Protect your Identity
How can you protect yourself?
One form of tax identity theft involves someone stealing your social security number and filing a false return in order to get your tax refund. The problem is huge and growing worse each year. According to the annual report issued by the National Taxpayer Advocate in January, the IRS received approximately 730,000 cases of identity theft in 2014.
How can you protect yourself?
* Shred extraneous or no-longer-needed documents that show your personal financial information.
* Monitor credit activity by requesting a free report from the three main credit agencies for everyone in your household, including your children. Even if your kids are too young to access credit, they're required to have a social security number for tax purposes. You want to keep that number safe.
* Protect copies of prior year tax returns. Use passwords for electronic files and secure locked cabinets for hard copy paper forms.
* Do not respond to texts, e-mails, or social media contacts purporting to come from the IRS. If there's a problem with your return, the IRS will first contact you via postal mail. Bring any correspondence to our attention so we can help you respond appropriately.
* Be aware of the "dirty dozen" list of common scams. An example is the IRS-impersonation telephone scam, where con artists pretending to be IRS agents call and threaten you with arrest unless you make immediate payment of (non-existent) past-due taxes.
The IRS offers more tips and information on the irs.gov website, including the one-page Publication 5027, which lists the steps to take if you are a victim of tax identity theft. Give us a call if you have any concerns about keeping your financial information safe. We're always here to help.
Burzenski & Company once again supported an event at the Children's Center in Hamden. On October 24, three employees volunteered to be onsite for the Children's Center Trunk or Treat Halloween event. Callie Kutys, Shelly Panico and Carmen Rosado donned costumes and handed out candy to about 100 children. Booooooooo!
IR-2024-263, Oct. 10, 2024
WASHINGTON —The Internal Revenue Service announced today continued progress on Employee Retention Credit claims, with processing underway on about 400,000 claims, representing about $10 billion of eligible claims.
Monica Dixon Perry, CVPM, will speak at Veterinary Management Council of CT meeting
IRS Direct File set to expand availability in a dozen new states and cover wider range of tax situations for the 2025 tax filing season
On Thursday, August 29th, we held our annual state-of-the-firm and company picnic at Owenego Inn located in Branford, CT.
The firm recognized the 40th employee anniversary of Partner Melody Mann Fox, CPA. Managing Partner Bill Kalinowski congratulated Melody on her tenure and accomplishments with the firm. Said Ralph L. Ricciardelli, CPA, Emeritus, a founding partner of Burzenski & Company, PC, “Mel, 40 years where does the time go? It’s not easy to build a firm and you’ve done it with a lot of grit, expertise, and professionalism. You have been integral in building the firm. You’ve been integral in helping with the staff, whether it was the administrative staff or the accounting staff. I don’t know what we would do without you. There aren’t enough words of appreciation that we can give to you.”
It was a great day for employeea to play games such as bocce, corn hole, Jenga, and a trivia contest with staff split up into teams.
At the firm's annual state-of-the-firm and company picnic on August 29th, we recognized the 40th employee anniversary of Partner Melody Mann Fox, CPA. Managing Partner Bill Kalinowski congratulated Melody on her tenure and accomplishments with the firm.
Said Ralph L. Ricciardelli, CPA, Emeritus, a founding partner of Burzenski & Company, PC, “Mel, 40 years where does the time go? It’s not easy to build a firm and you’ve done it with a lot of grit, expertise, and professionalism. You have been integral in building the firm. You’ve been integral in helping with the staff, whether it was the administrative staff or the accounting staff. I don’t know what we would do without you. There aren’t enough words of appreciation that we can give to you.”Mel, 40 years where does the time go? I remember when you first came to us in 1984 as a staff person. Our first tax season together was 1985. There was a lot of fun things that happened during those early years that laid the ground work for the future.
2024 Connecticut Sales Tax Free Week
Highlights
The 2024 Sales Tax Free Week is Sunday, August 18, through Saturday, August 24, 2024.
Sales or purchases of certain items of clothing or footwear costing less than $100 per item are exempt from sales tax.
This special exemption applies to purchases made from retailers located in Connecticut as well as from on-line retailers.
This year will be Connecticut's 25th Sales Tax Free Week.https://portal.ct.gov/drs/sales-tax/sales-tax-free-week
Sarah Williams, formerly of Abilene, TX, has joined the staff at Burzenski & Company, as a Staff Accountant. She earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree as well as a Master of Accountancy degree from Abilene Christian University in Abilene, TX.
Prior to joining our firm, she was as a Tax Associate.
She has two cats named Fig and Peach.
Burzenski & Company, PC will close the office on Fridays at 12:00 (noon) in the months of July and August.
Please contact us during our normal business hours of 8:30AM to 5:00PM. 203-468-8133
Click here to listen to the podcast: https://www.buzzsprout.com/536560/15017840
