Out with the old and in with the new. The expression applies not only to the upcoming new year, but also to the new year’s payroll tax reporting and compliance. (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘insurance’
Tax Tip Tuesday! What’s New With The Health Insurance Deduction?
When you’re self-employed, you can’t afford to overlook your health — or your health insurance tax deduction. (more…)
What’s New: Census Bureau Statistics Show Income Decline
The annual report from the Census Bureau shows that median household income dropped 2.3% last year to $49,445. That reflects a 7.1% drop from 1999 income after adjusting for inflation. (more…)
What’s New: Use Adjusted Numbers In Your Long-Range Planning
As you start to look ahead in your tax planning, here are some adjusted tax numbers you will find useful.
The amount you can set aside in a health savings account (HSA) in 2012 will increase to $3,100 for an individual and to $6,250 for a family. If you’re 55 or older, you’re allowed an additional $1,000 contribution. HSAs permit taxpayers who have high-deductible health insurance plans to set aside pretax dollars that can be withdrawn tax-free to pay medical expenses not reimbursed by insurance.
Adjust Number
Another 2012 adjustment: The social security wage base is expected to increase to $110,100. That’s $3,300 higher than the 2011 wage base. Unless Congress acts to extend the 2% rate cut in the social security tax, the 2012 rate will return to 7.65% on the wage base for both employers and employees.
A Critical Business Question: Should You Incorporate Or Not?
One of the first decisions you face as a new business owner is whether or not to incorporate the business. The biggest advantage of incorporating is limitation of your liability. Your responsibility for debts and other liabilities incurred by a corporation is generally limited to the assets of the business. Your personal assets are not usually at risk, although there can be exceptions to this general rule. The trade-off is that there is a cost to incorporate and, in some cases, tax consequences. (more…)
Tax Breaks Can Help When Disaster Strikes
Tax breaks can help when disaster strikes
You may be able to take an itemized deduction for part of your loss. In tax terms, it’s a “casualty loss,” and it can also apply to events such as a car crash, a house fire, or theft. Here are the basics. (more…)
Prepare A Home Inventory
Preparing an inventory of your personal possessions can seem daunting. If you’re like many Americans, your “stuff” has been accumulating for years, and you’ve lost or tossed many of the documents that evidence ownership. Without such evidence, insurance companies may not be willing to reimburse your losses from fire, theft, or natural disasters. Also, tax auditors will want to see supporting documentation for losses claimed on income tax forms. In addition, home inventories can provide a permanent record of family heirlooms for future generations and can be used to establish values for estate sales. (more…)
Congress Passes Small Business Act
Small businesses get some tax breaks in a new law just passed by Congress. The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 extends 50% bonus depreciation for new equipment purchased during 2010. It increases for 2010 and 2011 the first-year expensing limit for new and used business equipment purchases to $500,000, and raises the phase-out limit on expensing to $2 million. (more…)
New Law Raises Insurance Coverage On Bank Accountants
For years, bank accounts were FDIC-insured up to $100,000. Then during the recent financial crisis, the insurance limit was increased to $250,000. But this increase was only temporary; it was scheduled to drop back to $100,000 in 2014. (more…)
