In what the Wall Street Journal calls "The highest-profile tech stumble to date in the effort to open electronic marketplaces", the Obama administration announced this week that the insurance exchanges for small businesses will NOT be ready on October 1st.

The administration added that there will still be time to sign up before January 1st, 2014, but the admission of the delay is still an embarrassing concession. The Wall Street Journal is also reporting that inside sources are still skeptical about the January 1st date.

But their creator doesn't. Reuters news service is reporting that the billionaire creator of Beanie Babies, Ty Warner, will pay more than $53 million in penalties after pleading guilty to tax evasion on Wednesday.

Wow.

Have a great weekend!

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the Fed will continue its easy money policy due to continuing economic discord. This comes after the Fed has spent several months warning us that they will begin to taper away from their bond acquisition program.

And here it is:

IR-2013-75, Sept. 16,
2013


WASHINGTON –– The Internal Revenue Service is providing tax relief to individual and business taxpayers impacted by severe storms, flooding, landslides and mudslides in Colorado.

 The IRS announced today that certain taxpayers in the counties of Adams, Boulder, Larimer and Weld will receive tax relief, and other locations may be added in coming days following additional damage assessments by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

 The tax relief postpones certain tax filing and payment deadlines to Dec. 2, 2013. It includes corporations and businesses that previously obtained an extension until Sept. 16, 2013, to file their 2012 returns and individuals and businesses that received a similar extension until Oct. 15. It also includes the estimated tax payment for the third quarter of 2013, which would normally be due Sept. 16.

 The IRS automatically identifies taxpayers located
in the covered disaster area and applies automatic filing and payment relief.
But affected taxpayers who reside or have a business located outside the covered disaster area must call the IRS disaster hotline at 866-562-5227 to request this tax relief.

 Practitioners located in the covered disaster area who maintain records necessary to meet a filing or payment deadline for multiple taxpayers outside the disaster area may contact the IRS to identify such clients using the procedures described on the IRS website.

 Full details, including information on how to claim a disaster loss by amending a prior-year tax return, can be found in IRS.gov. The  IRS encourages taxpayers and tax practitioners to monitor the Tax Relief in Disaster Situations in
IRS.gov for updates.

As this article from Forbes suggests, do not post anything to Facebook or Twitter unless you want a future employer to see it. And don't count on your privacy settings to shield you. Government entities and large corporations will find a way around it.

http://onforb.es/zcWMfA

The Down Jones Industrial Average ended the week gaining 3%, which is its largest weekly jump in eight months - as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

On September 13, 2013, The IRS took another crack at defining the treatment of tangible assets, whether acquired, produced or improved. This includes guidance on the deductibility of repairs and capital improvements.

The regulations affect all taxpayers that use tangible property in a business.

Following are a few of the interesting provisions:

1. The regs establish a $200 threshold for capitalization (items that cost less than $200 can be expensed),

2. You can elect to capitalize certain "rotable, temporary, or standby emergency" spare parts.

3. If you use the safe harbor deminimus rule ($200 discussed above), you must use that rule for all expenditures under $200.

4. Taxpayers may deduct the removal costs when removing a unit of property.

Drop me an email at [email protected] for more information.