2.  Do not sign the back of your credit cards.  Instead, put “PHOTO ID
REQUIRED.”

  3.  When you are writing checks to pay on your credit card accounts, DO
NOT put the complete account number on the “For”  line.  Instead, put the
last four numbers.  The    credit card company knows the rest of the number,
and anyone who might be handling your  check as it passes through all the
check-processing channels will not have access to it.

  4.   Put your work phone # on your checks instead of your home phone.  If
you have a PO Box, use that instead of your home address.  If you do not
have a PO Box, use your work address.  Never have your SS# printed on your
checks, (DUH!).  Add it by hand, but only if it’s necessary.  If you have it
printed, anyone can get it.

  5.  Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine.  Do both
sides of each license, credit card, etc.  You will know what you had in your
wallet and all of the account  numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel.
Keep the photocopy in a safe place.  Also carry a photocopy of your passport
when traveling either here or abroad.  We have all heard horror stories
about fraud that is committed on us in stealing a name, address, Social
Security number, credit  cards.

  6.  When you  check out of a hotel that uses cards for keys (and they all

seem to do that  now), do not turn the “keys” in.  Take them with you and
destroy them.  Those little cards have on them all of the information you
gave  the hotel, including address and credit card numbers and expiration
dates.  Someone with a card reader, or employee of the hotel, can access all
that information with no problem whatsoever.  Unfortunately, as a CPA,
I have first hand knowledge because my wallet was stolen last month.  Within
a week, the thieve(s) ordered an expensive monthly cell phone package,
applied for a VISA credit card, had a credit line approved to buy a Gateway
computer and received a PIN number from DMV to change my driving record
information online.

  Here is some critical information to limit the damage in case this happens
to you or someone you know:

  1.  We have been told we should cancel our credit cards immediately. The
key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know
whom to call.  Keep those where you can find them.

  2.  File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where your credit
cards, etc., were stolen.  This proves to credit providers you were diligent
which is a first step toward an investigation (if there ever is one).
However, the following is what is perhaps most important of all (I never
even thought to do this):

  3.  Call the three national credit reporting organizations immediately to
place a fraud alert on your name and Social Security number.  I had never
heard of doing this until advised by a bank that called to tell me an
application for credit was made over the Internet in my name.  The alert
means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen, and they
have to contact you by phone to authorizenew credit.  By the time I was advised to do this,
almost two weeks after the theft, all the damage had been done.  There are records of all the
credit checks initiated by the thieves’ purchases, none of which I knew
about before placing the alert.  Since then, no additional  damage has been
done, and the thieves threw my wallet away this weekend (someone turned it
in).  It seems to have stopped them dead in their tracks.

  Now, here are the numbers you always need to contact about your wallet and
contents being stolen:

  1.)  Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
  2.)  Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742
  3.)  TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289
  4.)  Social  Security Administration (fraud line): 1-800-269-0271

Please be sure to have all your employees sign either an Hourly or Salary Notice and Acknowledgement of Pay Rate and Payday. The notice must be provided in the employee’s primary language unless it is not available from the NYS website, then it can be provided in english.This notice must be executed on or before February 1st of each year and  maintained by the employer for 5 years.

If you wish to obtain further information on the Wage Theft Prevention Act in New York State, or if you have any other questions, please contact the professionals at Orest P. Baransky, CPA P.C.

This conflict between the Federal treatment and NYS treatment creates serious problems for same-sex taxpayers. These taxpayers must comply with federal income tax laws, yet at the same time, figure out how to pay their fair share of NYS taxes.

So, the real question here is “how does one accomplish this?” Basically, same sex couples will need to maintain a “double identity” for tax purposes: one for the federal government and one for NYS purposes. Married couples can now file their NYS income tax returns using the preferential “Married” filing status, however, for Federal purposes they must continue to file as either “Single” or “Head of Household”.

If you wish to obtain further information on the tax treatment of same sex marriages in New York State, or if you have any other questions, please contact the professionals at Orest P. Baransky, CPA P.C.