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Review Your Options for Comfortable Retirement

Have you thought about your retirement options? Have you reviewed all of your options? Do you know what your pension and health will be? Following is a basic review of some of the pertinent questions you should be asking and some relevant solutions for a comfortable retirement plan..

Social Security

Do you qualify for Social Security benefits? If you have been in the work force, you probably have received that letter from the IRS telling how much you are eligible for if ...

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25
FEB

Categories: Accounting Advice for Businesses, Personal Finance, Tax Preparation

CA Income Tax: Shareholder Denied Claim Deduction for Alleged Advance Made to Corp.

The sole shareholder of a corporation, which provides health and support services to very ill patients, was denied her claim on a California personal income tax deduction for an alleged advance made by her to the corporation. This deduction was denied because the taxpayer failed to substantiate that she actually made the advance. But even in the event that the advance was substantiated, the taxpayer failed to prove that this was actually a business ...

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15
FEB

Categories: Corporate Accounting, Tax Preparation

Cloud Computing: Autonomy or Mutiny

Cloud computing is now not only becoming a standard but increasingly very popular as a mode of storing data. Here is how it works. Instead of tying all of your data to an in office system, cloud computing services are delivered through a Web browser remotely. This way of storing data has many perks. Here is the up side if you are on the fence. There is never a need to install computer software and you never have ...

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12
FEB

Categories: Accounting Advice for Businesses, Business Planning

Making A Film with Tax Incentives

If you are in the film industry and you have been seeking states to film in that offer better tax incentives than California, here are some recent film production tax incentives for post-production.

New York state has increased the state’s film post-production tax credit from 10 percent to 30 percent (for post-production facilities in New York City or (Dutchess, Suffolk, Westchester counties and Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Rockland.) For any of the other counties in the state that tax credit is now ...

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4
FEB

Categories: Tax Preparation

Taxpayer Denied Investment Interest Deduction for Excess Home Mortgage Debt

Recently in Tax Court, in the case of Norman v. Commissioner (December 27, 2012), the taxpayer made a clever but ultimately unsuccessful argument to secure an interest rate deduction for debt related to the purchase of his home that was in excess of the maximum $1.1 million of debt on which interest can be deducted. The taxpayer bought the house on about 10 acres of land for $1.8 million. He borrowed the money from a lender. ...

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29
JAN

Categories: Personal Finance, Tax Preparation

The 2012 Taxpayer Relief Act Extension

The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (2012 Taxpayer Relief Act) provides a one-year extension of the exclusion from income for the forgiveness of debt on a principal residence. The exclusion is applicable to discharges of qualified principal residence indebtedness which occurred on or after January 1, 2007, and before January 1, 2014. During this exclusion period, taxpayers who are entangled in the current subprime mortgage crisis do not have to pay taxes for debt forgiveness on their troubled home ...

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24
JAN

Categories: Accounting Advice for Businesses, Tax Preparation

Tax Updates for 2013

Our Woodland Hills accounting office is well versed in all the new tax updates and changes for 2013. It’s very important that you be aware of these changes so that you can properly plan and prepare for a financially successful year. While we’ve discussed several of these changes on the blog, here are a few more changes to be aware of.

S Corporation Built-in Gain Tax

The current tax continues through 2013 and will be reduced over a period of five years ...

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16
JAN

Categories: Business Planning, Corporate Accounting, Personal Finance, Tax Preparation

The New Tax Act

The Senate and House have passed a new federal tax law known as the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (“New Tax Act”).

But now with the swearing in of new Congress members, it is likely that they will be tackling the federal deficit during 2013. In light of this there will certainly be additional tax law changes in the new year.

Some of the more important provisions of this New Tax Act are listed below.

1. Income Tax Rates

The New Tax Act ...

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4
JAN

Categories: Accounting Advice for Businesses, Business Planning, Corporate Accounting, Personal Finance, Tax Preparation

Optimal Gifting Strategies for Tax Purposes

Gifting Strategies for Property to Be Valued Later

If you plan on gifting property before the year’s end and determine its value later, there are several strategies that are important to know. The following will explain all the processes that are involved in gifting property that will be valued later. First there is a formula that works in terms of valuing a gift. Additionally, addressed below is an explanation of how to gift cash that is later used to purchase property ...

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27
DEC

Categories: Accounting Advice for Businesses

Year-End Acceleration/Deferral Techniques

You may be considering accelerating or deferring income or deductions now that we’re here at the end of the year, but if you don’t have the right techniques it can be frustrating since many tax law provisions are deliberately uncertain, particularly this year-end. It is more crucial this year than ever to have increased tax knowledge and understand certain tax techniques. Because the “fiscal cliff” talks are leaving the raising of tax revenues ambiguous, the timing of these techniques in ...

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10
DEC

Categories: Accounting Advice for Businesses, Business Planning, Corporate Accounting, Personal Finance, Tax Preparation