Author: Tony Novak
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Five factors that put you at greatest risk of higher income taxes
Most people across the country will have lower federal income taxes in 2018 than in 2017. But that’s not true of my core group of clients in the Philadelphia and New Jersey area. This blog post list the characteristics that put a taxpayer at highest risk of facing a higher tax bill this coming spring.…
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It’s apparently a good time to be a tax criminal
Data points extracted from the most recent The Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council Public Report, November 2018: IRS budget has been cut $14.5 billion since 2010 Close to 24,000 jobs amounting to 25% of work force were cut More than 17,000 of those former employees were working in enforcement IRS staff is aged; 40.5 percent are…
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A fresh look at RMDs
Background Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) are a common topic of focus in personal financial planning. This is nothing new. I first published this blog post titled “IRAs and the Retirement Income Myth” based on 2005 and 2006 data. The underlying big picture issue is the split in needs between the “haves” and “have-nots”: Relatively few…
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US Supreme Court’s Mount Lemmon Fire District case impact on small business employee benefits
The US Supreme Court decision issued last week in the case of Mount Lemmon Fire District v. Guido et at. appears to have employee benefit implication to some small business. In general, federal employment laws and specifically employee benefit laws, include applicability provisions that often exempt small business employers or modify the compliance requirements. This case…
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Don’t forget about the 2019 health insurance tax penalty in New Jersey
December 15 is the enrollment deadline to avoid a potentially hefty tax penalty in 2019. For residents of most states, the federal tax penalty for not having health insurance disappears at the end of 2019. This is known as the ‘individual mandate’. However, New Jersey residents are not off the hook. New Jersey residents are…
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The nation’s most shocking midterm election result: NJ2
I’m proud that our Money Island marina community has become a model of racial and cultural inclusion just a few miles from a south Jersey KKK stronghold. Yet tonight’s election result shows that we still have a long way to go before we stamp out discrimination from this community. The most shocking election result in…
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Invest Like a Venture Capitalist
One of the most overlooked tax savings strategies is to avoid federal income taxes on large capital gains. Allowing investments to grow tax free over decades can result in tremendous growth in wealth and is one of the most reliable paths to a tax-free retirement. This tax-free capital gain tax strategy is employed by almost…
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In support of NJ Senate Bill 2293 “Securing Our Children’s Future Bond Act”
I read two social media editorials by taxpayers encouraging voters to vote against Senate Bill 2293 known as the “Securing Our Children’s Future Bond Act“. This blog post is an editorial in support of the bill. My argument is broken down into a brief listing of the facts followed by four points of personal opinion.…
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How the new tax law affects NJ commercial fishing and aquaculture
New Jersey’s seafood producing companies that can generally be classified as growers or harvesters(1). The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act offers an opportunity for tax savings to all pass-through businesses, and we expect that many of our seafood producers will qualify for this 20% income exclusion provision. In addition, the new tax law contains a provision for…