After much anticipation, on September 24, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has announced its long-awaited Final Overtime Rule to update the federal overtime regulations governing which employees are entitled to minimum wage and overtime pay under the federal wage and hour law by increasing the salary level required under the executive, administrative and professional (EAP) white-collar exemptions. The Final Overtime Rule is effective as of January 1, 2020.

The IRS has begun sending letters (Letters 6173, 6174, and 6174-A) to taxpayers who:

1. Potentially failed to report income and pay the resulting tax from virtual currency transactions
2. Did not properly report virtual currency transactions.

If reducing your taxable estate is an important estate planning goal, making lifetime charitable donations can help achieve that goal and benefit your favorite organizations. In addition, by making donations during your lifetime, rather than at death, you can claim income tax deductions. But some of your charitable deductions could be denied if you don’t follow IRS rules.

An S corporation 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 will receive S corporation stock through operation of your estate plan be eligible shareholders.

Asset protection (sometimes also referred to as debtor-creditor law) is a set of legal techniques and a body of statutory and common law dealing with protecting assets of individuals and business entities from civil money judgments. The goal of asset protection planning is to insulate assets from claims of creditors without perjury or tax evasion.

Just as people can get out of shape over the course of a stressful year, so can companies. Whether your business has experienced a rapid growth spurt – or perhaps been starved for sales or adequate capital – it can benefit from refocusing on three core objectives:

Instead of giving your grandchildren the latest tech gadget or cash they may blow through by New Year’s, consider financial gifts of lasting – even increasing- value. In many cases, these gifts can also provide tax advantages.

If you are a business owner, you may be wondering if you can pay bonuses in 2018, but deduct them in 2017.  Is it even possible?

The answer is Yes, but only if:

1. Your company uses  accrual-basis accounting.
2. The bonuses were earned in 2017 and are paid by march 15.
3. Bonus liability must be fixed by the end of 2017.

This process can be complicated, which is why you should talk to a experience CPA.

Do you 2018 plans include relocating or expanding your business into another location? As you start to look at space keep the following suggestions in mind:

Traditionally pensions may seem like relics from the past. But although few employers now offer these defined-benefit retirement plans to new hires, plenty of workers and retirees still count on them for retirement income.

Just look at this numbers.

Lower Manhattan, 1920. A rowdy crowd congregates where Broad Street meets Morris. One well-dressed gentlemen shouts orders to an office worker three stores above. A sketchier character talks up a Colorado gold mine to anyone who will listen. Some jokester hawks shares in cocker spaniel puppy – 10 cents apierce – while an apple-seller haggles with hungry customers.

Employee fraud is a significant problem faced by organizations of all sizes, types and industries. While we would all like to believe our employees are loyal and working for the benefit of the organization, unfortunately there are still many reasons why some employees may commit fraud.

Although tax season doesn’t officially begin until next week, it is important to get ready and file as early as possible to avoid any unneeded stress by using these tips to prepare for the 2017 tax season now.

Here are a few tips to prepare for Tax Season 2017

Why do I need to hire a CPA? This is a question we hear often, and in this blog we will provide you with 8 reasons why you should hire a certified public accountant.

CPAs act as advisers to individuals, businesses, financial institutions, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies on a wide range of financial matters.