Month: January 2015
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Rich and Poor: The Growing Divide
I did not write this 2001 book by UK’s professor Tony Novak. But I’m tempted to write a 2015 US version on the same topic of the growing wealth divide and its impact on every aspect of our society.
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Misunderstandings of tax treatment of health insurance
An article in Forbes earlier this month was apparently misunderstood by some readers. PPACA is certainly difficult and some issues are not yet resolved. But we should not let that confusion undermine our understanding of basis tax principles governing the treatment of health insurance premiums paid by an employer. I suggest that it would be good…
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Form 1095A will arrive in early February
Q: Do you know how I can get a 1095A form for taxes to declare the amount of health insurance paid for 2014? A: The 1095A comes from the health insurance company or the insurance exchange in early February. If you don’t receive it by February 15 contact the member services number on your insurance ID card.…
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Increased number of professional errors in the tax treatment of health insurance (Audio Post)
An article on this topic is updated on 3/31/2015 for 2015: http://tonynovak.com/article/taxation-of-health-insurance-benefits.htm
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The full burden of college debt is still unrecognized
While only 17% of the U.S. population has earned an undergraduate college degree, education debt is a major economic drag on the country. Over our lifetime college tuition costs have risen much faster than the rate of a typical salary earner’s income. Government and news media now describe the current cost of college as “out of…
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How to use your mobile phone to file income taxes
If you have a simple tax return it is possible to complete the entire filing entire on your mobile phone. 1. Snap and send a photo of your Form W2 and 1099s. 2. Upload last year’s tax return from a cloud drive to the tax preparer. 3. Ask questions via text or email 4. Electronically sign…
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The latest financial planning twist for same-sex couples
I try to follow developing news for my same-sex couple clients (some now married, some not) and occasionally post something that attempts to summarize or help with planning like this “Financial Planning Checklist for Unmarried Couples” that has turned out to be quite popular. Recall that in 2013 the Supreme Court ruled on a case…
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When QuickBooks is a no-brainer
I ran into an old friend by chance on a Philadelphia sidewalk today. We used to see each other often but now he lives more than an hour away with his three dogs at a rural country place in beautiful upper Bucks Country. He knows that I am an accountant but we’ve never “talked business”…