Category: Tax Planning
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Reduce your income taxes in 2017
Tax shelters and strategies that go beyond basic tax planning An accountant shared a story with his peers of a client who called recently to say “This year I really want to do whatever we can to slash my tax bill and pay the minimum”. The accountant replied “What do you think we’ve been doing…
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2017 real estate shakeup
Real estate ownership has long been one of the three primary wealth builders and tax reducing tools for businesses and individuals. I covered this topic in my blog yesterday. That may change radically in 2017 under tax reform proposals pushed by the new Republican leadership. The Congressional leadership in both houses and our new president…
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Five things we know about tax reform in 2017
At this point, of course, there are more unknowns than knowns. But a few points seem clear enough that we can begin using some ideas for our planning purposes. Republican leaders are planning for federal tax reform plan in early 2017 that requires no Democratic support. That means than no compromises will be necessary to pass…
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Increase in calls from online searches
I’ve noticed an increase in the number of business inquires this past week coming as a result of online searches, mostly Google. I hope this is the beginning of a trend. Three calls yesterday were especially interesting: Avoid high pressure sales A sales manager in Pennsylvania called for advice about health insurance. We was dismayed…
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3 Tips to avoid the individual health insurance tax penalty
If you did not have health insurance for more than two months in 2016 then you may owe a tax penalty when you file this year’s tax return. You may also hear from the IRS about the penalty if your health insurance did not meet minimum federal requirements or if the required tax filings are…
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A gap in small business advice following the election
For more than 30 years my practice has focused on financial planning for small business on taxes, benefits and health care. We can agree that these are issues in the spotlight right now after last week’s election. Over the past week I’ve read comments by other small business accountants that basically say that it is…
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When is it worthwhile to challenge a tax demand?
Is it worthwhile for a taxpayer to dispute a demand from the IRS or state tax authority for additional tax payment? Does the expected savings resulting from a tax case justify the cost of the dispute process? The answer, we might suspect, it that “it depends”. It depends on the type of demand, the amount and the dispute process that is…
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The ‘Trump effect’ on the tax shelter industry
Tax planners and tax shelter promoters are finding a new wave of prospective client inquiries this year and the market shift has been dubbed “Trump effect”. Basically, people want to know how to pay no tax like Trump and the ultra-rich friends that they might have heard about. They typically have some incomplete notion about…
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Thinking about changing accountants?
The decision to change accountants often comes as the result of pain experienced. It is important to explore this experience so that we can learn from it and make improvements for the future. Author Rob Nixon suggests that we ask the following questions and then find a way to turn the negative comments into positives in…