Olga Mavrody, CPA

As California gets closer to wildfire season, there are some important things to think about in terms of accounting and tax records. Not only wildfires, but all disasters such as storms, floods, freezes, and hurricanes can damage or destroy vital business records. You need accounting and tax records not only to file your taxes (including claims for casualty losses), but to file insurance claims, bill clients, pay bills, obtain loans, deal with federal and state audits, deter...mine business cash flow and solvency, and otherwise continue in business. Record reconstruction after a disaster may not be as hard as you think. It’s likely that much critical tax and financial data is already backed up online in the cloud. For example, your accounting software may perform online backups automatically without you even being aware of it. Of course, not everything you need will be backed up online, particularly older items. Data on damaged or destroyed computer hard drives may be recoverable by experts. To the extent you lack online backups, you’ll have to get copies of vital records from your bank, clients and customers, landlord, insurer, and government agencies such as the IRS. After The IRS recommends you document a disaster loss by taking photographs or videos as soon after the disaster as possible. Before Also, check mobile phones or other cameras for pictures and videos before the disaster occurred. Be prepared for the next disaster. Back up and safely store online in the cloud your most critical data: major contracts and legal documents, tax returns and financial statements, and other critical business and customer documents. If you have any questions or need our assistance, please book a call today! #OLMAtax #OlgaMavrodyCPA #taxplanning #taxplan #LosGatos #taxes #taxconsultant #CPA #taxseason #2020tax #disasterpreparedness #disasterrecovery #taxbreaks #taxrelief #smallbusinessowner #smallbusinessbayarea #smallbusiness #taxtips #llc #taxadvisor #protect

Remember, on December 27, 2020, in an effort to help the restaurant industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic, lawmakers enacted a new, temporary 100 percent business meal deduction for calendar years 2021 and 2022. To qualify for the 100 percent deduction, you need a restaurant to provide you with the food or beverages. The IRS recently provided definitions and examples of what is and is not a restaurant.... A restaurant is a business that prepares and sells food or beverages to retail customers for immediate consumption, regardless of whether the food or beverages are consumed on the business’s premises. It is not any of the following: Grocery stores Specialty food stores Beer, wine, or liquor stores Drug stores Convenience stores Newsstands Vending machines or kiosks In general, the 50 percent limitation applies to business meals from the sources listed above. The restaurant creates the 100 percent deduction. If you would like to discuss your business meal activities, please book a call today! #OLMAtax #OlgaMavrodyCPA #food #taxconsultation #freemeals #restaurant #taxes #foodelivery #CPA #taxhelp #Taxplanner #ubereats #taxdeduction #2020tax #supportlocal #doordash #taxbreaks #grubhub #mealstogo #startup #llc #smallbusiness #smallbusinesstips #taxtips #deduction #smallbusinesssupport #smallbusinessowner #restaurantowners #taxadvice

Since 1986, lawmakers have limited business meal deductions: first to 80 percent, and then to 50 percent (unless an exception applies). But on December 27, 2020, in an effort to help the restaurant industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic, lawmakers enacted a new, temporary 100 percent business meal deduction for calendar years 2021 and 2022. To qualify for the 100 percent deduction, you need a restaurant to provide you with the food or beverages.... The law requires only that the restaurant provide the food and beverages. You don’t have to pay the money directly to the restaurant. For example, you qualify for the 100 percent deduction if you order a restaurant meal that’s delivered by Uber Eats or Grubhub. Your deductible business meals must be tax code Section 162 ordinary and necessary business expenses, and they must not be subject to disallowance under tax code Section 274. You must be present at the business meal, and you must provide the business meal to a person with whom you could reasonably expect to engage or deal with in the active conduct of your business, such as a customer, client, supplier, employee, agent, partner, or professional advisor, whether established or prospective. If you would like to discuss your business meal activities, please book a call today! #OLMAtax #OlgaMavrodyCPA #taxplanning #quickmeals #mealservice #taxes #grubhub #CPA #taxhelp #taxdeduction #2020tax #ubereats #taxrelief #smallbusinessbayarea #meal #startup #restaurants #smallbusiness #smallbusinesstips #taxtips #taxlaw #restaurantowner #businesslunch #taxadvice #lunchtime

Do you own business or investment property that has gone up in value? Would you like to acquire new property? If you sell the old property, you’ll have to pay tax on your profits. Don’t do that. Instead, do a tax-deferred Section 1031 transaction. With a properly constructed Section 1031 transaction, you... sell your old property, buy the replacement property pay no taxes To make this work, your first step is to engage a Section 1031 intermediary. Second, you need to buy a replacement property of equal or greater value than the property you sell. The Section 1031 exchange rules are complex and include strict deadlines for identifying and acquiring the property involved. To do this right, you need a qualified intermediary, which can be a bank, a lawyer, or a Section 1031 company. In the past, Section 1031 allowed both personal property and real property exchanges. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminated personal property exchanges, such as trading in your vehicle for a replacement. But real property exchanges remain. They are true tax-saving machines. And the new IRS regs make it clear that a Section 1031 transaction does not get in the way of cost segregation a method used to speed up depreciation on real property. If you would like to discuss the possible use of a Section 1031 transaction to upgrade your rental or business property portfolio, please book a call today! #OLMAtax #OlgaMavrodyCPA #taxplanning #taxconsultation #taxplan #taxes #realestatemarket #CPA #taxhelp #Taxplanner #taxguidance #taxlaw #2020tax #taxstrategy #propertyinvestment #taxtips #propertyinvestor #realestate #sellhomes #taxtips #taxlaw #bayarea #property #exchange #taxseason

As you likely know, in times of economic dislocation such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the self-employed get no special government help. For example, you generally do not receive benefits that employees get, such as unemployment and paid sick leave. But this time it’s different. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, you can qualify for the following benefits: 1 PPP money 2 EIDLs 3 Prior EIDL Advances. Check out our previous post for more details.... 4 New Targeted EIDL Advances. You might qualify for a Targeted EIDL Advance of up to $10,000 if (a) your business is located in a low-income community, and (b) you suffered a 30 percent reduction in revenue during an eight-week period beginning March 2, 2020, or later. Unlike EIDLs, Targeted EIDL Advances need not be paid back. They are tax-free government grants. 5 Sick and family leave tax credits. If you’re unable to work due to COVID-19, or if you need to care for a family member, you can qualify for refundable sick leave and family leave tax credits of up to $15,511 in 2020 and $17,511 in 2021. You can get up to $511 per day for 10 days if you’re sick. You can get up to $200 per day for 70 days if you need to care for others. These credits last through September 30, 2021. 6 ACA premium tax credits. Congress removed the subsidy cliff (400 percent of the federal poverty level) for 2020 and 2021. During these years, you need pay no more than 8.5 percent of your household income for ACA coverage. You are entitled to premium tax credits to the extent midlevel silver ACA coverage exceeds this amount. 7 Unemployment for the self-employed. For the first time ever, self-employed individuals may receive unemployment benefits. The Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program has been extended to September 6, 2021. You’ll qualify for unemployment only if you’re earning little or no income. If you have any questions or need our assistance, please book a call today! #OLMAtax #OlgaMavrodyCPA #taxplanning #taxplan #LosGatos #taxes #CPA #taxseason #ppp #benefits #2020tax #selfemployed #taxrelief #ppploan #startup #llc #smallbusiness #taxtips #unemployment #unemployed #covidrelief #taxadvisor #grants

No Offset of PPP for EIDL Advance Refunds Coming Before this new law, if you had both an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) advance and a PPP loan, your forgiveness amount was reduced by the EIDL advance. But the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act eliminates the offset rule for all PPP loans, even those previously forgiven, and requires the Small Business Administration (SBA) to set in motion rules for the lenders to return the EIDL adv...ance money to PPP borrowers who had the money deducted from their forgiveness. Moreover, the entire sum of EIDL and PPP monies is not taxable, and all expenses paid with the monies forgiven are deductible. Contact us with any questions you may have. Book your call today! #OLMAtax #OlgaMavrodyCPA #taxplanning #taxconsultation #taxplan #LosGatosCPA #taxes #taxconsultant #CPA #taxhelp #Taxplanner #taxguidance #taxdeduction #2020tax #taxstrategy #incometax #taxbreaks #taxrelief #PPP #PPPloan #eidl

On Tuesday, Georgia Democrats drew two inside straights and won their Georgia Senate races. The victories turn Georgia blue for the first time in generations. More importantly, they turn the Senate blue, by the thinnest possible margin. That shift, along with Team Blue’s continuing majority in the House of Representatives, means that incoming President Joe Biden has an actual shot at passing his tax proposal. Taxes are going up. It’s not just a possibility anymore, it’s a ...near-certainty. Here are some of the changes the Biden campaign has proposed. Raise the top marginal rate back up to 39.6% Raise rates on capital gains to that same 39.6% for taxpayers with AGIs over $1 million Add back the Social Security tax for earned income over $400,000 Reimpose phase-out on itemized deductions Limit the value of itemized deductions to 28% Scale back qualified business income deductions Raise the corporate rate back up to 28% These are going to make tax planning is extremely critical. It’s not enough to know how much you’ll owe under the new law. You want to know how to pay less. Do you still have the right business entities? Are your charitable plans still as tax-efficient as possible? Do your qualified plans still make sense? These are the sort of questions you’ll want answered. And we have the answers to that. Unlike most tax pros, we don’t just take education courses to keep up with the new rules, enter the newly learned numbers in the newly designed tax forms. And we don’t tell our clients, that they just have to pay the new higher taxes. We are not telling our clients to scrounge a little harder for some more lunch receipts. We are different and better. We are telling our clients how they can Opt. Out. Of. Higher. Taxes. 2021 has gotten off to a big start. The violence in Washington has already prompted a lot of people to say I signed up for the seven-day free trial, and I’m not sure I want to pay for the rest of the year. Obviously, we have to wait and see what actually passes in Washington before diving too deep into specifics. When tax hikes are knocking on the door, we’ll be here to help you keep the door shut.

The COVID-related Tax Relief Act of 2020 reiterates that your PPP loan forgiveness amount is not taxable income to you. Expenses paid with forgiven loan money are tax-deductible. You may remember that the IRS took the position that expenses paid with PPP loan forgiveness monies were not deductible. ... Lawmakers disagreed but were unable to get the IRS to change its position. The IRS essentially told lawmakers, If you want the expenses paid with a PPP loan to be deductible, change the law. And that’s precisely what lawmakers did. The expenses paid with monies from a forgiven PPP loan are now tax-deductible, and this change goes back to March 27, 2020, the date the CARES Act was enacted. If you would like our assistance with your forgiveness application, don’t hesitate to contact us! #OLMAtax #OlgaMavrodyCPA #taxplanning #taxconsultation #taxplan #LosGatosCPA #taxes #taxconsultant #CPA #taxhelp #Taxplanner #taxguidance #taxdeduction #2020tax #taxstrategy #incometax #taxbreaks #taxrelief #PPP #ppploan

Good news! The new Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) law enacted with the stimulus package adds dollars to your pockets if you have, had, or are going to apply for the first time for PPP money. The PPP money comes to you in what appears to be a loan. We say appears because you typically pay back a loan. The word loan makes some businesses leery of this arrangement. Don’t be. Done right, however, the PPP loan is 100% forgiven. ... And this remarkable deal applies to your past PPP loan, the PPP loan you have outstanding, and the PPP loan you are about to get if you have not had one before. Stay tuned for more details! #OLMAtax #OlgaMavrodyCPA #taxplanning #taxconsultation #taxplan #LosGatosCPA #taxes #taxconsultant #CPA #taxhelp #Taxplanner #taxguidance #taxdeduction #2020tax #taxstrategy #incometax #taxbreaks #taxrelief #PPP #ppploan

A new tax bill was introduced in Assembly in early December that would increase corporate taxes and incomes of people who make over $ 1 million a year. Interestingly, the bill mirrors the federal tax proposal from the President-Elect and follows the path of the AB 2088, the Wealth Tax bill, that died in a committee a week earlier. Assembly Bill 71 is vague on the corporate tax hikes. It proposes to increase the corporate income tax to historical high rates, create a mo...re progressive corporate income tax, eliminate or limit corporate tax loopholes. But it gets more specific on how it will affect residents with appreciated homes, investments, stock compensation, and inheritances. The bill would increase the personal income tax on incomes over $1 million and would mark to market unrealized capital gains and repeal step-up in basis inherited assets. Although the authors argue that the higher taxes will target the wealthier citizens, it is evident that it would impact many of the unwealthy by the California standards residents, who may inadvertently become subject to the higher tax appetites. You would be penalized for your investment portfolio growth or appreciation in the home you purchased a while ago. A chunk of the appreciation embedded in the inherited assets would also be taken away. Needless to say that anyone with a spike in employer stock compensation will start paying more. It’ll be curious to watch the fate of AB 71 as it moves into a committee come the new year. In the meantime, we are wondering how many Californians will choose to leave the state due to tax purposes. Contact us with any questions you may have. Book your call today! #OLMAtax #OlgaMavrodyCPA #taxplanning #taxconsultation #taxplan #LosGatosCPA #taxes #taxconsultant #CPA #taxhelp #Taxplanner #taxguidance #taxdeduction #2020tax #taxstrategy #incometax #taxbreaks #taxrelief #taxbill