by Leif Jensen | Aug 23, 2012 | General |
I was meeting with a client and in our discussion we got to the issue of property taxes. I had recommended an attorney I had used to fight my property taxes. Apparently she had had a discussion with another business owner who mocked her about her process or using an...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 19, 2012 | General |
The IRS has clamped down on issuing individual tax ID numbers recently. It appears that surprise! The program was riddled with fraud, according to Treasury Dept. inspectors. Illegal’s who do not have Social Security numbers and are not eligible to get them have been...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 19, 2012 | General |
We are all aware that color influences our decisions and actions. Dream research conducted by Abraham Maslow seemed to indicate that falling asleep in yellow rooms would cause people to develop nightmares during their sleep. Sociologists have begun making...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 19, 2012 | General |
The duality of man has always been a mystery to many and will continue to be for all time to come. So it should not be a surprise that I have a couple of clients that have made the plunge into the business world, by starting side businesses. They state that they...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 19, 2012 | General |
Now most of my clients who do their own payroll have their EFTPS accounts set up and utilize them every payroll. Even payroll services have to electronically deposit all payroll taxes. But now after November 18th the IRS requirement applies to all tax payments even...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 11, 2012 | General |
With the changing and improving technologies there is concern (or at least some thoughts regarding) that with the rise of smart phones will bring about the end of text-based passwords. With their touch screens, built-in microphones and cameras, the devices themselves...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 11, 2012 | General |
My client has nexus in Virginia, so the business is required to file a Virginia business return. Now we had to file a manual return for the business. Since the business needed to file a return; a personal Virginia tax return was required as well. This was filed...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 10, 2012 | General |
It appears that there are fewer personal bankruptcies this year. There are about 1.2 million this year. This is a reduction of about 365,000 from the post-bankruptcy-reform high of 1.5 million in 2010. Recently I had received a call from a (former) client that was...
by Leif Jensen | Aug 10, 2012 | General |
Payroll is never exactly an easy topic for small business owners. There is the fun of employee versus independent contactor; all the necessary forms; the overall costs as well as the actually managing of the employees. I am discussing with a client the best way for...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 28, 2012 | General |
Big data will mean big business. Target for one has been studying their client for years and have adapted to make sure that they don’t appear to be stalkers. Now once the other firms figure out how to harvest it, their marketing campaigns and they will know more...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 27, 2012 | General |
It seems that China has plans on becoming a major world force as a cloud computing giant. Of course they will needs the help of U.S. firms to build data storage for its own population. This will be good news for major tech companies that will need to supply them...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 27, 2012 | General |
Well the unfortunate signs are in, Illinois is so desperate for cash and is looking in all of the wrong places, including making up liabilities. I just finished a letter to the Illinois Department of Revenue; they send a notice to my client claiming that they were not...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 17, 2012 | General |
With the news of the Supreme Court confirming the Health Care Reform legislation as law, everyone has been focusing on those in the top 2 – 3% of taxpayers; or those who make more than $250,000 as a joint filer or $200,000 as a single filer. As the government...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 17, 2012 | General |
Employers will now have the privilege of collecting additional Medicare taxes in 2013. As part of the increase in taxes for those deemed to be the wealthy there will be an increase in Medicare tax rates (luckily for business owners they do not have to match this fee)...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 9, 2012 | General |
This is a year to fear if you are considered the wealthy by the government. I just had a meeting with a couple of owners to go over their tax liabilities. Based upon a number of issues one was catapulted into the top 1% of tax payers for the first year, the other is...
by Leif Jensen | Jul 9, 2012 | General |
In 2013 for those who itemize; on Schedule A will find the 7.5%-of-AGI floor for deducting medical expenses will increase to 10% for filers under age 65. This increase will not apply to those 65 and over until 2017. Contributions to the health flexible spending...
by Leif Jensen | Jun 28, 2012 | General |
Last week I was meeting with a prospective client and we were discussing how to treat his medical expenses. As a small business owner this is pretty well spelled out, the basics include medical insurance is deductible on the front of his 1040; the out of pocket...
by Leif Jensen | Jun 26, 2012 | General |
There was recent case where a co-owner asked the IRS to assist in a battle with his partner. The company was behind in making its payroll tax payments. No surprises there, I am sure. The co-owner had a falling out with his partner; he discovered that the firm...
by Leif Jensen | Jun 26, 2012 | General |
It has been official for a while now. The Social Security wage base is planned to increase from the current level of $110,000 to $113,700 in 2013. Again, social security taxes are collected on wages up to this maximum – once wages exceed the maximum no further...
by Leif Jensen | Jun 26, 2012 | General |
The dawn of 2013 brings forth interesting tidings. The Medicare surtax is an additional tax that will be hitting taxpayers who make (single) over $200,000 or (married) over $250,000 with a 0.9% penalty. So married couples, who expect their combined wages to exceed...
