Many businesses support their communities by donating to local charities. Although there are plenty of nonprofits that deserve your support, some exist solely to facilitate fraud. How can you avoid the latter? Familiarize yourself with the deceptive tactics scammers use and carefully screen charities for legitimacy — before you write a check. Branding tricks Fraud […]
Congratulations Marijane Kantzabedian, CPA and Jun Wang, CPA on being nominated for CalCPA Women to Watch Awards! Each of these exemplarily professionals are being recognized for their remarkable dedication and excellence in the accounting profession. These awards, honoring impactful women in the accounting industry, will be presented at the 2024 Elevate: Women’s Leadership Forum.
If you have a tax-favored retirement account, including a traditional IRA, you’ll become exposed to the federal income tax required minimum distribution (RMD) rules after reaching a certain age. If you inherit a tax-favored retirement account, including a traditional or Roth IRA, you’ll also have to deal with these rules. Specifically, you’ll have to: 1) […]
Does your estate plan call for making gifts to your grandchildren or other loved ones more than one generation below you? Or, perhaps to you want to leave assets to nonrelatives who are decades younger than you? If so, your plan must address not only gift and estate taxes, but also the generation-skipping transfer (GST) […]
The April 15 tax filing deadline is right around the corner. However, you might not be ready to file. Sometimes, it’s not possible to gather your tax information by the due date. If you need more time, you should file for an extension on Form 4868. An extension will give you until October 15 to […]
Some people mistakenly believe that Social Security benefits are always free from federal income tax. Unfortunately, that’s often not the case. In fact, depending on how much overall income you have, up to 85% of your benefits could be hit with federal income tax. While the truth about the federal income tax bite on Social […]
President Biden has released his proposed budget for the 2025 fiscal year, including numerous tax provisions affecting both businesses and individual taxpayers. While most of these provisions have little chance of coming to fruition while the U.S. House of Representatives remains controlled by the Republican Party, they might gain new life depending on the outcome […]
If you’re gathering documents to file your 2023 tax return and you’re concerned that your tax bill may be higher than you’d like, there might still be an opportunity to lower it. If you qualify, you can make a deductible contribution to a traditional IRA right up until the April 15, 2024, filing date and […]
Not only is April 15 the deadline to file a 2023 income tax return and pay any taxes due, it’s also the deadline to file a gift tax return. If you made substantial gifts of wealth to family members in 2023, you may have to file a gift tax return. It’s due by April 15 […]
The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) test for determining whether a worker should be classified as an independent contractor or an employee for purposes of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) has been revised several times over the past decade. Now, the DOL is implementing a new final rule rescinding the employer-friendly test that […]
Did you make large gifts to your children, grandchildren or others last year? If so, it’s important to determine if you’re required to file a 2023 gift tax return. In some cases, it might be beneficial to file one — even if it’s not required. Who must file? The annual gift tax exclusion has increased […]
Many employers rightly proclaim that their employees are their most valuable assets. If this holds true for your organization, it stands to reason that paying those employees consistently and accurately is among the most important things you must do. Unfortunately, payroll errors plague many employers. Among the biggest dangers of inaccurate payroll administration is that […]