Category: Accounting
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How to resolve a tax dispute
About one in four of us will receive notification from a tax collection authority about a missing payment or dispute in the amount of taxes due. Most of these are “mismatch” issues where the information that the tax authority has does not match the information on the tax returns that you filed. The mismatch may…
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Goodbye to the decade of disillusion
I am happy to say goodbye to the decade that lowered my expectations of the future of humanity. I had allowed past events to create the illusion that we were advancing beyond ignorance as the standard of society. Ten years ago I believed that more information would inevitably lead to enlightenment. That proved wrong. We…
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2021 plans
I won’t be saying “Happy New Year” today but I will be sharing my plans to make it a better year ahead. Hoping you do the same. There is strength in community. My plans to make 2021 a better year:1) Focus on improving the level of my personal communications that will lead to deeper relationships…
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Are small Paypal or Venmo payments reported to IRS?
Paypal and Venmo are clear in explaining their legal requirement to report to the IRS amounts over $20,000 or 200 transactions. But what about amounts under $20,000 and less than 200 transactions? The common questions are: “What if I don’t remember? How will the IRS even know?”. The key issue is that business taxpayers who…
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Simple bookkeeping systems for sole proprietors
In general, I try to have a coaching conversation with new clients and prospective clients about the reasonable time and cost allocation for bookkeeping in relation to other business factors. We hope to see this allocation consistent with others who are successful within a business niche and, if a significant difference exists, look more closely…
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2021 Tax and Financial Planning
Why do many people pay more than on dollar out of every four that they earn in some type of tax while a few people legally pay little or no taxes? What is the most practical way for you to reduce taxes while increasing your net wealth over the long term? This is the essence…
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Redefining my ideal client and target market
Small business advisers suggest that the more specifically we define and distinguish our target market and our ideal client, the greater our chances of business success. To say it another way, few business advisers would recommend that an accountant like me simply offer his services to ‘the world’. Instead, most develop a niche of expertise…
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Paying too much income tax?
Despite the name, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 didn’t really do much to reduce ordinary people’s tax bill. In fact, almost the same number of people saw taxes increase as decrease according to the most recent survey by Kiplinger. Most people, 3 out of 5, reported that their taxes remained about the…