UNNEEDED LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES COULD BE A SIGNIFICANT SOURCE OF CASH Besides providing loved ones with a source of funds for income replacement in the event of an untimely death of the family’s breadwinner(s), people buy life insurance for a variety of reasons: To fund a buy-sell agreement or key person insurance for a business. [...]
Identifying Charities Eligible to Receive Tax Deductible Contributions If you’re counting on a federal income tax deduction for donating to a charity, you should confirm that the charity has been approved by the IRS as a tax-exempt organization eligible to receive deductible contributions. For some charities, this is easy-everybody knows the American Red Cross, the [...]
DEDUCTING MEDICALLY NECESSARY HOME IMPROVEMENTS Individuals can claim medical tax deductions for the cost of special equipment installed in a home, or for home improvements, if the main purpose is to accommodate the individual’s, spouse’s, or dependents’ medical needs. Medically required home improvements that would not ordinarily be for medical care are deductible only to [...]
2015 HSA AMOUNTS Health savings accounts (HSAs) were created as a tax-favored framework to provide health care benefits mainly for small business owners, the self-employed, and employees of small-to medium-sized companies who do not have access to health insurance. The tax benefits of HSAs are quite substantial. Eligible individuals can make tax-deductible (as an adjustment [...]
CORPORATE ANNUAL MEETINGS ARE IMPORTANT Generally, one of the requirements for maintaining a corporation’s existence (and the liability protection that it affords) is that the shareholders and Board of Directors must meet at least annually. Although most people view this requirement as a necessary evil, it doesn’t have to be a waste of time. For [...]
Customize QuickBooks’ Reports, Make Better Business Decisions QuickBooks simplifies and speeds up your daily accounting work, but you’re missing out on valuable insight if you don’t tailor your report data. Do you remember why you started using QuickBooks? You may have simply wanted to produce sales forms and record payments electronically. Gradually, you expanded your [...]