by Leif Jensen | Feb 13, 2017 | General |
I have spent some time in the past quarter working with clients on their first business budget. They are looking to grow to the next level and a budget is a good tool for the assistance for this measure. But, drilling down a budget to its essence is really...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 8, 2017 | General |
Over my professional life I have run into a number of people who complain that they are successful, but are not happy. I sit and listen to them, but I have learned to keep my mouth shut. Because they obviously are not successful. They are successful by a measure...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 7, 2017 | General |
Do you handle your investments or do you hand that aspect of your life to a professional? Or do you have a professional investment advisor and still dabble with your investments? I am in the latter category. If you are like me, have you ever wanted to...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 6, 2017 | General |
I was reading an article and the author quoted some research from another author of self-published books. “Author Thomas C. Corley’s five-year study of self-made millionaires discovered that a majority of them have multiple streams of income. In fact, 65 percent...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 2, 2017 | General |
There appears to be a new war on cash and it is not limited to the US. In India there was a removal of old 500 and 1000 rupee notes, curbing the cash economy. In the US a withdrawal of $3,000 or more from any of your bank accounts in cash now requires the bank to...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 1, 2017 | General |
As Millennials give their elders grief about texting and verbal communications, it seems that some have an irrational fear of the telephone. Which is a basic piece of technology that their elders consider to be absolutely necessary for day to day communications....
by Leif Jensen | Jan 31, 2017 | General |
IRS Wraps Up the “Dirty Dozen” List of Tax Scams for 2016 IR-2016-29, Feb. 19, 2016 — The IRS today wrapped up its annual “Dirty Dozen” list of tax scams with identity theft topping this year’s list but with phone scams and phishing...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 30, 2017 | General |
It is estimated that in 2013 there was 4.4zettabytes of data. This data apparently is growing at a rate of 40% a year. So for 2020 it is estimated that there will be 44 zettabytes of data available. So how much of that data is just a glut of useless...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 25, 2017 | General |
The city of the future will be a “Smart City”. The camera and sensors and all of the other measurable that are being implemented will minimally be looking to monitor the following: Air quality Pedestrian traffic Energy production Energy usage Health and...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 24, 2017 | General |
Time is our most precious resource. We all have an expiration date; we just don’t know when that date will occur. Surprisingly one of my kids has recognized this much sooner than I did when I was young. He has quit low paying jobs, believing that his time was...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 23, 2017 | General |
Death, one of the inevitable constants in our world, next to taxes. Do you have a plan for how to deal with yours? My in-laws told my mother and her husband about their plans to be cremated, and that they had already prepaid for this service. So all that...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 18, 2017 | General |
How many phone apps do you have on your cell/smart phone right now? I bet you have no idea. I know I don’t. DO you have apps that you have never used? I know I do, I have 3 Sudoku apps that I have never used. I gravitate to one and only use that one. ...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 16, 2017 | General |
If the combined value of the couples’ estate at the first spouse’s death is less than the Federal exclusion amount, the surviving spouse and the other heirs of the estate are not likely to spend the time or money to prepare a Federal Form 706 to make the deceased...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 11, 2017 | General |
There is a project in the works to determine if the US can line up with underdeveloped countries, such as Kenya and Honduras. The goal of the project is to capture data that reveals if free money on a regular basis (basic income) really does help people escape...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 10, 2017 | General |
I was recently at an ICPAS Chapter meeting where an IRS Special Agent (the ones who carry guns) was discussing the increase in payroll withholding cases. There has been a 33% increase in investigations into payroll tax issues. This is where employers do not pay...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 9, 2017 | General |
An employee’s larceny doesn’t void a penalty for undeposited payroll taxes in this case. After the company’s owner learned about the embezzlement and that the taxes were unpaid, he had the firm pay part of its liability to IRS and he loaned the business money for the...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 5, 2017 | General |
Employers are now required to file W-2s with the federal government by Jan. 31, this is up from the prior deadlines of Feb. 28 for paper returns and March 31 for e-filings. This earlier deadline matches the date for sending copies of the forms to employees. The Jan....
by Leif Jensen | Jan 4, 2017 | General |
In a recent tax case it was decided that partnership expenses cannot be taken directly on a partner’s tax return. A taxpayer reported on Schedule C income and expenses from two side businesses that he operated with his brother. Even though no partnership return...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 3, 2017 | General |
The tax burden on the wealthy has gone up, according to IRS statistics. The top 1% of individual filers paid 39.5% of all federal income taxes in 2014, the most recent year the Revenue Service has analyzed (yes, they are behind). This is an increase from 37.8%...
by Leif Jensen | Dec 28, 2016 | General |
I was invited to be a guest at a BNI meeting and another CPA stated that he was meeting with clients to changes to their planning strategies based upon the swirling rumors and hearsay. I was astounded by this. I had just been interviewed by a reporter from the Daily...
