February 2017 - Page 2 of 2

Feb
07
2017

Deduction for state and local sales tax benefits some, but not all, taxpayers

The break allowing taxpayers to take an itemized deduction for state and local sales taxes in lieu of state and local income taxes was made “permanent” a little over a year ago. This break can be valuable to those residing in states with no or low income taxes or who purchase major items, such as a car or boat.

Your 2016 tax return

How do you determine whether you can save more by deducting sales tax on your 2016 return?

Feb
06
2017

Put email list segmentation to work for your nonprofit

Your not-for-profit likely has a growing list of email addresses for donors, members, volunteers and other supporters. Are you making the most of it? If you send every one of your organization’s communications — donation requests, newsletters, meeting announcements — to everyone, you probably aren’t using these addresses as effectively as you could. Email segmentation can help you get the right messages to the right people.

Strengthen engagement

Not everyone is interested in everything your nonprofit has to say,

Feb
04
2017

Can you defer taxes on advance payments?

Many businesses receive payment in advance for goods and services. Examples include magazine subscriptions, long-term supply contracts, organization memberships, computer software licenses and gift cards.

Generally, advance payments are included in taxable income in the year they’re received, even if you defer a portion of the income for financial reporting purposes. But there are exceptions that might provide you some savings when you file your 2016 income tax return.

Feb
03
2017

2016 higher-education breaks can save your family taxes

Was a college student in your family last year? Or were you a student yourself? You may be eligible for some valuable tax breaks on your 2016 return. To max out your higher education breaks, you need to see which ones you’re eligible for and then claim the one(s) that will provide the greatest benefit. In most cases you can take only one break per student, and, for some breaks, only one per tax return.

Feb
02
2017

How to write a nonprofit annual report they’ll want to read

Everyone from major donors to grantmakers, charity watchdog groups to the government, will read your not-for-profit’s annual report and use it to make important decisions affecting your organization. So you need to make sure it’s professional, substantive and accurate — and interesting enough to grab and keep readers’ attention.

Cover the basics well

Most nonprofit annual reports consist of several standard sections, including:

Chairman of the Board’s letter.

Feb
01
2017

New HRA offers small employers an attractive, tax-advantaged health care option

In December, Congress passed the 21st Century Cures Act. The long and complex bill covers a broad range of health care topics, but of particular interest to some businesses should be the Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) provision. Specifically, qualified small employers can now use HRAs to reimburse employees who purchase individual insurance coverage, rather than providing employees with costly group health plans.

The need for HRA relief

Employers can use HRAs to reimburse their workers’ medical expenses,