Home Ownership Comes With Tax Breaks

Your house can provide you with more than just shelter. It can provide you with some significant tax breaks if you itemize deductions. Learn more about the most common tax deductions your home can deliver. MORTGAGE INTEREST To be deductible, mortgage interest can be for your first and second home. However, only interest on $750,000 … Read more

Estate Planning Checklist

Estate planning is the process that allows you to designate what happens to your assets when you become incapacitated or die. Using a checklist can help you get started. 1. TAKE INVENTORY Make a complete list of all your assets. While you’ll want to include the obvious ones like your home and bank accounts, don’t … Read more

Deducting Business Meals – COVID-19 Relief Update

Executive Summary The recently passed Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021 expands the deduction for business meals from 50% to 100% for years 2021 and 2022, if the meal is provided by a restaurant. What exactly is a business meal? Fortunately, the IRS recently provided a fairly concise answer to this question in Treasury Decision 9925. T.D. … Read more

January 2021 Question and Answer

Question: I worked as a ride share driver for the first time in 2020. What will I have to pay tax on? Answer: Ride share drivers have to pay tax on the total income they receive from the ride share service, less all applicable deductions. You’ll be able to deduct your ride share mileage at … Read more

January 2021 Short Bits

MORE DEDUCTIONS According to the IRS, nearly 88% of taxpayers claimed the standard deduction in 2018. This is up from 68% in 2017. The increase is likely attributed to the increase in the standard deduction in 2018, thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which increased the standard deduction from $6,350 in 2017 to … Read more

2021 Tax Law Changes

Happy New Year! We have made it through an unbelievable 2020 and are now ready to start planning for 2021. Here are some highlights for the 2021 Tax Year: The standard deduction and tax brackets for individuals have increased: 2021 Standard Deduction 2021 Tax Brackets The following Tax Credits have increased: The Earned Income Tax … Read more

A Proactive Way to Protect Your Tax-Related Identity

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) launched the Identity Protection (IP) PIN program nearly a decade ago to protect confirmed identity theft victims against ongoing tax-related fraud. Now, the voluntary program is open to any taxpayer who wants to be proactive in protecting themselves from tax-related identity theft.   The IP PIN is a six-digit number … Read more

Get Prepared

Now’s the time to get your company’s books ready for tax time. Your tax preparer may have a checklist to help you get organized. Start by reconciling your accounts as of December 31. If you owe any 1099s to independent contractors, you have until the end of January to get those out and don’t forget … Read more

Changes To Cares Act Employee Retention Credit

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 is a bipartisan bill that was passed by both houses of Congress on December 21, 2020. It was the first bill to address issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic since April 2020. President Trump signed it into law on December 27, 2020. There are many features to this law. This … Read more

Build Lasting Relationships With a Loyalty Program

Do you know that it costs five times more to attract a new customer, than it does to retain an existing one?* That is just one reason why companies focus their efforts on customer retention. THE VALUE OF CUSTOMERS According to research conducted by Bain and Company, current customers are 50% more likely to try … Read more