taxes Archives - Wiss & Company, LLP

Do You Qualify for the New Jersey PILOT Program?

Written on October 26, 2020. Posted in Real Estate.

By Alexander J. Narcise and Michael Kroll Under New Jersey’s Payment In Lieu of Taxes (“PILOT”) program (N.J.S.A. 40A:20-1), many distressed areas of the state are seeing a resurgence. The PILOT program allows municipalities to exempt developers from full property taxes for a set period of time when making improvements to existing buildings or creating new projects in areas in need of redevelopment, aiming to encourage commercial, residential, and industrial development. Developers...

U.S. Treasury Response to the Coronavirus

Written on March 18, 2020. Posted in Tax, Tax Alerts.

by Evan Gernant The Coronavirus has intruded into all facets of our lives. As we all try to grapple with the uncertainty this situation brings we still find ourselves in the midst of tax filing season, an already stressful time for business owners and other taxpayers. The Treasury Department issued guidance yesterday clarifying Secretary Mnuchin’s announcement on Tuesday that taxpayers can delay income tax payments due April 15, 2020. The guidance provides that for all taxpayers...

Finding Tax Advantages in Opportunity Zones

Written on June 19, 2018. Posted in Real Estate.

By Michael Kroll, CPA The Tax Cuts and Jobs Acts has been a popular topic this year where the focus has been mainly on tax cuts. However, there is a lot more to the new tax law than just tax cuts. There are new provisions providing significant tax benefits for investments in so-called Opportunity Zones and below are the details you need to know. Distressed Area Investment The idea behind the Opportunity Zones program is to create tax incentives for investments targeted at some...

Tax Reform Manifesto for the Real Estate Industry

Written on January 18, 2018. Posted in Real Estate.

This posting is a part of a 3-part series. The full article will be available in thecoming weeks. By Alexander J. Narcise, CPA, with contributions from the entire Wiss Real Estate Team: Michael Kroll, CPA Steve Warholak, CPA Michael Bodrato, CPA Kyle Pennacchia, CPA James Jenco, CPA Ken Trainor, CPA Phil London, CPA Chris Gati, CPA Charlie Komack, CPA My take on this whole thing: The Internal Revenue Code has historically provided many planning opportunities for real estate investors...

Upcoming Changes to New Jersey and New York Taxes

Written on December 19, 2017. Posted in State & Local Tax Services.

By Evan Gernant With tax reform legislation nearing enactment in Washington it’s easy to keep one’s focus on those headlines. There are, however, important changes in New Jersey and New York tax that have already been signed into law and will impact local taxpayers. Below is a summary of the more significant changes you will see affecting New Jersey and New York State taxpayers in 2018 and beyond. New Jersey The sales & use tax rate will continue decrease slightly. A two-phase...

IRS Serves Up Savings With the 45(B) Tax Credit

Written on December 11, 2017. Posted in Food & Beverage.

By James Jenco If you own a food and beverage establishment, you might be overpaying the IRS in payroll taxes. That could be the case if you’re not taking advantage of IRC 45(B). This rather little-known federal tax deduction could save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars a year, depending on the size of your tip-eligible workforce. Here’s how it works. Taxing Issues As you probably know, it’s your responsibility to pay the employer withholding tax on the FICA and Medicare...

New Extended Form 8938 Filing Requirements

Written on September 19, 2017. Posted in International Tax Services.

By: Mary Vasilescu For tax years starting after December 31, 2015, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has expanded the criteria for reporting Specified Foreign Financial Assets, or SFFAs. SFFA’s for this purpose are foreign financial accounts maintained at a foreign financial institution and other foreign financial assets held for investment purposes. Enacted in 2010 as a section of FATCA or the “Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act”, Section 6038D of the Internal Revenue Code requires...

End-of-Year Tax Planning: How to Lessen Year-End Stress

Written on August 22, 2017. Posted in Tax.

By Laura Melville We are more than halfway through 2017 – and that means the fourth quarter is already on the horizon. When those final three months of this year arrive, it’s time for your business to focus on planning for 2018 in earnest. Unfortunately, many businesses wait to begin year-end planning until then, as well. Your team will already have its hands full preparing budgets and mapping out your company’s strategies for the following year, and an end-of-year tax preparation-planning...

Utilizing Job Costing to Help Manage the Bottom Line

Written on August 15, 2017. Posted in Construction.

By: Wiss Employee Is your bottom line understated simply because you don’t have the necessary documentation or lack the accounting insight to allocate job costs to contracts? Or are you paying too much in taxes because you have an overly aggressive cost allocation strategy? If you are in either situation, the lack of a sound job costing strategy is costing you money. In the construction industry, there are three main types of costs: direct costs, indirect costs, and general and administrative...

Launching A Business: What to Consider When Beginning Your Startup

Written on June 13, 2017. Posted in Early Stage.

By Wiss Associate The first step toward launching your own business is having an idea. But even if you have an idea for a business, you may have no idea about the legal and tax obligations that await you should you put that idea into practice. Here are several things to keep in mind before getting your startup off the ground. Separate yourself from the business Running your business through your personal bank account might seem easy and convenient, but unless you keep your business...

Does Your Business Qualify for Lucrative R&D Tax Credits?

Written on March 23, 2017. Posted in State & Local Tax Services.

By Wiss Associate “My company’s not in the business of research and development, so how could we qualify for R&D tax credits?” If that’s what runs through your head when you think of this particular credit, it’s understandable – especially if you don’t have any scientists or many engineers on staff. Or a dedicated research and development department. The truth is, you could earn lucrative federal, state and local tax credits with work that you don’t even think of in conventional...

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...

The Art of the Contract Schedule

Written on February 21, 2017. Posted in Construction.

By Wiss Employee When accountants hear the word “estimate,” most go into a panic. In an industry where accuracy and precision are paramount, the mere thought of a number not being exact can create a sense of unrest. However, in the construction industry, estimates are unavoidable. A slight one to two percent change in an estimate on a large contract could add or subtract a substantial amount of profit or loss to or from the bottom line. At Wiss, we work with our clients to strike...

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...

Governor Christie Keeps Reciprocal Agreement

Written on November 23, 2016. Posted in State & Local Tax Services.

By Wiss Employee In order to boost the state’s revenues, Governor Christie withdrew from a decades old tax agreement with Pennsylvania back in September. It left many business owners and employees anxious about 2017 income taxes and filings. Read in our past blog post about the repercussions of withdrawing from the agreement. On November 22, Gov. Christie announced that the reciprocal agreement with Pennsylvania will remain in place. New Jersey and Pennsylvania residents that...

Income Tax Pact Dismantled: Gov. Christie Terminates Tax Covenant with PA

Written on September 15, 2016. Posted in State & Local Tax Services.

By Philip London Do you cross the Delaware River on the way to work? By next year, your commute will be even more expensive. For the past 38 years, neighbor states Pennsylvania and New Jersey have preserved a reciprocity pact that allows taxing solely where workers reside, not where they work. Thus, NJ does not collect tax on PA residents working in New Jersey, and vice versa. However, last week, Governor Christie withdrew from the tax agreement. Consequently, roughly a quarter-million...

How to Make 2016 Your Most Organized Tax Year Ever

Written on May 5, 2016. Posted in Tax.

By Paul Ursich So you and your company survived another tax deadline. Congratulations. Now, while the memory is still fresh, is the ideal time to conduct a post-mortem of your current process to identify shortcomings and strategies that will help you boost efficiency and accuracy next year. Here are a few suggestions you can use to kick-start your new processes. Review withholding allowances Large tax refunds seem like a good thing when you get them, but it means the government has...

IRS Phone Frauds Echo into the New Year

Written on February 11, 2016. Posted in Tax Alerts.

Magnifying the communication scam nightmare As tax season prepares for launch, countless Americans are at climbing risk for falling victim to unsolicited telephone calls, texts, and emails from individuals falsely claiming to be Internal Revenue Service and Treasury workers. Though phone scams have progressively been ceaseless year-round, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) is careful to stress this particular year as prey to the greatest attack ever beheld. Each...

New York Sales Tax and Cloud Computing: What you Need to Know

Written on September 29, 2015. Posted in Tax.

By Phil London One of my guiding principles for giving clients strategic tax advice is don’t make a move simply to minimize the tax impact without making sure that your decision makes sense from all other business perspectives. For example, an opinion issued by the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance has businesses considering the tax ramifications of moving operational software to the cloud. The cloud The cloud includes servers, programs and computing services that...

How to Avoid Risk and Stay Lean in the 2015 Construction Boom

Written on April 7, 2015. Posted in Construction.

By Wiss Associate Historically, the U.S. construction industry trails the economy by about a year. So when the economy tanks, the industry hangs on by finishing existing projects. And when things begin to improve, construction firms lag while investments are made, new projects are green-lighted and contracts are signed. Today, the economy, from the viewpoint of the construction industry, is 80 to 90 percent back to where it was before the recession. So now it’s time to figure out...

Tag: taxes