Every year I mention this and every year, it’s worth sharing again.  Taxes don’t have to be painful, but the longer you wait or the less organized you are, the less enjoyable (and more expensive) they can be.  Many times, over the years, we’ve joked about the “shoebox filled with receipts” and, as hard as it is to believe, we still see some variation on this theme.  With that in mind, I want to share some easy ways to organize your tax information – even though it’s really...

Time is really getting tight with Tax Day only a few weeks away, but I wanted to reach out this morning to ask you (what I think is) an important question. How do you continue to learn? After all, at this day in age, there are thousands of ways to not only get information but to process it and then use it in your business, so what are, for you, the most effective ways? For years, of course, I’ve had clients that swore by live seminars.  I know people who have seen Tony Robbins dozens...

C corporations cause double taxation for business owners, so you probably think you want to avoid them at all costs. And for many of you, this is true, as the S corporation often provides the lower overall tax outcome. But for some of you, the C corporation could provide the best tax outcome, especially since you can bypass the $10,000 state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap, which was introduced by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), with a C corporation. Prior to the TCJA, you could...

When you receive restricted stock awards, you need to decide whether you want to make a Section 83(b) tax election. Without the Section 83(b) Election With no Section 83(b) election, you must recognize taxable compensation income from your restricted stock award in the year the restriction causing the substantial risk of forfeiture lapses. For example, you would recognize income when vesting occurs. The taxable amount equals the excess of the stock’s value when the restriction lapses...

Nearly every day, a client asks me for financial advice and, inevitably, one of the next questions is if I believe they need to retain a financial advisor.  I know it’s a loaded question, but the truth is, the right financial advisor can be worth their weight in gold and the wrong one can ruin your retirement faster than you ever thought possible.  Let’s take a look at what’s right and wrong in the world of financial advice… For starters, there are a lot of the wrong kind...

Over the last month, the world has had all sorts of conspiracy theories about the possibility of a pandemic based on the coronavirus and the threat it poses to worldwide markets.  The truth is, it caused a major sell-off in late February and it continues to baffle researchers around the world.  Politicians are pointing fingers and some of us are watching our investment accounts either shrink or we’re trying to move money into safer harbors for the short term. I’ve had a few...

As you likely know, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made a big change in how C corporations are taxed—one flat, 21 percent rate. The new, lower rate makes the C corporation far more appealing than in prior years. But you also need to look at the dark side of this possible opportunity. Double Taxation of Corporate Dividends Say you run your business as a C corporation. The business is successful, and your corporation builds up a hefty amount of earnings and profits (E&P). While...

When both members of a married couple participate in an unincorporated business venture, must it be treated as a husband-wife partnership for federal tax purposes? Answer: maybe, or maybe not. Figuring out the answer is important because it can have a huge impact on the couple’s self-employment tax situation. Husband-wife partnerships must also file annual federal returns on Form 1065 along with the related Schedules K-1. As you know, partnership returns can be a pain. For these reasons,...

Every year, we get a lot of the same questions.  It could be “how do I get another copy of my W2?” or “Do I need to keep this 1095?” …But we get them.  In the last few years, though, we’ve started getting more questions based on the tax preparation software on the market and the safety of it – both from the identity theft side of things as well as the accuracy of the software.  Let me say this – over the course of many years, so many tax payers have had questions about...

Like the title says, there might no be anything worse than hearing or reading those words from the IRS – the ones telling you to prepare for an audit. Even after all of these years, I still get nervous hearing them, but, having “been to the movie” a few times, I’ve learned that most audits are prompted by a few specific actions on the part of the taxpayer and their preparers. Before we look at the red flags that can cause an audit, let’s take a minute to remember this – most audits of personal...