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It is starting. You have seen on the media the destruction that came about from Hurricane Florence. Calls for financial aid are going out and donations are being solicited, I am starting to hear reports that scams are in play to solicit donations by non-legitimate people and agencies.
It is important to remember to PLEASE BE CAREFUL when dealing with these organizations. (more…)
Posted in: Donations, Fraud Prevention
Leave a Comment (0) →Were you in a hurricane federal disaster area?
Were you forced to close and unable to operate your business due to hurricane related reasons?
Did you pay your employees for time when you were closed and unable to operate your business due to hurricane related reasons?
If you answered YES to ALL three of the above questions, the IRS is willing to reimburse you for a portion of the wages you paid employees when you were closed and unable to conduct business. The maximum amount of the reimbursement is $2,400. The credit is 40% of the wages you paid to an employee up to $6,000 of wages during the period you were closed. This covers the period starting with the hurricane and ending on December 31, 2017. (more…)
Posted in: Tax Credits
Leave a Comment (0) →I find the following information to be concerning for business owners who accept credit card payments. The company that processes your credit card receipts is beginning to send out Form 1099-K reporting the amount of credit card transactions to businesses and to the IRS. In and of itself, reporting the amount of transactions to the IRS does not bother me. However, what happens or could happen next does bother me. (more…)
Posted in: IRS
Leave a Comment (0) →On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed into effect a new tax law. While this is being referred to as a new tax law, it will have some far reaching implications regarding decisions on how you will run your business. These include such things as the structure of business – deciding to operate as a partnership, C-Corporation, S-Corporation, or a limited liability company (LLC). It will also impact financial planning, investment decisions, retirement planning, and how you will withdraw your retirement funds. This is a lot more than just a tax law. (more…)
Posted in: Tax Laws
Leave a Comment (0) →To claim a charitable donation in 2017 it must be postmarked no later than December 31, 2017 or it must be hand delivered to the charity before midnight on December 31, 2017. There is a fine line between Sunday night December 31, 2017 and Monday morning January 1, 2018. There are no exceptions. (more…)
Posted in: Donations
Leave a Comment (0) →Lifetime Gifts versus Transfers Upon Death
You have two options when it comes to transferring and passing your assets to your heirs and beneficiaries. You can give them away during your lifetime or you can transfer them upon your death. It’s your call. Is one option necessarily better than the other option? It always depends on the facts, situation, and the circumstances. Think about the following:
The Parable of Two Brothers and 2 Acres of Land.
Shortly after the Great Depression of the 1930’s, two brothers, Allen and Bob, were walking over some land in south Florida when they spotted a “for sale” sign. The sign said “2 Acres at $500 per Acre”. The two brothers made a deal to buy the land for $100 down and $100 per year for the next four years. During this time, the brothers worked together to make the payments sometimes loaning money to the other to do so. At the end of four years, the two brothers were the proud owners of two acres of everglades and swampland with the significant investment of $500 per acre. They had no way of knowing what would happen to enhance the value of those two acres through several generations of family transfers. (more…)
Should I transfer my assets to my heirs before I pass away so there will be no probate administration when I do pass away? I get this question all of the time.
It is definitely possible to do this but there are several issues to consider. Generally speaking, this approach is not high on my list. I prefer to use a living trust. There are several advantages of a living trust. Let’s take a look at a few of the advantages. (more…)
The State of Florida has announced a reduction in the sales tax rate effective on January 1, 2018 pertaining to the rental of commercial real estate. The present rate of 6 percent will drop down to 5.8 percent. Any county discretionary sales taxes remain in effect and must be collected in addition to the 5.8 percent sales tax. (more…)
Posted in: Uncategorized
Leave a Comment (0) →Question: When should you have an estate plan? Is it when your estate has a value of more than $5.49 million, more than $10.98 million, or some other number?
There is one purpose and one purpose only for an estate plan and that is to deal with the division and distribution of your assets upon your death. That’s it – period. Nothing more, nothing less. (more…)
Several key points of tax information for 2018 have already been released. The first point is that the Social Security Administration announced that there will be a 2% increase in the monthly social security benefit checks starting in January, 2018. The downside is that there will also be an increase in the 2018 monthly Medicare cost that is automatically deducted from your social security check. In some cases, the increase in Medicare insurance cost will pretty much wipe out the 2% increase. (more…)
Posted in: Obamacare, Tax Laws, Tax Returns
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