2018 Income Tax Withholdings: Too Much, Too Little or Just Right?
Did you withhold enough money from your regular paychecks in 2018? If you withheld too little — or, didn't pay enough estimated taxes if you're self-employed — you could have [...]
Why You Shouldn’t Wait to File Your 2018 Income Tax Return
The IRS opened the 2018 income tax return filing season on January 28. Even if you typically don’t file until much closer to the April 15 deadline, this year consider [...]
Stop Wasting Money
Benjamin Franklin once said, "a penny saved is a penny earned."¹ The modern upgrade to that observation might be that $100 not spent is more like $143.² One way to [...]
Depreciation-related Breaks on Business Real Estate: What You Need to Know When You File Your 2018 Return
Commercial buildings and improvements generally are depreciated over 39 years, which essentially means you can deduct a portion of the cost every year over the depreciation period. (Land isn’t depreciable.) [...]
Pull the Plug on Employee Theft
Not all crooks roam the streets at night. Some might be roaming your company hallways, stealing cash, forging or altering checks, and pilfering your inventory and property. Even worse, they [...]
What Will Your Marginal Income Tax Rate Be?
While the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) generally reduced individual tax rates for 2018 through 2025, some taxpayers could see their taxes go up due to reductions or eliminations [...]
There’s Still Time to Get Substantiation for 2018 Donations
If you’re like many Americans, letters from your favorite charities have been appearing in your mailbox in recent weeks acknowledging your 2018 year-end donations. But what happens if you haven’t [...]
What’s Happened to My Tax-Free Transportation Fringe Benefits?
Over the years, Congress has established some nice tax breaks for transportation-related employee fringe benefits to encourage taxpayers to be more ecology-minded when commuting to work. But, the Tax Cuts [...]
Dealing with Child Support Withholding Orders
A whopping 75% of all child support is collected through employer-based income withholding orders (IWOs), according to the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE). In the most recent year [...]
2 Major Tax Law Changes for Individuals in 2019
While most provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) went into effect in 2018 and either apply through 2025 or are permanent, there are two major changes under [...]
A Refresher on Major Tax Law Changes for Small-Business Owners
The dawning of 2019 means the 2018 income tax filing season will soon be upon us. After year end, it’s generally too late to take action to reduce 2018 taxes. [...]
You May Be Able to Save More for Retirement in 2019
Retirement plan contribution limits are indexed for inflation, and many have gone up for 2019, giving you opportunities to increase your retirement savings: Elective deferrals to 401(k), 403(b), 457(b)(2) and [...]
Age Has its Privileges … and Penalties
In an era filled with uncertainty, you can count on one thing: time marches on. Here are some important age-related financial and tax milestones to keep in mind for you [...]
Treating a Stock Purchase as an Asset Acquisition
When it comes to making an acquisition, stock and asset purchases have their advantages and disadvantages but there might be a way to combine the best of both worlds. Buying [...]
Limitations Based on W-2 wages and the Basis of Qualified Assets
Limitations on the deduction for qualified business income (QBI) begin to phase in when an individual's taxable income (calculated before any QBI deduction) exceeds the threshold of $157,500 or $315,000 [...]