What is a Roth IRA? You have probably heard about IRAs before. However, there are actually two types of IRAs, and the differences between the two are significant. Traditional IRAs let you save for retirement using pre-tax dollars. Your contribution…
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) trimmed two important tax breaks for homeowners but left another big break untouched. Before the TCJA, if you itemized your deductions by filing a Schedule A on your Form 1040, you could deduct…
The IRS says it is now more strictly enforcing rules that determine whether a worker is actually your employee or an independent contractor. This has a huge impact on the small business community, but the focus of this blog is…
At the end of June, the IRS unveiled a new draft version of the 2018 Form 1040 allowing President Trump and certain members of Congress to make good on a campaign promise of making the tax return the size of…
For a variety of reasons beyond the scope of this blog today, the IRS audit rate has been on the decline the past few years. In 2017, the audit rate was 0.6% or one out of every one hundred and…
Record Retention Guide Another common question I get this time of year is, “How long do I have to keep all this tax stuff?”. Several years ago, the Massachusetts Society of CPAs updated their record retention guide. The handbook isn’t…
Airbnb is the go-to site for people looking to make for some extra cash off their own home or vacation property. Over the last five years, this way of making a secondary income has become one of the most popular…
Each year the IRS publishes a list of the most common tax scams called the “Dirty Dozen”. Not surprisingly in 2017, the No. 1 scam was phishing, which has affected tax preparers, company payroll and human resources departments, and individual…
Last week, the IRS released Notice 1036, Early Release Copies of the 2018 Percentage Method Tables for Income Tax Withholding, that indicates changes made since the new tax law, The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), was enacted in late…
As you might have followed in the news, a comprehensive tax reform bill has moved a few steps closer to the president’s desk. Republican House and Senate negotiators released a final tax bill on Friday, December 15 that would overhaul…