Author: Tony Novak
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Downe Township government said to merge
Update May 2019: The sources of this report of merger turned out to be inaccurate, at least so far in terms of it’s imminent timing. There are no other known sources of verification of this report. The township leadership continues to work toward sustainability and there are some signs of progress. A recent briefing from…
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US Treasury to introduce IRS “sucker cards”
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced that “Next week we will be unveiling the new 1040 and it will be a postcard as we promised.” After decades of moving Americans to a computerized online tax filing system the IRS is now reversing course and going back to promoting a physical post card based filing system…
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An overview of tax-free investments
Over the past few days I’ve spent time communicating with other financial writers online and skimming published articles on the topic of tax-free investments. In a world where most topics, especially most investment topics, are covered redundantly, it is surprising to learn that this topic has holes in media coverage and that much of the…
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Shared concerns over small business survival
I had a long conversation with a stranger at dinner last night. Actually it was at the bar at McCormick and Schmick’s in Atlantic City. He was a farmer and business owner near Harrisburg who sold the farm when he retired. He now lives in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. We discussed the difficulty of running a…
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The new state health insurance mandates – why this is the most important financial planning issue today
So far three states – New Jersey, Massachusetts and Vermont – have passed laws that add a health insurance mandate with tax penalty for not having coverage. The new laws kick in when the federal insurance mandate law expires in 2019. Other states are considering similar laws. Some things are not clear yet: – what…
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Make small business payroll service pay for itself
Recently I published a series of short blog posts on the topic of payroll processing for small businesses. In summary, I’ve suggested that today’s automated payroll services are a fantastic value but that coördination and oversight by a small business compensation professional helps avoid problems and penalties that stem from miscommunication. I’ve suggested that the…
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What small employers need to know about New Jersey’s sick leave law
Update June 21: My friends at Workplace offered to extend an invitation to those in the Philadelphia region to a seminar at Tavistock Country Club in Haddonfield NJ on Wednesday July 18th at 8am. Find more information at this Facebook event or register online here. New Jersey just passed a sick leave law that affects…
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Ignoring tax and insurance law is a big deal
The announcement today by Jeff Sessions that the U.S Justice Department will not defend parts of federal tax and insurance law related to health insurance is a big deal but not only for the reasons that most news reports (like this report from Reuters on the bizarre legal logic that the law is unconstitutional) are focusing…
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Checklist and tips on international tax issues
Taxpayers with financial interests both inside and outside the U.S. face the greatest risk of compliance complications with the Internal Revenue Service. We’ve known that collection of taxes on assets and income outside the U.S. has been a major focus of IRS over the past decade. Now the service is taking that effort a step…
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Bigger isn’t better when it comes to tax advice
Small law firms and accounting firms sometimes feel ‘pushed out’ when it comes to a client’s largest transactions like the sale of a business or estate property. That’s usually not a good thing. “reliance on a promoter takes the good faith out of good-faith reliance.” – Tax Court Justice Holmes There’s a powerfully clear and simple…