Did you receive an Advanced Child Tax Credit or the third stimulus payment?

EVERY taxpayer should set up an IRS account to verify receipt of your third stimulus payment and, if you have children, the total amount of the Advance Child Tax Credits you received. All of these payments will need to be reconciled when filing tax returns for 2021 in the spring so it's best to set up the account now. Typically, taxpayers just need to verify their identity using a credit card, student loan payment account, etc., but some people have had issues with setting up the account online. There is a way to verify your identity using a postcard but that takes time, so try to get the account set up now before it's required next spring.

Advance child tax credits may need to be repaid if your family situation has changed since 2020 (due to divorce or child custody/dependency claims, etc.) or if your income is over the qualifying threshold. That’s why verification of what the IRS has paid to you is critical—to calculate the repayment amount.

Create your IRS account at https://www.irs.gov/payments/view-your-tax-account

Attention Small Business Owners in Portland and/or Multnomah County

The City of Portland & Multnomah County have a business tax that's assessed on all self-employment income and a rental property tax. During 2020, they navigated to a new software provider and converted all existing business accounts to a new system. Unfortunately, this required replacing the old business ID# with a new number that begins with a BZT prefix. You may have already received a notice from the city with your new ID# but if you didn't, please go to this website to try to obtain your number or call the city to obtain it.

This number is mandatory for 2021 self-employed filers (and/or rental property owners), so please get the number now so it doesn't delay your tax filing.

Create your account at www.pro.portland.gov

‘Tis the season for scams

Business owners and individuals beware!

Scammers are always looking for creative ways to take advantage and business owners need to be especially vigilant. Official looking notices and threatening letters about fines and penalties are used to try to convince you to pay quickly. Don’t fall for these or other scams.

The two most common ones I see every year are offers to help renew your business registration and selling state & Federally required labor law posters.

The ‘Annual Report Renewal’ notices typically come from a company named WCS. They charge $185 to renew your annual report with Oregon. You can file this annual report directly with the Secretary of State for $100. It looks official because they pull publicly available information including your registration number and the date you originally filed your business registration. You should never pay someone else to file your renewal. It takes less than five minutes and typically only involves updating your address or verifying your information hasn’t changed.

The labor law poster advertisements are another unnecessary expense and, in some cases, outright fraud when the posters aren’t even delivered. It is true that you are required to post (and keep updated) various posters from the state and Federal government if you have employees. These posters notify employees about minimum wage laws, sick leave, FMLA, etc. ALL of these posters are available online for free. Posters can be purchased that come to you consolidated as one large, laminated document to post in your workplace but since the posters are sometimes updated mid-year, the benefit of a consolidated poster is short-lived.

If I assist you with payroll, I make these labor law posters available to you for free every year or as they’re updated. You can post them on a wall in your workplace or place them in a binder and notify employees where to find the information.

There are obviously other scams out there, like demands for gift cards to pay your tax balance, threats that your insurance policy or utilities will be shut off if you don’t make a payment over the phone, etc. Always be suspicious, take down as much information from the caller as possible and don’t give them your credit card info or other identifying information (your SSN, account numbers, etc.). Insist that you’ll investigate the unpaid balance and will make payment through your known agent or utility provider.

And, finally, the holiday season is when most charitable organizations raise a substantial percentage of their annual donation budget but this also allows criminals to steal from people by faking solicitations to look like they are coming from valid charities. Before sending a donation, you may want to Google/call the charity to verify the mailing address for donations or pay online after verifying the correct website address.

I hope you are enjoying a wonderful fall season! Celebrate the beautiful colors of the seasonal change before the hustle & bustle of the holidays and the winter rain.