Articles & Videos
CA Credit for New Home Purchase – Fund Running Out
CA Credit for New Home Purchase – Fund Running Out By Ron Cohen, CPA, MST Partner Greenstein, Rogoff, Olsen & Co., LLP California allows a nonrefundable credit against net tax equal to the lesser of 5% (.05) of the purchase price of the qualified principal residence or ten thousand dollars ($10,000). But only a limited amount…
More Work for Accountants! President Obama’s Corporate Tax Proposal
More Work for Accountants! President Obama’s Corporate Tax Proposal By Ron Cohen, CPA, MST Partner Greenstein, Rogoff, Olsen & Co., LLP In the White House summary of corporate tax proposals: http://media.npr.org/documents/2009/may/whitehouse_taxhavens.pdf At “Backgrounder” Article I. Sec. 1, it states: “Current Law Companies Can Defer Paying Taxes on Overseas Profits Until Later, While Taking Tax Deductions…
Deducting “Other” Business Expenses
Deducting “Other” Business Expenses The mysterious “other.” Some tax deductions are not mentioned by name on a tax form but can still be quite valuable to a taxpayer. If you own a trade or business, you can deduct a number of expenses under the broad category of “other.” In general, taxpayers may deduct ordinary and…
Tax Benefits of Owning a Home
Tax Benefits of Owning a Home Deducting mortgage interest In most cases, you can fully deduct your mortgage interest secured by your primary or secondary home. Beginning in 1987, mortgage interest to buy, build, or improve your home (acquisition debt) up to $1,000,000 or home equity loans up to $100,000 became tax deductible. Points (also known…
Popular Tax Credits for First-Time Homebuyers, Students and Those With Childcare
Popular Tax Credits for First-Time Homebuyers, Students and Those With Childcare By Victor Omelczenko 1/26/2009 Whether you’re looking to lower your tax bill or increase your refund, these IRS tips can help your bottom line. Tax credits can help pay the cost of raising a family, going to college, saving for retirement or getting day…
Profit From Your Children
Profit From Your Children Profit from your children? Making maximum use of your dependents can help slash your taxes significantly. “Dependents” generally mean your kids, but many of these gambits also work with low-income parents you might be assisting financially — even if they aren’t your dependents. Here are a few to consider. Hire your…
Myths About Trusts
Myths About Trusts Trusts are a dependable way to arrange for the management of family funds. Yet even financially sophisticated people settle for less satisfactory alternatives. Lack of knowledge isn’t the problem. It’s the assorted myths about trusts handed down over the years. Myth #1. Only the very rich use trusts. Because what the superrich…
Calculating Capital Gains Tax on the Sale of a Collectible
Calculating Capital Gains Tax on the Sale of a Collectible Uncle Sam takes a tax bite out of almost every asset sold and collectibles are no exception. Indeed, collectibles are currently subject to one of the highest rates of federal taxation on an investment property. Long term Capital gain from the sale of a collectible…
Don’t Get Scammed on Your 2015 Tax Return
Don’t Get Scammed on Your 2015 Tax Return By Alan Olsen, CPA, MBA (tax) Managing Partner Greenstein Rogoff Olsen & Co. LLP It’s tax season and for a lot of people that can be a very scary time of year. Some people will attempt to go it alone and use an online tax program, while…
Sales Tax Deduction Option, State and Local
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Sales Tax Deduction Option, State and Local The Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 extended the election to deduct state and local general sales taxes for 2006. The act was enacted after Schedule A (Form 1040), Itemized Deductions, and its instructions were printed. Because we were not able to include the instructions…
California Unitary Group of Corporations; Intercompany Distributions; Deferred Gain Tracking
California Unitary Group of Corporations; Intercompany Distributions; Deferred Gain Tracking New Form 3726 – Deadline Extended to 10/15/09 Unitary Groups must do more tracking in some cases. The Franchise Tax Board wants to make sure deferred intercompany gains don’t get lost over the years (and therefore, never taxed), so they are forcing taxpayers to provide…
2010 Tax Relief Act creates a 100% writeoff for heavy SUVs used entirely for business: HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]OLD RULE: A calendar year taxpayer bought a $50,000 heavy SUV in June of 2010 and used it 100% for business in 2010. It may write off $40,000 of the cost of the vehicle on its 2010 return, as follows: … $25,000 expensing deduction (Sec. 179(b)(6) Limit, see below under “History”), plus … $12,500 of…
Tax-wise Gifts for Loved Ones
Tax-wise Gifts for Loved Ones One of the great joys of parenting (or grand parenting) is watching your youngsters reach milestones, large and small. Nurturing these loved ones. Offering them the emotional and financial support that they need in order to thrive. From an estate planning perspective, making gifts is an excellent way to accomplish…
10 Things Every Taxpayer Needs to Know About the Pension Law
10 Things Every Taxpayer Needs to Know About the Pension Law The Pension Protection Act, signed into law on August 17, 2006, is designed to address the nation-wide problem of under-funded pension plans. The law penalizes noncompliant companies and encourages employee contributions, but many of the changes directly impact taxpayers of all ages, regardless of…
Planning for Retirement
Planning for Retirement Unfortunately, Social Security’s assets are being rapidly consumed and the number of workers supporting it is shrinking. For us, this means we will have to rely heavily on our personal savings when the time for retirement finally comes. While there are a number of options to help each of us create a…
Ten Tax Tips for Individuals Selling Their Home
Ten Tax Tips for Individuals Selling Their Home The Internal Revenue Service has some important information for those who have sold or are about to sell their home. If you have a gain from the sale of your main home, you may be able to exclude all or part of that gain from your income.…
Multitasking – Productivity Killer Or Time Saver?
Multitasking – Productivity Killer Or Time Saver? Multitasking can simply be defined as the ability to do more than one thing at a time. I often ask at my workshop if anyone in attendance prides themselves in being a great multitasker. This question is usually met with a few enthusiastic hands up. To be truthful,…
Steps to Prepare for Retirement
Steps to Prepare for Retirement U.S. Companies Can’t Continue Offering Adequate Pensions, AICPA Survey Reveals by Joel Allegretti April 27, 2006 The vast majority of CPAs serving as corporate CEOs, CFOs, Controllers and in other executive positions believe American companies can’t continue providing pensions that adequately cover their employees’ retirement years, according to the results…
Understanding the Importance of Time Management
Understanding the Importance of Time Management By Victor Ghebre Updated: 12/12/12 One of the most non-renewable resources most of us have in our lives is time. No matter how hard we work or how much we strive to accomplish time is always our enemy. However, learning to get a handle on time can be one…
Valuations
A business valuation determines the estimated market value of a business entity. A valuation estimates the complex economic benefits that arise from combining a group of physical assets with a group of intangible assets of the business as a going concern. The valuation, which is part art and part science, estimates the price that hypothetical…