At Machen McChesney we are committed to Returning Value to you through our monthly e-newsletter, The Value Report.

Here you'll find regular tips to help with your business and personal finances, as well as strategies to grow and more efficiently run your organization. 

Table of Content

1. ESOPs Offer Businesses Tax and Other Benefits
2. 6 Ways To Control You Unemployment Tax Costs
3. Don't Retire Without A Succession Plan
4. Entering a Roth Through the Back Door
5. Material Participation Key To Deducting LLC and LLP Losses
6. IRS Focused on Charitable Donation Substantiation Compliance
7. Top Retirement Locations Aren't All In The Sunbelt
8. Put Your Audit In Reverse To Save Sales and Use Tax
9. Could Captive Insurance Reduce Health Care Costs and Save Your Business Taxes?
10. What's New at Machen McChesney?

ESOPs Offer Businesses Tax and Other Benefits

With an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), employee participants take part ownership of the business through a retirement savings arrangement. Meanwhile, the business and its existing owner(s) can benefit from some potential tax breaks, an extra-motivated workforce and potentially a smoother path for succession planning. Continue reading.

6 Ways To Control Your Unemployment Tax Costs

Unemployment tax rates for employers vary from state to state. Your unemployment tax bill may be influenced by the number of former employees who’ve filed unemployment claims with the state, your current number of employees and your business’s age. Typically, the more claims made against a business, the higher the unemployment tax bill. Continue reading.

Don't Retire Without A Succession Plan

Business owners aren't as ready to retire as they should be. Continue reading.

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Entering a Roth Through the Back Door

Is this retirement strategy right for you?

 

The door to Roth IRAs is closed to some high-income taxpayers because of annual limits imposed on contributions. But you may be able to use a “back-door” method that is perfectly legal. This technique may help you preserve more assets for your eventual retirement. Continue reading. 

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 Material Participation Key To Deducting LLC and LLP Losses

If your business is a limited liability company (LLC) or a limited liability partnership (LLP), you know that these structures offer liability protection and flexibility as well as tax advantages. But they once also had a significant tax disadvantage: The IRS used to treat all LLC and LLP owners as limited partners for purposes of the passive activity loss (PAL) rules, which can result in negative tax consequences. Fortunately, these days LLC and LLP owners can be treated as general partners, which means they can meet any one of seven “material participation” tests to avoid passive treatment. Continue reading. 

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IRS Focused on Charitable Donation Substantiation Compliance

Recent Tax Court cases have demonstrated the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) increase in strict compliance with the substantiation requirements for charitable donations. For example, a $64.5 million charitable contribution was recently disallowed because there was no written acknowledgment from the recipient at the time the return was filed. Continue reading

Top Retirement Locations Aren't All In The Sunbelt

Looking to retire? You may be surprised where some of the top retirement locations are. Continue reading.

Put Your Audit In Reverse To Save Sales and Use Tax

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. Continue reading.

Could Captive Insurance Reduce Health Care Costs and Save Your Business Taxes?

If your business offers health insurance benefits to employees, there’s a good chance you’ve seen a climb in premium costs in recent years — perhaps a dramatic one. To meet the challenge of rising costs, some employers are opting for a creative alternative to traditional health insurance known as “captive insurance.” A captive insurance company generally is wholly owned and controlled by the employer. So it’s essentially like forming your own insurance company. And it provides tax advantages, too. Continue reading.

What's New at Machen McChesney?

Sponsorships, new hires, announcements
Continue reading.

We hope you found value in The Value Report you've received this month. We look forward to finding, even more, ways to Return Value to you in the future.