Category: Taxes
-
What small employers need to know about New Jersey’s sick leave law
Update June 21: My friends at Workplace offered to extend an invitation to those in the Philadelphia region to a seminar at Tavistock Country Club in Haddonfield NJ on Wednesday July 18th at 8am. Find more information at this Facebook event or register online here. New Jersey just passed a sick leave law that affects…
-
Ignoring tax and insurance law is a big deal
The announcement today by Jeff Sessions that the U.S Justice Department will not defend parts of federal tax and insurance law related to health insurance is a big deal but not only for the reasons that most news reports (like this report from Reuters on the bizarre legal logic that the law is unconstitutional) are focusing…
-
Checklist and tips on international tax issues
Taxpayers with financial interests both inside and outside the U.S. face the greatest risk of compliance complications with the Internal Revenue Service. We’ve known that collection of taxes on assets and income outside the U.S. has been a major focus of IRS over the past decade. Now the service is taking that effort a step…
-
Bigger isn’t better when it comes to tax advice
Small law firms and accounting firms sometimes feel ‘pushed out’ when it comes to a client’s largest transactions like the sale of a business or estate property. That’s usually not a good thing. “reliance on a promoter takes the good faith out of good-faith reliance.” – Tax Court Justice Holmes There’s a powerfully clear and simple…
-
The battle to cut federal income taxes
Many of my clients are facing higher federal income taxes this year as a result of the so-called “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” that was passed by a slim minority of Republican lawmakers without the benefit of professional review that normally accompanies important fiscal social policy issues. While the law cuts taxes for most people,…
-
Avoid IRS penalties with assertive strategies
Many of the penalties that IRS asserts on individual taxpayers and small businesses can be avoided with the right strategic response. Some or the penalty waiver procedures are straightforward, while some are not. Yet the strategies are not always apparent and sometimes even seasoned tax professionals are surprised by the favorable results. Tax penalties that…
-
How Facebook’s IRS tax case applies to us
Facebook’s multi-billion dollar tax case in the news today has implications for us ordinary tax-paying citizens. Two take-home lessons: If you rely solely on the Taxpayer Bill of Rights without other statutory authority, then this adds a level of procedural risk to your dispute. We do routinely rely on these procedures and expectations of ‘fair play’…
-
Is tax amnesty coming to New Jersey?
Governor Murphy proposed a tax amnesty program in our state of New Jersey. All indications I’ve read indicate that the legislature will eventually authorize it. If you haven’t filed tax returns now is the time to plan a strategy to get ready for this program. I am please to speak with anyone confidentially or even…
-
List of Pennsylvania Local Tax Collection Districts (2018)
Pennsylvania currently has 70 local tax districts. The tax collector for each district splits the tax, where applicable, between the school district and the local municipality. In some cases there may be a local tax where you live (for example, a 1% earned income tax) and a different tax (for example, a local services tax)…
-
Local income tax revisited
Recently I had an online conversation with an older successful business owner who apparently did not know that her business was subject to local income taxes. I don’t know the background or how this happened. I suspect that limited communication skills years ago played a role for this non-English native. Since there is no statute…