Ideas & Insight

If you’re planning your estate, or you’ve recently inherited assets, you may be unsure of the “cost” (or “stepped-up basis”) for tax purposes. The current rules Under the current fair market value basis rules (also known as the “step-up and step-down” rules), an heir receives a basis in inherited property equal to its date-of-death value. […]

No matter the size or shape of a business, one really can’t overstate the importance of sound accounts receivable policies and procedures. Without a strong and steady inflow of cash, even the most wildly successful company will likely stumble and could even collapse. If your collections aren’t as efficient as you’d like, consider these five […]

There’s a harsh tax penalty that you could be at risk for paying personally if you own or manage a business with employees. It’s called the “Trust Fund Recovery Penalty” and it applies to the Social Security and income taxes required to be withheld by a business from its employees’ wages. Because taxes are considered […]

Do you have significant investment-related expenses, including the cost of subscriptions to financial services, home office expenses and clerical costs? Under current tax law, these expenses aren’t deductible through 2025 if they’re considered investment portfolios expenses for the production of income. But they’re deductible if they’re considered trade or business expenses. For years before 2018, […]

The IRS just released its audit statistics for the 2020 fiscal year and fewer taxpayers had their returns examined as compared with prior years. But even though a small percentage of returns are being chosen for IRS audits these days, that will be little consolation if yours is one of them. Latest statistics Overall, just […]

Are you eligible to take the pass-through deduction for qualified business income (QBI)? Here are 10 facts about this valuable tax break, referred to as the pass-through deduction, QBI deduction or Section 199A deduction. It’s available to owners of sole proprietorships, single member limited liability companies (LLCs), partnerships and S corporations. It may also be […]

As mitigation measures related to COVID-19 ease, it will be interesting to see which practices and regulatory changes taken in response to the pandemic remain in place long-term. One of them might be relief from a sometimes-inconvenient requirement related to the administration of 401k plans. A virtual solution In IRS Notice 2021-40, the IRS recently […]

Married couples may not be able to save as much as they need for retirement when one spouse doesn’t work outside the home — perhaps so that spouse can take care of children or elderly parents. In general, an IRA contribution is allowed only if a taxpayer earns compensation. However, there’s an exception involving a […]

Among the only certainties of business technology is that it will continue changing. One consequence of this is a regular need for companies to undertake IT projects such as developing custom software or upgrading network infrastructure. Much like a physical construction job, IT projects often look eminently feasible on “paper” but may get bogged down […]

The Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) is a valuable tax break that was extended and modified by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), enacted in March of 2021. Here’s a rundown of the rules. Background Back in March of 2020, Congress originally enacted the ERTC in the CARES Act to encourage employers to hire and […]