Category: Small Business
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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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Five reasons to not extend your business tax return due date
As a tax planner and an advocate of automated accounting systems, I’ve said many times that preparation of the tax return is the least important and certainly least valuable service that I provide. I’ve used the phrasing, even over the objections of tax preparers, that the business tax return should almost effortlessly “fall out” of…
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Alternative Investments: Now More Than Ever
I’m convinced that most people don’t know about vast array of alternative investment options available to them including through tax-advantaged individual retirement accounts. Consider the broad environment of alternative investments that we face today: We’ve been brainwashed1 to think that alternative investments are not safe while investments in the US securities markets are safer. Financial…
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How will the Philadelphia Eagles Superbowl win affect your small business?
The Philadelphia Eagles won the Superbowl last night and I suspect that is a good thing for our region’s economy. I have a small accounting business just west of Philadelphia and a small aquaculture business south of Philadelphia (covered in the Philly Daily News in the photo). This morning I am considering the Superbowl win…
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Unreimbursed partnership expenses revisited
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act triggers changes to the tax treatment of unreimbursed partnership expenses for 2018. Partnerships should revisit their policies to ensure that partners and employees maximize tax savings under the new law. Under former law a partner could deduct the expenses of the partnership on his or her individual income tax…
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The month of disappearing people
We just finished the month of January 2018 that I will likely remember as the month of disappearing people. It left me puzzled and uncertain in my position. No less than eight separate times I was in the middle of a work project with a schedule or deadline when a key person just stopped responding…
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The sad state of my small business telephone system
I’m reviewing and looking for suggestions on the best setup for a small business phone system. The stature of the telephone as a business tool has fallen dramatically in status and usefulness in my business career. I remember being one of the early adapters of cellular technology in the late 1980s and early 1990s that…
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IRS issued more guidance on wage tax withholding
Yesterday the IRS issued more guidance on wage tax withholding rules in response to changes triggered by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Notice 2018-14 provides guidance to both individual taxpayers and employers on tax withholding requirements for wages. One of the most significant changes is the default rate of withholding on bonuses or supplemental wages is…
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Tax savings with accountable plans
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act snuck up on many of us. Suddenly in January 2018 tens of millions of Americans are denied a range of tax deductions that have been part of our personal and business financial culture for more than a lifetime. While most taxpayers will see a decrease in taxes, some of us…
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3 steps to perfect small business bookkeeping
Small business bookkeeping in a perfect world would involve three steps: STEP 1: Enter transactions as they occur by the person actually making the transaction. For example, you stop to buy gasoline. You snap a photo of the receipt on your cell phone and enter the transaction on your mobile phone accounting app. Later you…