Contractors CPA

Blockchain has existed for more than a decade, yet it still beckons businesses with promises of efficient, secure transactional technology. Blockchain is a distributed, shared digital ledger that’s continuously copied and synchronized. The ledger isn’t housed on a central server or controlled by one party. Rather, transactions are added to the ledger only when verified through established consensus protocols. Third-party verification makes blockchain highly resistant to errors, tampering or fraud. Blockchain is already proving useful to businesses in various ways, including generating smart contracts and demonstrating service of process in legal proceedings. Contact us for more info.

COVID-19 has caused widespread furloughs and layoffs. Fortunately, employers that keep workers on their payrolls are eligible for a refundable Employee Retention Tax Credit, which was extended and enhanced in the latest law. Under the CARES Act, the credit only covered wages paid between March 13, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2020. The new law extends the covered wage period to include the first two calendar quarters of 2021. In addition, for the first two quarters of 2021 ending on June 30, the new law increases the overall covered wage ceiling to 70% of qualified wages paid during the applicable quarter (versus 50% under the CARES Act). These are just some of the changes. Contact us with questions.

If you or your child attends (or plans to attend) college, you may be eligible for tax breaks to help foot the bill. The new Consolidated Appropriations Act made some changes. The law repeals the Tuition and Fees Deduction for 2021 and later years. In addition, for 2021 and beyond, the new law aligns the income phase-out rule for the Lifetime Learning Credit (LLC) with the more favorable phase-out rule for the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC). The LLC can be worth up to $2,000 per tax return annually while the AOTC can be worth up to $2,500 per student each year. Talk with us about which tax credit is the most beneficial in your situation. Each has its own requirements.

One item of interest for small business owners in the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) is the availability of a second loan from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The recently enacted CAA permits some small businesses who received a PPP loan to take out a PPP Second Draw Loan of up to $2 million. To qualify, you must employ no more than 300 employees per physical location, have used or will use the full amount of your first PPP loan, and demonstrate at least a 25% reduction in gross receipts during any quarter of 2020 (as compared with the same quarter in 2019). Additional rules apply. Contact us with any questions you might have about PPP loans.

The passive activity loss rules affect business ventures you’re engaged in or might engage in. If the ventures are passive activities, the passive activity loss rules prevent you from deducting expenses that are generated by them in excess of their income. You can’t deduct the excess expenses (losses) against earned income or against other nonpassive income. Nonpassive income for this purpose includes interest, dividends, annuities, royalties, gains and losses from most property dispositions, and income from certain oil and gas property interests. There are different rules for rental activities. Contact us if you’d like to discuss how these rules apply to your business.

If you invest in mutual funds, there are potential pitfalls involved in buying and selling shares. For example, you may already have made taxable sales of part of your mutual fund without knowing it. One way this can happen is if your mutual fund allows you to write checks against your fund investment. If you write a check against your mutual fund account, you’ve made a partial sale of your interest in the fund (except for funds such as money market funds, for which share value remains constant). Thus, you may have taxable gain (or a deductible loss) when you write a check. And each such sale is a separate transaction that must be reported on your tax return. Contact us with questions.

The sudden impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in March forced every business owner, ready or not, to execute his or her disaster response plan. How did yours do? Now’s a good time to review it while the experience is fresh in your mind. Identify all distinctive threats (including, now, a pandemic) related to your industry, size, location(s), and products or services. Look back at whether and how your business was able to communicate in the initial months of the crisis. Which methods were most and least effective? Is new technology needed? Commit to revisiting your plan at least annually as well as to keeping your staff fully aware of it. Contact us for assistance and further information.

IRS audit rates are historically low, according to the latest data, but that’s little consolation if your return is selected. But with proper preparation and planning, you should fare well. But it helps to know what might catch the attention of the IRS. For example, some audit red flags are unusually high deductions, major inconsistencies between previous years’ tax returns and the current one, profit margins and expenses markedly different from those of similar businesses. The IRS normally has three years within which to conduct an audit. If the IRS selects you for an audit, we can help you understand the issues, gather the needed documents and respond to the inquiries effectively.

Oct. 15 is the deadline for individual taxpayers who extended their 2019 tax returns. If you’re finally done filing last year’s return, you might wonder: Which tax records can you toss once you’re done? Now is a good time to go through old tax records and see what you can discard. A common rule of thumb is to keep tax records for at least six years from filing, after which the IRS generally no longer can audit your return or assess additional taxes, even if your income was understated. But hang on to certain records longer including the tax returns themselves, W-2 forms and records related to real estate, investments and retirement accounts.

Sales staffs have been under unprecedented pressure this year. The COVID-19 pandemic triggered economic changes that made many buyers cut back on spending. With the economy slowly recovering, here are four steps your salespeople can follow to improve their odds of success: 1) Qualify prospects methodically so sales staffers focus most or all their time on those most likely to buy, 2) Ask the right questions, based on research, to identify a prospect’s specific needs, 3) Proactively identify and address objections during sales calls to eliminate unpleasant surprises at closing, and 4) Above all, present a solution that fixes a problem or helps achieve a goal. Contact us for more info.

Do you buy or lease computer software to use in your business? Do you develop software for use in your business, or for sale or lease to others? You should be aware there are complex rules that may apply to determine the tax treatment of the expenses. The rules depend on whether the software is purchased, leased or developed by your business. For example, you must deduct amounts you pay to rent leased software in the tax year they’re paid, if you’re a cash-method taxpayer, or the tax year for which the rentals are accrued, if you’re an accrual-method taxpayer. We can assist you in applying the tax rules for treating computer software costs in the way that is most advantageous for you.

If you file a joint tax return with your spouse, you should be aware of your individual liability. And if you’re getting divorced, you should know that there may be relief available if the IRS comes after you for certain past-due taxes. When a married couple files jointly, each spouse is liable for the tax on their combined income. That means the IRS can come after either spouse to collect the entire tax, penalties and interest, not just the part that’s attributed to that spouse. In some cases, spouses are eligible for innocent spouse relief. Generally, they were unaware of a tax understatement that was attributable to the other spouse. Contact us if you want to try and obtain relief.

Mobile devices have become the constant companions of today’s employees, a relationship only further cemented by the COVID-19 pandemic. But convenience brings risk. In the current economy, thieves may be trying harder to snatch technological assets. And a stolen or hacked device means hackers could gain possession of sensitive, confidential data about your company, customers and employees. To better protect your mobile tech, consider standardizing product types and operating systems. Also, enforce strict policies that include power-on passwords and regular password changes. Set data storage limits, limit personal use and keep security software updated as well. Contact us for more info.

The business use of websites is widespread. But determining the proper tax treatment for the costs involved in developing a website can be difficult. The IRS hasn’t yet released formal guidance on when website costs can be deducted, so you must apply existing guidance that’s available on other costs to the issue of website development costs. The exact treatment of website design costs depends on whether they’re software or hardware and whether they’re part of a start-up business. If you hire third parties to set up and run your website, payments are currently deductible as ordinary and necessary business expenses. Contact us if you have questions or want to plan for website costs.

The current federal estate tax exemption ($11.58 million in 2020) means that many people aren’t concerned with estate tax. But they should still plan to save income taxes. For example, be careful making lifetime transfers of appreciated assets. It’s true that the assets and future appreciation generated by them are removed from your estate. But the gift carries a potential income tax cost because the recipient receives your basis upon transfer. He or she could face capital gains tax on the sale of the gifted property in the future. If the appreciated property is held until death, under current law, the heir will get a step-up in basis that will reduce or wipe out the capital gains tax.

The IRS recently announced special per diem rates that can be used to substantiate business expenses incurred for travel away from home on or after October 1, 2020. Employers using these rates to set per diem allowances can treat the amount of certain categories of travel expenses as substantiated without requiring employees to prove the actual amount spent. For travel within the continental United States, employers can use the optional high-low method for substantiating lodging, meals and incidental expenses, or for substantiating meal and incidental expenses only. The per diem rules can greatly simplify the process of substantiating business travel expenses. Contact us for more info.

Here are a few key tax-related deadlines for businesses and other employers during Quarter 4 of 2020. OCT. 15: If you’re the owner or operator of a calendar-year C corp. which filed an extension, file a 2019 income tax return. NOV. 2: Report income tax withholding and FICA taxes for Q3 2020 (unless you’re eligible for a Nov. 10 deadline because you deposited on time (and in full) all of the associated taxes due). DEC. 15: If a calendar-year C corp., pay the fourth installment of 2020 estimated income taxes. Contact us for more about the filing requirements and to ensure you’re meeting all applicable deadlines.