Many times when I’m helping new small business owners, they ask me questions about what kind of business entity they should form. Many have heard about a Limited Liability Company (LLC) and want to know more about personal asset protection and the potential to save on taxes. Here’s the real scoop: While you may certainly [...]
As a small business owner, hiring your children to work for your business may save you money when filing taxes. It might sound too good to be true, but if you handle the situation properly and file the right paperwork, you may be able to write off nearly half of their wages on your business’s taxes. [...]
The other day, Bill Porter of Pride Tax Preparation told me that he was able to electronically file a tax return with attachments. Hip hip hooray! Tax pros have been waiting for this development for a long time. What does this mean for you? It means that you, too, may now e-file with attachments—if your [...]
I started my tax career in a national CPA firm a long time ago. What shocked me about filing taxes with this particular firm was that it was charging $250 to prepare a simple tax return. What’s the big deal? Back then, $250 got you a nice two-bedroom apartment. Today, that same apartment would run [...]
You think you made a mistake? Let me tell you about the time I made a $90,000 error. It was very embarrassing. This $90,000 was the very first entry I had made into the tax software for the client. When the return was finalized after two months of work, the $90,000 had disappeared. It turned [...]
Right around this time of year, the tax dance heats up and the pace gets frantic. It’s the time when tax professionals have to try to keep up with the frenetic twists and turns of emerging tax laws, deadlines, IRS announcements, and warnings. But don’t finalize your tax return just because the April 15 tax-filing [...]
People keep asking TaxMama® how much tax they’ll have to pay on something they inherited. The good news is, generally the answer is “none.” The heirs don’t pay. The estate of the decedent pays any taxes due when the estate is large enough to be subject to estate taxes. This leads to more good news: In [...]
In spring, we turn to thoughts of gardening, home repairs, refurbishments, and maybe even remodeling. Let’s look at common tasks and see what the tax ramifications are. Is anything deductible? Probably not—but don’t despair. I have some tax tips for how to find a tax credit (or two) available to you. Before going forward, set up two [...]
2013 is shaping up to be an exciting tax year for same-sex couples. This month, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases that can change both federal tax laws and marriage laws. Who will be affected? These federal tax changes will affect same-sex couples who are legally married, as well as registered domestic partners (RDPs). It [...]
In 2013, the payroll tax holiday that lowered workers’ taxes by 2 percent came to an end. This effectively raised each individual’s payroll tax from 4.2 percent to 6.2 percent. That might not sound like a lot, but employees have already found that the change takes a big chunk out of their paychecks. How much [...]
