THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, August 5, 1996 TAG: 9608030223
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JUANITA RAISOR, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 67 lines
The Internal Revenue Service has agreed to waive a 10 percent penalty for small businesses who fail to comply with a new law requiring them to start filing employment tax deposits electronically on Jan. 1, 1997.
Second District U.S. Rep. Owen Pickett said Commissioner of Internal Revenue Margaret Milner Richardson took the action in response to complaints from citizens, and at the request of legislators.
Pickett's office said congressional changes in the IRS code mandated an increasing number of taxpayers deposit their taxes electronically during a phase-in between 1994 and 1999. Pickett's office said this year the phase-in threshold requires all businesses that had yearly employment tax obligations of more than $50,000 in 1995 to start making semi-weekly deposits electronically in 1997.
The lowered threshold affects 1.2 million small business employers.
Richardson said the IRS has contracted with NationsBank in the East and South to manage and operate the new Electronic Federal Tax Payment System.
Pickett's office said anyone in the Hampton Roads area wanting more information may call NationsBank at 1-800-555-4477.
NationsBank has donated $250,000 to Hampton University's local fund-raising campaign. The funds are to be used for scholarships, new computers, building renovations, additional course offerings and a Leadership Institute.
The university said the donation will carry its Metro Capital Campaign over the $1 million mark. Hampton University's campaign organizers hope to raise $5 million locally in five years. The local fund-raising plan is a part of the university's effort to raise $125 million nationally from corporate and alumni donations.
Harvey Lindsay Commercial Real Estate said it will handle the financial services of 25 retail properties owned by Mark Properties, a privately held Durham, N.C.-based investment company. The properties, located along the seaboard from New Jersey to Florida, house over 280 tenants.
The real estate company also said it will be the leasing representative for York Properties' portfolio. That portfolio includes Washington Square Shopping Center in York County, James-York Plaza in Williamsburg, and the Fairfield Shopping Center in Virginia Beach.
And, Harvey Lindsay will lease the 70,000 square-foot Midtown Shopping center in Norfolk.
Alan S. Witt received the 1996 Small Business Accountant Advocate Award from the Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce. Witt is a managing partner of Witt, Mares & Co. The award is in recognition for providing service to small business, assisting them in their developing as a viable entity.
The certified public accounting firm has operations in Newport News, Suffolk, Virginia Beach and Williamsburg.
A group of investors headed by Dick Hamlet purchased the subsidiary, Virginia Building Services, from Goodman Segar Hogan Hoffler in Chesapeake. The company is a licensed and insured class-A contractor providing mechanical, plumbing, irrigation and construction services.
Hamlet, president of Virginia Building Services, said plans are for the company to participate in the EPA ``Green Lights'' program of lighting retrofits and expanding the portion of the business that converts and replaces older HVAC systems to more efficient and environmentally friendly systems.
Universal Corp. in Richmond elected Joseph C. Farrell to its board of directors. Farrell is chairman, president and chief executive officer with The Pittston Co. in Stanford, Conn. Universal is a diversified company with operations in tobacco, lumber, and agri-products. by CNB