Unhappy employee

I have a client who is older and not happy with their current employer.  They initially thought that this was where they would spend their final working years.  But alas it would appear that this will not be the case. As part of a protected class, the employer is not...

The next generation

Succession planning for a business  seems to be a major issue at the moment.  I am working with five that are either in the process or have it as an issue to address in the foreseeable future. All five businesses have at least one adult children working in the...

Schedule C Losses

After a recent tax court ruling a former country music artist is unhappy over the hobby loss rules after an appeals court disallowed her Schedule C losses from a music venue she owns. Among the factors that helped the court conclude she did not intend to turn a...

Annual Reports

Annual reports those little pieces of joy that are sent from the Secretary of State’s office every year. This past year we seemed to have dealt with client’s whose “Registered Agent” either themselves or another party, neglected to file the reports and have fallen...

Brand Marketing

I was reading the WSJ online and saw another article that looked interesting so I went down the rabbit hole.  I eventually stumbled into someone’s blog.  This blog had some interesting points on brand marketing. Their idea was to leverage today’s marketing...

K-1 Inconsistencies

A court win for an S firm owner whose tax reporting did not match the K-1 he got from the company. S corporation shareholders must report income and loss items on their 1040 consistent with what’s shown on the K-1 or attach a statement to the return identifying any...

Payroll Taxes

Business owners you retain responsibility to ensure that your employment taxes are actually paid. Unfortunately you cannot just rely on the word of an employee or accountant that they have been paid and you are done. Take this case in which the IRS slapped penalties...

Lottery Withholding

Something the Lottery does not mention much, if you win the lottery; expect Uncle to withhold a sizable amount of tax from your jackpot just too wet its beak. The current federal income tax withholding rate is 24%.  Then there is the state.  Illinois will want their...

Corporate Books and Records

I was having a conversation with another attorney who was incorporating a client that was taking the stance that an LLC is better than an S-Corporation.  The reduced organization fee and annual report fee do make it more comparable in price. Also once organized an LLC...

10% of nothing

A past client recently called wanting me to meet their spouse and do some year-end planning.  The spouse works for their parents in their business and owns 10% of the business. But this is the parents show.  They make all the business decisions and decide how all the...

Workers

Workers have been deemed to be in short supply now. The concern is now how can employers adapt as more people are approaching retirement age and eyeing the exits? The recommendation is to act sooner rather than later. Start by talking to older workers. Ask them when...

Foreign Account Reporting

The IRS’s foreign account reporting rules survived the latest legal challenge. In 2015, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) and several other individuals filed a lawsuit alleging that both the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act and the reporting mandate that it imposed on U.S....

Client Relationships

I have peers that in their desire to be more efficient have streamlined their processes so much that there is no longer any contact with the client on a face to face basis.  All of it is electronically done. The clients have either granted access to their data or...

5G

5G is very fast; apparently 100 times faster than 4G, and 10 times faster than our average broadband connection. This should enable the next wave of technological and societal advancements that destined to transform our economy: Autonomous vehicles, smart factories...

Simplified 1040

Because of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), it is believed that more taxpayers will be embolden up to 90% of taxpayers, by some estimates—to prepare their own tax returns for 2018. With the simplification of the Form 1040, it is believed that more people will use the...

W-9

With less than two months of the year remaining, now is the time to look towards the year end for tax issues and year end planning. First businesses should be making sure that they have valid up to date W-9’s for all of the Independent Contractors that they utilize. ...

Return on investment – politicians

We have Democrat Billionaire JB Pritzker officially spending more personal money than any other person in history to get himself appointed governor of Illinois ($161.5 million).  What will be his “return on investment”?  I for one do not believe that there is not a...

Data

The relevance of your current data is important to the running of a successful business, especially when it starts growing larger and larger.  I have a manufacturing client that has revenues that exceed $2MM.  Unfortunately they do not keep their data in the most...

Small Business Banking

Sad as I am to admit it, I have current clients that have at best mediocre relationships with their bank. A couple of client’s in recent times have had their bank reduced “lines of credit” by at least half.  Where the banks were attempting to get the clients to leave...

Words heard

Podcasts, I listen to one with great anticipation, its current incarnation is “Under the Influence” with Terry O’Reilly.  This past year I missed several episodes and so I am planning on purchasing them from iTunes (I hate iTunes since they don’t always work with...

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