Author: Tony Novak
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More Q&As on the Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangement (QSERHA)
(This inform is not updated to reflect 2019 proposed regulations so should be presumed to be partially obsolete). I normally offer a free mini-consultation by telephone for prospective clients1. This allows us to get to know each other, prove that value provided will exceed the costs incurred, and lower risks of misunderstanding and miscommunication. But…
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Sample deferred compensation plan
Following is an annotated copy of the model truck language for a deferred compensation plan under Rev. Proc. 92-64. TRUST UNDER ____ PLAN OPTIONAL (a) THIS AGREEMENT MADE THIS ___ DAY OF ___, BY AND BETWEEN ____ (COMPANY) AND ____ (TRUSTEE); OPTIONAL (b) WHEREAS, COMPANY HAS ADOPTED THE NONQUALIFIED DEFERRED COMPENSATION PLAN(S) AS LISTED IN…
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2018: The year for a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA)
(This inform is not updated to reflect 2019 proposed regulations so should be presumed to be partially obsolete). Summary: Small businesses with middle-income employees may use a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) to help cover out-of-pocket medical costs or individual insurance premiums as one of the easiest ways to cut 2018 taxes at minimal administrative and setup…
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What the heck is a 501(k) plan?
The financial services industry has a long history of creating new marketing terms to help sell its products. Certainly this is a productive and useful part of consumer financial service communications. The latest term gathering attention is a “501(k) plan”. The increased use of this term coincides with marketing of an already existing alternate tool…
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Tax Savings 101
An introduction to the topic of tax planning in 6 easy points: Saving taxes doesn’t just happen by accident. It takes deliberate long-term financial planning with a goal, action plan and accountability. Everyone has the ability to legally reduce their taxes. The higher your taxes, the greater the potential to save money. Tax planning is…
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When should we file ‘Married Filing Separately’?
Only about 1 in 50 taxpayers chooses to file tax returns as “Married Filing Separately” so it has not been a popular option. For most married couples this would raise the total amount of tax due. There are exceptions. Those who do file separately typically save money doing so, and that’s why these choose it.…
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Questionnaire to determine the potential to save taxes
My business adviser, a data scientist, asked me to compile a list of questions necessary to determine the tax saving potential of an individual person. The intent is to keep the list as short as possible but allow us to calculate an estimate of the amount of tax savings that are possible through comprehensive financial…
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#IRSFails
In this blog I’ve occasionally written about the extraordinary level of difficulty I’ve experienced resolving clients’ tax matters with IRS. Most recently posts like “Fun and Games With the IRS” and “Today’s adventures with IRS” attempt to document serious service deficiencies in a lighthearted and almost comical blog post. Today CPA Trendines covers the same…
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Seven things you can do to help disarm the U.S.
It is possible to simultaneously support the 2nd amendment and disarmament. The world is changing at an increasing rate. This is called the “age of accelerations”. Unfortunately our government, our laws, and public attitude is not keeping pace with this rapid pace of change in a way that allows up to effectively process and deal…
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The Impact of “Funny Numbers”
Will the ‘tone at the top’ trigger an increase in tax fraud? There are a few topics that I don’t talk about or write about in this blog. It’s usually because they are some combination of distasteful, unethical. illegal, immoral, controversial and a ‘no-win’ situation. One of those topics is accounting fraud. I covered the…