The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017—passed almost two years ago—continues to have a significant impact on year-end planning in 2019. Many of the changes in the TCJA for individuals are effective for 2018 through 2025. Accordingly, consider these six strategies for reducing your personal tax bill this year. Manage securities transactions. Depending [...]
The retirement plan limits for 2020 have been released. The 401(k) and SIMPLE IRA deferral limits increased, along with the catch-up contributions for 401(k), maximum plan compensation, the annual addition limit and the taxable wage base. Other limits, such as the contribution limit for personal IRAs, catch-up contributions for both SIMPLE IRAs and personal [...]
We get asked a lot of questions about IRAs, and their required minimum distributions or RMDs. So Mindy Norton with our JMF Pension Consulting group provided the following synopsis to help explain. As an individual, you are required to begin taking minimum distributions from your traditional IRA in the year in which you turn [...]
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) created some new tax breaks for businesses while taking certain others away. But the TCJA did not touch the research credit for qualified expenses. What’s more, under another recent law, the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act, the benefits have been enhanced. Background: The research credit, also [...]
Are you planning to take out a home equity loan to pay for home improvements? Unfortunately, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) cracks down on mortgage interest deductions for home equity loans, among other changes. However, if you play your cards right, you may have an ace in the hole. How it works: Due [...]
Congress passed the “Taxpayer First Act” in late June. This new groundbreaking legislation creates an independent office of appeals within the IRS, modernizes IRS operations and improves cyber security measures. The new law also expands safeguards addressing ID theft of taxpayers. But this is likely not the end of the story. Most experts believe [...]
Recently released IRS form 8995 instructions indicate that taxpayers filing business returns must reduce qualified business income by charitable deductions. A reduction in qualified business income reduces the potential qualified business income deduction. Although this provision is not in the Section 199A regulations, the reduction in qualified business income can be avoided by making [...]
Are you caught between the needs of young children and elderly relatives like your parents? If so, you are part of the growing segment of the population known as the “sandwich generation.” In particular, it may be difficult to care for loved ones as they grow older and require more care. To compound the problems, [...]
Do you need to make repairs to your business premises or equipment? It can make a big tax difference if the work is characterized as a “repair” or an “improvement.” In brief, a repair is currently deductible by your business, while the cost of an improvement must be written off over time. The IRS and [...]
Lease Accounting The FASB has approved a one year deferral for implementation for nonpublic companies. This deferral effectively pushes the new requirement to record assets and liabilities for certain operating leases until 2021 for calendar year financial statements. Revenue Recognition As a reminder, the changes to revenue recognition are still effective this year for nonpublic [...]