With the New Year 2012 upon us, TaxOps people are moving into new roles. We are pleased to announce the following promotions:

• Chris Becze to Director of TaxOptimization
• Alex Leugers to Federal Tax Manager
• Meredith Theiss to SALT Manager
• Jamie Overberg to Senior Manager
• Chris Stroh to Manager

“These promotions reflect an evolution within TaxOps to take greater advantage of specialized skillsets within our team to meet the increasingly complex needs of our clients,” Brian Amann, managing director of TaxOps, says.

We also welcome two new members to our team, Jennifer Bergam and Tiffany Tan. Jennifer has over eight years experience in the accounting industry, most recently with Ernst and Young LLP in Colorado. While with Ernst and Young, she worked on income tax provisions and corporate, partnership, and state tax returns. Jennifer started with TaxOps Minimization, LLC in November 2011 working with clients to identify and quantify potential research and development tax credits and other tax credits. Jennifer is a 2008 graduate of Brigham Young University with both a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Master of Accountancy. She is a licensed CPA in Colorado, and a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the Colorado Society of CPAs.

Tiffany Tan joins TaxOps from Teletech Holdings, Inc., where she worked as a tax analyst since 2008. In this role, Tiffany gained broad experience analyzing income tax provisions, complying with tax disclosures and reporting requirements, and preparing tax returns for corporate, partnership and insurance companies. In addition, Tiffany supported various special projects, including research and tax treatment planning for new acquisitions. Tiffany received a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Denver in 2008.

Please see our Contact page at www.taxops.com to connect with these individuals directly.

A Closer Look at ASC 740:  Accounting for income taxes

Participants will learn the provisions of accounting standards of ASC 740 (formerly FAS 109), Accounting for Income Taxes, including comprehensive examples that illustrate the treatment of common items that may lead to the application of specialized provisions of ASC 740. Learn how to avoid common pitfalls and create a process for recognizing and measuring income taxes in various circumstances.

• Learning Objective:  Objectives and principles of ASC 740
• Prerequisites:  Basic understanding of financial accounting and federal income tax 
• Program Level:  Intermediate
• Program content:  Permanent differences, accounting for income taxes for consolidated taxpayers, recognition measurement, tax rates, state and local tax, international tax, accounting for uncertainty in income taxes (formerly FIN 48)
• Advanced preparation:  None
• Instructional Delivery Method:  Live presentation lecture

CPE Credits:  8 hours

Dates and Locations:

            November 15, 2011 – Hotel Boulderado, Boulder, Colorado           
            November 17, 2011 – University of Denver, Denver, Colorado

The need for tax departments to focus on compliance and financial reporting integrity can be all-consuming. Such overwhelming effort can result in a lack of focus on other objectives of the organization, such as income and cash flow boosting activities or risk management. But if these or other goals are strategic objectives of your organization and your tax department isn’t contributing to their achievement, your tax function may not be performing optimally.   TaxOptimization is a three-step process to enhance the value your tax function provides to your organization.  Whatever the size of your tax function – whether insourced or out – we can Discover, Design, and Fulfill™ a tax function that delivers greater value to your organization.

“Like it or not, every company has a tax function. We help companies develop that tax function to maximize opportunities and minimize risk more effectively, and operate in line with the strategic objectives of the organization,” Brian Amann, managing director of TaxOps, says.

People, processes and technology drive tax optimization.

Factors of Performance

Value is the difference between a benefit generated and the associated cost of generating that benefit.  As such, the value of the tax function is driven by the effectiveness of the tax department’s people, processes and technology in the achievement of the department’s objectives. Tax departments that optimize the use of these factors of performance, and consistently adapt them to new developments in regulatory oversight, tax law and the business environment, add the most value to their organizations.

With TaxOptimization, we align the objectives of the tax function with the strategic objectives of the organization, and evaluate the factors of performance to maximize value to the organization.

The Tax Function Value Equation

Process

The TaxOptimization model is based on our proprietary three-step Discover, Design and Fulfill process. We begin each engagement by evaluating the current strengths, weaknesses and gaps in your tax function before creating a custom road map to move your tax operation closer to optimal performance. The Discover, Design and Fulfill process can be performed in one, two or three separate engagements in order to stay focused on the benefits you expect to achieve from the engagement.

 
Pricing

TaxOptimization solutions are priced on a risk-free contingency basis. This pricing structure guarantees that we deliver on the stated objectives for your engagement and provide a strategic, flexible, and forward-looking tax function that optimizes value to your organization. “Greater efficiency and less risk in the tax function will enhance your bottom line year after year,” Amann says. 

For more information, please contact Chris Becze at 720-227-0059 or cbecze@taxops.com.

10-Tax Considerations for Growing Businesses 7 28 2011

On July 8, 2011, the IRS has issued a phishing scam alert to taxpayers regarding schemes that use the agency’s name, logo or website clone to gain access to individuals’ financial information for purposes of identify or asset theft. The latest scam involves a malicious e-mail, which claims to come from the IRS Tax Forums, that requests recipients register for an event for tax professionals by using an attached registration form. This is not a legitimate request from the IRS. The email contains a malicious attachment and a malicious URL. Do not open the attachment or click on the links provided in the email.

The IRS does not send registration forms by e-mail. Forms are available instead on the Nationwide Tax Forums Website (http://www.irstaxforum.com/index). Taxpayers that receive these false requests should forward it to phishing@irs.gov and then delete the email. A comprehensive list of phishing schemes can be found at http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=214917,00.html. The July 8 alert can be found at http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=214917,00.html.

Please direct any questions regarding this or other tax schemes, to Brian Amann at 720.227.0062 or bamann@taxops.com

John Monahan has built a career on creating enterprising solutions to complex tax problems in both the private business and public accounting sectors. Now he brings those critical skills to clients as TaxOps newest Director. John says he is joining TaxOps because of its client-oriented, results only business model and fixed-fee client contracts, which he says are “refreshing. “I plan to work closely with clients as a full-service advisor, diagnosing their pain-points and needs and coming up with solutions that provide value for the client,” he says.

This diagnostic approach is invaluable to business leaders that are wary of unpleasant surprises. “John’s experience running large tax functions from the inside as well as his public accounting experience, gives him the canny ability to identify tax problems and design tax solutions that put businesses on better footing, ” Brian Amann, founder of TaxOps, says.

John honed his troubleshooting skills over a 23-year career as a tax specialist in private business and public accounting sectors. Most recently, he was a Tax Director at PricewaterhouseCoopers providing advice to corporate taxpayers on how to build a best-in-class tax function around people, process, technology, and tax troubleshooting. Integrating tax provision software and improving workflow are two key areas he says can generate cost savings in corporate tax functions.

Prior to PwC, John spent ten years in the private sector building, automating, and making large tax functions more efficient. In these roles, he participated in quality and risk management efforts in the preparation and review of federal and state tax returns and ASC-740 domestic and foreign income tax provisions.

In addition to tax efficiency work, John has developed deep technical knowledge with ASC-740, income tax compliance, and international tax matters. He has a Master of Taxation at Bentley College and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Denver. John graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Colorado.

To reach John, please call 720-227-0060 or e-mail him at jmonahan@taxops.com.

The IRS and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) have issued an extension for individuals with only signature authority that are required to file the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBARs). These individuals will receive a one-year extension beyond the upcoming filing date of June 30, 2011.

The FBAR form is used to report a financial interest in, or signature or other authority over, one or more financial accounts in foreign countries. U.S. persons are required to file FBARs Form TD F 90-22.1 annually if the aggregate value of these accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year.

FinCEN Notice 2011-1 extends the deadline until June 30, 2012, for the following individuals:

•  An employee or officer of a covered entity who has signature or other authority over and no financial interest in a foreign financial account of another entity more than 50 percent owned, directly or indirectly, by the entity (a “controlled person”).
•  An employee or officer of a controlled person of a covered entity who has signature or other authority over and no financial interest in a foreign financial account of the entity or another controlled person of the entity.

All other U.S. persons required to file an FBAR this year must meet the June 30, 2011, filing date.
For additional information about FBAR filing requirements, see Mid-year deadline for FBAR reporting fast approaching or call Mike Abramovitz at 720-227-0423 or mabramovitz@taxops.comfor guidance on upcoming deadlines.

Tax Minimization Strategies

The Internal Revenue Service has posted a series of questions and answers (FAQs) about the new requirement for large corporations to report their uncertain tax positions. The FAQs address both reporting requirements for Schedule UTP, Uncertain Tax Position Statement, and the IRS’ policy of restraint. IRS FAQs can be found at http://www.taxops.com/asc-740.

Tax Minimization Strategies