Archive for Tax Planning
Audit-Proofing Your Meal & Entertainment Expenses
When looking for deductions to add to your taxes, don’t overlook your meal and entertainment expenses. These types of expenses must be “ordinary” and “necessary” to your business or trade and must be “directly related to” or “associated with” the active conduct of business. In order for the IRS to allow these deductions, documentation is […]
Will Capital Gains Be Changed?
Currently, capital gains rates for the sale of assets held over one year are taxed at 15% (0% to the extent a taxpayer is in the 15% or lower regular tax bracket), compared with a top tax of 35% for ordinary income. Without Congressional action, these rates will increase to 20% (18% for assets held […]
Do You Have a Financial Interest in or Signature Authority over a Foreign Financial Account?
Every U.S. person who has a financial interest in or signature or other authority over any foreign financial accounts (including bank, securities and other types of financial accounts in a foreign country), if the aggregate value of these financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year, must report those relationships to the […]
Individual Estimated Tax Payments for 2012 Start Soon
Our tax system is a “pay-as-you-go” system, and if your pre-paid amount is not enough, you become liable for non-deductible interest penalties. To facilitate that concept, the government has provided several means of assisting taxpayers in meeting the “pay-as-you-go” requirement. The primary among these include: Payroll withholding for employees; Pension withholding for retirees; and Estimated […]
Recently Enacted Tax Breaks for Small Businesses
Keeping track of tax changes these days is quite a task. Congress is constantly tweaking the tax laws in an effort to stimulate the economy and deal with the budget deficit. The following is a compilation of recent changes to keep you up date. Cell Phones No Longer Listed Property – This means that cell […]
Charity Purchases and Auctions
A regular form of fundraising by charitable organizations consists of sales or auctions of property or services at a price in excess of value. These are referred to as “quid pro quo” contributions or dual payments made that consist partly of a charitable gift and partly of consideration for goods or services provided to the […]
QuickBooks Income Tax Reports And Filtering Options: Target The Right Output
April 15 is getting uncomfortably close. QuickBooks, of course, can’t do your taxes for you. But it helps you lay some of the groundwork. Following up on last month’s column on customizing reports, we’ll look at the program’s tax-related reports and its powerful report-filtering options. But first, you’ll need to make sure that this output […]
It’s Not Too Late
It’s not too late to make an IRA and/or SEP contribution or undo a Roth IRA conversion for 2011. Generally, after the close of the year you can no longer take steps to alter the outcome of your tax return. However, both IRA contributions and SEP contributions can be made for a year after it […]
Are You Liable for a Gift Tax Return?
Frequently, taxpayers think that gifts of cash, securities, or other assets they give to other individuals are tax-deductible and, in turn, the gift recipient sometimes thinks income tax must be paid on the gift received. Nothing is further from the truth. To fully understand the ramifications of gifting, one needs to realize that gift tax […]
It’s Tax Time! Are You Ready?
If you’re like most taxpayers, you find yourself with an ominous stack of “homework” around TAX TIME! Unfortunately, the job of pulling together the records for your tax appointment is never easy, but the effort usually pays off when it comes to the extra tax money you save! When you arrive at your appointment fully […]
