by Leif Jensen | Mar 1, 2016 | General |
I was talking to an employee of a client and they were bragging on how they didn’t need professional help preparing their tax return. They purchased a box to prepare their return at Sam’s Club or Costco and they were ready to prepare all of the families returns. This...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 24, 2016 | General |
In a recent tax court case a company’s CEO and CFO were found liable for its past-due employment taxes, according to the appeals court. Although both officers began working for the firm after it fell behind on its payroll taxes, they discovered the full extent of the...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 23, 2016 | General |
In a recent court case it was determined that using an S corporation to rent realty to a related firm does not pay off from a tax perspective for a couple who owned all of the stock in both companies. They had their S firm lease a building to their regular...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 22, 2016 | General |
Caution should be used by a trustee in regards to tax issues. Recently in making trust distributions, a trustee ran afoul of the IRS while taxes were due according to a federal court. After setting up a trust for his kids with stock options that his wife had earned....
by Leif Jensen | Feb 17, 2016 | General |
Are you a trader or an investor? This assuming that you do a number of financial transactions throughout the year. The distinction can be significant for tax purposes. Factors that separate traders and investors: Traders engage in frequent buying and selling, usually...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 16, 2016 | General |
Have you tried contacting the IRS is the last year or so? If you have you know that the hold times easily reach an hour and that a 35% hang up rate is acceptable to IRS managers. But that is destined to change (evil laugh), the plan is to make reaching the IRS’s...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 15, 2016 | General |
I have a client who has an employee looking to go on maternity leave. The employee was asking how much time they could work under the table while they were on maternity leave. The client is aware of the dangers of this on a multitude of levels. So this is not going...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 10, 2016 | General |
I was talking to an employee of a client and we were discussing how he does his and his families taxes. I was asking with whom does he talk to about any longer term planning. The software box apparently is not interactive, so none of them have any tax planning in...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 9, 2016 | General |
The IRS have now been given authorization to revoke or to not allow the State department to renew your passport, if the Service determines that you are whom they consider to be “seriously delinquent” in paying your taxes. Apparently the garnishment of wages and...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 8, 2016 | General |
For those who have been breathlessly waiting, employer reporting of worker health coverage has started! Beginning in 2016, companies with 50 or more full-time-equivalent employees must use IRS Form 1095-C to report 2015 insurance data for each full-timer to the...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 3, 2016 | General |
As time passes more and more employers are becoming subject to the health reform law’s employer mandates. Starting in 2016, every company with at least 50 full-time-equivalent employees are required to offer affordable health coverage to full-timers and their...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 3, 2016 | General |
Good afternoon everyone, Today I received 5 calls from different clients informing me that their homemaker from Cure Home Care advised them that today would be their last day of service. The reason given was that Cure was not able to pay their employee salaries any...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 2, 2016 | General |
Airport Security will be even more fun at O’Hare shortly. The feds are expected to implement their rules in 2016 only allowing drivers licenses that have security features such as holograms as valid ID for passing through security. Looking at my driver’s license I...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 1, 2016 | General |
There are 70 million kids born after 1998. They are expected to start making their mark. They are defined as those who have never known the internet to not be widely available and necessary. Gen Z-ers are expected to continue to challenge merchants, and eventually...
by Leif Jensen | Feb 1, 2016 | Case Study |
Imagine making $250,000 a year in your business. Your business pays all of your business and household bills, including car payments. In other words, your business covers every aspect of your living expenses. Also, you never have to pay a nickel in FICA, federal taxes...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 27, 2016 | General |
This is a topic that I have been reading about for years. Actually the first time I did it was 100 years ago in a “Spenser” novel by Robert B. Parker. The bad guys had a roof garden on top of their fortified building to feed the gang and minimize the need to leave...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 26, 2016 | General |
There seem to be new metrics in place to value and evaluate businesses. I have heard this referred to as the “Unicorn Syndrome”. There are mythical valuations of businesses that have special valuations that are defying traditional measures. Some of those named in...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 25, 2016 | General |
I remember when I was in High School each year when we got our yearbooks there was one coach who used his H.S. Graduation photo for his picture for the yearbooks. It was ridiculous and we all laughed at the idea that this was how he represented himself, even back...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 20, 2016 | General |
A number of businesses have prided themselves on their youth culture, filing their ranks with Millennials, slowly forcing out the Gen X’ers and Boomers. Now in some circles as the Millennials who are near or over 30 are feeling the gentle hand on their backs pushing...
by Leif Jensen | Jan 19, 2016 | General |
The IRS has announced a new guideline for restaurants and retailers who refresh their premises every 5 to 10 years. They are now able to deduct 75% of their costs under the safe harbor, beginning January 1, 2014. The remaining 25% needs to be capitalized. Typically...
