Business and Corporate Archives - Page 7 of 10

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
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,

Jan
31
2017

The investment interest expense deduction: Less beneficial than you might think

Investment interest — interest on debt used to buy assets held for investment, such as margin debt used to buy securities — generally is deductible for both regular tax and alternative minimum tax purposes. But special rules apply that can make this itemized deduction less beneficial than you might think.

Limits on the deduction

First, you can’t deduct interest you incurred to produce tax-exempt income. For example,

Jan
30
2017

Why nonprofits should be careful about doing business with board members

Your not-for-profit’s board members may be able to offer access to better deals or services than your organization could get on its own. However, there’s a fine line between a board member helping your nonprofit get fair pricing and the member receiving perceived or actual personal benefits. The latter can threaten your exempt status.

Best practices

A fictional example can help illustrate what nonprofits should do in such circumstances:

A charity needs a printer to produce programs for its annual gala.

Jan
28
2017

Why 2016 may be an especially good year to take bonus depreciation

Bonus depreciation allows businesses to recover the costs of depreciable property more quickly by claiming additional first-year depreciation for qualified assets. The PATH Act, signed into law a little over a year ago, extended 50% bonus depreciation through 2017.

Claiming this break is generally beneficial, though in some cases a business might save more tax in the long run if they forgo it. However, 2016 may be an especially good year to take bonus depreciation.

Jan
25
2017

Help prevent the year-end vacation-time scramble with a PTO contribution arrangement

Many businesses find themselves short-staffed from Thanksgiving through December 31 as employees take time off to spend with family and friends. But if you limit how many vacation days employees can roll over to the new year, you might find your workplace a ghost town as workers scramble to use, rather than lose, their time off. A paid time off (PTO) contribution arrangement may be the solution.

How it works

A PTO contribution program allows employees with unused vacation hours to elect to convert them to retirement plan contributions.

Jan
21
2017

2017 Q1 tax calendar: Key deadlines for businesses and other employers

Here are some of the key tax-related deadlines affecting businesses and other employers during the first quarter of 2017. Keep in mind that this list isn’t all-inclusive, so there may be additional deadlines that apply to you. Contact us to ensure you’re meeting all applicable deadlines and to learn more about the filing requirements.

January 31

File 2016 Forms W-2, “Wage and Tax Statement,” with the Social Security Administration and provide copies to your employees.

Jan
03
2017

The Arizona Department of Revenue Updates the Transaction Privilege Tax for 2017

With several changes to the Arizona Transaction Privilege Tax (TPT) for 2017, the Arizona Department of Revenue has created an interactive tutorial resource to help taxpayers through the TPT payment process. The tutorials offer step-by-step instructions on a variety of TPT related topics. New user enrollment, filing a TPT return, adding a business location, selecting a business location, making a TPT payment, and other additional tutorials are included. The new tutorials can be found at: https://www.azdor.gov/tutorials/index.html.

Dec
07
2016

Bill.com: Is it worth it for your business?

Recently, more and more companies have been partnering up with QuickBooks Online to enhance your experience with cloud based accounting. Bill.com has been the most popular update to come up in the recent years, and it may be worth looking into for your business

What is Bill.com?

Bill.com is a US based cash flow management and accounting system. It has the capability to process bill payments, send invoices, collect payments,

Aug
30
2016

New TPT-1 and TPT-2 forms

Beginning with Arizona Department of Revenue Transaction Privilege Tax (TPT) reports filed in July 2016 (for the 6/1-6/30/16 reporting period), the ADOR instituted new requirements for filing. For businesses that only have one physical location, the opportunity to paper file still exists. For businesses that have more than one physical location, it is now mandatory to file electronically on www.aztaxes.gov. There is currently no date set for requiring single locations to file electronically;