Thanks to Alabama Act 2023-554 in the last legislative session, Alabama will start reducing the state’s portion of sales tax on food/groceries (“grocery tax”) on September 1, 2023 from 4% to 3%. In September 2024, the state’s portion will go from 3% to 2%, assuming the ETF grows by more than 3.5%. In total, that [...]
When you exchange real property used for business or held as an investment solely for other business or investment property that is the same type or “like-kind”, it is known as a like-kind exchange under United States tax law. It is also known as a 1031 exchange. The swap transactions, when structured properly, allows for [...]
The new SECURE 2.0 law creates a band-new tax credit for small businesses that encourages retirement saving by spouses of military personnel. Call to arms: A qualified employer with 100 or fewer employees last year is eligible for a $200 credit if a military spouse participates in a defined contribution plan such as a 401(k). [...]
First, Congress approved the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act in 2019, affecting qualified retirement plans and IRAs. Now the president has signed into law “SECURE Act 2.0” as part of a spending measure. Following are several key provisions in this new legislation. RMD age threshold: Generally, participants in qualified plans and [...]
What is the NIIT? It sounds like some sort of federal agency or maybe a new form of artificial intelligence. But actually NIIT stands for “net investment income tax.” This tax generally applies to higher-income taxpayers, but it could easily sneak up on others if they are not careful. Background: The NIIT is equal to [...]
A Section 529 plan is a tax-favored way to save for a child’s higher education. Now the new law called SECURE 2.0 provides an option for using 529 account funds for retirement savings. Background: Named after the tax code section authorizing its use, Section 529 plans are educational savings plans, generally operated by individual states, [...]
We recently did a podcast with Andrew Hudson, President of Pritchett-Moore, where we discussed a lot of construction/contractor-specific insurance and bonding needs. As part of that discussion, Andrew provided the following information to help new contractors understand the needs that bonding sureties will require from them.Financial Information: CPA Audit or Reviewed statements done on a [...]
Interest rates have gone up over the last few years. Saving grace: You may be able to deduct interest expenses depending on the type of expense incurred. Notably, there are four main categories for tax purposes. Mortgage interest: Generally, you can deduct mortgage interest paid during the year. To qualify, you must be legally obligated [...]
The Department of Labor recently finalized changes to the definition of a “large plan” for Form 5500 reporting purposes. Of course, qualifying as a “large plan” can require the plan to have an audit resulting in additional expenses associated with the plan. The changes will take effect for the 2023 plan year. A large [...]
As we have mentioned for the last two years in this blog, it is time to implement the new lease standards. Our Accounting and Audit heads Lynn Osborn and Dan Johnson take a deep dive into the new lease accounting standards for financial statements. For the standard nerds, that’s ASC 842. Topics include capital leases, which [...]