The issue of reasonable owners’ compensation often comes up in federal tax inquiries. But it may also be an issue in shareholder disputes and divorce cases. For instance, minority shareholders or spouses of controlling shareholders may claim that an owner is taking an excessive salary, thereby impairing the value of the business. Alternatively, a nonowner-spouse [...]
The child credit has long been a valuable tax break. But, with the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) late last year, it’s now even better – at least for a while. Here are some details that every family should know. Amount And Limitations For the 2017 tax year, the child [...]
April 17 Besides being the last day to file (or extend) your 2017 personal return and pay any tax that is due, 2018 first quarter estimated tax payments for individuals, trusts and calendar-year corporations are due today. Also due are 2017 returns for trusts, calendar-year estates and C corporations, FinCEN Form 114 (Report for Foreign [...]
Virtually everyone has a credit and debit card these days. But many of us still live in fear of these plastic necessities because we’re not terribly familiar with the fine print of the arrangements under which they operate. Let’s get to know them a bit better. Credit Cards If you credit card is used [...]
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), signed into law this past December, affects more than just income taxes. It’s brought great changes to estate planning and, in doing so, bolstered the potential value of dynasty trusts. Exemption Changes Let’s start with the TCJA. It doesn’t repeal the estate tax, as had been discussed before [...]
We’ll be continuing the two-part series we started last month. Last month, we learned about getting QuickBooks ready for time-tracking by activating it in Preferences. We also created a record for a service item. This month, we’ll actually use that record in the two ways you’ll be using it in QuickBooks: to pay employees for [...]