The chances of an IRS audit are low, but business owners should be prepared
As a business owner, are you worried about an IRS audit? The good news is that the odds against being audited are in your favor. The IRS audited 0.6% of individuals in fiscal year 2018. Businesses and high-income people are more likely to be audited, but audit rates are historically low. However, some tax return items may raise red flags with the IRS, such as major inconsistencies between previous years’ filings and the current one, profit margins or expenses markedly different from those of similar businesses, and unusually high deductions. If the IRS selects you for an audit, we can help you understand what it’s disputing, gather the needed documents, and respond to the inquiries effectively.
Does your team know the profitability game plan?
Right now, football teams are trying to put as many wins on the board as possible to make this a special season. Sports can highlight important lessons for business owners about profitability. One is that companies must learn from their mistakes and adjust their profitability game plans accordingly. Typical fumbles include poor customer service, ineffective pricing strategies and a broken-down supply chain. After identifying profit fumbles, fortify your offensive line by defining (or redefining) a feasible profit game plan, appointing team leaders to champion each initiative and communicating the plan clearly to build consensus. Contact us for help.
When is tax due on Series EE savings bonds?
Do you have Series EE U.S. savings bonds that were bought many years ago, and you now wonder how the interest on them is taxed? EE bonds don’t pay interest currently. Instead, the accrued interest is reflected in their redemption value. (However, owners can elect to have the interest taxed annually.) EE bond interest isn’t subject to state income tax. And using the money for higher education may keep you from paying federal income tax on the interest. Unfortunately, the law doesn’t allow for the tax-free buildup of interest to continue indefinitely. When the bonds reach final maturity, they stop earning interest. Contact us if you have questions about the taxability of savings bonds.
How to treat your business website costs for tax purposes
Most businesses have a website. But determining the proper tax treatment for the costs involved in developing a website isn’t easy. The IRS hasn’t yet released official guidance, so you must apply existing guidance that’s available on other costs to the issue of website development costs. The exact treatment of website design costs depends on whether they’re software or hardware and whether they’re part of a start-up business. If you hire third parties to set up and run your website, payments are currently deductible as ordinary and necessary business expenses. Contact us if you have questions or want more information about planning for website costs.
4 Trends Shaping Apartment Finance
Low interest rates are just one of the factors that are heating up the multifamily mortgage market, explains multifamily loan originator David A. Krebs.
Build-to-Rent Deals: Navigating the Legal Issues
Structuring transactions in this emerging asset class presents challenges that developers and investors should consider, advise attorneys from the law firm of Goulston & Storrs.
Growing dental practices with a virtual CFO
Just what is a virtual CFO, and will it help your dental practice? Many practices have tried working with this virtual member of the team, and their bottom lines are healthier.
Bar is rising for consumerism in healthcare, but providers are still playing catch-up
To keep pace with other industries, healthcare organizations will have to alter their approach to access and convenience.
Close to one-third of healthcare employees have never received cybersecurity training, report shows
There is an apparent lack of awareness of federal regulations in both the U.S. and Canada to keep patient information secure.