Author: Tony Novak
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Tax court upholds IRS on charter boat tax accounting
A recent tax court case caught my attention because of the subject matter – a charter boat used as a tax shelter – but it quickly became apparent that the case had more to do with how different my boat charter clients are from the subject case. Small business activities, including charter boat activities, are…
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2021: the year of tax misinformation
2021 may be remembered as the year when more taxpayers were hurt by bad tax advice than any other. Some recently published sources say millions were led astray by just one illegal strategy involving IRAs. The scam was promoted by just a few sales companies but gained viral popularity as quickly as other fake news…
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My web site updated for 2022
Last night and this morning I reviewed, edited and updated all of the 46 pages on my web site. This does not include the blog posts section that total about 2,000, compiled from various sources since the middle 1990s. But it does include details to address the causes of business model failures we incurred this…
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After the fact payroll and defined contribution plans: the late December rush to save taxes
The two hottest small business tax planning topics in these final days of any year are: after-the-fact payroll, and defined contribution employee benefits. What this means is that simply by dating and documenting actions taken before December 31, the business and business owner can lock in valuable tax benefits. While some corrective or mediating action may…
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How bad tax advice tripped millions of investors
“Good tax advice may appear to be expensive, but it’s not as costly as blowing up your IRA” -WSJ What’s the easiest way to lose half of your retirement assets to IRS taxes and penalties? Follow the most popular social media tax and investment advice. Investors who lose tax court cases find that cultural norms…
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Avoiding SALT tax deduction limitation
Yesterday a financial advice column in NJ.com carried a Q&A from a guy who contemplated leaving New Jersey and moving to Florida because he could not deduct all of his state and local taxes. The post went methodically through all the pros and cons and associated calculations of the question posed. But it missed the…
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Reflections on 2021 business
As we wind down this year, I can say unequivocally that I’ve learned more during this period than any other time of my life. Financial results – I had the lowest gross income of my 40 year career, yet made big progress in paying off all consumer debt, improving my credit score (that was dinged…
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Which version of QuickBooks for 2022
Self employed version not endorsed In general, we work with and endorse any of the online QuickBooks versions except the self-employed version. That’s a shame because the self-employed version is the most affordable, ranging from $5 to $15 per month depending on your sign-up promotion. You may use this version and find it perfect for…
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What to do when we find fraud
Accountants are trained to detect fraud. We are not taught what to do when we find it. Peer coaching can help. Accountants are trained to be aware of the possibility of fraud even if we are not looking for it. Some, including CPAs and forensic accountants, are trained in the skills required to detect it.…
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Beware false security in duplicate health benefit plans
A reminder for health benefits enrollment season: Enrolling in two overlapping health plans will increase total premium cost but may not increase the amount of coverage. Current trends seem to indicate that more individuals are enrolling in duplicate health plans. This can happen when two spouses enroll for family coverage under two different employer plans,…