CHECK THE TAX ISSUES IF YOU ARE CARING FOR ELDERLY PARENTS

As the population in the U.S. continues to age, more and more people will find themselves caring for their parents. Here are some of the tax breaks that caregivers should consider.

HOW TO MAKE EMPLOYEE REVIEWS MORE CONSTRUCTIVE AND LESS PAINFUL

Usually the annual employee performance review is dreaded by both supervisor and employee. Here are some ideas to help improve the process.

HELP PREVENT IDENTITY THEFT

Criminals are not only filing bogus tax returns using other people's identification, they are also stealing the "look" of the IRS to phish for additional financial information from taxpayers.

The IRS has made numerous announcements in the past to help protect taxpayers from these scams. It repeats the message that it will never use an e-mail, text message, or social media to initiate a contact about your tax information.

If you receive what looks like an official IRS e-mail, you should forward it to phishing@irs.gov. Do not reply to the sender, and do not open any attachments.

"TIP" OR "SERVICE CHARGE" RULE

Restaurant owners and employees will be affected by an IRS rule going into effect this coming January. The "automatic gratuity" that many restaurants add to the bill for larger parties will be treated as a "service charge" rather than as a "tip." Service charges are treated as regular wages subject to withholding by the employer. Tips, on the other hand, are reported as income by the restaurant employees receiving them. The ruling is likely to complicate bookkeeping and reporting for both restaurant employees and employers.

UPCOMING DATES FOLLOWING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

Early in the morning of October 17, President Obama signed a bill into law reopening the federal government and extending U.S. borrowing authority. But the law contains deadlines that could leave the country facing the same issues again. Here are the important dates in the law -

* December 13, 2013 - Report required from Congressional budget negotiators on how to solve long-term budget issues.

* January 15, 2014 - Date after which federal government funding runs out.

* February 7, 2014 - Debt limit extension expires.

DELAY IN 2014 FILING SEASON

The Internal Revenue Service has announced a delay of approximately one to two weeks to the start of the 2014 filing season due to the 16-day federal government shutdown.

The government closure came during the peak period for preparing IRS systems for the 2014 filing season. Updating these core systems is a complex, year-round process with the majority of the work beginning in the fall of each year.

There are additional training, programming, and testing demands on the IRS this year as the agency works to prevent refund fraud and identity theft.

The IRS is exploring options to shorten the delay and will announce a final decision on the start of the 2014 filing season in December.

CONSIDER PROVIDING LOW-COST BENEFITS TO EMPLOYEES

The fringe benefits you offer can be an important factor in hiring and retaining workers.