The fiscal cliff in graphic form

Road warning sign on fiscal cliff

Hollywood’s Friday the 13th and Freddy Kruger can’t begin to compare to how scary this picture promises to be. Coming to a country (very) near you on January 1, 2013. Clients can E-mail us for a special video presentation with specific details on what’s involved. We’ve also compiled a listing of helpful articles which can…

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Specific info on the Fiscal Cliff

  Detailed information of the peaks and valleys of the Fiscal Cliff Our last newsletter (see this link) contained general information and warnings about the financial and tax disaster referred to by the media as the “fiscal cliff.” We’ve been deluged with requests for more specific details on the effects of this scheduled legislation. Remember,…

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The Dark Knight vs. H&R Block

Bruce Wayne (aka Batman) may be out to get Block (H & R), not the villainous Bain. Seems like  H&R  did a tax return comparison between the  wealthy  Mr. Wayne and a competing super-hero and made a 17- million- dollar mistake on his tax projection. In the first calculation (now pulled from their website) Block had Bruce Wayne reducing…

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Is there a way to deduct my political donation?

Voter dropping ballot into box

  Is there a way to deduct a political donation?  The answer may surprise you.     More than most tax questions, the answer to this one really is – “It depends.” It depends upon whether the  donation was given to: a social welfare  group, a trade association, a PAC, a so-called Super PAC, or…

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Breaking tax news for 2013!

IRS just announced the new (and higher) limits on 401(k) plans etc. Here’s a summary for use in 2013 tax planning.   The  inflation-adjustments for 2013 include: Gift Tax Exemption:  $14,000 (up $1,000 from 2012) Contribution Limit for 401(k)/403(b)/457 Plans:  $17,500 (up $500 from 2012) Catch-Up Contribution Limit (Age 50+) for 401(k)/403(b)/457 Plans:  $5,500 (same as 2012)…

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A Tale of Two Tax Plans

With apologies to Charles Dickens, here’s an easy to understand graphic of how the upcoming tax plans measure up. Source: www.backtaxeshelp.com

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Back to School, Back to Practice: What You Need to Know About Your Insurance as a Volunteer Coach

As children return to school across the country, families know that can also mean a return to the practice field, whether through school sports teams or community sports programs and often parents may find themselves on the sidelines as a volunteer coach. It can be especially rewarding to teach children the skill sets of a…

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Your Cheating Chart (from the Journal of Accountancy)

Graph chart on investments

To paraphrase the country western song, your cheating chart is going to tell on you! Fellow CPA Carlton Collins shows common ways that data presentation via charts can be unethically manipulated to change the reader’s conclusions Don’t be fooled by government (or other) data that sounds too good to be true. Learn to be discerning…

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How to send us your documents – It’s safe and easy

[Editor’s Note]- We’ve changed the look of the client portals after the date of this post. The portals are now in a facebook-type look and feel and are much easier to navigate. We’ve replaced the old video with an updated one of your humble CPA’s demonstrating how to upload your data. After you send us…

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How to avoid payroll taxes

Wouldn’t it be helpful with your company’s cash flow if you could just not remit the social security and medicare withholding taxes? We don’t recommend this as a strategy but, according to the US Inspector General, it’s working pretty well for some Federal agencies. These Federal agencies owe over 14 million of back payroll taxes…

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