Don’t inadvertently miss filing deadlines
If you still file a paper return, it’s important to know the IRS’s “timely mailed = timely filed” rule: If your tax return is due April 15, it’s considered timely filed if it’s postmarked by midnight on April 15. But just because you drop your return in a mailbox on the 15th doesn’t mean you’re…
What Advice Should Small Business Owners Ignore?
The most important piece of counsel for an entrepreneur or small business owner is how to recognize when to ignore the advice you are being given. Though often well meaning, others can tell you exactly what you don’t need to hear. Here are the top five pieces of business advice you should ignore: 1.It is…
Four Phases of Wealth: Are Boomers Prepared to Retire?
With 8,000 people turning 65 every day in America, Baby Boomers are prepping for retirement. The question is whether or not they are financially prepared to do so. An understanding of the four phases of wealth will aid in preparing them to utilize their hard earned savings to the best of its potential. They are…
Can I claim my elderly parent as a dependent?
For you to deduct up to $3,900 on your 2013 tax return under the adult-dependent exemption, in most cases the parent must have less gross income for the tax year than the exemption amount. Generally Social Security is excluded, but payments from dividends, interest and retirement plans are included. In addition, you must have contributed…
Digital Device Data Storage Could Equal a Security Breach
A document management company, Cintas Corp., and the Ponemon Institute, a company that conducts independent research on privacy, data protection and information security policy, recently teamed up to identify a few commonly overlooked areas of risk for data security. With the cost of data breaches estimated at an average of $5.4 million per incident, businesses…
Your 2013 return may be your last chance for 2 depreciation-related breaks
If you purchased qualifying assets by Dec. 31, 2013, you may be able to take advantage of these depreciation-related breaks on your 2013 tax return: 1. Bonus depreciation. This additional first-year depreciation allowance is, generally, 50%. Among the assets that qualify are new tangible property with a recovery period of 20 years or less and…
Roth IRAs: An Alternate Route
Though high earners are not permitted to contribute directly to Roth IRA accounts, which offer tax-free income later on, there’s still a way in. Married couples who earn $191,000 or more and singles who earn $129,000 or more this year are ineligible to contribute directly to Roth IRAs, however, they are allowed to put money…
Penalty for Healthcare Non-Enrollment May Run Higher
According to the Tax Policy Center, the oft quoted $95 price tag for not having health insurance under the Affordable Care Act most likely will end up costing many households more than that, as this figure only applies to relatively low-income households. The Center recently rolled out the ACA Tax Penalty Calculator, which assists…
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October 19, 2023 - Lewis & Knopf, CPAs, P.C. Recognized as One of ‘Flint & Genesee’s Top 10 Employers’
October 2, 2023
