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February 3, 2012	Become Familiar with New Cost Basis Rules When Reporting Stock Sales A major change is finally kicking in this year regarding the amount of information that is supplied to the IRS about investors' activities. The rules were passed in 2008 in response to tax officials' long-standing suspicion that many taxpayers overstate their tax basis when they sell securities in order to pay less tax. Find out what new information is now received by the IRS, along with the cost basis methods investors can use that might provide varying tax results. Continue reading “Become Familiar with New Cost Basis Rules When...” »

January 28, 2012	Deadline is Near for Forms 1099 The deadline for providing Forms 1099-MISC to service providers is January 31, 2012 for payments of $600 or more paid in 2011. For the copy of Form 1099-MISC that must be filed with the Internal Revenue Service, taxpayers must mail paper versions of the Form no later than February 28, 2012. Continue reading "Deadline is Near for Forms 1099" »

January 25, 2012	Advantages and Disadvantages of Roth IRAs There still may be an opportunity to save on your tax bill from last year and save for your retirement. If you qualify, you can make a deductible contribution to a traditional IRA or Roth right up until the April 17, 2012 filing date and still benefit from the resulting tax savings on your 2011 return. This article explains some of the advantages and disadvantages of Roth IRAs. Continue reading “Advantages and Disadvantages of Roth IRAs” »

January 24, 2012	What's New for this Tax Filing Season The beginning of 2012 kicked off a new tax filing season. You are (hopefully) beginning to gather your records and receive important tax documents in your mailbox. As with most new years, there are some key changes in filing details for individuals and businesses. Continue reading “What's New for this Tax Filing Season” »

January 23, 2012	Real Estate Forecast 2012 sponsored Maloney + Novotny LLC and NorthStar Title Maloney + Novotny LLC and NorthStar Title sponsored Real Estate Forecast 2012 on Thursday, January 12, 2012 at The Forum Conference & Education Center. Continue reading "Maloney + Novotny LLC and NorthStar Title sponsored..." »

January 16, 2012	Update on W-2 Reporting of Employer Health Care Costs January is the month employers are diligently working with their payroll providers to issue employees' W-2 forms by the January 31st deadline. You may recall that the 2010 Health Care reform implemented a new requirement that required employers to report the cost of health insurance provided to employees on their W-2's. Continue reading "Update on W-2 Reporting of Employer Health Care Costs" »

January 10, 2012	Important Tax Figures for 2012 Every year, the dollar amounts allowed for various federal tax benefits are subject to change based on inflation adjustments and legislation. Here are some important tax figures for the upcoming year, including the Social Security wage base, qualified retirement plan and IRA contribution limits, driving deductions, allowable business write-off amounts and more. Continue reading “Important Tax Figures for 2012” »

January 4, 2012	The Payroll Tax Holiday Will Last (at Least) Another Two Months After weeks of political drama, Congress passed a last-minute extension of the payroll tax cut that was scheduled to end on December 31. President Obama promptly signed the legislation. However, the extension will only last two months so lawmakers will have to revisit the issue again in 2012. The new law also provides two more months of federal unemployment benefits. Continue reading “The Payroll Tax Holiday Will Last (at Least) Another Two...” »

December 28, 2011	A List of 20 Expiring Tax Breaks: What Might Happen? Many favorable tax provisions are set to expire at the end of 2011. Although Congress passed a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut on December 23, lawmakers have allowed many other favorable provisions to expire on New Year's Eve. However, as we have learned, Congress could pass laws to bring some of these tax breaks back. This article contains a chart of some of the important expiring provisions and what might happen. Continue reading “A List of 20 Expiring Tax Breaks: What Might Happen?” »

December 20, 2011	Loss Control Strategies Reduce Business Insurance Premiums and Risk Business owners know that an injury to an employee or severe property damage destroys productivity. So obviously all losses should be avoided or reduced. Continue reading “Loss Control Strategies Reduce Business Insurance...” »

December 15, 2011	IRS Cost Basis Reporting Rules Have Changed A 2005 study conducted by the IRS estimated that the government was losing an estimated $11 billion in tax revenues by the failure of taxpayers to accurately report adjusted cost basis information on the sale of stocks, mutual funds and other financial and debt instruments. Continue reading "IRS Cost Basis Reporting Rules Have Changed" »

December 5, 2011	IRS Commissioner Proposes Five Steps to Simplify Taxes If you find tax law a tangled mess, you're not alone. Presidential candidates are complaining about the complexity of the Internal Revenue Code. Even the IRS Commissioner argues tax laws are too complicated and confusing. Here are five common-sense recommendations the Commissioner made recently to help simplify the tax laws. Continue reading “IRS Commissioner Proposes Five Steps to Simplify Taxes” »

December 1, 2011	InvestOhio On June 30th Governor Kasich signed into law Substitute H.B. 153 which, among various provisions, included a few items of particular interest as it pertains to tax reform. Continue reading "InvestOhio" »

November 14, 2011	Security in the iCloud Apple has always taken pride in simplifying technology so that its products become embedded in the daily lives of users. The release of Apple's latest operating system, iOS5, brings with it yet another way to embrace Apple's devices. Continue reading “Security in the iCloud” »

November 11, 2011	A Board of Directors or an Advisory Board for Your Business? To survive and thrive in a competitive marketplace, companies need to secure help and guidance from a wide range of sources. To do so, many companies create advisory boards, or more formally, a board of directors to help guide them and hopefully facilitate growth. Continue reading “A Board of Directors or an Advisory Board for Your Business?” »

November 7, 2011	IRS Provides Some Relief for Payment Card Reporting Requirements Early next year, banks and other entities must begin reporting payment card and third-party network transactions to the IRS. The tax agency has now provided "special transitional relief" involving some of the requirements and provisions. The tax agency released guidance, along with questions and answers explaining the relief. Continue reading “IRS Provides Some Relief for Payment Card...” »

November 1, 2011	The Opportunity to Make Charitable Rollovers From Your IRA Is Set to End Shortly This year may be the last chance individuals are able to take advantage of the opportunity to make tax-free transfers directly from their IRA's to a charitable organization . This special rule, first made available to IRA owners in 2006, was originally enacted as a temporary tax benefit. It has since been extended a couple of times, but it's currently set to expire at the end of 2011. Continue reading "The Opportunity to Make Charitable Rollovers" »

October 27, 2011	Tax-Saving Depreciation Moves for Businesses Before December 31 You can still take steps to slash your business's 2011 taxes. To start with, some expiring tax breaks are too good to ignore if your operation is healthy enough to need and be able to pay for asset additions. Continue reading “Tax-Saving Depreciation Moves for Businesses...” »

October 24, 2011	Year-End Business Tax Strategies: Juggle Income and Outlays A basic principle of year-end tax saving is to accelerate deductible expenses into this year and defer income until next year. Of course, that doesn't work in all cases. The right strategy for your business depends on several factors, including how you answer these questions... Continue reading “Year-End Business Tax Strategies: Juggle Income and Outlays” »

October 21, 2011	Tax Deductible Business Loss or Non-Deductible Hobby Loss? Do you have an activity you enjoy that you'd like to turn into a sideline business? Or perhaps you've already started a business but you're not yet making money at it. If the expenses of your sideline business exceed its revenues, you may think you can claim a tax deduction for the net loss. Continue reading “Tax Deductible Business Loss or Non-Deductible...” »

October 11, 2011	New Guidance is Issued on Employee Whistleblower Investigations There are 21 federal laws that contain provisions about employee whistleblowers, "each containing various differences and distinctions in the way the cases are processed and investigated," according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Continue reading “New Guidance is Issued on Employee Whistleblower...” »

October 3, 2011	New Government Crackdown On Independent Contractors Coincides with IRS Offer to Come Clean The IRS has launched a new program that will enable many employers to resolve past worker classification issues at a relatively low tax cost by voluntarily reclassifying their workers. Continue reading “New Government Crackdown On Independent Contractors...” »

September 29, 2011	Employees Using Tablet Computers: Assess the Risks When Apple launched the iPad, it created a new class of device that met with rave reviews and sold more than three million devices in the first few months. Currently, more than 29 million iPads have been sold and the third generation is rumored to be hitting the stores in the Spring of 2012. Continue reading “Employees Using Tablet Computers: Assess the Risks” »

September 26, 2011	IRS Guidance: How to Get Tax-Free Treatment of Cell Phones The tax treatment of business cell phones changed last year after a law removed them from the category of "listed property," which normally requires additional recordkeeping. Now, employer-provided cell phones and similar devices can be treated as tax-free fringe benefits -- as long as certain requirements are met. New IRS guidance explains how to qualify. Continue reading “How To Get Tax-free Treatment of Cell Phones” »

September 14, 2011	Regretting your Roth Conversion? Did you convert a traditional IRA to a Roth in 2010? Is the value of the Roth IRA significantly lower than when it was originally converted? Did you file an extension for your 2010 Form 1040? If so, you may wish to undo the conversion before October 15, 2011. Changing your mind and undoing a conversion is referred to as a recharacterization. Continue reading "Regretting Your Roth Conversion?" »

September 7, 2011	Repeal of MBT and Changes to Individual Income Tax On May 25, 2011 Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed legislation that repeals the Michigan Business Tax (MBT) and replaces it with a corporate income tax and makes major changes to the state's individual income tax law. H4361 also creates a corporate income tax, levied on businesses organized as traditional C corporations under federal law. Continue reading "Repeal of MBT and Changes to Individual Income Tax" »

August 31, 2011	Game Planning for Success Given the nature of many businesses' diversifying their operations, you may be able to benefit from research and development (R&D) credits. These credits, which for many years were thought to be hard to obtain, have proven to become very valuable to business's who have taken the time to further examine their operations. Continue reading “Game Planning for Success” »

August 30, 2011	Could Your Business Outsource Sales Functions? Many companies have turned to outsourcing finance and information technology tasks but they have not considered outsourcing some or all sales functions. Sales is an area that businesses are now outsourcing more today than they have in the past. Is this a possible option and a source of savings for your company? Continue reading “Could Your Business Outsource Sales Functions?” »

August 24, 2011	Taxes: Beware of the Perils of Poor Recordkeeping If you fail to keep the proper records, valuable deductions can be lost. In two new Tax Court cases, the taxpayers' records were found to be inadequate or not credible. This article explains why the Court disallowed their deductions, along with information about proper recordkeeping and one way taxpayers are occasionally bailed out when they don't have complete documentation. Continue reading “Taxes: Beware of the Perils of Poor Recordkeeping” »

August 17, 2011	Court Throws Down Gauntlet on Healthcare Law In the latest challenge to the Obama administration's healthcare legislation, a federal appeals court declared that the provision requiring individuals to purchase health insurance coverage is unconstitutional. The judges stated Congress cannot "mandate that individuals enter into contracts with private insurance companies for the purchase of an expensive product from the time they are born until the time they die." What could the decision, and other similar cases, mean for the future of the healthcare law? Read on. Continue reading “Court Throws Down Gauntlet on Healthcare Law” »

August 10, 2011	Today's Phones = New Risks for Businesses "Smart" phones store massive quantities of data and can access corporate servers with ease. In fact, many of today's phones are able to store more information than laptops from bygone years. Along with their increased capability comes increased risks. Information from the phones, or the actual devices, can be stolen and put your company at risk. Here are some steps your company can take to help lessen the damage that mobile phones could potentially cause. Continue reading “Today's Phones = New Risks for Businesses” »

August 3, 2011	IRS Eases the 'Innocent Spouse' Rules Married couples filing joint tax returns are both responsible for tax, interest and penalties -- even after a divorce or the death of a spouse. One spouse can be liable for tax even if all of the income on a tax return is attributed to the other spouse. Fortunately, if there are outstanding taxes due, there may be some relief for "innocent spouses." The IRS recently announced it is eliminating a strict timing requirement in the relief process. This article explains the basics of innocent spouse assistance, as well as how the rules recently changed. Continue reading “IRS Eases the 'Innocent Spouse' Rules” »

July 28, 2011	Is a Tax Reform Storm Brewing in Washington? Now that the Budget Control Act of 2011 has been signed into law, members of Congress have to figure out how to make deep spending cuts by the end of the year. One approach is to increase revenue through higher taxes and reduced tax benefits. What could it mean for you? At this point, it's all speculation but here are some of the possible changes that have been discussed so far. Continue reading “Is a Tax Reform Storm Brewing in Washington?” »

July 21, 2011	IRS Issues Guidance Outlining New Rules for Foreign Accounts In an effort to help the United States determine who is evading taxes by putting money in offshore financial accounts, the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act was recently enacted. It requires foreign banks to tell the IRS about U.S. interests in their institutions. To help enforce the reporting of this information, the law also mandates withholding if an account holder or institution does not comply. Continue reading “IRS Issues Guidance Outlining Rules for Foreign Accounts” »

July 13, 2011	Train for a Social Media Attack Many businesses now use social media Web sites to promote their brands in innovative ways. But many companies are finding it a double edge sword. Recently, global corporate giants have been forced to change their business methods or practices when targeted by angry groups of customers or activists using Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media sites as a weapon. Continue reading “Train for a Social Media Attack” »

July 11, 2011	Governor John Kasich Signs New Biennial Budget Bill On June 29, 2011, Ohio Governor John Kasich signed into law Ohio's biennial budget bill, House Bill 153, which revises the existing Ohio tax code, authorizes new tax credit programs, and offers delinquent taxpayers a favorable amnesty program. Continue reading “Governor John Kasich Signs New Biennial Budget Bill” »

July 5, 2011	Qualified Small Business Stock: Important Deadline Is Getting Closer Congress has recently made changes to encourage investment in some small businesses. Investors may have an opportunity to collect gains that are free from federal tax if they act quickly. The stock of qualifying businesses must be issued by year end to be eligible. What counts as qualified stock and how can you benefit? Continue reading “Qualified Small Business Stock: Important Deadline Is Getting Closer” »

June 24, 2011	IRS Targets Higher Education 403(b) Plans Under this project, the IRS will be sending out an information request package which includes a questionnaire with 21 questions about the 403(b) plan. Depending on how the questions are answered, the IRS may end its inquiry, request additional information, or may even initiate an audit of the plan. Continue reading “IRS Targets Higher Education 403(b) Plans” »

June 20, 2011	Profit from an Energy Audit As we head into the dog days of summer, it's a good time to focus on ways to reduce the amount of energy used in the workplace. Many organizations can raise their profits by incorporating energy efficiency into the way they do business. It begins by performing an energy audit. Continue reading “Profit from an Energy Audit” »

June 17, 2011	IRS Revokes Tax-Exempt Status of 275,000 Organizations The IRS has revoked the tax-exempt status of approximately 275,000 organizations and is making a list of the groups public. Publication of the list services as notice to donors that they can no longer make tax deductible contributions to the organizations. Here are the details. Continue reading “IRS Revokes Tax-Exempt Status of 275,000 Organizations” »

June 15, 2011	Protect Your Intellectual Property from Infringers in China Rushing to expand into China could leave your company vulnerable to patent or trademark infringement. A recent government report found that U.S. companies suffered lost sales, profits, and royalties, as well as brand reputation. Even if you never plan to do business in China, you could have IP problems there. Continue reading “Protect Your Intellectual Property from Infringers in China” »

June 3, 2011	Employers: 14 Ways Wage-Hour Laws Can Create Risks Federal investigators regularly look for violations of minimum wage, overtime pay, child labor and other provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Employers not found to be in compliance must pay back wages and penalties. Recently, the Department of Labor launched a new smartphone "app" to help employees track the hours they work and determine the wages they are owed. Continue reading “Employers: 14 Ways Wage-Hour Laws Can Create Risks” »

June 1, 2011	Consider Buying U.S. Savings Bonds Many people think U.S. Savings Bonds are boring and unattractive as an investment option. But right now, they look pretty good compared to other fixed-income investments such as CDs and money-market funds. Plus, Savings Bonds have some nice tax advantages. Here are some reasons why Series I (inflation protected) and Series EE bonds might be the way to go. Continue reading “Consider Buying U.S. Savings Bonds” »

May 24, 2011	IRS Delays Government Contractor Withholding The IRS has issued final regulations that again postpone mandatory withholding on payments made to government contractors. When is withholding now scheduled to begin? How much will be taken from payments? Here are the details. Continue reading “IRS Delays Government Contractor Withholding” »

May 20, 2011	Natural Disasters: Salvage a Fast Tax Refund Many people around the country have recently been devastated this year by floods, severe storms and other disasters. And everyday, individuals are also hurt by fires, vandalism, theft, and water damage from broken pipes. Here's how to generate tax deductions after a casualty. Continue reading “Natural Disasters: Salvage a Fast Tax Refund” »

May 19, 2011	Hiring Interns this Summer? Summer is almost here and that means many employers are bringing interns into their workplaces. Keep in mind that bringing in unpaid interns involves complying with the strict requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. This article explains how to stay in compliance with the law, and describes a recent court case that ruled one organization used unpaid student-trainees legally. Continue reading “Hiring Interns this Summer?” »

May 17, 2011	New Case Limits SOX Whistleblowers Employers and employees should heed a new federal appeals court decision that takes a narrow interpretation of the SOX whistleblower provisions. The ruling basically states that whistleblowers cannot go directly to the media to report conduct they believe constitutes fraud or security violations. Take a look at the court's ruling and what it means for future disclosures. Continue reading “New Case Limits SOX Whistleblowers” »

May 9, 2011	The Enemy Within: Three Cases of Employee Cyber Crime Who has access to your company's computers? What restrictions have you placed on them? These vital issues should not be taken lightly. As evidenced by three federal court cases this year, it is important to impose security measures that protect against unfettered use -- including unauthorized access from employees. Otherwise, the consequences can be devastating. Continue reading “The Enemy Within: Three Cases of Employee Cyber Crime” »

May 9, 2011	Help Combat Cyber Attacks with These Steps Cyber attacks can potentially inflict economic damage, disrupt a company's operations and harm its reputation, as illustrated by Sony's recent security breach. Some attacks even have national security implications. To make matters worse, research shows the number of data breaches occurring is on the rise as more information is stored in cyberspace. Continue reading “Help Combat Cyber Attacks with These Steps” »

May 3, 2011	Supreme Court: Consumers Can Be Banned From Class Action Lawsuits In a victory for businesses, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled companies can enforce contracts signed by their customers that prevent them from joining together to file class action suits. The decision overturned a U.S. Appeals Court that ruled such contracts were unenforceable under California law. Continue reading “Supreme Court: Consumers Can Be Banned From Class Action Lawsuits” »

May 1, 2011	Cloud Computing: Understand the Risks Amazon's four-day outage, which caused numerous other Web sites to crash, illustrates the risks involved in cloud computing at a time when many companies are considering migrating "mission critical" data to the cloud. Cloud computing has the potential to dramatically reduce your organization's information technology costs. Continue reading “Cloud Computing: Understand the Risks” »

April 20, 2011	IRS Relaunches Pilot Program for Tax IDs Protecting individuals against identity theft is a goal of all organizations and the IRS is no exception. The IRS recently announced the extension and modification of a program allowing certain information filers to "truncate," or only show part of, taxpayer ID numbers. This article explains the rules and how some businesses can use them. Continue reading “IRS Relaunches Pilot Program for Tax IDs” »

April 18, 2011	Sleep Tight When Tax Records Are Secure Once you file your 2010 tax return, you can rest easy and clear away some of the tax clutter. But save vital paperwork that can protect you during an IRS audit, help you collect a future refund or assist you with filing next year. What records do you have to keep and which ones can you throw away? How long do you have to hold onto certain records. We'll provide the answers in this article. Continue reading “Sleep Tight When Tax Records Are Secure” »

April 15, 2011	Two Sets of Burdensome 1099 Rules are Repealed There is good news from Washington that took longer than expected to happen. The controversial rules have been repealed that would have required American businesses to issue many millions of additional 1099s each year. A new law expected to be signed by President Obama eliminates arduous accounting and reporting burdens. Read on to find out what the rules would have required and learn how certain penalty provisions were retained. Continue reading “Two Sets of Burdensome 1099 Rules are Repealed” »

April 6, 2011	New IRS Guidance on Reporting of Employer Health Coverage As part of the health reform law passed last year, employers were required to provide information to employees about the value of their health care coverage fringe benefits. The IRS issued guidance last year delaying the implementation date to give employers more time to make the changes necessary for their payroll systems. Now, the IRS has issued guidance that provides further relief for small employers (those who issue less than 250 W-2s for this year). Here are the details. Continue reading “New IRS Guidance on Reporting of Employer Health Coverage” »

April 4, 2011	Private Companies Need Modified Standards, Not Separate Rules Are U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles relevant to the financial statements of privately held companies? Should a separate set of standards be implemented to cut costs and simplify the financial reporting process for private firms? Those are some of the questions asked by a Blue Ribbon Panel created by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Financial Accounting Foundation. Here are the recommendations made by the panel in a recent report, along with what they might mean for your company. Continue reading “Private Companies Need Modified Standards Not Separate Rules” »

March 16, 2011	Achieve Sustainable Cost Cutting at Your Organization The economy continues to look up but that doesn't mean businesses have stopped taking cost-cutting actions. As public companies recently announced their fourth quarter and full year results for last year, many reported taking cost reduction steps to improve profits. However, some businesses find trimming expenses is easy to do for awhile - but then costs creep back. Here are some ways to implement sustainable cost cutting at your organization, as well as 10 quick ideas for growing your business. Continue reading “Achieve Sustainable Cost Cutting at Your Organization” »

March 14, 2011	OLDER SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS GET A HEALTH INSURANCE TAX BREAK The IRS has reversed its position on allowing a large expense as part of the health insurance deduction for some small business owners. If you pay Medicare Part B premiums, read this article to see how you might be able to save a bundle on your tax return that is due this year. Continue reading “Older Small Business Owners Get a Health Insurance Tax Break” »

February 21, 2011	ANOTHER IRS OFFSHORE ACCOUNT VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE PROGRAM For the second time in two years, the IRS is conducting a voluntary disclosure initiative designed to bring offshore money back into the U.S. tax system and allow people with undisclosed income from hidden offshore accounts get current with their taxes. The new federal voluntary disclosure initiative will be available through August 31, 2011. Continue reading “Another IRS Offshore Account Voluntary Disclosure Program” »

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