Past Interior Home Styles Make a Return, Grand Homes Reviews Popular Design Concepts

    PHILADELPHIA, PA, August 12, 2013 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Grand Homes reviews every nuance of a property that today's homeowner wants to have in his or her "dream house." While the size and location of a property continue to play important roles when a buyer is selecting a home to purchase--or construct--this Dallas-based homebuilder notes that style still remains one of the most important factors when its clients are designing a house. As a company that has been around for more than 25 years, it has witnessed a lot of shifts in exterior and interior home styles--according to a recent Yahoo Finance article, many of those trends may be coming back.

Yahoo Finance explains, "Avocado-colored appliances and shag carpet were probably a few home trends you happily filed under the label 'done.' And they may be. But plenty of looks once considered passe are making a huge comeback in homes. They're features buyers covet and sellers are incorporating in their properties."

In a recent press statement, Grand Homes reviews this observation, "It is not a surprise that consumers are opting for antiquated styles. Some may particularly enjoy the wide array of trends that have been utilized in home design throughout the years, while others may seek to place them in their homes to capture a sense of nostalgia. While home design trends are cyclical, they are often updated to fit the unique profile of the modern family. As such, we always encourage our buyers to focus on design elements that are more timeless than a short-term trend. Opting for a 'passe' feature could be one way to capture such timelessness."

Although the actual structure of a home plays a major part in the mood and atmosphere of the overall design, Grand Homes reviews the many options consumers have to make an abode distinctive. For instance, Yahoo Finance highlights the attention that older, yet modern furniture is getting in the home design world. Citing New York Modern Spaces luxury realtor Bari Lynn, the article reveals, "The look is mixing old with new. For a long-time, Lynn says people were clamoring for sleek and modern home furnishings. She says that is done. Now everyone wants vintage pieces and reclaimed wood looks mixed with modern pieces. At retail, Lynn says Restoration Hardware has become the destination."

"Reclaiming and repurposing furniture and such elements is also on trend with the green movement--a taste that has proven increasingly popular among our buyers. It is so interesting to see how a social movement has transformed to integrate style and art. We are excited to see where these trends will take homes in the near future," Grand Homes reviews in its conclusion.

ABOUT:

Grand Homes reviews the needs of today's homeowner and has made sure to reflect these requirements in the impressive work it produces. For more than 25 years, Grand Homes has served as a leading homebuilder in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, region and has expanded a great deal since its creation. Offering a wide range of semi-custom home options to prospective homeowners, Grand Homes has grown immensely and currently is recognized for building approximately 400 homes a year in 35 established communities in the area. Staffed with nearly 200 talented and dedicated employees, this homebuilder has gained increased attention as an award-winning contracting company.

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What the Odds Are That Your Tax Return Will Be Audited, and What to Do If It Is

Overall, the odds are reassuring. The vast majority (99%, in fact) of individual income tax returns skate safely past the IRS audit machine.

Better news: The 1-in-100 chance of being called on the carpet really overstates the severity of the situation. Fully 70% of all audits are handled by mail, not by mano a mano combat with an IRS agent. And, if your return doesn't include income from a business, rental real estate or a farm, or employee business expense write-offs, the basic 1-in-100 chance of being challenged jumps to 1-in-250.

Another piece of rarely reported good news: Each year, tens of thousands of taxpayers walk out of an audit with a check from the government. In 2011, for example, 66,381 audits resulted in refunds totaling over $1 billion.

[TOOL: Calculate Your Risk of an IRS Audit]

The 1-in-91 chance of being audited is the overall average. Your actual odds turn on the kind of return you file and the type of income you report.

Our calculator, based on official IRS data on returns audited in 2012, will give you a good idea of the odds that your personal 1040 (or 1040-A or 1040-EZ) will be selected for review — either by mail or in person. And, remember, even if it is, there's a 1-in-7 chance you'll walk away unscathed or be one of the lucky ones whose audit results in a refund.

With few exceptions, of course, the IRS doesn't randomly choose which returns to audit. The few thousand random reviews each year are performed to help the IRS calibrate the computers that identify the juiciest targets.

Over the next few months, the IRS will be plugging data from more than 140 million tax returns into a computer that scrutinizes the numbers every which way and ponders how the picture you paint of your financial life jibes with what it knows about other taxpayers. The computer tries to spot returns that are most likely to produce extra tax if put through the audit wringer. The computer's choices are reviewed by a human being who can overrule them if, for example, an attachment to your return satisfactorily explains the entry that set the computer all atwitter. Short of such a veto, your name will go on the list.

Even if your return survives the computer's scrutiny, you're not necessarily safe. You may have listed an investment in a tax shelter the IRS is particularly interested in, for example, or the agency might decide to take a closer look at your return because it smells of the latest scam du jour identified by the IRS.

And there's always the chance that someone has fingered you as a tax cheat. The IRS encourages such tips and even pays a bounty for leads that pay off in extra tax.

Don't Panic

Whatever the reason you're chosen for an audit, it's chilling to get the word that the IRS wants to examine your return. After all, everyone knows that the IRS was able to do what J. Edgar Hoover and all the G-men of the FBI couldn't do: put Al Capone behind bars. Even if you have no reason to think you did anything wrong, you can't escape the anxiety that accompanies an audit notice. For one thing, the return being audited is unlikely to be the one you just filed. A lot of taxpayers are only now hearing from the IRS about their 2011 returns ... and some 2010 returns are just coming up to bat. (Generally, the IRS has three years from the due date of your return — until April 15, 2016, for 2012 returns — to initiate an audit.)

How It All Begins

You'll get a letter announcing your fate. The simplest audit — a correspondence audit — requires only that you mail in the records needed to verify a specified claim on your return. In a field audit, an IRS agent comes to your home or place of business to go over your records. Most common, though, are office audits, which involve getting yourself to a local IRS office. You'll probably have at least a couple of weeks to prepare. If the appointment is set for an inconvenient time or you find that you'll need extra time to pull your records together, call the IRS promptly to request that the audit be rescheduled.

[More from Kiplinger: 12 IRS Audit Red Flags]

The written notice will identify the items on your return that are being questioned — usually such broad categories as employee business expenses or casualty losses — and outline the types of records you'll need to clear up the matter. Office audits are usually limited to two or three issues, so you won't be expected to haul in all your records. What kind of evidence do you need? Here's how a retired IRS official with 30 years of auditing experience answered that question: "I expect to see the records you used when you prepared the tax return. You must have had some. Otherwise, how did you know you gave $5,000 to charity?"

Also, beware that auditors are sometimes looking for more than proof of what's on your return. They're also interested in whether income that should have been reported was left off. That could mean a review of your bank records, for instance, in search of deposits that might represent unreported income.

Audit Yourself

The best way to begin preparing for your meeting is to pull out your copy of the return being audited. Before the IRS puts your forms to the test, do the job yourself. Pore over the items being questioned and pull together the documents that support your entries. Of course there will be gaps, but don't automatically concede defeat. Try to reconstruct missing records.

If, as luck would have it, you can't find the return, call the IRS office that contacted you and ask how to get a copy.Get copies of canceled checks from the bank or duplicates of receipts or written statements from individuals who can back up your claims.If you can't come up with written evidence for certain entries, prepare an oral explanation.
Your records needn't be perfect. If you can reasonably explain how you came up with a figure that's not fully corroborated by the evidence, the IRS may well accept it. The IRS likes to stress how reasonable audit personnel are. However, when you're pulling together your records, remember this: The more thorough your documentation is in general, the more likely an auditor will cut you some slack on an occasional point.

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11 Changes You Must Know Before Filing Your Tax Return for 2012

With so many changes looming for 2013, it's easy to forget that there were some significant tweaks to the Tax Code for 2012. Here's a list of eleven changes to keep in mind before you file your 2012 tax return, due April 15, 2013:

1. Payroll tax credit will still affect self-employed taxpayers. The expiration of the payroll tax credit for 2013 was big news - but don’t forget that the credit was still in place for 2012. While that means nothing for employees subject to withholding (no additional breaks on your federal income tax return since you’ve already received the benefit of the payroll tax credit in your withholding), if you were self-employed you will receive an adjustment on your self-employment (SE) taxes when you file your federal income tax return. Your SE tax will be reduced by 2%; the SE tax rate of 12.4% is reduced to 10.4%.

[More from Forbes: 10 Ways To Become A Victim Of Tax Identity Theft]

2. Forms W-2 have more information this year. Under the Affordable Health Care Act, most employers are required to report the value of health care benefits received by an employee on a 2012 federal form W-2 (a few small businesses are still exempt from reporting under the transitional relief offered by IRS). The amount will be reported in box 12 with Code DD and should include both the portion paid by the employer as well as any amount paid in by an employee. Even though it appears on a W-2, this amount remains federal income tax free for 2012.

3. Roth Conversions May Be Taxable. Taxpayers who converted or rolled over amounts to a Roth IRA in 2010 and did not elect to include the entire amount in income in 2010 may need to report half of that taxable income on their 2012 returns. Favorable tax treatment made conversions in 2010 more appealing than normal: specifically, taxpayers had a three year window to pay the taxes due. That window expires with tax year 2012.

4. Relief For Underwater Taxpayers. With record numbers of taxpayers in foreclosure, Congress enacted the Mortgage Forgiveness and Debt Relief Act of 2007 to provide limited tax relief for taxpayers facing financial difficulties. Under the Act, qualified homeowners who were forced into foreclosure or mortgage restructuring on a principal residence could exclude income of up to $2 million ($1 million for married taxpayers filing separately) on the mortgage forgiveness (the difference between the lower amount received and the higher amount owed to the mortgage company). The fiscal cliff tax deal extended that tax relief through 2013 making it possible for taxpayers to avoid a huge tax bill on 2012 short sales.

[More from Forbes: 15 Ways To Invite An IRS Audit]

5. Increased Standard Deduction.The amount of the standard deduction increased for all taxpayers in 2012. The rates for 2012 were:

Single: $5,950, up $150 from 2011Married Filing Separately: $5,950, up $150 from 2011Head of Household: $8,700, up $200 from 2011Married Taxpayers Filing Jointly and Qualifying Widow(er): $11,900, up $300 from 2011

This is good news for most taxpayers since two out of every three taxpayers will claim the standard deduction in 2012.

6. Increased Personal Exemption. Similarly, the value of the personal exemptions for 2012 also increased. While exemptions were worth $3,700 in 2011, they rose to $3,800 for 2012.

7. Sales Tax Deduction Still An Option. Taxpayers who itemize may deduct state income taxes paid on their federal return putting those taxpayers who live in a state without an income tax arguably at a disadvantage. A federal law which allowed taxpayers the option of choosing to deduct state income taxes paid or sales taxes paid offered temporary relief for those folks - and those who made high dollar purchases but lived in low tax states. That tax break - which debuted in 2005 - expired at the end of 2011. However, the tax deal extended that option through 2013, making it still a viable option for taxpayers in 2012.

8. Tax Breaks for Charitable Donations from IRAs Extended. The new tax deal extended the qualified charitable distribution provisions which were set to expire through 2012 and 2013. Generally, distributions from an IRA are taxable when withdrawn whether payable to an individual or a charity. However, under the special rules, a withdrawal from an IRA (other than an ongoing SIMPLE or SEP) owned by an individual who is age 70½ or over that is paid directly to a qualified charity can be excluded from gross income. Up to $100,000 of distributions be distributed - and that amount can be used to satisfy a taxpayer’s required minimum distributions (RMDs) for the year. Even better? Special rules allow taxpayers to treat donations made before February 1, 2013, as qualifying distributions for 2012.

9. Education Tax Breaks Strengthened. The American Opportunity Credit (the super-charged version of the Hope Credit) was extended through 2012 for expenses paid for tuition, certain fees and course materials for higher education. The maximum credit available is $2,500 in 2012 which includes 100% of qualifying tuition and related expenses not in excess of $2,000, plus 25% of those expenses that do not exceed $4,000. Additionally, the Lifetime Learning Credit sticks around for 2012, capped at $2,000, which applies to 20% of the first $10,000 of qualifying out-of-pocket expenses (but no double-dipping: you can't claim both credits in the same tax year for the same student). Also getting a boost? The above-the-line Tuition and Fees Deduction was extended so that taxpayers who don't itemize can continue to benefit.

[More from Forbes: Taxes From A To Z]

10. Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) Relief. The tax deal passed in January 2013 provided significant AMT relief for middle class taxpayers in 2012 - and beyond. The AMT exemption for 2012 was increased to $50,600 for single taxpayers (an increase of nearly $20,000) and $78,750 for married taxpayers filing jointly (an increase of more than $30,000). Even better? Beginning with 2012, AMT relief will be adjusted for inflation each year - no more patches!

11. Adoption Credit Survives - But Is Limited. Under the new tax deal, the adoption credit was saved. Originally, the adoption credit was scheduled to sunset at the end of 2010 but was temporarily extended as part of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010; it was also made refundable (a nonrefundable credit can reduce the amount of tax you owe to zero while a refundable credit can reduce your tax liability to zero and any remaining credit will be refunded to you). The new tax deal did extend the adoption credit permanently with one significant hit: the credit is no longer refundable. The credit was only refundable in 2010 and 2011. Taxpayers in 2012 can claim the adoption credit but it is not refundable.

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