Author: Tony Novak
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2018 Changes to Employee Benefit Plans
This article lists the primary changes triggered by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that have an impact on employee benefit plans. They are listed here roughly in the order of impact on small business employers. For example, health benefits changes and work-related travel changes at the top of the list impacts most businesses, whereas…
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Annotated IRS Collection Statutes
This is an annotated copy of IRS statute controlling collection actions. 8.21.5 Collection Statutes Manual Transmittal November 17, 2015 Purpose (1) This transmits revised IRM 8.21.5, Collection Statutes. Background This IRM provides guidelines for verifying, updating, and monitoring statutes on collection cases in Appeals. Material Changes (1) Changes to this IRM are as follows: IRM Section…
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What to do if you owe money to the IRS: 4 steps to resolution
There is a clear and direct 4 step path to resolving IRS tax problems but you must follow this path in the proper sequence. An interesting discussion came up yesterday among tax professionals that indicates a need for us to communicate more effectively on the basic steps of resolving an income tax problem. By “income…
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What Does the Omnibus Spending Law Mean to Me?
It is not possible to analyze a massive 2,232 page $1.3 Trillion dollar federal law within a matter of hours after its passage. (This is a terrible way to handle major legislation, but that shame on Ryan and crew is a whole different topic). Yet this new federal spending bill is likely to have more…
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Implications of blockchain in everyday accounting
The AICPA co-published a new report on blockchain that is written primarily by accountants at Deloitte & Touche LLP. The report covers a range of issues from introduction of concept to a call for action for CPAs. It is not an accounting standards publication but rather a white paper on the issue of blockchain. The decentralized…
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Questions about a QSEHRA?
(This inform is not updated to reflect 2019 proposed regulations so should be presumed to be partially obsolete). Yesterday I was hired for a single consultation engagement for a small business in Silicon Valley to answer a few simple questions about setting up a Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangement (QSEHRA). This is a simple,…
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Sample tax representation agreement
This page is outdated. A more recent version is available: Sample accounting services engagement agreement 2021 IF AFTER READING THIS YOU AGREE TO ALL THE TERMS, PLEASE RESPOND TO THIS EMAIL AND TYPE “AGREED“. PLEASE CALL WITH ANY QUESTIONS. SUMMARY OF THIS EMAIL Documents included: 1) Privacy policy, 2) Confidentiality Privilege Agreement, 3) Engagement Agreement,…
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Husband and wife partnerships are complicated
I’m talking taxes here, not relationship advice. I’m the last person who should be giving advice on marital relationships. Unfortunately, I might not be much help on the tax and legal issues either. The best I hope to accomplish in this blog post is to list some of the issues, in bullet format, that should be…
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How health care became a human right
When I started in the health benefits advisory business more than 30 years ago (1987) through the predecessor of Freedom Benefits I strongly disagreed that health care was a “right”. My opinion was shared by the majority of Americans. But three things have happened since then and public opinion has shifted: 1) The wealth gap…
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Avoid these three tax traps
There are three ways that taxpayers most often get into trouble with the tax authorities. Recognizing these three tax traps can help us avoid them. Under-reported income. This is usually the most obvious omission and usually easiest for tax authorities to spot and assess additional taxes. Sometime the taxpayer’s omission is deliberate and sometimes it…