Author: Tony Novak
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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This page is outdated.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…
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Don’t replace common sense with technology
Tax filing is like grocery shopping Technology has transformed the annual tax filing ritual but far too many people are replacing good judgement with purely online mechanical tools. The result is a recent spike in errors leading to costly tax penalties and higher tax payments over the long-term. The most important part of the tax…
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One door closes, another opens
“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us”. – Alexander Graham Bell A poorly matched tax engagement ended early yesterday on the same day as I brought in a record amount of new business. I hardly have time…
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Impact of Tax Reform on the Finances of Seniors
Most of the changes included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act are already effective for 2018. These are mostly good news for seniors. Retirees will be less affected by the tax law changes than other Americans since the changes do not affect the way Social Security and investment income are taxed.However, changes that become effective…
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Quickbooks pricing revisited
The pricing information in this post is now of of date. I can save businesses $500+. But should I? Quickbooks remains by far the most popular small business accounting platform capturing about 4 in 5 businesses in this market. The services I most commonly work with – accounting, taxes, banking services, financial planning, payroll and…
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Tax transcripts
I recommend, but do not require, that tax clients allow me to get a tax transcript from IRS to check the data that IRS has reported to them vs. the data that we have available from our own sources. This procedure adds to the cost of service but catches many errors and avoids IRS trouble…
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Payroll taxes unresolved?
Do you have payroll reporting requirements for the first time in 2018? Or do you have existing payroll but are not happy with the reporting services? Good news: We can offer payroll takeover retroactive to 1/1/2018 with no setup fees and no takeover fees. That’s the best payroll service deal that you will see all…