Author: Tony Novak
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Six transformative changes I’ve made to control costs in my accounting practice this year
Saving time and money are no longer goals, but necessities for small business survival. Accounting industry experts note that small independent CPA firms are a dying breed. This is a long term trend that accelerated over the past two years. Recent rapid increases in costs raised the threat to crisis level. These business pressures that…
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Over due taxes: do I need a payment plan?
“If I have overdue taxes, do I need a payment plan?”It depends. There are many examples of when a payment plan will save you time and money and preserve your credit score. But there are other situations where it makes sense to handle it a different way. I’m happy to discuss the options that pertain…
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Four personal reflections at the end of tax season
One week past the most demanding tax deadline of the year and I’ve caught up with the most urgent post-season demands, and I feel that this allows my mind to return to a more normal and healthy reflective state. Three reflections come into focus: 1) I see myself as an organized, logical, likable, responsive and…
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The snarky CPA’s Guide to High Income Tax Planning
How do you reduce your income taxes after you’ve exhausted all the usual middle income tax planning possibilities? Ignore anything published online because it is crap. Take a large tax deduction for donating something that is worthless because you already stripped its value. Donate your labor to a charity that gives you something worth little…
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How we handle tax fraud
I wrote this comment tonight to a young Enrolled Agent struggling with a client committing tax fraud who described herself as naïve about the human behavior behind it. “XXXXXXX, this is a general comment and not in any way meant as a negative personal thing. I would suspect that anyone putting the massive time and…
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Top 8 tax myths
1. Paying taxes is voluntary. 2. Students don’t need to pay taxes. 3. If I can’t pay my taxes I could go to prison. 4. An LLC helps convert personal expenses to business expenses. 5. Estate tax isn’t a big deal and doesn’t affect many people. 6. I don’t have to report income if I…
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Explanation: When there is no agreement on fees for this tax season
My professional practice is based on the principle of providing high value low cost services to working class clients. Most all of my clients have household incomes under $1 million and consider themselves “working class”. As a result, most of my fees tend to fall range of 1% to 2% of a client’s gross annual…
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America Competes Act could bring tax changes
America Competes Act is not intended as tax reform legislation. Yet some tax advisers are talking about the impact it could have on individuals and businesses. First, we should consider that the probability of this proposal becoming law is high. This status is far different from the many rumors and massive amount of tax reform…
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Taxes are complicated!
Tax legislation is certainly complex. But, in reality, tax legislation is only about a million words in total. That’s about the length of seven novels. It would be manageable it that was all we had to consider. But tax law includes a lot more than just the legislation. A tax professional must have an understanding…