Category Archives: Blog

• Spring is Here – Do You Need to Clean Up your Social Media Presence?

  Posted on 04/01/2012 in Blog

  If you are going to tackle one social media project this year…Facebook is the one. Encroaching on one billion users, it’s a great way to keep in contact with existing clients and reach the broad community (prospects). Facebook is an essential place to build connections with people, connect with “fans,” announce new products or services, share news, and gather feedback—all essential for building client relationships.For businesses that currently have a presence on Facebook, spring is a great time to do some clean up. For those who have yet to venture into the world of social media…it may be time to give it a try.The good news is that Facebook is going to do a great deal of your clean up for you. Recently, the social media giant launched its updated page layout…geared to allow users to better express who they are, engage with their audience, and organize information. Consider some of the new features: Cover Photo—offers a large “banner” space to better express your identity. Pinned Post—allows you to anchor the most important story to the top of your Page for up to seven days. Timeline Layout—supports a linear representation of your activity so you can highlight key moments in…

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• Avoid Phony Refund Schemes Abusing Popular College Tax Credit – 9 Tips

  Posted on 03/16/2012 in Blog

  The IRS has provided nine useful tips to help taxpayers avoid an emerging tax scheme. This new scam tempts senior citizens and other taxpayers to file tax returns claiming fraudulent refunds. These schemes promise refunds to people who have little or no income and normally don’t have a tax filing requirement. Promoters claim that they can obtain a tax refund or nonexistent stimulus payment based on the American Opportunity Tax Credit—even if the victim was not enrolled in or paying for college. A variation of this scheme claims the college credit is available to compensate people for paying taxes on groceries. These schemes can be quite costly for victims. Promoters may charge exorbitant upfront fees to file claims, and they often disappear once a victim discovers that they have been scammed. The following are seven informative tips to help you identify and avoid such activity. Taxpayers should look for: Fictitious claims for refunds or rebates based on false statements of entitlement to tax credits. Unfamiliar for-profit tax services selling refund and credit schemes to the membership of local churches. Internet solicitations that direct individuals to toll-free numbers and then solicit social security numbers. Homemade flyers and brochures implying that credits…

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• Congress Passes Full Year Extension of 2% Payroll Tax Cut

  Posted on 03/08/2012 in Blog

  In February, the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed H.R. 3630, the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (Tax Relief Act of 2012). The bill was recently signed by President Obama. The Tax Relief Act of 2012 extends through the end of 2012—meaning the reduction in the social security tax rate paid by employees decreases from 6.2% to 4.2% (which was first implemented for 2011 by the Tax Relief Act of 2010). With the reduction set to expire December 31, 2011, and the employee social security tax rate scheduled to reset to 6.2%, Congress passed the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011, which extended the reduction through the end of February 2012. Congress has now granted the extension through the 2012 year. The Tax Relief Act of 2012 also repeals the 2% “recapture tax” that would have required individuals who are paid more than $18,350 in January and February 2012 to pay an extra 2% tax so they would not gain more of a benefit from the temporary payroll tax cut than employees who were not paid more than that amount during those two months. If you have questions, feel free to contact…

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• Taxable or Non-Taxable Income?

  Posted on 02/16/2012 in Blog

  This is always a key question during tax season. While most income received is taxable and must be reported on your federal income tax return, there are some instances when income may not be taxable. To help you out, the IRS has provided the following list of items that are NOT included as taxable income:Adoption expense reimbursements for qualifying expensesChild support paymentsGifts, bequests, and inheritancesWorkers’ compensation benefits (some exceptions may apply; see Publication 525, Taxable and Nontaxable Income)Meals and lodging for the convenience of your employerCompensatory damages awarded for physical injury or physical sicknessWelfare benefitsCash rebates from a dealer or manufacturerFor the complete article on taxable versus non-taxable income, download and review the IRS’ detailed guide—IRS Publication 525.

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• Tax Tips for the Self-employed

  Posted on 02/01/2012 in Blog

  IRS.gov is a great resource for tax tips. And what better time of year to get a few helpful tips than now? The following are six key tips offered by the IRS for the self-employed business owner.There are many benefits that come from being your own boss. If you work for yourself, as an independent contractor, or you carry on a trade or business as a sole proprietor, you are generally considered to be self-employed. Here are a few tips that you should know about self-employment and self-employment taxes:Self-employment can include work in addition to your regular full-time business activities, such as part-time work you do at home or in addition to your regular job.If you are self-employed, you generally have to pay self-employment tax as well as income tax. Self-employment tax is a Social Security and Medicare tax primarily for individuals who work for themselves. It is similar to the Social Security and Medicare taxes withheld from the pay of most wage earners. You will file an IRS Schedule C, Profit or Loss from Business, or C-EZ- Net Profit from Business with your Form 1040.If you are self-employed, you may have to make estimated tax payments. This applies even…

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• Happy New Year – Looking Forward to a Prosperous 2012!

  Posted on 01/04/2012 in Blog

  We hope that your holidays were both relaxing and joyous! The New Year is here, and with it brings resolutions. Our resolution is to continue to improve client services so that your experience with our firm is always rich. Enhancing our services means many things to us—from upgrades in technology to expanding and enhancing service offerings.Over the past year, we’ve had a steady focus on technology—implementing the latest and greatest applications to ensure that you always have 24/7 access to your information and can exchange, upload, and review your financial documents with ease and efficiency. We’ve also dedicated a great deal of time to evaluating our services and making adjustments where needed. Overall, we want you to stick with us for the long term—and that means we will always keep our resolutions!What about you? What are your resolutions? We certainly hope one of them is to continue to improve your financial health—both on a business and individual level. The New Year is the time to re-focus, re-evaluate, and re-vamp processes and operations— ultimately enhancing your financial status. We are here to help you do that…today and throughout 2012. Let’s resolve together to make this happen.We look forward to continuing a…

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• Reminder to Go Green – Exchange All Docs in Your Portal

  Posted on 12/18/2011 in Blog

  Now that we are well into the month of December, it’s time to offer another friendly reminder to start getting your tax documents together. It’s also a good time to remind you to use your portals for both uploading your documents and receiving your tax return. Wouldn’t it be great to go completely paperless this year? And you can’t beat the convenience. No dropping off papers or disks, and no trips to the office to sign your return. It can all be handled online…from your secure, personal client portal!We’ve worked hard in our firm to go paperless, and we encourage you to do the same by using your portal. Let’s all go green together this year and enjoy a speedier and more secure tax process.

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• Home Energy Credits Still Available for 2011

  Posted on 12/02/2011 in Blog

  The IRS recently posted a reminder to homeowners that there is still time this year to make energy-saving and green-energy home improvements and qualify for credit.The first of these credits, termed “The Nonbusiness Energy Property Credit”, is aimed at homeowners who install energy-efficient improvements such as insulation, windows, and furnaces. The credit is more limited than in the past years, but can still provide substantial tax savings. The following is a summary of this 2011 credit:- Credit rate is 10% of the cost of qualified energy efficiency improvements, which include adding insulation, energy-efficient exterior windows and doors, and certain roofs. – Credit can be claimed for the cost of residential energy property, including labor costs for installation (includes certain high-efficiency heating and air conditioning systems, water heaters, and stoves that burn biomass fuel).- Credit has a lifetime limit of $500 (of which only $200 may be used for windows). If the total of non-business energy property credits taken in prior years since 2005 is more than $500, the credit may not be claimed in 2011.- Qualifying improvements must be placed into service to the taxpayer’s principal residence located in the United States before January 1, 2012.The second credit, termed “Residential…

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• The Sun is Setting on Several Big Tax Credits…Are You Eligible?

  Posted on 11/17/2011 in Blog

  Several key business tax breaks will expire on December 31, 2011. You may be eligible, so we wanted to ensure that you were aware of certain credits before they expire at the year’s end (2011). If you believe you are eligible, contact us to discuss further.Research Credit—offers a credit of up to 20% of qualifying research expenditures, and applies to amounts paid or accrued before January 1, 2012.Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC)—allows a credit to employers who hire members of certain targeted groups: up to 40% of first-year wages and up to $6,000 per employee ($12,000 for qualified veterans and $3,000 for qualified summer youth employees). Where the employee is a long-term family assistance (LTFA) recipient, the WOTC allows a percentage of first and second year wages: up to $10,000 per employee.New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC)—allows taxpayers who hold a qualified equity investment in a qualified community development entity (CDE) a NMTC of 39% of the qualified equity investment during a seven-year credit period. Under current law, the last NMTC dollar limitation is for 2011.Differential Wage Payment Credit for Employers—enables eligible small business employers that pay differential wages to claim a credit equal to 20% of up to $20,000 of…

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• Eliminating the terror of tax season

  Posted on 11/03/2011 in Blog

  First and foremost, we hope everyone had a Happy Halloween. Costumes, cool weather, and loads of candy…what’s better than that? While you may have been concentrated on ghosts, goblins, and more than a few Power Rangers, remember that the end of October means that year-end is coming fast. Very soon you’ll want to begin preparing for tax season to eliminate any possible terror on April 15th.To get you on the road to preparation, here are some useful tips:Don’t Procrastinate—While it seems like there is a lot of time before tax season, it creeps up on you quickly. To ensure that you are receiving every eligible credit and deduction, start organizing records now. Waiting until the last minute only works against you and can mean oversight of proper deductions, potentially increasing your tax burden. Begin Reviewing Past Returns—Giving a quick scan of past returns can help you prepare for the upcoming tax season. This exercise will help you identify deductions you may have forgotten about, as well as help you formulate questions to ask your preparer.Get Organized—Start to prepare a folder of important documents, statements, and receipts so you know what to provide your preparer. Being organized is the best way to…

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