Boise Tax Relief — IRS Help for Boise Residents

The Boise IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center is at 550 W Fort Street. Appointments are required — call 844-545-5640 or schedule at IRS.gov. We can represent you at this office and handle all IRS communications on your behalf.

California's Franchise Tax Board (FTB) is one of America's most aggressive state tax agencies, and they actively audit former residents. California presumes you remain a resident unless you can prove otherwise. Key factors in a residency audit: (1) the location of your primary home — did you sell your California home or keep it? (2) where your spouse and children live, (3) where you're registered to vote, hold a driver's license, and receive mail, (4) the location of your doctors, religious institutions, and social ties, (5) where your vehicles are registered, and (6) cell phone and credit card records showing physical presence. If you earned income in California while living there, then moved to Boise, you need to properly allocate your income between states. We focus on federal IRS resolution, but we coordinate with state tax professionals for multi-state issues.

RSU vesting is W-2 income — the fair market value of the shares on the vesting date is included in Box 1 of your W-2 and subject to federal income tax withholding (typically 22% supplemental rate, which may under-withhold at your income level). When you later sell the shares, you recognize capital gain or loss based on the difference between the sale price and the vest-date FMV. Common errors: (1) using $0 as cost basis when you sell — your broker's 1099-B may show the proceeds but not the correct basis (check if basis is reported to the IRS — it's often not for RSUs), (2) double-reporting income by including both the W-2 amount and the stock value on your return. If you've received an IRS CP2000 notice about RSU transactions, we can help respond and correct any basis reporting errors.

Worker classification (employee vs. independent contractor) is a top IRS enforcement priority, and the construction industry is a specific target. The IRS uses the 20-factor common law test, but three categories carry the most weight: (1) Behavioral control — do you control how, when, and where the worker does the work? Do you provide tools and training? (2) Financial control — does the worker have unreimbursed expenses, opportunity for profit or loss, and investment in their own equipment? (3) Relationship — is there a written contract, benefits (insurance, vacation), permanency, and is the work a key aspect of your business? If you've been treating workers as 1099 contractors and the IRS reclassifies them as employees, the consequences include back payroll taxes (both employer and employee shares), penalties up to 100% of the tax, and potential personal liability under the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty. We can help resolve worker classification disputes with the IRS.

Farmers have several favorable IRS provisions: (1) Farm income averaging (Schedule J) lets you spread current-year farm income across the three prior years — valuable if you had a bumper crop in a year when grain or dairy prices were high, (2) Qualifying farmers (2/3+ of gross income from farming) can make a single estimated tax payment by March 1 instead of quarterly payments, (3) Crop insurance proceeds for crop destruction or damage may be deferred to the year after the loss, (4) Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) annual rental payments are subject to self-employment tax if you're receiving Social Security, (5) Bonus depreciation on new and used farm equipment, and Section 179 expensing (up to the annual limit). The IRS farm audit program examines both cash and accrual-basis farmers — we can represent you through any farm audit.