Recent News

It is our pleasure to congratulate our partner Dick Babush, who is the 2010 recipient of the Georgia Planned Giving Council’s Greater Good Award. Dick was nominated by the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta.

This prestigious award, which carries a $2,000 gift to a charity of the winner’s choice, recognizes exemplary service among Georgia's charitable advisors. Nominees have served at least 10 years in the field of planned giving and uphold superior standards in the field, increasing the quality and quantity of planned gifts to charities in Georgia. Past award winners include Ben White in 2005, Henry Bowden in 2006, Stephen M. Berman in 2007 and Zoe Hicks in 2008.

In choosing the winner, the selection committee cited Dick’s work in helping his clients meet their charitable goals, and benefitting scores of Georgia charities in the process. They also recognized Dick’s dedication to fundraising efforts on behalf of charitable organizations.

The Georgia Planned Giving Council is the statewide affiliate of the National Committee on Planned Giving, now known as the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning. Its membership consists of non-profit professionals, professional advisors and others throughout Georgia committed to promoting planned giving to charitable organizations.

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BNKJ would like to thank the University of Georgia Alumni Association for selecting the firm to be one of only 100 members of the inaugural class of the Bulldog 100: Fastest Growing Bulldog Businesses. The Alumni Association chose BNKJ based on the firm’s tenure in the State of Georgia and the financial success and growth of our firm. We proudly accept this honor, and feel very fortunate to have such successful, wonderful clients, friends and employees that are the reason for BNKJ’s health and strength as a business.
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As always, the goals of our firm are focused on helping you plan effective tax strategies and save money. To help achieve these goals, we're pleased to provide you with a comprehensive Tax Planning and Preparation Guide, which is updated on a very regular basis to reflect new regulations and legislation as they happen. This interactive guide offers essential information and resources on the latest tax law changes and opportunities.

Some tax incentives are not permanent, so it is important to understand the timeframe available to benefit from these temporary changes. This guide offers key dates for the best savings as well as several methods to help minimize your tax bill.

As well as covering efficient tax planning for both the present and future, we highlight significant reform that could impact you, your family and/or your business.

We encourage you to review this tax guide at www.taxguideonline.com/bnkj and contact us with any questions at 770-261-1900 or info@bnkj.com. Babush, Neiman, Kornman & Johnson, LLP is committed to helping you through the tax planning process from start to finish. We hope you will take advantage of our resources in order to maximize your tax savings
IRS Alert: Foreign Bank and Financial Account Reporting

The Internal Revenue Service has increased its scrutiny of offshore accounts and foreign income, and has been successful in breaking some longstanding foreign bank secrecy laws to gain access to the identities of U.S. taxpayers who have foreign financial accounts.

Please make you aware of your obligations with respect to non-U.S. located (i.e., offshore) bank and financial accounts. Also, you should be aware of an opportunity to file with the IRS a delinquent foreign financial account form (TD F 90-22.1) for all past years by September 23, 2009 and avoid a potential penalty of $10,000 that may otherwise be imposed for filing that form late.

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For U.S. citizens or residents of the U.S., any income earned on foreign financial accounts, whether located in the U.S. or located outside of the U.S., is required to be reported on your U.S. income tax returns. Foreign financial accounts include bank accounts, securities accounts, savings accounts, time deposits located in a foreign country, debit cards and prepaid cards charged to or backed by foreign financial accounts.

Additionally, Treasury Department Form TD F90-22.1 must be filed by June 30 each year following any calendar year in which you have foreign financial account ownership, or signature or other authority over, a financial account(s) located in a foreign country with an aggregate value exceeding $10,000 at any time during the calendar year. Form TD F 90-22.1 is filed separately from your tax returns, and the 2008 form was originally due by June 30, 2009.

The IRS recently announced that if you have reported all of your foreign income on your tax returns and paid the tax but failed to file the TD F 90-22.1 for any past year, penalties for the delinquent TD F 90-22.1 can be avoided if it is filed by September 23, 2009 with an explanation of why it was late. Should you have failed to file the form TD F 90-22.1 for any past year including 2008, please contact me immediately so that we can discuss issues related to this form.

There are very significant penalties (both civil and criminal) for failing to report offshore income and failing to file the reporting forms. These penalties can amount to tens of thousands of dollars on even a small account.

The IRS has announced a partial amnesty program that applies to prior tax years. There are two categories of amnesty filers.

  1. If you were required to file Form TD F 90-22.1 for any year and have not filed it, but you did include all foreign account income in your U.S. tax return(s), then there may be no penalty for filing the prior year’s Form(s) TD F 90-22.1. However, in order to avoid any penalties you must file all delinquent Forms TD F 90-22.1 by September 23, 2009. See the earlier discussion on this issue.
  2. If you did not include all of your foreign income in your U.S. tax return(s) from all sources, including income related to a foreign account, there is a special IRS amnesty procedure available to you regardless of whether or not you filed Form TD F 90-22.1 for that year(s). Entering this program could result in criminal penalties not being imposed for not fully reporting your offshore income, though the decision as to whether or not to enter into the VDP can be complex. You must decide whether to enter into the VDP and actually enter it by September 23, 2009. If this description fits your situation, you should immediately read the letter we have sent you addressing the VDP for unreported foreign income, which states the need to immediately consult with a criminal tax attorney concerning the VDP.
    The IRS has warned that those who do not take part in the VDP amnesty filing by the September 23, 2009 date will potentially face far greater civil penalties and possible criminal charges than if they entered the VDP.

If you have a financial interest or signature authority in any foreign financial account, it is your responsibility to file the TD F 90-22.1. We will assist you in completing that form when you have provided us with the necessary information. It is also your responsibility to ensure that all income is reported on your tax return and all required foreign accounts are reported to the Treasury Department.

If you have any questions regarding these foreign financial account filing requirements, please contact us at your earliest convenience.
When a Bad Economy Brings Out the Bad in Your Employees

There's nothing more disheartening than learning that an employee - someone you trust and have been PAYING! -- has stolen from you or the business you've worked so hard to build. Unfortunately, history has shown that a struggling economy such as the one we are currently experiencing witnesses an increase in employee theft.

Employee theft is a serious threat to the success of small and middle size businesses. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) in its 2008 Report to the Nation estimates that seven percent of U.S. revenue is lost to occupational fraud. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently conducted a survey that reported that 1/3 of bankruptcies are caused by employee theft. Why are these businesses letting this happen? Because most small and middle market business owners do not see a need to be proactive in addressing this potential problem; they tell themselves that THEIR employees just wouldn't do that. To view the full article, click here.
About BNKJ

 

  
Proud Members of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the AICPA Employee Benefit Plan Quality Center
 
BNKJ is proud to have been a founding sponsor and 21 year supporter of the Kennesaw State University Cox Family Enterprise Center. Congratulations to KSU, Coles College of Business, which Fortune Small Business named one of the six best places in the United States for family business education.