On Wednesday, October 30th the Social Security Administration announced that Social Security recipients would see an increase in benefits of 1.5% as a result of the 2014 Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA). Additionally, the taxable social security wage base will increase to $117,000 from $113,700 as a result of an increase in average wages. The […]
The IRS announced on October 22nd that the start of the 2014 tax filing season would be delayed by one to two weeks as a result of the 16 day federal government shutdown. Originally the start of the filing season had been planned for January 21st, 2014, but now the IRS plans to begin accepting […]
Over the course of the past month two regulatory rulings have been issued which provide greater clarity regarding the federal treatment of legally married same-sex couples in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision which struck down the Defense of Marriage Act earlier this summer. First, on August 29th the IRS ruled that all […]
There has been almost nonstop discussion of the effects of the Affordable Care Act (ACA – aka Obamacare) since the bill was passed. However, many individuals and business owners are still confused regarding how implementation of the law will affect them. To help alleviate this problem the IRS has has launched a new Affordable Care Act […]
On June 26th the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, was unconstitutional. The decision will influence the way that legally married same-sex couples are taxed, with many of the consequences yet to be determined. One of the biggest questions outstanding is the federal marital status of couples who […]
The wages paid to a shareholder of an S Corporation are often a bone of contention between the corporation and the IRS. The corporation, and its shareholder, typically prefer to minimize their aggregate employment tax liability by paying the shareholder relatively low wages. This practice maximizes the percentage of the shareholder’s total yearly income which is […]
The IRS has announced an easier way for taxpayers to claim the home office deduction in 2013. Now taxpayers can simply calculate their deduction at $5 per square foot of home office, up to 300 square feet. Previously, taxpayers had to keep track of utilities, repairs and maintenance, homeowner’s insurance and all the other costs […]
The deadline for reporting wages paid to your employees in 2012 is January 31st. If you need help preparing your annual payroll reporting forms please contact us. January 31st is also the due date for filing Forms 1099 and 1096. We can also assist with the preparation of those forms.
If you do pay independent contractors, you may have to file Form 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous Income, to report payments for services performed for your trade or business. If the following four conditions are met, you must generally report a payment as non-employee compensation. You made the payment to someone who is not your employee; You made […]
The practice of paying service providers as independent contractors has been getting a lot of attention from the IRS recently, because in their opinion many employees are wrongly characterized as independent contractors. Small business owners often have questions about the distinction between the two characterizations. To determine whether the person providing service is an employee […]
You save time on bookkeeping and paperwork because many simple bookkeeping tasks are handled automatically, giving you more time to run your business. You can easily generate reports with the information you need, so you always know where your business stands. You save money because QuickBooks is so affordable. You can use it to run […]