The key to avoiding headaches at tax time is keeping track of your receipts and other records throughout the year. Whether you use an excel spreadsheet, an app, an online system or keep your receipts organized in a folding file organized by month, good record-keeping will help you remember the various transactions you made during the year.
Tax Considerations When Hiring Household Help
If you employ someone to work for you around your house, it is important to consider the tax implications of this type of arrangement. While many people disregard the need to pay taxes on household employees, they do so at the risk of paying stiff tax penalties down the road.
What To Do If You Get a Letter From the IRS
The IRS mails millions of notices and letters to taxpayers every year for a variety of reasons. If you receive correspondence from the IRS don’t panic. You can usually deal with a notice by simply responding to it; most IRS notices are about federal tax returns or tax accounts. Each notice has specific instructions, so read your notice carefully because it will tell you what you need to do. In most cases, your notice will be about changes to your account, taxes you owe or a payment request; however, your notice may also ask you for more information about a specific issue.
Tax Tips for Workers in the Gig Economy
The gig economy, also called sharing or access economy, is defined by activities where taxpayers earn income providing on-demand work, services, or goods. This type of work is often carried out via digital platforms such as an app or website. There are many types of sharing economy businesses including two of the most popular ones: ride-sharing, Uber and Lyft, for example, home rentals such as Airbnb, and TaskRabbit.
E-Signatures Temporarily Allowed for Certain Forms
The use of digital signatures on certain forms that cannot be filed electronically will now be temporarily allowed. Expanding the use of digital signatures will help to protect the health of taxpayers and tax professionals during the coronavirus pandemic by reducing in-person contact between taxpayers and tax professionals.
What Is Form 1099-Nec? | Nonemployee Compensation
Starting in tax year 2020, payers must complete Form 1099-NEC, Nonemployee Compensation to report any payment of $600 or more to a payee. There is a new form that only applies to business taxpayers who pay or receive nonemployee compensation.
RIC Shareholder Dividends Qualify as Section 199A
Section 199A, enacted as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), allows individual taxpayers and certain trusts and estates to deduct up to 20 percent of certain income (section 199A deduction). It is available to eligible taxpayers with qualified business income (QBI) from qualified trades or businesses operated as sole proprietorships or through partnerships, S corporations, trusts, or estates, as well as for qualified REIT dividends and income from publicly traded partnerships. The deduction is not available for C corporations.
Exiting a Business: Which Option Is Right for You?
Selecting your business successor is a fundamental objective when planning your exit strategy and requires a careful assessment of what you want from the sale of your business and who can best give it to you.
There are only four ways to leave your business and the more you understand about each one, the better the chance is that you will leave your business on your terms and under the conditions you want. With that in mind, here’s what you need to know about each option:
Protect Tax Records Before Disaster Strikes
As such, it’s always a good idea to plan for what to do in case of a disaster. Here are some simple steps you can take right now to prepare:
Temporary Relief for Retirement Plan Participants Issued
Temporary administrative relief has been issued that helps certain retirement plan participants or beneficiaries who need to make participant elections by allowing flexibility for remote signatures. Generally, signatures of the individual making the election must be witnessed by a notary public or in the presence of a plan representative. This includes a spousal consent as well.