by Leif Jensen | Nov 19, 2019 | Taxes |
Did you at any time during 2019, receive, sell, send, exchange, or otherwise acquire any financial interest in any virtual currency? Yes or no? Big brother wants to know. This is an important question for the 2019 tax filing in early 2020. The IRS has redesigned...
by Leif Jensen | Nov 18, 2019 | Taxes |
The Social Security wage base rises next year to $137,700, this is a $4,800 hike. The Social Security tax rate on employers and employees stays pat at 6.2%. Both will continue to pay the 1.45% Medicare tax on all compensation, with no cap. Individuals also pay the...
by Leif Jensen | Nov 13, 2019 | Tax Court |
IRS tax liens on real estate can follow the property when it is sold. A buyer learned this lesson the hard way after purchasing realty in a foreclosure sale. Four years earlier, the Service had recorded its notice of tax lien on the property after the former owner...
by Leif Jensen | Nov 12, 2019 | Tax Court |
A man who set his own hours and worked unsupervised is determined to be an employee; not an independent contractor, the Tax Court rules. After examining all of the facts, including the following: The man worked for the same company for many years. The company withheld...
by Leif Jensen | Nov 11, 2019 | Taxes |
If you have a child due towards the end of the year be sure your child has a Social Security number if claiming the child credit. Listing applied for is no longer an option. You must put the SSN on the Form 1040 to get the $2,000 credit. Eligible children without SSNs...
by Leif Jensen | Nov 6, 2019 | Taxes |
People who choose to go without health coverage will find it easier to fill out their 2019 tax returns. The 2017 tax reform law repealed the fines under Obamacare’s individual mandate for post-2018 years. So those taxpayers who chose to forgo getting health insurance...
by Leif Jensen | Nov 5, 2019 | Running a Business, Taxes |
A business manager called in a bit of a panic. It seems that their bookkeeper had quit four months before and they received a notice that they are now being audited by the Illinois Department or Revenue for their Sales Taxes for 2017 to 2019. I went to meet with the...
by Leif Jensen | Nov 4, 2019 | General, Rant, Running a Business, Taxes |
U.S. National Debt has risen to a record high exceeding $22 Trillion. To make matter worse according to the Treasury Department data comes as tax revenue has fallen and federal spending continues to rise. The new debt level reflects a rise of more than $2 trillion...
by Leif Jensen | Oct 30, 2019 | Rant, Running a Business |
I was working with a client that came to me after a worker’s comp audit. The owner and family were the only ones listed on the policy and drawing salary. The audit determined that their independent contractors were in fact employees and not independent contractors...
by Leif Jensen | Oct 29, 2019 | Advertising, General, Rant |
Imagine that you developed and refined a destructive force that changed the world of warfare and that you made of fortune doing so. But you never really thought about the consequences of your actions until you read an obituary about yourself that was run instead of...
by Leif Jensen | Oct 28, 2019 | General |
Student loans are typically extremely difficult, but not impossible, to discharge in bankruptcy. To do so, you must show that payment of the debt “will impose an undue hardship on you and your dependents.” If you can successfully prove undue hardship, your student...
by Leif Jensen | Oct 23, 2019 | Running a Business |
I did some reading and investigation on the financials of publishing; I always want to see how a business works. What I found startled me and I thought I had a good idea how the numbers played out. An author published through a small press that sells 100,000 ebooks at...
by Leif Jensen | Oct 22, 2019 | Advertising, General, Running a Business |
In 2017 a new record was set with more than 1 million books being Self-Published. Today the average U.S. nonfiction book is unfortunately now selling less than 250 copies per year and less than 3,000 copies over its lifetime. Very few titles are big sellers. Only 62...
by Leif Jensen | Oct 21, 2019 | General, Investing, Rant |
I recently traded in my Mercedes. Before I traded the car in, I needed to determine what I would drive next. I went back and forth on a number of makes and models. Then I sat back and thought about this from a different perspective. I thought about what is the most...
by Leif Jensen | Oct 16, 2019 | General, Rant |
I was surprised to find out that, as private organizations, political parties in the U.S. are under no legal obligation to democratically choose their nominees for general elections; parties could choose to select nominees by tennis match. I was aware that delegates...
by Leif Jensen | Oct 15, 2019 | General, Rant, Taxes |
How does this actually work… The states, Illinois included, have done everything they can to threaten, sue, rob and kill the tobacco industry. Now they are setting their sights on killing e-cigarettes and the vaping markets. But Illinois plans to remake its fortunes...
by Leif Jensen | Oct 9, 2019 | Taxes |
As the Democratic fashion completion continues for the presidential nomination, Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont have both proposed wealth taxes that would shrink the fortunes of the richest Americans. Their plans envision an...
by Leif Jensen | Oct 8, 2019 | Investing, Retail, Running a Business |
Do you know anyone that owns a Tesla or a Hybrid? They are becoming more plentiful on the road. Which is causing a problem for a sector of business. Gas stations across the country are now facing a significant long-term problem; the rise of electric vehicles and...
by Leif Jensen | Oct 7, 2019 | Running a Business, Taxes |
Banks are rushing to meet a 2020 deadline for a new bookkeeping rule. They will need to estimate possible losses on a loan when it’s originated. Under today’s accounting rules, banks don’t book loan losses until they have evidence that a loss will occur. This change...
by Leif Jensen | Oct 2, 2019 | Advertising |
I was at the ICPAS Summit this year and bounced in and out of a couple of seminars. They had one on “Marketing your Practice” by Xero. I was intrigued; I know that there is always room for improvement and I am willing to learn something new. So I went. Once they...
