Understanding IRAs: Terms to Know IRAs, or Individual Retirement Arrangements, provide tax incentives for people to make investments that can provide financial security for their retirement. To help people better understand this type of retirement savings account, here’s a basic overview of terms to know: Contribution. The money that someone puts into their IRA. There are…
Several end-of-year tax planning strategies are available to business owners to reduce their tax liability. Let’s take a look: Deferring Income Businesses using the cash method of accounting can defer income into 2023 by delaying end-of-year invoices so that payment is not received until 2023. Businesses using the accrual method can defer income by postponing…
With the end of the year fast approaching, now is the time to take a closer look at tax planning strategies that could reduce your tax bill for 2022. General Tax Planning Strategies General tax planning strategies for individuals include accelerating or deferring income and deductions and carefully considering timing-related tax planning strategies concerning investments,…
Keeping full and accurate homeowner records is not only vital for claiming deductions on your tax return, but also for determining the basis or adjusted basis of your home. These records include your purchase contract and settlement papers if you bought the property, or other objective evidence if you acquired it by gift, inheritance, or…
According to the US Small Business Administration, small businesses employ half of all private-sector employees in the United States. However, a majority of small businesses do not offer their workers retirement savings benefits. If you’re like many other small business owners in the United States, you may be considering the various retirement plan options available…
Small employer HRAs or QSEHRAs (Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangements) allow small businesses without group health plans to set aside money, tax-free, for employees to use toward medical expenses – including the cost of buying health insurance. Here’s what small business owners need to know about QSEHRAs. Background Included in the 21st Century Cures…
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed into law on August 16, 2022, includes provisions affecting businesses, individuals, the clean-energy industry, healthcare, and more. Let’s take a look: Businesses Sec. 461(l) Business Loss Limitation. The pass-through tax deduction for small business owners (sole proprietorships, some limited liability companies, partnerships, and S-corporations) was enacted under tax reform (TCJA…
By law, all taxpayers have fundamental rights when interacting with the IRS, and all taxpayers should know and understand their rights. Ten categories of rights are presented in the Taxpayer Bill of Rights. Here’s an overview: 1. The right to be informed. Taxpayers have the right to know what they need to do to comply with…
One of the most important questions you face when changing jobs is what to do with the money in your 401(k) because making the wrong move could cost you thousands of dollars or more in taxes and lower returns. Let’s say you put in five years at your current job. For most of those years,…
A cash windfall is any amount of money that you didn’t expect to receive and is over your regular income. Most would consider it to be any amount over $1,000 – and quite often, the amount of money is much more than that. For example, you may have received a bonus at work, an inheritance,…