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. Tax Reform Act: Understanding Two Areas Which May Impact Employers and Employees Now - Meals and Entertainment and Moving Expenses
2. 4 Asset-protection Strategies
3. 2 Tax Credits Just For Small Businesses May Reduce Your 2017 and 2018 Tax Bills
4. Claiming Bonus Depreciation On Your 2017 Tax Return May Be Particularly Beneficial
5. Only Certain Trusts Can Own S Corporation Stock
6. The IRS Updated its 2018 Withholding Tables
7. Small Business Owners: A SEP May Give You One Last 2017 Tax and Retirement Saving Opportunity
8. Top 10 Things Companies Need to Know About Tax Reform
9. Follow IRS Rules to Ensure You Receive Your Charitable Tax Deductions
10. Donors Can Get Emotional Satisfaction and Tax Benefits Through Their Giving.
11. A Joint Home Purchase Can Ease Estate Tax Liability
12. What's New at Machen McChesney?

Tax Reform Act: Understanding Two Areas which May Impact Employers and Employees Now - Meals and Entertainment and Moving Expenses 

Understanding the implications of the Tax Reform Act will be critical in business planning for 2018. The Act placed stricter limits on what businesses can deduct for meals and entertainment and suspended the exclusion of moving expenses from an employee’s income.  Please see the tables below comparing the rules before and after the Act. Continue reading.

4 Asset-protection Strategies

Protect your wealth from creditors and litigants. Continue reading.

2 Tax Credits Just For Small Businesses May Reduce Your 2017 and 2018 Tax Bills

Tax credits reduce tax liability dollar-for-dollar, potentially making them more valuable than deductions, which reduce only the amount of income subject to tax. Maximizing available credits is especially important now that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has reduced or eliminated some tax breaks for businesses. Two still-available tax credits are especially for small businesses that provide certain employee benefits. Continue reading.

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Claiming Bonus Depreciation On Your 2017 Tax Return May be Particularly Beneficial

With bonus depreciation, a business can recover the costs of depreciable property more quickly by claiming additional first-year depreciation for qualified assets. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), signed into law in December, enhances bonus depreciation. Continue reading.

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Only Certain Trusts Can Own S Corporation Stock

S corporations must comply with several strict requirements or risk losing their tax-advantaged status. Among other things, they can have no more than 100 shareholders, can have no more than one class of stock and are permitted to have only certain types of shareholders. Continue reading.

The IRS Updated its 2018 Withholding Tables

Is your employer withholding enough in taxes? Continue reading.

Small Business Owners: A SEP May Give You One Last 2017 Tax and Retirement Saving Opportunity

Are you a high-income small-business owner who doesn’t currently have a tax-advantaged retirement plan set up for yourself? A Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) may be just what you need, and now may be a great time to establish one. A SEP has high contribution limits and is simple to set up. Best of all, there’s still time to establish a SEP for 2017 and make contributions to it that you can deduct on your 2017 income tax return. Continue reading.

Top 10 Things Companies Need to Know About Tax Reform

The $1.5 trillion new tax law represents the most sweeping change to the tax code in a generation. Tax reform of this magnitude will have broad implications for businesses of all sizes and in all industries. While accountants and tax departments wade through the 185-page legislation, here are the top 10 things companies need to know: Continue Reading.

Follow IRS Rules to Ensure You Receive Your Charitable Tax Deductions

If reducing your taxable estate is an important estate planning goal, making lifetime charitable donations can help achieve that goal and benefit your favorite organizations. In addition, by making donations during your lifetime, rather than at death, you can claim income tax deductions. But some of your charitable deductions could be denied if you don’t follow IRS rules. Continue Reading.

Donors Can Get Emotional Satisfaction and Tax Benefits Through Their Giving.

Which countries, states, and individuals give the most to charity? Continue Reading.

A Joint Home Purchase Can Ease Estate Tax Liability

If you’re planning on buying a home that you one day wish to pass on to your adult children, a joint purchase can reduce estate tax liability, provided the children have sufficient funds to finance their portion of the purchase. With the gift and estate tax exemption now set at an inflation-adjusted $10 million thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, federal estate taxes are less of a concern for most families. However, the high exemption amount is only temporary, and there’s state estate tax risk to consider. 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.