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Meals and Entertainment: How to Classify Business Expenses for Tax Purposes

Written on February 28, 2017. Posted in Tax.

By Louann Cassano Whether it’s drinks with a client or dinner during a work trip, meals and entertainment are generally tax-deductible business expenses. However, the size of the allowable write-off depends on the circumstances of the expenditure, including the purpose of the meal or entertainment, who the recipient is and where the expense takes place. If you don’t understand the IRS rules that govern these deductions, you may be tempted to lump all meals and entertainment into...

10K Plus in Your Foreign Account? File an FBAR to Avoid a Tax Penalty

Written on February 1, 2017. Posted in Tax.

If you maintain a foreign financial account, which could be a bank account, a mutual fund, a brokerage account, or any other sort of account, that contains a collective value of $10,000, you may be requested by the Bank Secrecy Act to report your account annually to the Department of Treasury through electronic filing. The Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, FBAR, is a form that must be recorded directly with the office of Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN. Those...

If You’re Self-Employed, You May Qualify for Insurance Deductions

Written on January 27, 2017. Posted in Tax.

By Wiss Associate For myriad professionals, becoming an entrepreneur can be a dream come true. Fortunately, health insurance deductions can make maintaining that dream much easier. The Self-Employed Health Insurance Tax Deduction within the Affordable Care Act can assist in lowering your adjust gross income by your payment quantity in premiums on dental, medical, and qualified long-term care insurance for you and your loved ones. For self-employers unable to access a partner’s insurance...

No Health Coverage? Be Prepared to Pay a Hefty Price

Written on January 25, 2017. Posted in Tax.

As of now, Obamacare’s individual mandate requests that you purchase health insurance. If you can afford the coverage and refuse to acquire it, a big fee could be headed your way. For the tax year of 2016, the Individual Shared Responsibility fine skyrocketed to 2.5 percent of an individual’s complete household adjusted gross income. However, for the new year and beyond, the amount will stay at 2.5 but the flat fee will be regulated for inflation. For each month you do not have coverage,...

Tax Benefits of Charitable Giving

Written on January 20, 2017. Posted in Tax.

By Wiss Associate As the new year is set in motion and you tuck away holiday presents, you may have stumbled upon items that you rarely ever use. Instead of finding additional space for these objects, it can prove to be more beneficial—and profitable—to donate them! If you break down your deductions, a contribution to an eligible philanthropic group can award you a charitable contribution deduction against your income tax. Normally, you can subtract up to half of your adjusted gross...

No Phishing! Watch Out for Fake IRS Calls

Written on January 18, 2017. Posted in Tax.

Have you received a vague phone call from a person claiming to be the IRS, demanding that you cough up money to pay taxes without providing any tangible information? These callers can be relentless and may have ordinary names, persuasive IRS badge numbers, and transform your caller ID to display the words “IRS” across it, as if the actual organization is calling you. Before you panic, this is a scam called phishing, where frauds posing as the IRS make unsolicited communication to...

What Type of 401(k) Plan Document Do I Have and When Do I Need to Update it?

Written on December 20, 2016. Posted in Employee Benefit Plan Audits.

By Craig Erickson When you establish your company’s 401(k) plan, you have to make a range of decisions, from the type of plan and investment tools you’ll offer to participation requirements and guidelines. Once you’ve done this, you need to put it in writing. This is your plan document, a mandatory part of your plan that details its provisions and clearly communicates them to participants. There are three levels of plan documents: Prototype. This off-the-shelf version of a plan...

Preparing for Change: New Rules to Impact NJ Renewal Registration for Nonprofits

Written on December 6, 2016. Posted in Not For Profit.

By Linda Curro Effective Jan. 1, 2017, New Jersey will require that all charity registrations and annual renewals be submitted digitally, using a new online filing system. In many ways, this is good news: A process that once required up to 75 pages of documents to be sent via snail mail will now go paperless, saving tons of waste. The new system also promises to streamline renewal reviews, enabling the state to more efficiently verify that the forms are completed and accurate. And...

How IRS Revenue Protocol 2016-37 Will Impact Retirement Plans

Written on October 18, 2016. Posted in Employee Benefit Plan Audits.

By Cindy Sandomenico Approved in June 2016, IRS Revenue Protocol 2016-37 alters the way individually designed retirement plans must file amendments and submit determination letters to the IRS. This will be effective Jan. 1, 2017. Previously, retirement plans were subject to a five-year cycle involving remedial and formal adoption of amendments, and submission of determination letters every five years, regardless of whether the plan was amended. This process was time-consuming for...

How Proposed Changes to Form 5500 Could Impact Your Filing Requirements

Written on September 27, 2016. Posted in Employee Benefit Plan Audits.

By Wiss Associate If your company has an employee benefit plan, you should be familiar with IRS Form 5500, the form you use to report activity regarding your retirement and welfare plans. On July 11, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) proposed revisions to Form 5500 and the related schedules in an effort to promote more thorough monitoring of plans by employers, fiduciairies, participants and, of course, the DOL. Here are some of the changes and how they could significantly...

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Tag: IRS