Category: Accounting
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4980D Small Business Excise Tax Liability
This is the original submitted version of the article published by New Jersey CPA magazine under the same title in the January 2016 edition. The published version was slightly shortened to meet space requirements in the print publication. Background The Affordable Care Act adds Section 9815 to the Internal Revenue Code that requires employer-provided health plans…
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Tax preparation fees for 2015 tax returns
(This post is for 2015. For 2016 tax return average rates, see this schedule). I’ve drawn some attention lately, both positive and negative, for my two personal beliefs that: a) tax preparation industry fees should be bench-marked in some manner, and, b) that fees ought to be available to consumers in advance of making a…
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A 2016 marketing suggestion for small business advocates
I am starting 2016 with this bold self-promotion that is, bluntly, outside of my comfort zone. The intent is to give a boost to my public appearance schedule that, during a long period of injury recovery, dropped off while I was not working in this field. If you produce conferences, write a blog, offers workshops or produce…
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Year-end tax Scrooge on auto purchase and charitable contributions
We hear plenty of auto sales ads touting the benefits of increased depreciation as a great reason to buy a new car this week. Likewise, charities make a big year-end push this week promoting the tax benefits of charitable contributions. I don’t want to be a spoil-sport and discourage anyone from buying a car or…
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Last minute tax shelter setup for 2015
Every year there are a few small business owners who wait until the last few days of December to set up a retirement plan or pension plan that winds up reducing their tax liability by many thousands of dollars at tax filing time in the spring. It takes a few hours work for each plan…
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Four small business accounting systems you will see less often in 2016
updated September 2018 to remove outdated recommendations. There are literally hundreds of high quality small business accounting platforms available today. The array of features is impressive and the cost is minimal when we consider the number of human labor hours saved in comparison with accounting tools of generations past. All of these services offer a…
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Excited about focus of services for 2016
Note: This service offer does not apply for 2017 and beyond. Please see the “Services” page for current offering details. I feel excited and energized by my planned specialization of services for 2016. I’ve just crossed the one year anniversary mark on the re-launch of my solo accounting practice after being out of the industry for…
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Where are the checklists for 2015 small business tax changes?
Accountants handling difficult tax and audit issues typically work from checklists. Checklists are a well-proven tool in many other work activities outside of tax and financial statement preparation. This year all of the significant federal tax law changes affecting small businesses pertain directly to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Accounting organizations like AICPA…
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Small business ACA compliance toolkit available for 2015
My firm Freedom Benefits offers a 2015 compliance toolkit to help small business employers who find themselves on the wrong side of 2015 ACA requirements. The tax penalties can be significant for the tens of thousands of firms affected. Equally important, IMO, is the need to effectively communicate the required changes to employees who are…
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Toolkit for small business health plans
There are three significant changes to federal income tax law this year that affect many small businesses. (While there were other 2015 tax law changes that affected small businesses most of the others were adjustments to inflation and those other changes cannot be impacted by the tax planning actions of small business employers). All three…