Ideas & Insight

IRAs and employer-sponsored plans such as 401(k)s are powerful retirement savings tools, but they also provide valuable estate planning benefits. If you hold a traditional IRA for life, for example, your children or other heirs can stretch out distributions over their lifetimes, maximizing the IRA’s tax-deferred growth and preserving more wealth for the family. If, […]

“Blockchain” may sound like something that goes on a vehicle’s tires in icy weather or that perhaps is part of that vehicle’s engine. Indeed it is a type of technology that may help drive business worldwide at some point soon — but digitally, not physically. No matter what your industry, now’s a good time to […]

Electronic transactions and internet-based accounts are convenient, but present an environment that is tempting to hackers. Here are 3 ways to protect yourself against bank fraud. Here’s how it happens: An ACH payment is made from your checking account or your credit card to a Paypal account for $1 to a (maybe fictitious) non-profit or […]

If you moved for work-related reasons in 2017, you might be able to deduct some of the moving costs on your 2017 return — even if you don’t itemize deductions. (Or, if your employer reimbursed you for moving expenses, that reimbursement might be excludable from your income.) The bad news is that, if you move […]

Many businesses hired in 2017, and more are planning to hire in 2018. If you’re among them and your hires include members of a “target group,” you may be eligible for the Work Opportunity tax credit (WOTC). If you made qualifying hires in 2017 and obtained proper certification, you can claim the WOTC on your […]

With rising health care costs, claiming whatever tax breaks related to health care that you can is more important than ever. But there’s a threshold for deducting medical expenses that may be hard to meet. Fortunately, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) has temporarily reduced the threshold. What expenses are eligible? Medical expenses may […]

S corporations must comply with several strict requirements or risk losing their tax-advantaged status. Among other things, they can have no more than 100 shareholders, can have no more than one class of stock and are permitted to have only certain types of shareholders. In an estate planning context, it’s critical that any trusts that […]

Have you seen news reports that hackers are now targeting CPA firms? Not to worry! Hare CPAs provides several layers of security to ensure that your tax data is safe: • Our wi-fi network is password protected and is an independent network. (Your data cannot be accessed through our wi-fi). • We have access controls on […]

If you’re planning on buying a home that you one day wish to pass on to your adult children, a joint purchase can reduce estate tax liability, provided the children have sufficient funds to finance their portion of the purchase. With the gift and estate tax exemption now set at an inflation-adjusted $10 million thanks […]

Are you a high-income small-business owner who doesn’t currently have a tax-advantaged retirement plan set up for yourself? A Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) may be just what you need, and now may be a great time to establish one. A SEP has high contribution limits and is simple to set up. Best of all, there’s […]