On July 31, 2015, the President signed the “Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015” (the Highway Act) into law, providing a three-month extension of the general expenditure authority for the Highway Trust Fund (HTF). Part of the HTF extension was paid for by changes to tax compliance provisions, the most [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
TIPS FOR BUSINESSES THAT OUTSOURCE PAYROLL DUTIES Many employers outsource their payroll and related tax duties to third-party payers such as payroll service providers and reporting agents (often referred to as service bureaus). Reputable payable service bureaus can help employers streamline their business operations by collecting and timely depositing payroll taxes on the employer’s behalf [...]