Mountain Views News          Saturday, February 20, 2016

13

BUSINESS NEWS & TRENDS

 Mountain Views News Saturday, February 20, 2016 


FAMILY MATTERS By Marc Garlett


LEGAL STRATEGIES TO 
AVOID GUARDIANSHIP

As senior citizens continue to age, the likelihood 
increases that they will become physically or 
mentally incapacitated. Hopefully, people in 
such a situation have family members who step 
in and help keep their affairs in order. That is 
not always the case, however. If no one steps 
in to help, courts may be petitioned to appoint 
someone–a guardian–to look after that person’s 
very existence. This often happens when a person 
becomes incapacitated by illness and cannot 
make decisions.

 

What Can I Do?

For medical situations, a medical power of 
attorney - a document that identifies a person of 
your choosing (your agent) to make decisions for 
you in the event of your incapacity - should be 
executed. Your agent can be family member or 
friend. The key is to make sure it is someone you 
trust.

 A power of attorney can also be used to appoint 
someone to deal with non-medical issues. This 
document can be set up to either take effect 
immediately, or only at such time as you are 
unable to make your own decisions. The former 
is known as a “durable” power of attorney, while 
the latter is a “springing” power of attorney. The 
durable power of attorney is the more effective 
of the two in that it requires no consideration 
of whether a person lacks the capacity to make 
decisions.

 Also, consider setting up a trust to administer 
your assets as you age. Unlike a power of attorney, 
with a trust, the trustee has sole control of your 
assets. And there are further legal steps you 
can take, such as establishing a limited liability 
corporation or a family limited partnership to 
manage your assets.

 All of these processes will prevent the need 
for a court to appoint a guardian for you if you 
become incapable of managing your own affairs. 
Those of us who are in our senior years should 
recognize the increasing chance of the need for 
someone else to make decisions. And those of us 
who have elderly parents or loved ones should 
help them think about these issues. The time 
to plan for potential incapacity is now. Once 
someone becomes incapacitated, it’s simply too 
late.

 Dedicated to your family’s wealth, health, and 
happiness,

A local attorney and father, Marc Garlett is on a 
mission to help parents protect what they love most. 
His office is located at 49 S. Baldwin Ave., Ste. G, 
Sierra Madre, CA 91024. Schedule an appointment 
to sit down and talk about ensuring a legacy of love 
and financial security for your family by calling 
626.587.3058 or visit www.GarlettLaw.com for more 
information.

FACEBOOK LIVE: SOMETHING NEW IS COMING

Facebook is launching a new feature called 
Facebook Live. It allows you to share real-time 
video with your friends and fans. 

 It’s similar to Periscope, a live-streaming video 
mobile app that allows you to broadcast live anytime 
from anywhere. What’s exciting about Facebook 
Live is that it’s on Facebook and you can use your 
built in audience you’ve grown over the years.

 Facebook Live is not available to everyone yet 
but, it sounds like it will roll out to more verified 
pages and profiles in the coming months. 

 You will be able to use it from your mobile 
device. You write a description of what you are 
about to broadcast, select your audience and then 
go live. What’s exciting is what happens during the 
broadcast. You’ll see the number of viewers and 
their comments in real time. After it ends, it will 
save a recording and post to your timeline.

 Think about how you might use this for your 
business. Perhaps you show some behind the 
scenes action, show features of a new product, 
demonstrate how to do something, have your staff 
sing a song. 

 Learn more about What’s New in Digital 
Marketing and Best Practices: HUTdogs will 
be teaching workshops at Pasadena SBDC and 
Arcadia Chamber. Register at at www.hutdogs.
com/workshops/schedule 

 About MJ: MJ and her brother David own 
HUTdogs, a creative services and digital marketing 
business. “Like” them on Facebook at www.
facebook.com/hutdogs. Sign up for their upcoming 
workshops at: www.hutdogs.com/workshops/
schedule 

 
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IRS WRAPS UP THE “DIRTY DOZEN” LIST OF 
TAX SCAMS FOR 2016

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service 
today wrapped up its annual "Dirty Dozen" 
list of tax scams with identity theft topping this 
year's list but with phone scams and phishing 
schemes also deserving special mention. Taxpayers 
need to guard against any ploys to steal 
their personal information, scam them out of 
money or talk them into engaging in questionable 
behavior with their taxes.

During the past year, as part of the Security 
Summit initiative, the IRS partnered with states 
and the tax industry to enhance coordination 
and create a more secure system for taxpayers. 
Participants now regularly share details of 
fraudulent schemes detected so both industry 
and government can provide increased protection. 
Many enhancements are invisible to 
taxpayers.

"We are working hard to protect taxpayers from 
identity theft and other scams this filing season," 
said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen. "Taxpayers 
have rights and should not be frightened 
into providing personal information or money 
to someone over the phone or in an email. We 
urge taxpayers to help protect themselves from 
scams -- old and new."

This is the second year the IRS has highlighted 
its Dirty Dozen list in separate releases over 
12 business days. Taxpayers are encouraged to 
review the list in a special section on IRS.gov 
and be on the lookout for these scams. Many 
of these con games peak during filing season as 
people prepare their tax returns or hire someone 
to do so.

The IRS this week also renewed a consumer alert 
for e-mail schemes after seeing an approximate 
400 percent surge in phishing and malware incidents 
so far this tax season. (IR-2016-28)

Perpetrators of illegal scams can face significant 
penalties and interest and possible criminal 
prosecution. IRS Criminal Investigation works 
closely with the Department of Justice to shut 
down scams and prosecute the criminals behind 
them. Taxpayers should remember that they are 
legally responsible for what is on their tax return 
even if it is prepared by someone else. Be 
sure the preparer is up to the task. For more see 
the Choosing a Tax Professional page.

Here is a recap of this year's "Dirty Dozen" 
scams:

Identity Theft: Taxpayers need to watch out for 
identity theft especially around tax time. The 
IRS continues to aggressively pursue the criminals 
that file fraudulent returns using someone 
else’s Social Security number. Though the 
agency is making progress on this front, taxpayers 
still need to be extremely careful and do 
everything they can to avoid being victimized. 
(IR-2016-12)

Phone Scams: Phone calls from criminals impersonating 
IRS agents remain an ongoing 
threat to taxpayers. The IRS has seen a surge of 
these phone scams in recent years as scam artists 
threaten taxpayers with police arrest, deportation 
and license revocation, among other 
things. (IR-2016-14)

Phishing: Taxpayers need to be on guard against 
fake emails or websites looking to steal personal 
information. The IRS will never send taxpayers 
an email about a bill or refund out of the blue. 
Don’t click on one claiming to be from the IRS.
Be wary of strange emails and websites that may 
be nothing more than scams to steal personal 
information. (IR-2016-15)

Return Preparer Fraud: Be on the lookout for 
unscrupulous return preparers. The vast majority 
of tax professionals provide honest high-
quality service. But there are some dishonest 
preparers who set up shop each filing season to 
perpetrate refund fraud, identity theft and other 
scams that hurt taxpayers. Legitimate tax professionals 
are a vital part of the U.S. tax system. 
(IR-2016-16)

Offshore Tax Avoidance: The recent string of 
successful enforcement actions against offshore 
tax cheats and the financial organizations that 
help them shows that it’s a bad bet to hide money 
and income offshore. Taxpayers are best served 
by coming in voluntarily and getting caught up 
on their tax-filing responsibilities. The IRS offers 
the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program 
(OVDP) to enable people catch up on their filing 
and tax obligations. (IR-2016-17)

Inflated Refund Claims: Taxpayers need to be 
on the lookout for anyone promising inflated 
refunds. Be wary of anyone who asks taxpayers 
to sign a blank return, promises a big refund 
before looking at their records, or charges fees 
based on a percentage of the refund. Scam artists 
use flyers, advertisements, phony store fronts 
and word of mouth via community groups 
where trust is high to find victims. (IR-2016-18)

Fake Charities: Be on guard against groups masquerading 
as charitable organizations to attract 
donations from unsuspecting contributors. Be 
wary of charities with names similar to familiar 
or nationally-known organizations. Contributors 
should take a few extra minutes to ensure 
their hard-earned money goes to legitimate and 
currently eligible charities. IRS.gov has the tools 
taxpayers need to check out the status of charitable 
organizations. (IR-2016-20)

Falsely Padding Deductions on Returns: Taxpayers 
should avoid the temptation of falsely inflating 
deductions or expenses on their returns 
to under pay what they owe or possibly receive 
larger refunds. Think twice before overstating 
deductions such as charitable contributions 
and business expenses or improperly claiming 
such credits as the Earned Income Tax Credit or 
Child Tax Credit. (IR-2016-21)

Excessive Claims for Business Credits: Avoid 
improperly claiming the fuel tax credit, a tax 
benefit generally not available to most taxpayers. 
The credit is generally limited to off-highway 
business use, including use in farming. 
Taxpayers should also avoid misuse of the research 
credit. Improper claims generally involve 
failures to participate in or substantiate 
qualified research activities and/or satisfy the 
requirements related to qualified research expenses. 
(IR-2016-22)

Falsifying Income to Claim Credits: Don’t invent 
income to erroneously qualify for tax credits, 
such as the Earned Income Tax Credit. Taxpayers 
are sometimes talked into doing this by 
scam artists. Taxpayers are best served by filing 
the most-accurate return possible because they 
are legally responsible for what is on their return. 
This scam can lead to taxpayers facing big 
bills to pay back taxes, interest and penalties. In 
some cases, they may even face criminal prosecution. 
(IR-2016-23)

Abusive Tax Shelters: Don’t use abusive tax 
structures to avoid paying taxes. The IRS is 
committed to stopping complex tax avoidance 
schemes and the people who create and sell 
them. The vast majority of taxpayers pay their 
fair share, and everyone should be on the lookout 
for people peddling tax shelters that sound 
too good to be true. When in doubt, taxpayers 
should seek an independent opinion regarding 
complex products they are offered. (IR-2016-25)

Frivolous Tax Arguments: Don’t use frivolous 
tax arguments in an effort to avoid paying tax. 
Promoters of frivolous schemes encourage taxpayers 
to make unreasonable and outlandish 
claims Even though they are wrong and have 
been repeatedly thrown out of court. While 
taxpayers have the right to contest their tax liabilities 
in court, no one has the right to disobey 
the law or disregard their responsibility to pay 
taxes. The penalty for filing a frivolous tax return 
is $5,000. (IR-2016-27)

Additional information about tax scams is available 
on IRS social media sites, including YouTube http://
www.youtube.com/irsvideos and Tumblr http://internalrevenueservice.
tumblr.com, where people can 
search “scam” to find all the scam-related posts. 


Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com