April 2011
DOLLAR$&$en$e
by Devon Weaver, Keeping Tabs Accounting
Page 22
Phone: 260-463-4901 • Fax 888-439-6528 • The Hometown Treasure
Don’t Be Scammed By Fake IRS Communications
The IRS receives
thousands of reports each year
from taxpayers who receive
suspicious emails, phone
calls, faxes or notices claiming to be from the Internal
Revenue Service. Many of these scams fraudulently
use the Internal Revenue Service name or logo as
a lure to make the communication more authentic
and enticing. The goal of these scams ... known as
phishing ... is to trick you into revealing personal and
financial information. The scammers can then use that
information, like your Social Security number, bank
account or credit card numbers to commit identity
theft or steal your money.
Here are five things the IRS wants you to know
about phishing scams:
1. The IRS doesn’t ask for detailed personal and
financial information like PIN numbers, passwords or
similar secret access information for credit card, bank
or other financial accounts.
2. The IRS does not initiate taxpayer communications
through e-mail and won’t send a message about your
tax account. If you receive an e-mail from someone
claiming to be the IRS or directing you to an IRS site:
• Do not reply to the message.
• Do not open any attachments. Attachments may
contain malicious code that will infect your computer.
• Do not click on any links. If you clicked on links
in a suspicious e-mail or phishing website and entered
confidential information, visit the IRS website and enter
the search term ‘identity theft’ for more information
and resources to help.
3. The address of the official IRS website is www.
irs.gov. Do not be confused or misled by sites claiming
to be the IRS but ending in .com, .net, .org or other
designations instead of .gov. If you discover a website
that claims to be the IRS but you suspect it is bogus, do
not provide any personal information on the suspicious
site and report it to the IRS.
4. If you receive a phone call, fax or letter in the
mail from an individual claiming to be from the IRS
but you suspect they are not an IRS employee, contact
the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 to determine if the IRS has
a legitimate need to contact you. Report any bogus
correspondence.
5. You can help shut down these schemes and
prevent others from being victimized. Details on how
to report specific types of scams and what to do if
you’ve been victimized are available at http://www.
irs.gov, keyword “phishing.”
Tax Corner · Tax Corner · Tax Corner · Tax Corner
Rental Income and Expenses
You generally must include in your gross income
all amounts you receive as rent. Rental income is any
payment you receive for the use of or occupation of
property. Expenses of renting property can be deducted
from your gross rental income. You generally deduct your
rental expenses in the year you pay them. Publication
527, Residential Rental Property, includes information
on the expenses you can deduct if you rent property.
1. You generally must report rental income on your
tax return in the year that you actually receive it.
2. Advance rent is any amount you receive before
the period that it covers. Include advance rent in your
rental income in the year you receive it, regardless of
the period covered.
3. Do not include a security deposit in your income
when you receive it if you plan to return it to your tenant
at the end of the lease. But if you keep part or all of the
security deposit during any year because your tenant
does not live up to the terms of the lease, include the
amount you keep in your income in that year.
4. If you receive property or services, instead
of money, as rent, include the fair market value of the
property or services in your rental income. If the services
are provided at an agreed upon or specified price, that
price is the fair market value unless there is evidence
to the contrary.
5. If your tenant pays any of your expenses, the
payments are rental income. You must include them in
your income. You can deduct the expenses if they are
deductible rental expenses. See Rental Expenses in
Publication 527, for more information.
6. Generally, the expenses of renting your property,
such as maintenance, insurance, taxes, and interest,
can be deducted from your rental income.
7. If you have any personal use of a vacation home
or other dwelling unit that you rent out, you must divide your
expenses between rental use and personal use. If your
expenses for rental use are more than your rental income,
you may not be able to deduct all of the rental expenses.