Be Aware of Misleading Amnesty Notices

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

The Florida Department of Revenue (FDOR) is sending out Amnesty notices to taxpayers who, according to FDOR records, have outstanding notices for sales tax, corporate income tax, etc. These notices include a statement of amounts the FDOR claims are due.

You might be tempted to automatically pay these notices in order to take advantage of the Amnesty program, but you should check them first to determine if the alleged liabilities are in fact owed.

For example:

• In many cases, these statements include liabilities which the FDOR has estimated to be due where a sales tax return, corporate income tax return or other state return was not filed.
• And in some cases, these notices are being received by S Corps and partnerships which have no Florida Corporate Income Tax filing requirement.

If you’ve received Amnesty notices be sure to check the statements against your records and/or contact your accountant to make sure the claims are correct. For more information, contact Dan Wagner at 561.620.1718 or dwagner@kaufmanrossin.com.

Dan Wagner is an associate principal in the State & Local Tax Practice department at Kaufman, Rossin & Co., one of the top CPA firms in Florida with offices in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Boca Raton.

Think your funds are safe? Think again.

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009

If you’re in business, there’s an increasing chance that you’re being defrauded. It stands to reason: in tough times, people become desperate. And in times like these any loss can cripple a small business.

In fact, a recent report by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners revealed that more than half of the experts surveyed believe fraud has increased during the recession — and, the report notes, there are always the unreported or not-yet-uncovered incidents.

The average fraud-related loss in the U.S. comes to about 7% of revenues — and small businesses suffer more.  Can your business afford a loss? 

There are some basic steps that every business should take to protect against employee embezzlement and other types of fraud.  (more…)

Are you at risk for fraud? (If you’re in business, the answer’s yes.)

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009

According to the most recent Report to the Nation from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, U.S. organizations lose 7% of their annual revenues to faud.  Apply that to the gross domestic product, and that reprsents an estimated $994 billion in fraud losses!

Whatever business you’re in, you’re at risk for fraud.   (more…)