with the standard flat rate or opting for the income-based approach?
I suppose any bit of advice would be appreciated 😉

amberbadger17 said:Can someone please explain this to me in plain English—is this "premium" card actually useless and just a total waste of money? Or let me rephrase that for the folks who deal with the IRS instead of some local tax office: can I just file my own returns and handle things for other people (assuming I have power of attorney) using my standard USB key?

If you plan on using a Chase USB key for the IRS, you'll be looking at a fee of $17 per month.
On the other hand, if you opt for the official federal e-card, you’ll pay $17 monthly, which grants you access to both e-tax and e-filing services.
I suppose you should probably just run the numbers on a napkin and decide for yourself whether it's a waste of cash.

They pitch e-business as this grand way to streamline everything and speed up processing, yet here I am, waiting days just for a single monthly form to clear—and don't even get me started on the annual ones; I’ll probably be waiting until five in the afternoon just to see them. It feels a bit off to me, honestly. But then again, as my colleague Vanguard mentioned, I suppose it all just comes down to how reliable the delivery chain actually is.

I wonder how long the processing usually takes for corporate income tax returns and their various schedules. My forms have been stuck on "in progress" since February 21st, so I suppose there must be some reason why they're taking this much time to get through them 🙂

Jacob Gomez79 said:Greetings,

Since we’re running a small business—one of those smaller outfits where you wear a lot of hats—we’re currently making the transition over to the electronic tax filing system.
The plan is to grant formal authorization to our accountant, who will be handling the heavy lifting on this end.
We don't actually have a dedicated business debit card for this, so we were thinking of working through Chase since we already have an established relationship with them via our online banking.
My question is about the logistics: would Chase issue us a physical card or a USB token that we then hand over to the accountant, or is she expected to manage that part of the process herself?
I’ve been reading through some discussions where everyone seems to focus on the client side of things, which made me wonder if perhaps the accountant handles all the setup—getting the digital certificate or the hardware token ready—while we simply provide the necessary power of attorney?

Thanks in advance for any insight.

I suppose an accountant should already have their own IRS credentials, so you would just be granting them authorization for the specific tax portals and electronic filing systems.

I have a quick question regarding the submission of non-standard documentation to the IRS: When I put together the necessary notes and resolutions alongside the financial reports to be submitted through the online portal, should I have them signed by the director or a board member first and then scan them into a PDF? Or is it acceptable to upload unsigned PDFs—provided they include the full name of the individual required to sign—and then handle the actual signing electronically during the final submission process?

Thanks, all the requested powers of attorney have been submitted.

I wanted to ask a quick question regarding my setup. An electronic tax card has been issued in my name, even though I’m just an employee at the firm while my husband is actually the authorized representative. If we go through the process of submitting our paperwork to Goldman Sachs, would it be considered acceptable if the forms are signed via electronic signature by someone who isn't technically the legal director or the authorized agent? Or am I looking at a situation where I might need to officially register myself as an authorized person with the Secretary of State?

Olivia Sanders24 said:Honestly, you can grab a PC with whatever software comes pre-installed or just set it up with Linux—it doesn't matter either way—just make sure you remember to claim those tax deductions at the end of the year.

In the meantime, just install whatever works best for you. The odds of some auditor showing up just to check if you have legitimate Windows licenses on one or two machines are basically zero—they aren't going to waste their time on a tiny operation; they're looking for the big corporations.

Back when we dealt with the IRS, they actually had the authority to audit any computer used for business purposes to ensure everything was running on licensed software—it usually took them about fifteen minutes to scan the system and demand receipts. That said, I imagine using Linux wouldn't cause much of a stir since it's free. They didn't even bother looking at my personal laptop, apparently because they don't have the jurisdiction to poke around private property.

Raymond Martinez10 said:Maybe this question belongs over on the LLC discussion board rather than here under small business startups—the regulations aren't exactly the same.
An LLC can handle just about any profession regardless of the owner's specific credentials, assuming they're the sole employee, though there are a few exceptions like you already mentioned.

What exactly are those exceptions?

James Phillips38 said:My business falls under the small business category, with annual shipments totaling less than $267. I was wondering if we are actually required to file everything digitally with federal agencies now, or if I can still just drop off my paperwork in person at the local office?
I’m asking because I stumbled upon some information yesterday suggesting that these forms must be submitted online, so I figured I should double-check before I make any more trips...

It isn't mandatory to go digital; you can still stick to paper if you prefer. 😉

Since we set up and received my FINRA card back in December, I was just wondering when we might realistically expect the first round of bills to arrive?

Betty King7 said:But we don't have other clients involved here; that card is strictly for our own firm. Are you telling me someone can just walk out with nothing but the card?

Well, you'll need the card, a signed power of attorney, and—for some reason—they actually asked me for a copy of the director's ID since I'm just an employee rather than an authorized officer, plus a copy of the company's articles of incorporation from the Secretary of State's office. I suppose it might be wise to bring the corporate seal just in case, though I'm not entirely sure why they'd need it. 😉
Of course, you'll also need to make sure the card is properly installed first; there are detailed instructions on the Deloitte installation disc, so it shouldn't be overly complicated.

Just to circle back to my previous point regarding the fees for extra authorizations on the FINA card: "... if you're using the same card for multiple companies (provided you have the power of attorney), there's an additional charge of roughly $2.50-$$4.00 per authorization—though I suppose that figure fluctuates depending on how many powers of attorney you're processing, as more volume usually means a bit of a discount. And keep in mind, these charges are strictly for FINA’s internal services (like registration, statistical reporting, or FINA payments); in a typical scenario, you might see one company $17 a month, maybe three firms $29, or even up to 101 firms $101. That invoice could potentially spike only if you happen to request a specific tax document, a statistical transcript, or something similar that FINA charges for—which, honestly, is still probably cheaper than dealing with someone at a bank teller window anyway."

Kimberly Harris6 said:Up until now, I've submitted everything through the electronic portal—notes, everything required... But how exactly are they charging people to view public records?
Here is the article:
"The Treasury is now charging for the public filing of annual reports

Monday, November 14, 2011.

According to the species regulation regarding fees for the SEC for services involving the public publication of annual reports and issuing documents from the SEC filings (Federal Register, No. 126/11), the SEC will begin charging fees for the public publication of annual financial reports starting January 1, 2012.

Per Article 2, Item 1, and Article 3, Paragraph 2 of said regulation, businesses will be charged fees for the public release of financial report documentation received by the Registry, whether submitted via paper or electronically on various data carriers.

Fees for the service of publicly releasing financial report documentation received by the Registry through online services will be collected from the federal budget in accordance with Article 2, Item 1, and Article 3, Paragraph 1 of the regulation.

Interestingly, in previous practice, there were no fees charged to businesses for publishing annual financial reports; instead, those costs under the 2009 regulation (Federal Register, No. 12/09) were covered by the federal budget regardless of the submission method or media used. "

Ha!! So that means my companies won't be charged anything because I send everything through the digital portal... Thank goodness! :-)

So, were you scanning those notes and decisions to send them along with the rest of the paperwork, or did you handle it some other way?

I suppose one might wonder where to actually find those "IRS tax codes" the software keeps asking for while you're trying to put these forms together.