2019 – 08/26 Attention employers! You may be able to reduce the tax you owe with a valuable credit. It’s called the employer credit for family and medical leave. Among other things, to be eligible, you must have a written policy that meets certain requirements and provide at least two weeks of paid family and…
If you’re a small business owner or you’re involved in a start-up, you may want to set up a tax-favored retirement plan for yourself and any employees. Several types of plans are eligible for tax advantages. 401(k) plan One of the best-known retirement plan options is the 401(k) plan. It provides for employer contributions made…
Many companies now offer Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) in conjunction with high-deductible health plans (HDHPs). HRAs offer some advantages over the perhaps better-known HDHP companion account, the Health Savings Account (HSA). If you’re considering adding an HRA, you might assume that, as a business owner, you can participate in the HRA. But this may not…
The use of a company vehicle is a valuable fringe benefit for owners and employees of small businesses. This benefit results in tax deductions for the employer as well as tax breaks for the owners and employees using the cars. (And of course, they get the nontax benefits of driving the cars!) Even better, recent…
Among the fastest ways for a business to fail is because of mismanagement or malfeasance by ownership. On the other hand, among the slowest ways is an ineffective or dysfunctional sales department. Companies suffering from this malady may maintain just enough sales to stay afloat for a while, but eventually they go under because they…
2019 – 08/20 Naming a beneficiary is a routine step for several types of accounts. Doing so assures the balance will go to the designated person when you die, or be divided as you wish among multiple people. Beneficiary designations are needed for life insurance policies, as well as annuities, retirement plans and IRAs. This…
2019 – 08/15 Are you a surviving spouse who inherited an IRA? The beneficiary of a deceased spouse’s IRA must decide whether to roll it over into his or her own IRA, or leave the IRA in the deceased spouse’s name. Advantages to making the spousal rollover or election are that spouses, over age 59…
2019 – 08/16 Generally, amounts withdrawn from an individual retirement account (IRA) before age 59-1/2 are subject to an additional 10% tax. Exceptions exist, including when the funds are used for a first-time home purchase. One taxpayer took a distribution to purchase her first home, but the IRS applied the 10% tax. The distribution was…
2019 – 08/13 Taxpayers who use their homes for business may qualify to claim home office deductions on their tax returns. To determine if you’re eligible, here are several points to keep in mind. The home office deduction is available to both homeowners and renters. The home must be your principal place of business. Deductible…
Operating a business as an S corporation may provide many advantages, including limited liability for owners and no double taxation (at least at the federal level). Self-employed people may also be able to lower their exposure to Social Security and Medicare taxes if they structure their businesses as S corps for federal tax purposes. But…
Like most business owners, you’ve probably been urged by industry experts and professional advisors to identify the most important key performance indicators (KPIs) for your company. So, just for the sake of discussion, let’s say you’ve done that. A natural question that often follows is: Now what? You know you’re supposed to keep an eye…
2019 – 08/07 The IRS has launched the Tax Withholding Estimator, a new online tool that replaces the IRS Withholding Calculator. According to the IRS, the “Estimator” offers employees, as well as retirees and self-employed persons, a more user-friendly tool for tailoring the amount of income tax they have withheld from wages and pension payments….
2019 – 08/12 Does your business provide company cars to owners and key employees? This perk provides substantial valuable benefits for those provided with cars, as well as tax deductions for employers. There are complex rules for valuing the personal use of the cars. We can help you with the details. Be aware there are…
2019 – 08/12 Attention, businesses: The U.S. General Services Administration has posted the domestic per diem rate table for fiscal year 2019 on its website. The rates are in effect from Oct. 1, 2018 through Sept. 30, 2019. The information is used by employers who pay a per diem allowance to employees for business travel…
2019 – 08/12 A second draft of the 2020 Form W-4 is now available. The IRS expects no substantive changes when the form’s final version is published. The new form doesn’t change the computation of withholding contained in the earlier draft. The previous version of Form W-4 calculated a taxpayer’s income tax withholding using a…
