Schaller & Blatt, Inc

US tax filing deadline moved to July 15. Americans will have an additional three months to file their taxes amid the coronavirus pandemic, the US treasury secretary said on Friday. All taxpayers and businesses will have this additional time to file and make payments without interest or penalties.... If you have any questions, please contact our office at (818)789-6008.

Happy New Year! Here are a few important Payroll & HR updates in effect as of January 1st: 1. Minimum Wage in California is now $11/hour for employers with less than 25 employees, and $12/hour for employers with more than 25 employees. Many cities like Los Angeles already have a higher minimum wage requirement. ... 2. In 2019, California employers with 5 or more employees are required to implement at least 1 hour of mandatory sexual harassment prevention training for every employee (2 hours for all managers or supervisors). 3. Exempt Employee Minimum Salary for California employers with 25 or fewer employees is now $45,760 per year, or $880 per week. For employers with 26 or more employees, the minimum is $49,920 per year, or $960 per week. 4. The maximum 401K contribution increased to $19,000 in the new year. Catch up contributions for employees age 50+ remain the same at $6000. 5. For higher earners, the wage base limit for Social Security taxes has increased from $128,400 to $132,900. Please contact us if you have any questions or need to set up an appointment.

What the Coronavirus Stimulus Package Means for You Today, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES) a $2 trillion stimulus package to provide financial relief to individuals, families and businesses was signed into law. The 2020 coronavirus stimulus package will deliver relief through a range of measures, including an advanced tax rebate to taxpayers. Stimulus Checks for Individuals and Joint Taxpayers...Continue reading

For those looking for information on stimulus payments, #IRS will share it as soon as it’s available. In the meantime, there’s no need to sign up for anything Just make sure you’ve filed a 2018 or 2019 tax return

In California, individuals will have until June 15 to both file and pay their state taxes.

US tax filing deadline moved to July 15. Americans will have an additional three months to file their taxes amid the coronavirus pandemic, the US treasury secretary said on Friday. All taxpayers and businesses will have this additional time to file and make payments without interest or penalties.... If you have any questions, please contact our office at (818)789-6008.

Happy New Year! Here are a few important Payroll & HR updates in effect as of January 1st: 1. Minimum Wage in California is now $11/hour for employers with less than 25 employees, and $12/hour for employers with more than 25 employees. Many cities like Los Angeles already have a higher minimum wage requirement. ... 2. In 2019, California employers with 5 or more employees are required to implement at least 1 hour of mandatory sexual harassment prevention training for every employee (2 hours for all managers or supervisors). 3. Exempt Employee Minimum Salary for California employers with 25 or fewer employees is now $45,760 per year, or $880 per week. For employers with 26 or more employees, the minimum is $49,920 per year, or $960 per week. 4. The maximum 401K contribution increased to $19,000 in the new year. Catch up contributions for employees age 50+ remain the same at $6000. 5. For higher earners, the wage base limit for Social Security taxes has increased from $128,400 to $132,900. Please contact us if you have any questions or need to set up an appointment.

LEGAL ALERT - Contractor Apocalypse: California Supreme Court Adopts Broad New Misclassification Test Under the new ABC test, a worker is considered an employee under the Wage Orders unless the hiring entity establishes all three of these prongs: 1. the worker is free from the control and direction of the hirer in connection with the performance of the work, both under the contract for the performance of such work and in fact; 2. the worker performs work that is outside the... usual course of the hiring entity’s business; and 3. the worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, or business of the same nature as the work performed for the hiring entity. This decision not only expands the definition of employee under the California Wage Orders, it also imposes an affirmative burden on companies to prove that independent contractors are being properly classified. See more

Taxpayers can expect many of their cherished deductions for charitable contributions, family members, and state and local taxes to go away under the Senate tax reform legislation. For Tax advice, call us at (818)789-6008

At nearly 500 pages and counting, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Bill (H.R. 1) is the first significant tax reform effort undertaken by Congress in more than 30 years. If the proposed tax reform becomes legislation, these tax changes will affect everyone from individual taxpayers to business owners and educational institutions. Call us at (818)789-6008 to schedule a consultation

The Internal Revenue Service today warned taxpayers to watch out for fake emails or websites looking to steal personal information. These phishing schemes continue to be on the annual IRS list of Dirty Dozen tax scams for the 2017 filing season.

Form W-2 Scam Targets Payroll, Human Resource Departments The Internal Revenue Service, state tax agencies and the tax industry this week renewed their warning about an email scam in which the scammer poses as a corporate officer to request employee Forms W-2 from company payroll or human resource departments.

Getting a Tax Refund this year? Five Reasons to Choose Direct Deposit Easy, safe and fast that’s direct deposit. It’s the best way to get a tax refund. Eighty percent of taxpayers choose it every year. The IRS knows taxpayers have a choice of how to receive their refunds.... IRS Direct Deposit: 1. Is Fast. The quickest way for taxpayers to get their refund is to electronically file their federal tax return and use direct deposit. Use IRS Free File to prepare and e-file federal returns for free. Use direct deposit for paper tax returns, too. 2. Is Secure. Since refunds go right into a bank account, there’s no risk of having a paper check stolen or lost in the mail. This is the same electronic transfer system used to deposit nearly 98 percent of all Social Security and Veterans Affairs benefits into millions of accounts. 3. Is Convenient. There’s no need to wait for a refund check to come in the mail. 4. Is Easy. Choosing direct deposit is easy. With e-file, just follow the instructions in the tax software. For paper returns, the tax form instructions serve as a guide. Make sure to enter the correct bank account and routing number. 5. Has Options. Taxpayers can split a refund into several financial accounts. These include checking, savings, health, education and certain retirement accounts. The U.S. Treasury Department offers a retirement account. It’s called a MyRA account. Designate all or a part of a refund to a new MyRA account. Simply mark the savings box in the refund section of the return. Use IRS Form 8888, Allocation of Refund (including Savings Bond Purchases), to deposit a refund in up to three accounts. Do not use Form 8888 to designate part of a refund to pay tax preparers. Have any questions? Contact us via email or phone and we will be happy to answer any questions you have this tax season.