If you’re making charitable contributions specifically for disaster relief efforts in 2018 and 2019, they must be made by Feb. 18, 2020, to qualify under special disaster area charitable gift rules. A new law temporarily suspends certain limits on charitable contribution deductions. For example, cash charitable contribution deductions are generally limited to 60% of adjusted … Read More
Author: Smeriglio Associates LLC
Look closely at your company’s concentration risks
The word “concentration” is usually associated with a strong ability to pay attention. Business owners are urged to concentrate when attempting to resolve the many challenges facing them. But the word has an alternate meaning in a business context as well — and a distinctly negative one at that. Common problem A common problem among … Read More
Deliver Your Tax Documents to Us!
A friendly reminder that you can drop-off your Tax Documents to our office, mail to our office, email to us, or electronically upload your documents to our portal. We cannot begin any work for you until we receive all of the following items:#1 Signed Tax Engagement Letter,#2 Signed Audit Representation Letter (if you chose to enroll … Read More
Congressional Budget Office Economic Outlook
What’s the U.S. economic outlook for the next decade? The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) just released a report that projects the federal deficit in 2020 will be 4.6% of gross domestic product (GDP) and will rise to 5.4% of GDP by 2030. “Because of the large deficits, federal debt held by the public is projected … Read More
Earned Income Tax Credit Eligibility
Might someone you know qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)? It benefits certain lower income taxpayers. The IRS is urging taxpayers to see if they qualify. According to the IRS, one in five eligible taxpayers doesn’t claim the EITC. Workers at risk for overlooking the credit can include taxpayers without children; armed forces … Read More
Numerous tax limits affecting businesses have increased for 2020
An array of tax-related limits that affect businesses are annually indexed for inflation, and many have increased for 2020. Here are some that may be important to you and your business. Social Security tax The amount of employees’ earnings that are subject to Social Security tax is capped for 2020 at $137,700 (up from $132,900 … Read More
Global Tax Enforcement Meeting
Tax enforcement officials from the United States, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom last week conducted a multi-country “day of action” to end the facilitation of tax evasion. This was the first major operational activity for the Joint Chiefs of Global Tax Enforcement, which was formed in 2018 to spearhead the campaign against … Read More
Accounting for indirect job costs the right way
Construction contractors, professional service firms, specialty manufacturers and other companies that work on large projects often struggle with job costing. Full cost allocations are essential to gauging whether you’re making money on each job. But some companies simply lump indirect job costs into overhead or fail to use meaningful cost drivers, thereby skewing their profit … Read More
GAO: Report on IRS Implementation of TCJA
How is the IRS doing with implementing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA)? The Government Accountability Office (GAO) just issued a report answering that question as it relates to the 2019 filing season. The IRS overcame “significant challenges” and saw improvement during that period, but “overall performance remained lower than” the prior year. One … Read More
If you’re a non-U.S. citizen, the estate planning rules are different
Traditional estate planning strategies generally are based on the assumption that all family members involved are U.S. citizens. However, if you or your spouse is a noncitizen, special rules apply that may require additional planning. Defining “residency” and “domicile” If you’re a U.S. resident, but not a citizen, you’re treated similarly to a U.S. citizen … Read More