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John Haddock Rent

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Haddock Corporation currently pays John Haddock rent for the building that the company occupies. According to the Publication 535, prepared by the IRS, Haddock can only deduct the rental amount that is used specifically for the business, nothing personal (pg. 9, 2015). Since the rental property is owned by John and his son, as the tax manager I have to ensure that the amount paid for rent isn’t unreasonable. As long as the amount of the rent is reasonable compared to what the rentor would pay a stranger for the same property, then it is allowed to be deducted (Publication 535, pg. 9, 2015). The amount of rent should be based on the percentage of the businesses gross sales, so that could be why the amount is much higher than those rental properties …show more content…

Since it is difficult for the IRS to go through every single tax return submitted, it is the responsibility of the preparer to make sure that the return is in compliance with the law, as much as possible. Much of tax is up for discussion, as there are many guidelines for what can be done in certain situations. As the preparer of the return for Haddock Corporation, it is important that I acknowledge the ethical dilemmas that come to light with the rental expenses issue and try to prevent them from happening. If I decided to sign and submit the return with the rental expense deduction on it based on the fact that it had been done like that in prior years, I would face an ethical dilemma. Without further research I wouldn’t know whether the high rental payments were actually in the range they should be in. One of the core principles, the responsibility principle, in the AICPA Code of Professional Conduct states that “members should exercise sensitive professional and moral judgments in all their activities” (AICPA Code, 2014). Doing my research into the company and making sure all financial information is sound is how I would uphold the responsibility principle. Statement no. 6 of the Standards for Tax Services brings forth the issue of reporting an error found in a client’s current or past tax returns to the client (AICPA Standards, 2010). If I find the rental amount is incorrect and has been reported incorrectly on Haddocks past returns, then I would be inclined to inform him of the issue and the consequences that could

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