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Auditing
Catch the Deception if You Can!
Sunish Mehta, CPA, CGMAWebcastCredits: 4 $196.00$196.00
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Accounting
The Art of Controlling: A Controller’s Handbook
Sunish Mehta, CPA, CGMAWebcastCredits: 4 $196.00$196.00
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Accounting
A&A Update & Beyond: The New Normal – Compilations & Preparation Services
Sunish Mehta, CPA, CGMAWebcastCredits: 1 + 1 $98.00$98.00
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Accounting
A&A Update & Beyond: The New Normal – Reviews – Limited Assurance, Limited Work
Sunish Mehta, CPA, CGMAWebcastCredits: 1 + 1 $98.00$98.00
California Tax Insights: A look at AB 150, SB 113, & Schedules K-2 & K-3
TRENDING NEWSOn February 15, the IRS stated their intention to provide certain additional transition relief for this year from the Schedule K-2 and K-3 reporting for certain domestic partnerships and S corporations with no foreign activities, foreign partners or shareholders, and without knowledge of partner or shareholder need for information on items of international relevance. For 2021, these qualifying domestic partnerships and S corporations will not have to file the new schedules.Due to the feedback the IRS received from the tax community, they decided to provide further aid and explanation. The community voiced concerns caused by several weeks of confusion and …
The Suggestion Box: The 2021 Tax Season
eTAX ALERT SERIES The Suggestion Box Welcome to The Suggestion Box: The 2021 Tax Season. With the startup of the 2021 tax return season, SharonKreider and the Western CPE team reached out to their experts to get their best tax season suggestions for the year. They are here to give you all the need-to-knows and advice to aid your return process with your clients. Today, we’re touching on Part 1 of our Suggestion Box eTax Alert Series. Make sure to stay tuned for new content, as the season continues. Encourage Clients to Create an IRS Online Account Encourage Clients to …
Stay Ahead This Tax Season
The 2021 tax season is officially here, come Monday. The IRS announced the nation’s tax season will start on Monday, January 24, 2022. With tax season, quickly on its way, here’s what you’ll need to know before they begin accepting and processing 2021 tax year returns and the obstacles that came with the pandemic. It’s never too early to get ahead. IMPORTANT DATES January 24 Start date for 2021 Individual Tax Return filers Start date for 2021 Individual Tax Return filers January 28 Earned Income Tax Credit Awareness Day to raise awareness of valuable tax credits available to many people …
What’s New with 2021 Form 1040?
You’ll want to take the time to review the “What’s New” Section of the Form 1040 Instruction before the 2021 tax season. Its lengthy changes will most likely need your attention before crunch time. The Instructions for the 2021 Form 1040 section on “What’s New” is two pages long. The two pages include 17 reminders on what has changed from 2020 to 2021. We talked about the changes in the update classes, but now it is time for you and your staff to review the new input forms that resulted from the changes. *Make sure you read thoroughly for some …
Your 2021 S Corporation Client Letter Needs a Change
Prepare to change your 2021 S Corporation Client Letter. Item D has been added to Part I of the 2021 Form 1120-S Schedule K-1 for use in reporting the corporation’s total number of shares for the beginning and end of the tax year. Ask your client for the share information now and look for the change on your input forms.Since no actual incorporation takes place, no shares are issued when an LLC elects to be taxed as an S corporation (S Corp). What goes on Item D? The instructions state that an entity without stock, such as an LLC, should …
THE GIFT TAX RETURN: EXPLORING SECTION 529
Do your clients have a child or grandchild that they want to provide funds for post-secondary education? Making use of a Section 529 plan, they can give five years’ worth of gifts at once. The 2022 annual exemption from gift tax is $16,000, a $80,000 gift to a 529 plan can be made before December 31, and the donor can elect to treat the gift as being made 1/5 per year for five years. The 2023 Gift tax exemption is $17,000, so you can give an additional $5,000 in 2023 and make another five-year election.This eTax alert will show you …
RMDS ARE BACK: THE RISKS OF A LAST MINUTE WITHDRAW
Clients had a break in 2020, they didn’t have to take Required Minimum Distributions (“RMDs”) from their retirement accounts. The RMDs come not just from IRAs but 403(b) arrangements, Keogh plans, and other profit-sharing plans. Failure to take the distribution can lead to a 50% penalty on the missed amount. IRA custodians are required to either calculate the RMD for customers by assuming the uniform table applies to them or offering to calculate a personalized distribution amount. Those requirements do not apply if the IRA is inherited, however. In this eTax Alert, we’ll talk about the return of RMD withholding, …
PPP LOANS & COVID-19 RELIEF: WHAT THE IRS WANTS YOU TO KNOW
Covid-19 threw several monkey wrenches into our everyday chaotic tax season. And the IRS wasn’t able to avoid getting hit, leading to a backlog of long delays, impacting tax refunds with no immediate solution as 2021 comes to a close. Speaking of the IRS, they finally addressed and issued guidance on some important topics impacting our clients: PPP Loans Federal Covid-19 Grant Tax-Free Income Recognition Expense Deductions S Corporation & Partnership Basis We’ll dig into the guidance, But first, let’s start with the high-level details you need to know. Note: The IRS released three new revenue procedures on the treatment …
BUILD BACK BETTER ACT: VOTE LIKELY TODAY AS BIDEN URGES ACTION
President Biden pushed The House to vote today on his historic Build Back Better (BBB) Act. During a speech today about U.S. economic recovery he asked every House member to vote yes on the bills tackling infrastructure, social spending, and tax measures. President Biden said, “Send the infrastructure bill to my desk, send the Build Back Better Act to the Senate.” Key Tax Provisions of the Revised Build Back Better Act Note: The revised draft legislation would include the following significant changes, effective January 1, 2022, unless otherwise noted: Individual Income Taxes Modified Adjusted Gross Income. Generate new surcharge on …
PRESIDENT BIDEN’S BUILD BACK BETTER ACT – WHAT’S IN AND WHAT’S OUT?
After almost two months of wrangling, cajoling, and threatening, the Democrats in the House and Senate, have almost agreed upon a cutdown version of the original $3.5 trillion “social spending and climate” plan. In September, the House Ways and Means Committee released its first try at the Build Back Better Act. On October 28, 2021, a second version costing a substantially reduced $1.75 trillion is in writing – all 1684 pages. The latest version of HR 5376, as reported by the Committee on the Budget, is here. A section-by-section summary of the October 28, 2021 version of the Build Back …
Risk Management in Two Steps: What Every CFO Needs to Know
“All Business is Risky Business” In 1983 Tom Cruz starred in the hit movie “Risky Business.” The reality is that all business is risky business. This is even more true today than almost 30 years ago. I once had a conversation with a senior manager for a specialty department store chain. I asked him what his number one priority would be for the last half of the year. He said, “minimize costs.” To that, my response was to lock the doors and walk away. That would only leave him with fixed costs. He responded that it was a stupid idea, …
Advanced Child Tax Credit Payments 2021: Should Your Client Opt-Out?
The IRS sent the first advanced monthly payment of the Child Tax Credit to roughly 35 million U.S. families with 60 million children on July 15. The first batch of payments totaling $15 billion paid as much as $300 per child. If your clients didn’t opt-out of the advanced monthly payments by August 2, they’re likely to get the August 13 and the September 15 payments. Should your client opt-out? Why Should my client OPT OUT? We need to get our talking points straight, because we may be hearing from many angry clients once the 2022 tax filing season begins. Clients …
FAQ Special: Advanced Child Tax Credit Payments
LISTEN NOW TO THE eTAX ALERTClick the Play Button to Listen for Free.https://youtu.be/W4ijdLs5XdE Should my client OPT OUT? Your clients probably have questions about opting out, payment timelines, and how much more they’ll receive. Before we dive into those topics, let your clients know August 2nd is the deadline to skip the August 13th payment.1. The client’s 2021 income will be above the thresholds ($75,000, $112,500, $150,000), and the client doesn’t want to repay the advance.2. Financial situation. “I don’t need the money. I’d rather have a bigger refund next April.”If it turns out your clients were overpaid or underpaid …
Advanced Child Tax Credit Payments: What to Know
LISTEN NOW TO THE eTAX ALERTClick the Play Button to Listen for Free.https://youtu.be/NO7cBlZPJtk TRANSCRIPT: ADVANCED CHILD TAX CREDIT PAYMENTS Sharon Kreider: Hi, I’m Sharon Kreider, CPA, and we’re here to talk about the child tax credit and particularly the advanced payments, which begin July 15th, 2021. First, a little background on the child tax credit. Background: We’ve had a child tax credit before, and it was expanded in prior legislation. This is another expansion of the child tax credit. It is from the American Rescue Plan Act, which was at the beginning of March 2021. And the credit for this expansion is presently …
Q&A Special: PPP LOAN UPDATES & CALIFORNIA’S TAX CONSEQUENCES
Q&A Special: PPP LOANS & CALIFORNIA TAX CONFORMITY CONSEQUENCES What’s going on with second draw PPP Loans, and has California completely conformed to Federal Tax Law? Our new Q&A Special features Sharon Kreider and Karen Brosi explaining the consequences of California’s new conformity and PPP Loan Updates. California is among the 20 states that don’t have automatic conformity with Federal law Publicly traded companies aren’t allowed to take the deduction of expenses paid with loan proceeds LISTEN NOW TO THE Q&A SPECIAL Click the Play Button to Listen for Free. https://youtu.be/hF1sOHn2EVk Want More? Read the full transcript Sharon Kreider: …
Corporate Tax Rate Increases: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Sharon’s RoundTable Special: Corporate Tax Rate Increases The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly This new roundtable talk about raising corporate tax rates is proudly presented by our resident tax authority, Sharon Kreider, CPA. We’re joined by guest experts Jessica Jeane, J.D., NSA’s Director of Public Policy, and Lisa Lopata, J.D., Expandopedia’s Tax Analyst & Editor. LISTEN NOW TO THE ROUNDTABLE Click the play button to listen for Free. https://youtu.be/Vlci4r15p1I BACKGROUND DATA Want More? Read the full transcript Sharon Kreider: Hi, I’m Sharon Kreider. I’m kindly known as the Resident Expert at Western CPE. Although today I’m not in Bozeman, …
Advisors – Tell Your Millionaire Clients to Prepare for Audits
Audits are coming. If you read in the middle of the night like me, you might have read a working paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) on the tax paid by the top 1% of households. The top 1% of households failed to report 21% of their income with six points of that number due to strategies that were so sophisticated that even if that upper-income person’s tax return was randomly audited under the NRP audit, it didn’t detect them within six points of the 21%. WATCH NOW TO LEARN MORE Click the play button below to watch. https://youtu.be/3SJakLAdEPI …
Advising President Biden on Deductions and Credits
I think we all have ideas on what tax reform should look like. I’m putting a few items in writing as if I were advising President Biden. There are three basic assumptions considered in this discussion of President Biden’s tax proposals: (1) Our country has run up a big covid-related deficit, and we will have to pay the deficit down someday. (2) Our economy is fragile because of Covid, so legislators will need to consider the immediate impact on our economy of all proposed tax increases. (3) Tax law changes require Congressional action, with all of the political problems involved. …
You Say Yes, I Say No – I Say High, You Say Low : Corporate Tax Reform Debate Continues
Should five percent appear too small Be thankful I don’t take it all ’Cause I’m the taxman -The Beatles, Taxman While The Beatles were apparently united in their opposition to the U.K.’s progressive income tax regime in 1966 (I wasn’t there), the corporate tax reform debate continues today on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers, economists, and tax experts alike have varying conclusions about the magic methodology and the overall impact of increasing U.S. corporate taxes. Generally, the current political climate surrounding the debate looks something like this: President Joe Biden has proposed increasing the corporate income tax rate from 21 to 28%; …
Employee Retention Credit Essentials
Article Note: Many companies did not utilize the ERC because it couldn’t be used in concert with a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) retroactively removed the mutual exclusivity between the two incentives. The CAA made the ERC now available for 2020 periods, and the American Rescue Plan (ARP) extended the ERC through 2021. Companies who cast aside the ERC for the PPP in 2020 should review past and current quarters for potential eligibility because the benefit can be a lifesaver. The Employee Retention Credit (ERC) is an incredibly valuable coronavirus relief measure that …