Returning Value Blog

On November 24, 2015, the IRS issued Notice 2015-82, which increases the deductible amount for purchases of de minimis tangible property from $500 to $2,500 per item. The new limit is for taxpayers who do not have an applicable financial statement (AFS), a financial statement that is required to be filed with the SEC or a certified audited financial statement accompanied by the report of an independent CPA.

As 2015 draws to a close, the time to consider tax-saving opportunities for you and/or your business is before year-end. Individual income taxes, whether paid through employer withholding or quarterly estimates, are probably one of your largest annual expenditures. You may want to consider opportunities to reduce or defer your annual tax obligation. Also, if you own a business, some opportunities for your business may apply regardless of whether your business is conducted as a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, S corporation, or regular corporation. Other opportunities may apply only to a particular type of business organization. These Tax Planning Letters are intended to assist you in your individual and business tax planning efforts.

How to achieve financial success

No one can predict with any great certainty the financial outlook for 2016, especially with the national elections looming in November. Nevertheless, here are 10 top money management moves that make sense for the rest of this year.

The FASB recently issued ASU 2015-17 as part of its Simplification Initiative. The amendments eliminate the guidance in Topic 740, Income Taxes, that required an entity to separate deferred tax liabilities and assets between current and noncurrent amounts in a classified balance sheet. Rather, deferred taxes will be presented as noncurrent under the new standard. It takes effect in 2017 for public companies and is available here. Early adoption is permitted, including for December 31, 2015 year-end financial statements.

The Affordable Care Act has the potential to affect all businesses.  Failure to comply with the ACA can result in substantial penalties.

Every business owner should address how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will impact their business. There are reporting requirements in effect for the 2015 calendar year as well as potential employer health insurance coverage offering requirements, both having substantial fines for noncompliance. To be prepared you need to know the following:

Designed to encourage investment in innovation, R&D tax credits can sometimes be overlooked by fabricated metals products manufacturers, when in fact they are accessible to many small- and medium-sized manufacturers in the sector. It’s important to note that a company need not necessarily be producing an end product to qualify. Often, fabricated metals producers are engaging in projects aimed at implementing design, manufacturing or process improvement at the parts level. While many may not feel that such projects fall under the scope of R&D, many of the investments in improvement made by fabricated metals manufacturers to stay competitive in fact qualify as R&D from the government’s perspective.

As financial statement preparers approach the end of 2015, they should be aware of accounting rule changes and their effects on how to prepare 2015 financial statements.

How can you get your business off to a good start in 2016? There are no guarantees, but it certainly helps to plan ahead. Specifically, you should draw up a business plan before year-end to put into motion on January 1. If you have developed a plan in prior years, you can refer to it when developing a new one, but you do not necessarily have to be wedded to what you have done in the past.

Essentially, a business plan is a blueprint for running the company, but a comprehensive plan can do much more than that. Here are several typical benefits you might realize from a business plan:

After fighting the rat race for years, many Americans dream of an early retirement. For instance, you might be contemplating such a move on your own, or perhaps your company is preparing to make you an early retirement offer. Whether or not you can afford to retire early, or really want to, may depend on the answers to the following questions.