From pamella.johnson at state.or.us Mon Dec 5 09:53:04 2011 From: pamella.johnson at state.or.us (Pamella Johnson) Date: Mon, 05 Dec 2011 09:53:04 -0800 Subject: [OSSSA218] Fwd: New upcoming webinar December 15, 2011 References: <1323105888480.165237.23281038.bulletin.subscription.service@ssa.gov> Message-ID: <4EDC9480.CD1F.0048.1@PERS.STATE.OR.US> In follow-up to last week's Social Security webinar, the SSA's Business Services Online division is offering the second in the series of three webinars on the Social Security Number Verification Service (SSNVS). Thank you. Pamella Johnson Interim OSSSA Coordinator Legal Liaison Policy, Planning and Legislative Analysis PERS sl2 -------------- next part -------------- An embedded message was scrubbed... From: Social Security Administration Subject: New upcoming webinar December 15, 2011 Date: Mon, 05 Dec 2011 11:25:43 -0600 Size: 8405 URL: From pamella.johnson at state.or.us Tue Dec 6 07:57:32 2011 From: pamella.johnson at state.or.us (Pamella Johnson) Date: Tue, 06 Dec 2011 07:57:32 -0800 Subject: [OSSSA218] New law repeals 3% Contractor Withholding Message-ID: <4EDDCAEC.CD1F.0048.1@PERS.STATE.OR.US> Good morning: The following link will allow you to review the IRS' announcement of the repeal of the 3% contractor withholding which was to have taken effect January 1, 2013, for all Federal and state government entities. http://www.irs.gov/govt/fslg/article/0,,id=250662,00.html Thank you. Pamella Johnson Interim OSSSA Coordinator Legal Liaison Policy, Planning and Legislative Analysis PERS From Lori.A.Stieber at irs.gov Mon Dec 5 08:50:09 2011 From: Lori.A.Stieber at irs.gov (Stieber Lori A) Date: Mon, 5 Dec 2011 16:50:09 +0000 Subject: [OSSSA218] FW: New Law Repeals 3% Contractor Withholding Message-ID: A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: smime.p7m Type: application/x-pkcs7-mime Size: 71277 bytes Desc: not available URL: From pamella.johnson at state.or.us Fri Dec 9 15:45:58 2011 From: pamella.johnson at state.or.us (Pamella Johnson) Date: Fri, 09 Dec 2011 15:45:58 -0800 Subject: [OSSSA218] IRS Announces 2012 Standard Mileage Rate. Message-ID: <4EE22D36.CD1F.0048.1@PERS.STATE.OR.US> Good afternoon: The IRS has announced the standard mileage rates effective for 2012. In most cases, these remain unchanged from July 1, 2011. http://content.govdelivery.com/bulletins/gd/USIRS-216f3f?reqfrom=share Thank you. Pamella Johnson Interim OSSSA Coordinator Legal Liaison Policy, Planning and Legislative Analysis PERS From Lori.A.Stieber at irs.gov Thu Dec 15 12:41:39 2011 From: Lori.A.Stieber at irs.gov (Stieber Lori A) Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2011 20:41:39 +0000 Subject: [OSSSA218] FW: IR-2011-118: IRS Offers Tips for Year-End Giving Message-ID: Hello Pamella! Let's forward this link for Helpful Tips individuals can use for year end tax planning. http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-news/ir-11-118.pdf Happy Holidays, Lori Lori A. Stieber, Internal Revenue Agent Federal, State, Local Government Salem, OR 97301 Telephone (503) 587-3149 Fax (503) 585-5336 ________________________________ From: IRS Newswire [mailto:irs at service.govdelivery.com] Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2011 9:20 AM To: Stieber Lori A Subject: IR-2011-118: IRS Offers Tips for Year-End Giving [Bookmark and Share] [IRS.gov Banner] IRS Newswire December 15, 2011 News Essentials What's Hot News Releases IRS - The Basics IRS Guidance Media Contacts Facts & Figures Problem Alerts Around The Nation e-News Subscriptions ________________________________ The Newsroom Topics Electronic IRS Press Kit Tax Tips 2009 Radio PSAs Fact Sheets Armed Forces Disaster Relief Scams / Consumer Alerts Tax Shelters More Topics.. ________________________________ IRS Resources Compliance & Enforcement Contact My Local Office e-file Forms & Pubs Frequently Asked Questions News Taxpayer Advocacy Where to File ________________________________ Issue Number: IR-2011-118 Inside This Issue ________________________________ IRS Offers Tips for Year-End Giving WASHINGTON - Individuals and businesses making contributions to charity should keep in mind several important tax law provisions that have taken effect in recent years. Some of these changes include the following: Special Charitable Contributions for Certain IRA Owners This provision, currently scheduled to expire at the end of 2011, offers older owners of individual retirement accounts (IRAs) a different way to give to charity. An IRA owner, age 70? or over, can directly transfer tax-free up to $100,000 per year to an eligible charity. This option, created in 2006, is available for distributions from IRAs, regardless of whether the owners itemize their deductions. Distributions from employer-sponsored retirement plans, including SIMPLE IRAs and simplified employee pension (SEP) plans, are not eligible. To qualify, the funds must be contributed directly by the IRA trustee to the eligible charity. Amounts so transferred are not taxable and no deduction is available for the transfer. Not all charities are eligible. For example, donor-advised funds and supporting organizations are not eligible recipients. Amounts transferred to a charity from an IRA are counted in determining whether the owner has met the IRA's required minimum distribution. Where individuals have made nondeductible contributions to their traditional IRAs, a special rule treats transferred amounts as coming first from taxable funds, instead of proportionately from taxable and nontaxable funds, as would be the case with regular distributions. See Publication 590, Individual Retirement Arrangements (IRAs), for more information on qualified charitable distributions. Rules for Clothing and Household Items To be deductible, clothing and household items donated to charity generally must be in good used condition or better. A clothing or household item for which a taxpayer claims a deduction of over $500 does not have to meet this standard if the taxpayer includes a qualified appraisal of the item with the return. Household items include furniture, furnishings, electronics, appliances and linens. Guidelines for Monetary Donations To deduct any charitable donation of money, regardless of amount, a taxpayer must have a bank record or a written communication from the charity showing the name of the charity and the date and amount of the contribution. Bank records include canceled checks, bank or credit union statements, and credit card statements. Bank or credit union statements should show the name of the charity, the date, and the amount paid. Credit card statements should show the name of the charity, the date, and the transaction posting date. Donations of money include those made in cash or by check, electronic funds transfer, credit card and payroll deduction. For payroll deductions, the taxpayer should retain a pay stub, a Form W-2 wage statement or other document furnished by the employer showing the total amount withheld for charity, along with the pledge card showing the name of the charity. These requirements for the deduction of monetary donations do not change the long-standing requirement that a taxpayer obtain an acknowledgment from a charity for each deductible donation (either money or property) of $250 or more. However, one statement containing all of the required information may meet both requirements. Reminders To help taxpayers plan their holiday-season and year-end giving, the IRS offers the following additional reminders: * Contributions are deductible in the year made. Thus, donations charged to a credit card before the end of 2011 count for 2011. This is true even if the credit card bill isn't paid until 2012. Also, checks count for 2011 as long as they are mailed in 2011. * Check that the organization is qualified. Only donations to qualified organizations are tax-deductible. IRS Publication 78, searchable and available online, lists most organizations that are qualified to receive deductible contributions. It can be found at IRS.gov under Search for Charities. In addition, churches, synagogues, temples, mosques and government agencies are eligible to receive deductible donations, even if they are not listed in Publication 78. * For individuals, only taxpayers who itemize their deductions on Form 1040 Schedule A can claim deductions for charitable contributions. This deduction is not available to individuals who choose the standard deduction, including anyone who files a short form (Form 1040A or 1040EZ). A taxpayer will have a tax savings only if the total itemized deductions (mortgage interest, charitable contributions, state and local taxes, etc.) exceed the standard deduction. Use the 2011 Form 1040 Schedule A to determine whether itemizing is better than claiming the standard deduction. * For all donations of property, including clothing and household items, get from the charity, if possible, a receipt that includes the name of the charity, date of the contribution, and a reasonably-detailed description of the donated property. If a donation is left at a charity's unattended drop site, keep a written record of the donation that includes this information, as well as the fair market value of the property at the time of the donation and the method used to determine that value. Additional rules apply for a contribution of $250 or more. * The deduction for a motor vehicle, boat or airplane donated to charity is usually limited to the gross proceeds from its sale. This rule applies if the claimed value is more than $500. Form 1098-C, or a similar statement, must be provided to the donor by the organization and attached to the donor's tax return. * If the amount of a taxpayer's deduction for all noncash contributions is over $500, a properly-completed Form 8283 must be submitted with the tax return. * And, as always it's important to keep good records and receipts. IRS.gov has Additional information on charitable giving including: * Charities & Non-Profits * Publication 526, Charitable Contributions. * On-line mini-course, Can I Deduct My Charitable Contributions? Back to Top ________________________________ Thank you for subscribing to the IRS Newswire, an IRS e-mail service. If you know someone who might want to subscribe to this mailing list, please forward this message to them so they can subscribe. This message was distributed automatically from the mailing list IRS Newswire. Please Do Not Reply To This Message. ________________________________ Update your subscriptions, modify your password or email address, or stop subscriptions at any time on your Subscriber Preferences Page. You will need to use your email address to log in. If you have questions or problems with the subscription service, please contact support at govdelivery.com. This service is provided to you at no charge by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). ________________________________ This email was sent to lori.a.stieber at irs.gov by: Internal Revenue Service (IRS) ? Internal Revenue Service ? 1111 Constitution Ave. N.W. ? Washington DC 20535 [Powered by GovDelivery] -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pamella.johnson at state.or.us Fri Dec 16 08:28:59 2011 From: pamella.johnson at state.or.us (Pamella Johnson) Date: Fri, 16 Dec 2011 08:28:59 -0800 Subject: [OSSSA218] Fwd: W-2 News Issue 2011-02; December 16, 2011 References: <1324048871050.350815.25659379.bulletin.subscription.service@ssa.gov> Message-ID: <4EEB014B.985A.0048.1@PERS.STATE.OR.US> Good morning: Below is the Social Security Administration's information release on W-2s for 2011 - 2012. Thank you. Pamella Johnson Coordinator Oregon State Social Security Administration >>> Social Security Administration 12/16/2011 7:33 AM >>> Welcome to "W-2 News", the electronic newsletter for employers who submit W-2s to Social Security. You can view the newsletter online at: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/employer/w2news/ *Issue 2011-02* *December 16, 2011* Inside this issue: * Changes for Tax Year 2011 [ http://www.socialsecurity.gov/employer/w2news#cfty2011 ] * Use W2Online for up to 50 W-2s [ http://www.socialsecurity.gov/employer/w2news#w2online ] * Prior Year W-2s in W2Online [ http://www.socialsecurity.gov/employer/w2news#pw2online ] * Streamlined Status Applications [ http://www.socialsecurity.gov/employer/w2news#strmsa ] * Dates to Remember [ http://www.socialsecurity.gov/employer/w2news#dtr ] * Forgot your password -- just answer these questions to rest your password [ http://www.socialsecurity.gov/employer/w2news#psswrd ] * Use AccuWage to Test Your Wage Reports before Filing with Social Security [ http://www.socialsecurity.gov/employer/w2news#accuwg ] * Business Services Online (BSO) Videos and Tutorial [ http://www.socialsecurity.gov/employer/w2news#bsovt ] * Help Plan for Retirement [ http://www.socialsecurity.gov/employer/w2news#hlpret ] * Answers on the Run [ http://www.socialsecurity.gov/employer/w2news#answrs ] * Social Security is on Facebook, Twitter and You-Tube [ http://www.socialsecurity.gov/employer/w2news#ssfty ] * Learn More Online [ http://www.socialsecurity.gov/employer/w2news#lmonline ] * Contact the Experts [ http://www.socialsecurity.gov/employer/w2news#ce ] * Customer Service [ http://www.socialsecurity.gov/employer/w2news#cs ] Please do not respond to this message. "W-2 News "is an "announce only" newsletter. For more information on reporting employee wages to Social Security visit our website at www.socialsecurity.gov/employer [ http://www.socialsecurity.gov/employer ]. If you have wage reporting questions or problems, contact Social Security at 1-800-772-6270, Monday - Friday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern Time, or email us at employerinfo at ssa.gov. ________________________________________________________________________ SSA [ http://www.ssa.gov/ ] Questions for SSA? 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