Author: Tony Novak
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IRS guidance on reporting 2020 unemployment compensation
Update: The issue is now resolved in tax filing software. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (P.L.117-2) includes a provision allowing taxpayers with income under $150,000 to exclude $10,200 of 2020 payments from their taxable income. But the details on how to claim this tax benefit are not clear at this time. IRS urges…
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How to measure your wireless signal strength
My blog primarily covers small business financial planning issues but occasionally wanders into technical issues when it seems like the advice would be useful and the information is not plainly available elsewhere. In this case many of us work from home or mobile locations using a Windows 10 based notebook computer. Wireless signal strength is…
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Nine 2021 tax law changes in the American Rescue Plan
The American Rescue Plan makes these nine tax law changes for 2021: Additional stimulus payments Expanded Child Tax Credit Expanded Child and Dependent Care Credit Expanded Earned Income Tax Credit Increased Premium Tax Credits Extension and expansion of Paid Sick Leave and Family Leave Extension of Employee Retention Credit Pension plan relief Repeal of worldwide…
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Tax strategies for high income individuals
Of all the services I offer to high income clients, no other has such a rate of return on investment of time and money as income tax planning. Applied consistently year after year as part of an overall financial plan, it can easily add hundreds of thousands of wealth that would otherwise be paid as…
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CNBC published incorrect tax advice about reporting of cybercurrency
SHAME ON @CNBC editors and author @sahahtobrien! This type of inaccurate reporting of tax policy and procedure in this article should be called out for the misleading information portrayed as public advice. At best it is sloppy reporting. At worst it represents a lack of understanding of the topic covered and the spreading of incorrect…
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Pros and cons of an S-corporation vs. a single member LLC
An S-corporation and a single member LLC taxed as a “disregarded entity” share many things in common. The post focuses on some of the differences. What’s the best reason to consider S-corporation over single person LLC? Liability: Many people would say that it limits the owner’s legal liability. But that’s not supported by actual case…
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Rude tax effect of divorce or death of spouse
Sometimes it makes sense to share an actual real client story (with identify removed of course). This widow was shocked by the effect; she expected to get about $2,000 back as usual. Instead the net refund is about $100.
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Overview of American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
Background In February 2021 the U.S. Senate, The House of Representatives and the Executive Branch led by the White House took a series of actions designed to address the pandemic recession by allowing a huge proposed economic stimulus bill to move through to approval without relying on Republican party votes. The Democratic Party members of…
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Pattern on PPP2 loan applications?
I noticed a pattern on PPP round 2 applications these past few days and wonder if others are experiencing the same. This morning I posted the observation on a NJCPA peer private discussion group and a Facebook public nonprofessional group seeking feedback. I know of 9 small business clients that applied for PPP round 2…
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Tax planning for teachers
This post is inspired by a social media post I read this morning by a person purporting to be searching Facebook for tax saving vehicles for teachers. The topic of tax planning for teachers is not within my target business marketing strategy but I’m writing this short blog post to illustrate a point; how the…