Are you considering buying or replacing a vehicle that you’ll use in your business? If you choose a heavy sport utility vehicle (SUV), you may be able to benefit from lucrative tax rules for those vehicles. Bonus depreciation Under current law, 100% first-year bonus depreciation is available for qualified new and used property that’s acquired
Joan Ellenbogen
Apr 6, 2021
Mar 23, 2021
It may be time to tune up your nonprofit’s accounting function
- By Joan Ellenbogen
- Non-Profit
- 0 Comments
Many organizations get stuck in procedural ruts because it’s easier in the short term to continue doing things the way they’ve always been done. But it generally pays to regularly review your not-for-profit’s accounting function for inefficiencies and oversight gaps. You might plan to conduct a review once a year or perform an assessment whenever
Mar 11, 2021
Fraud still matters when making business acquisitions
- By Joan Ellenbogen
- Fraud
- 0 Comments
The pandemic has often made M&A due diligence more complex and time-consuming. But if you’re buying a company, it’s critical to dedicate your full attention to this part of the process to confirm assumptions about the acquisition and protect against fraud. A fraud expert can look for cooked books and other deceptive practices. Experts check
Feb 25, 2021
Did you make donations in 2020? There’s still time to get substantiation
- By Joan Ellenbogen
- Taxes
- 0 Comments
If you’re like many Americans, letters from your favorite charities may be appearing in your mailbox acknowledging your 2020 donations. But what happens if you haven’t received such a letter — can you still claim a deduction for the gift on your 2020 income tax return? It depends. What is required To support a charitable
Feb 23, 2021
Now or later: When’s the right time to transfer your wealth?
- By Joan Ellenbogen
- Estate
- 0 Comments
The temporary doubling of the federal gift and estate tax exemption is viewed by some people as a “use it or lose it” proposition. In other words, you should make gifts now to take advantage of the exemption before it sunsets at the end of 2025 (or sooner if lawmakers decide to reduce it earlier).
Feb 16, 2021
The power of the tax credit for buying an electric vehicle
- By Joan Ellenbogen
- Taxes
- 0 Comments
Although electric vehicles (or EVs) are a small percentage of the cars on the road today, they’re increasing in popularity all the time. And if you buy one, you may be eligible for a federal tax break. The tax code provides a credit to purchasers of qualifying plug-in electric drive motor vehicles including passenger vehicles
Feb 10, 2021
Consider your options when addressing life insurance in your estate plan
- By Joan Ellenbogen
- Estate
- 0 Comments
Life insurance has long provided a source of liquidity to pay estate taxes and other expenses. Even though for many families, federal and state estate taxes aren’t a concern, life insurance continues to offer many benefits for these nontaxable estates. For this reason, it’s important to properly account for your life insurance policies in your
Feb 4, 2021
The cents-per-mile rate for business miles decreases again for 2021
- By Joan Ellenbogen
- Business
- 0 Comments
This year, the optional standard mileage rate used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business decreased by one-and-one-half cents, to 56 cents per mile. As a result, you might claim a lower deduction for vehicle-related expenses for 2021 than you could for 2020 or 2019. This is the second year in
Feb 2, 2021
Reduce gift and estate tax exposure by making direct payments of tuition and medical expenses
- By Joan Ellenbogen
- Estate, Financial Planning
- 0 Comments
Now that the gift and estate tax exemption has risen to $11.7 million for 2021, you may be less concerned about these taxes. But if you have children or grandchildren in college or with medical expenses, you may want to take advantage of the exemption for direct payments of tuition and medical expenses. It can
Jan 25, 2021
The new Form 1099-NEC and the revised 1099-MISC are due to recipients soon
- By Joan Ellenbogen
- Business, Taxes
- 0 Comments
There’s a new IRS form for business taxpayers that pay or receive certain types of nonemployee compensation and it must be furnished to most recipients by Feb. 1, 2021. After sending the forms to recipients, taxpayers must file the forms with the IRS by March 1 (March 31 if filing electronically). The requirement begins with forms for tax