According to ABC News in Denver, Colorado, E-mails and letters that appear to be from government agencies are among the latest round of scams by criminals hoping to obtain money or personal information from victims.

“It was very convincing. It had an official IRS letterhead,” said Craig Schroetlin, pastor of Daystar Church in Aurora.

The e-mail Schroetlin received looked official because it was copied almost verbatim from the Internal Revenue Service Web site.

“It had to do with the tax incentive checks President Bush had signed,” he said.

Schroetlin had already received his tax incentive, but said the e-mail was so convincing it made him think twice.

“It was extremely official looking,” he said.

Had Schroetlin clicked on the alleged IRS link contained in the e-mail, it would have led him to forms the scammers use to collect personal information from their victims.

“It’s people preying on the needy, on the uninformed,” he said.

Wanda Potthoff was almost scammed at work.

“It looked like a secretary of state document, that it had come from them,” she said, “My first reaction was, ‘Why do I have to pay $150?’ ”

A company calling itself Colorado Corporate Compliance tells small business owners they need to file a report and pay a fee or face consequences from the Secretary Of State’s office.

“I think if I hadn’t already filed the corporate report that year I might have gone ahead and done it,” Potthoff said.

Call7 tracked the address provided for the phony company and found it lead to a UPS store in Denver, where the would-be scammers kept a post office box.

“It makes me angry that people are trying to take advantage of people just to line their own pockets,” Potthoff said.

Fraud expert Mason Finks said scammers blend real elements into their phony documents to further confuse consumers and turn them into victims.

“The only difference is this half line of text,” said Finks comparing a phony IRS e-mail to a legitimate one.

“Each of those was linked to a real portion of the IRS Web site,” he said.

Finks has recently seen phony e-mails from the FBI and other government agencies.

“Seldom if ever will a government agency send you an e-mail saying you need provide information or you’ve won something. It just doesn’t work that way. It’s done through the mail,” Finks said.

He also pointed out another twist- scammers spoofing caller I.D.

Finks said in a recent scam the callers paid for a third-party service to change their caller I.D. to read “Douglas County Government.”

He said the caller told the potential victim a jury summons had been returned and that they needed the person to verify all their contact information.

Finks said consumers should always be suspicious and verify every request with the agency themselves or with a local law enforcement agency before taking any action.

The bottom line is this:  The IRS will never ask for payment via an e-mail - PERIOD!

For more information on fraud prevention or to report a scam contact the irs or logon to www.irs.gov

The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 contains two provisions that provide tax benefits for businesses. The first provision increases the limit up to which a business can expense property purchased and placed in service during its 2008 tax year. The second provision provides an additional 50 percent special depreciation allowance for property acquired and placed in service during calendar year 2008.

Unlike the economic stimulus payments that millions of individuals have already received, the tax benefits for businesses are not automatic; businesses must act to take advantage of the new provisions by purchasing qualifying property.

The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that businesses stand to lower their 2008 tax bills by roughly $45 billion as a result of the two business provisions in the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008; these provisions accelerate into 2008 the tax benefits that otherwise would not have been available until future years.

The following are some details about these two key tax benefits:

Section 179 Expensing
In general, section 179 provides that, instead of depreciating property, a business with a sufficiently small amount of annual property purchases may choose to expense the cost of the property. For taxable years beginning in 2008, the Economic Stimulus Act increased the section 179 expensing limit allowing more property to be currently expensed.
The Economic Stimulus Act increased the maximum section 179 expense deduction to $250,000 for qualified section 179 property that is placed in service in tax years that begin in 2008. This is a 95 percent increase from the previous limitation of $128,000.
The Economic Stimulus Act also increased the total amount of qualifying property a taxpayer may purchase before the section 179 expensing limit begins to be reduced. Under the new law, the $250,000 deduction amount is reduced only when a business acquires more than $800,000 of qualifying property.  Prior to changes made by the Economic Stimulus Act, the reduction began when a business acquired more than $510,000 of qualifying property.
The new law does not alter the section 179 expense limit for sport utility vehicles, which remains at $25,000.
More than 4.5 million small businesses claimed the section 179 expense deduction for tax year 2005, the most recent year for which this information is available. These businesses placed almost $44 billion of section 179 property in service in 2005 and claimed related deductions of approximately $41 billion (data derived from Depreciation and Amortization forms filed with Forms 1040).

Special Depreciation Allowance
The Economic Stimulus Act also provided a 50 percent special depreciation allowance for property acquired and placed in service during 2008.  Depreciation is an income tax deduction that allows a taxpayer to recover the cost or other basis of certain property over several years. It is an annual allowance for the wear and tear, deterioration or obsolescence of the property.
Under the new law, a taxpayer is entitled to depreciate 50 percent of the adjusted basis (after subtracting any section 179 deduction taken on that property) of qualified property during the year the property is placed in service.  For example, if the taxpayer purchased and placed in service in 2008 a single piece of property at a cost of $450,000 that qualified for section 179 expensing and the 50 percent special depreciation allowance, $250,000 of the cost could be immediately expensed (under section 179 ) and the remaining $200,000 of adjusted basis would be available for the 50 percent special depreciation allowance. The taxpayer would also be permitted to take regular depreciation on the remaining $100,000 of adjusted basis during that year. This is similar to the special depreciation allowance that was previously available for certain property placed in service generally before Jan. 1, 2005, often referred to as “bonus depreciation.”
The types of property that qualify for the 50 percent special depreciation allowance are section 168 property with a recovery period of 20 years or less, off-the-shelf computer software, water utility property and qualified leasehold improvement property.
To qualify for the 50 percent special depreciation allowance, a taxpayer must meet all of the following tests:
The taxpayer must have acquired the property after December 31, 2007, and before Jan. 1, 2009. If a binding contract to acquire the property existed before Jan. 1, 2008, the property does not qualify for the special depreciation allowance.
The property must be placed in service before Jan. 1, 2009 (before Jan. 1, 2010, for certain transportation property and certain property with a long productions period).
The original use of the property must begin with the taxpayer after Dec. 31, 2007.  In other words, the property must be “new” property.
Prior to the enactment of the Economic Stimulus Act the total depreciation amount (including the section 179 deduction) a business could deduct for a passenger automobile was $2,960. The Economic Stimulus Act increased this limitation by $8,000. Therefore, the maximum limit is increased to $10,960 for automobiles for which the special bonus depreciation allowance is claimed.
Prior to the enactment of the Economic Stimulus Act, the total depreciation amount (including the section 179 deduction) a business could deduct for a truck or van used in a business and first placed in service in 2008 was $3,160. The Economic Stimulus Act increased this limitation by $8,000. The new maximum limit is increased to $11,160 for trucks and vans for which the special bonus depreciation is claimed.
The Economic Stimulus Act is the most recent legislation that provides depreciation tax benefits. Previously, the Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002 allowed an additional first-year depreciation deduction equal to 30 percent of the adjusted basis of qualified property for property acquired on or after Sept. 11, 2001, and generally placed in service before Jan. 1, 2005. The Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 provided an additional first-year depreciation deduction equal to 50 percent of the adjusted basis of qualified property for property acquired after May 5, 2003, and generally placed in service before Jan. 1, 2005. 

For more information visit the Internal Revenue Service’s small-business and self-employed section at  www.irs.gov/businesses/small.

There are plenty of misunderstandings about the Obama Tax Plan. It’s time to lay out the facts and let the voters decide if the tax plan is in the best interest of America.

Before we do, it’s important to note that the Obama plan is all about giving middle and lower class Americans a tax break, which is approximately 95% of all Americans.

The John MCCain tax plan follows the tradition tax plans, giving the highest earners the biggest tax breaks, while providing little support to the middle and lower classes.  We all now this as trickle down economics.  The theory is that giving big business and the highest earners tax breaks, will trickle down to the average Joe, “no, not the average Joe Plumber”.  Bush subscribes to this policy - has it worked?

Here is what the Barack Obama tax plan is proposing:

Raise taxes for those making over $250,000 a year

Let’s be realistic - they can afford it.  Over the past eight years, the highest earners are the ones who have benefited from the Bush plan. They can afford health care, to buy a home, to maintain a home, to go on vacation and not have to worry about making ends meet every month. Even today, they are in much better shape, financially than most of America.

Increase the tax credit for low wage earners:

Barack is proposing to triple the amount of tax cuts for main street Americans. It sounds like a lot but in reality, it will barely be enough for us to get by.  But his plan is going in the right direction.

Here are some comments about the Obama Tax Plan:

Rea Hederman Jr., a senior policy analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation “said the middle class would likely pay less under Mr. Obama’s plan than Mr. McCain’s.” [NY Sun, 8/15/08]

Obama’s tax calculator is “a very simple gadget that’s the most useful thing I’ve seen on any political website in a while.” [Forbes.com, 10/08]

Cut taxes for the small business owners and those companies that keep jobs in America

How many people do you know have lost their jobs because big business has shipped the jobs overseas?  I, for one, am directly affected by this - and I am still unemployed.  I am angry that the big companies are looking for a profit and forgetting about their employees, some who gave their sweat and blood for 10 - to 20 years, only to be told - get out!

Now, I’m starting my own small business - and I’m excited about the prospects under Barack Obama’s tax plan.  In order to compete globally, America must keep the jobs here and support our small businesses - we are capable of competing with anyone in world!

Here are a few more facts about Obama’s tax plan:

• Cut taxes for 95 percent of workers and their families with a tax cut of $500 for workers or $1,000 for working couples.

• Provide generous tax cuts for low- and middle-income seniors, homeowners, the uninsured, and families sending a child to college or looking to save and accumulate wealth.

• Eliminate capital gains taxes for small businesses, cut corporate taxes for firms that invest and create jobs in the United States, and provide tax credits to reduce the cost of healthcare and to reward investments in innovation.

• Dramatically simplify taxes by consolidating existing tax credits, eliminating the need for millions of senior citizens to file tax forms, and enabling as many as 40 million middle-class Americans to do their own taxes in less than five minutes without an accountant or tax advisor.

Tax Relief For Middle Class Families will include:

• A $1,000 Tax Credit
• A refundable $4,000 American Oppportunity Tax Credit
• A Universal 10% Mortgage Interest Tax Credit
• Elimate Income Taxes for Seniors Making Less than $50,000
• Expand retirement savings incentives
• Health Care Credits
• Expand the Earned Income Tax Credit
• Expanded Tax Credits for Clean Vehicle
• Simplify Tax System