12/20/11... Effective 01/01/2012, the STANDARD BUSINESS MILEAGE RATE is 55.5 cents per mile (unchanged from Jul-Dec 2011).


09/09/11... Pennsylvania Flooding Tax Relief
September 2011 Flood Victims
Keep track of losses as they may be tax deductible if not covered by insurance.  The loss is generally the decrease in value of each affected item and usually must exceed 10% of your income.

However there most probably will be special rules for Tropical Storm Lee that will allow the above 10% rule to be waived… as well as potentially allowing displacement costs (hotel, meals.).   You may also be entitled to amend your 2010 tax return to include the 2011 flood loss.  Contact our office for the latest news on this or  www.irs.gov for updates.      

You should keep the following records for tax purposes in separate file folders.  Try to stay organized because it is a lot of info to keep.
1) photos of the damaged items including your home itself (inside and out)
2) newspaper articles and photos of the general damage to your locality
3) receipts for replacing damaged items
4) receipts for lodging, meals, etc. related to displacement
5) paperwork related to insurance claims submitted
6) info on any other reimbursement of losses received...  e.g. Fed/PA grants. 
7) most important...  a listing of damaged items which includes: item description, original cost, value the day before the flooding, value after the flooding.  Estimate dollar amounts if you have to.  Use a separate line item for each significant item.  It's ok to group similar items such as a damaged men’s clothing rather than listing each individual garment.  Use dollar significance as your guide to decide what should be grouped together.
8) anything else related to the storm loss...  detailed times of power loss, flooding etc.


07/01/11... The IRS mileage rate was increased to 55.5 cents per business mile for the period 07/01/11 to 12/31/11.