News

Husband-Wife Partnerships: The Tax Angles When both members of a married couple participate in an unincorporated business venture, must it be treated as a husband-wife partnership for federal tax purposes? Answer: maybe, or maybe not. Figuring out the answer is important because it can have a huge impact on...

COVID-19: Tax Season Delayed Until July 15 – Wait or File Now? As you know, the COVID-19 pandemic has shut down much activity in the United States. The IRS decided to use its authority in a national emergency to postpone certain tax return filings and payments. This change affects...

Does California’s AB 5 Turn Your Contractors into Employees? The new California AB 5 law is upsetting to both (a) employers and (b) independent contractors for the following reasons: • Employers who hire independent contractors save on Social Security taxes, Medicare taxes, employment taxes, unemployment taxes, and paid vacation...

COVID-19: CARES Act Allows $100,000 Tax-Free IRA Grab and Repay COVID-19-Related Distributions from IRAs Get Tax-Favored Treatment If you are an IRA owner who has been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, you are probably eligible to take tax-favored distributions from your IRA(s). For brevity, let’s call these allowable...

Beat the Unfair $10,000 SALT Cap with a C Corporation C corporations cause double taxation for business owners, so you probably think you want to avoid them at all costs. And for many of you, this is true, as the S corporation often provides the lower overall tax outcome....

COVID-19 pandemic – SBA Relief / Loans The COVID-19 pandemic has upended all aspects of life around the world, including the world of business here in the U.S. If your business is struggling, you may be able to get some help from the federal Small Business Administration (SBA), which...

Dealing With Deposits in Quickbooks Recording payments, whether they come in to comply with an invoice you sent or are issued as sales receipts, is one of the more satisfying tasks you do in QuickBooks. The sales cycle is almost complete, and you’re about to have more money in...

Reporting Tip Income: The Basics The short answer is yes, tips are taxable. If you work at a hair salon, barbershop, casino, golf course, hotel, or restaurant, or drive a taxicab, then the tip income you receive as an employee from those services is taxable income. Here are a...

New Tax Law Affects Tax-Exempt Organizations The Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act, passed on December 20, 2019, includes several provisions that may apply to tax-exempt organizations’ current and previous tax years. As such, tax-exempt organizations should understand how these recent tax law changes might affect them. With...

Form 8962: Reconciling the Premium Tax Credit Form 8962, Premium Tax Credit, reconciles 2019 advance payments of the premium tax credit and may also affect a taxpayer’s ability to get advance payments of the premium tax credit or cost-sharing reductions. Taxpayers who don’t file and reconcile their 2019 advance credit...

Tax Treatment of State and Local Tax Refunds The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), enacted in December 2017, limited the itemized deduction for state and local taxes to $5,000 for a married person filing a separate return and $10,000 for all other tax filers. The limit applies to...

Home Equity Loan Interest Still Deductible The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has resulted in questions from taxpayers about many tax provisions including whether interest paid on home equity loans is still deductible. The good news is that despite newly enacted restrictions on home mortgages, taxpayers can often still...