Returning Value Blog

As 2017 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 may apply regardless of whether your business is conducted as a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, S corporation, or a 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.

With Veterans Day on November 11, it’s an especially good time to think about the sacrifices veterans have made for us and how we can support them. One way businesses can support veterans is to hire them. The Work Opportunity tax credit (WOTC) can help businesses do just that, but it may not be available for hires made after this year.

It’s a safe bet that state tax authorities will let you know if you haven’t paid enough sales and use taxes, but what are the odds that you’ll be notified if you’ve paid too much? The chances are slim — so slim that many businesses use reverse audits to find overpayments so they can seek refunds.

What should small business owners be focused on to ensure a smooth tax season?

While you started 2017 with the best of intentions to keep your financial records organized, you may find yourself scrambling to find receipts and other documentation to prepare your tax returns. All too often it is accounts receivable that presents that greatest challenge.

The most common components of a basic estate plan: a will, living will, life insurance, and maybe even a trust. Most adults know the importance of these estate planning elements, and may even have some or all of them implemented – which, overall, is great. But like everything in life, change happens, and updates will be necessary to some, if not all, of these documents. Here we have laid out the most common mistakes found in estate planning:

As 2016 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 may apply regardless of whether your business is conducted as a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, S corporation, or a 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.

As the dust settles from President-elect Donald Trump’s historic victory in this year’s presidential contest and the Republican sweep of the U.S. House and Senate, it is now possible to envision potentially significant tax legislation changes being proposed as early as 2017. The tax cuts proposed by President-elect Trump are among the largest proposed since the days of Ronald Reagan. Assuming that he follows up on these proposals and sticks to his promises, there are several major changes that the Trump administration seeks to make on individual and business taxes:

Remember that year-end planning is not just for individuals (see Seven Timely Tax Moves in 2016). In fact, your business operation may benefit from tax moves in 2016 in the wake of several key extensions in the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act of 2015. Here are five ideas for small-business owners to consider.

Just in time to make a splash in advance of their national convention in Cleveland, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives released a 35-page tax reform report on June 24 that proposes fundamental changes in several significant areas. Among the most important changes are proposals to slash tax rates for corporations, pass-through businesses, and most individuals.