Thursday, October 11, 2018

TCJA 2018 “quick facts”

TCJA 2018 “quick facts”
  • Seven tax brackets (mostly "3% lower" tax rates)
    • 10%
    • 12%
    • 22%
    • 24%
    • 32%
    • 35%
    • 37%
  • Standard deduction: 
    • MfJ      24,000
    • Single  12,000
    • HoH     18,000
  • In TY2017, 70% of taxpayers used the standard deduction
  • In TY2018, estimated 94% of taxpayers will use the standard deduction
  • Rev. Reg. §1.163-8T - interest tracing - HELOC interest NO longer deductible
  • Use form 8801 AMT credit from prior-year - carry forward to current year to take an AMT credit in current year, provided you have No AMT tax in the current year
  • There's No longer a Pease phase-out on itemized deductions. No limitation on income for itemized deductions for TY2018
  • C-Corp 21% tax rate on first dollar and last dollar. 
  • No QBI deduction for C-Corp’s because they already have the low flat 21% tax rate
  • 20% QBI deduction cannot exceed 20% of taxable income. 
    • use the correct SIC code. IRS is tracking SIC code for QBI purposes 
    • 20% deduction 
      • Not allowed in Computing AGI 
      • Does not reduce self-employment tax 
      • Is Allowed as a deduction reducing taxable income
  • Keep your business taxable income under $315,000 to get full QBI deduction
  • Because not all states adopted new federal law, there will be federal and state differences on medical expenses and other itemized deductions such as the SALT deduction
  • Gambling winnings/losses. 
    • Mileage to and from the casino is deductible as part of your gambling losses.
    • Losses cannot exceed winnings. 
    • Gamblers still have to itemize to deduct losses.
  • Vehicle depreciation 
    • 1st  year  10,000 
    • 2nd year  16,000 
    • 3rd year     9,600
    • Thereafter 5,760
    • Switch the straight-line depreciation in year straight-line exceeds accelerated depreciation
  • Capital gains tax
    • No significant changes
    • Rates don’t match brackets exactly
    • STCG still ordinary income
    • 15% LTCG rate starts at 38,600 for single. 77,200 for MfJ
    • 20% LTCG rate starts at 425,800 for single. 479,000 for MfJ
  • NOLs limited to 80% of Taxable Income
  • DPAD §199 (Domestic Production Activities Deduction) Repealed
  • Inventory - Businesses under $25 million gross receipts need NOT account for inventory under §471. May treat inventory as non-incidental Materials and Supplies
  • Marriage penalty eliminated for couples earning under $400K
  • §179
    • Is NOT depreciation
    • Expensed
    • Unadjusted Basis of Property equals ZERO
  • §1231 “Like-kind exchange” NOW only for Real Estate
  • New $500 credit for dependents 17 years or older
  • §529 now okay for tutoring grades K - 12 and private school
  • Mortgage interest - deduction on debt only up to $750K
  • SALT capped at $10K MFJ, $5K Single
  • Beginning 2019 Alimony NO longer deductible
    • Prior to 2019 alimony grandfathered
  • ACA
    • 3.8% NIIT (same)
    • 0.9% Medicare tax (same)
  • No more ACA penalty (for lack of health insurance) after TY2018
  • AMT exemption phaseout thresholds:
    • $1MM MfJ
    • $500K Single
  • Medical Expenses
    • 7.5% for TY2017 and TY2018 
    • 10%  for TY2019
Footnote:

  • Steve’s three accounting rules:
    • Never take too much depreciation
    • Bank transfers are never taxable
    • Federal Income Tax (FIT) is never deductible
  • Four types of Assets
    • Inventory
    • Capital 
    • Real Estate 
    • Depreciable (§1231, §1245, §1250)
Have a Blessed Day.

Thursday, September 20, 2018

PROSPERITY CONSCIOUSNESS AFFIRMATIONS

Write each of these down once a day, every day.
  1. My income increases every day whether I am working, sleeping or playing. 
  2. A part of all I earn is mine to keep. 
  3. My income now exceeds my expenses. 
  4. Every dollar I spend returns to me multiplied. 
  5. I deserve to be wealthy. 
  6. My job is my pipeline by which I tap into the infinite wealth of the US economy for my personal goals. 
  7. All my investments are profitable. 
  8. Part of my profits goes into permanent wealth, current expenses, capital and reserves. 
  9. I am a contribution; my services are valuable.
  10. It is easy for me to save money; there is always enough. 
  11. Money now comes to me in unexpected ways for the good of all concerned.
  12. People are happy to pay me. 
  13. I am able to ask for what I want.
  14. I always have extra money. 
  15. I now attract prosperous and competent people who want to do business with me.   
  16. Every day I wake up with new wealth. 
  17. I now receive assistance and cooperation from all those people necessary to achieve my desired results. 
  18. All my past failures have given me a tremendous personal advantage. 
  19. I get value from everything I do. 
  20. The more I support prosperity in others, the more they contribute to my financial success.
  21. I can achieve great results efficiently and without a struggle; 
  22. I always find the easiest and most pleasurable way to get things done. 
  23. Wealth comes easily to me.

Saturday, September 15, 2018

Resources - Senior Caregiver/Small Business/Tax & Accounting

Tax & Accounting Sites & Resources for Small Business owners (and those who aspire to become one) 
EFTPS * FREE
Top Senior Resource suggestions
Selling a Home with Modifications for Older Adults

Friday, September 14, 2018

Resources - Longevity Living

AoA Programs - US Dept of Health & Human Services | Older Americans Act & Aging Network | Home & Community Based Long-Term Care | Elder Rights Protection | Health, Prevention, and Wellness Program | Special Projects | Tools & Resources | SUA/AAA Finder Organized and coordinated providing community based services. Local level - Area Agency on Aging | meals | care giving | house maintenance | case management
The Five Wishes is a user-friendly document that serves as a combination living will and health power of attorney. It allows you to name the person you want to make medical decisions for you and to describe the medical treatment you want or don’t want, as well as your personal, emotional and spiritual needs for your end-of-life care and death. Five Wishes is America’s most popular living will & health power of attorney because it’s written in everyday language and helps people express their wishes in areas that matter most — the personal and spiritual in addition to the medical and legal. It also helps you describe what good care means to you, whether you are seriously ill or not. It allows your caregiver to know exactly what you want. | Completing Five Wishes is a gift to your family, friends and your doctor because it keeps them out of the difficult position of having to guess what kind of treatment you want or don’t want.
American Childhood Cancer Society continues to help over a million children beat cancer. A great organization dedicated to cancer research and awareness.
We have found this search engine to be fairly good compared to other search engines.
BenefitsCheckup.org - A service of the National Council on Aging * Find Benefits Programs...Get all the benefits you deserve. Find and enroll in federal, state, local and private programs that help pay for prescription drugs, utility bills, meals, health care and other needs.
Instant access to useful financial ratios, business statistics & benchmarks. Effective, understandable analysis of businesses & industries. This benchmarking tool provides national average results of US Sole Proprietorships and does include operating results for corporations, LLC's and larger entities. These are nationals averages only, individual results will differ, and the differences may be significant.
News sites do not get more thorough than this. You will find up-to-the-minute coverage of the latest news events, complete with audio, video, and tons of links to related stories and background material. CNN Remote delivers news updates to your Desktop every five minutes.
Life & Money | Business & Leadership | Kids & School Curriculum | Church Leaders
Ebay is one of the largest Internet companies that allows users to buy and sell goods. But beware...try as they might some users are not on the up and up.
EIN over the Internet is a Web-based application that allows employers to apply for and receive an EIN on-line. The SS-4 Form on this site can be filled out on line. The toll-free number for EIN's 866-860-2065 is up and running
Welcome to the Eldercare Locator, a public service of the U.S. Administration on Aging connecting you to services for older adults and their families. You can also reach us at 1-800-677-1116. Related Searches | Retirement Planning | Future Retirement Planning | Retirement Advisor | Nursing Home Directory | Retirement Home | Independent Living | Find a Doctor | Health Insurance | Retirement Community | Retirement Homes | Assisted Living Home
The power of exchange. IRC 1031 "Qualified Intermediary"
The reason we made Expertise.com is to help people make truly better decisions by clearly laying out their options, with content written by industry experts. Because of our non-biased approach, we’ve been a trusted source for government entities and organizations throughout the US. Many publications and businesses already use our guides as resources for their readers. Here are a few examples:
1. City of Scottsdale Arizona “How to Hire Home Remodelers”
2. Frederick County, Maryland, “How to Hire Home Remodelers”
Federal Government Forms Catalog
John Q. Public meets Uncle Sam at FedWorld. You will find a wealth of government and business information-everything from government standards to 17,000 trade-related documents and up-to-date analyses of major U.S. industries.
Tax Relief now for all Tax Problems with Guardian. Liens, Back Taxes or an IRS Payment Plan
With over 3,200 videos on everything from arithmetic to physics, finance, and history and hundreds of skills to practice, we're on a mission to help you learn what you want, when you want, at your own pace.
Tax Questions? Watch Videos Get Answers -- Individuals | Small Businesses | Tax Professionals | Governments | Español | Learn about tax topics through video and audio presentations. Archived versions of live panel discussions • Archived webinars • Video clips • Audio archives of national phone forums
Mapquest provides maps to and from desired destinations. The service also tells you the distance (in miles) and anticipated travel time. The service is free.
Medicare's website offers detailed information on its programs, as well as Medicaid enrollment, qualifications and benefits.
The Mesothelioma Group, has published a very informative guide to understanding cancer. The Mesothelioma Group donates to local charities and provides scholarships to victims and their families.
Our website www.nursinghomeabuse.net is a resource for families and individuals who may be facing nursing home abuse and neglect. We are trying to raise awareness about nursing home abuse and we need your help. Please consider placing a link to nursinghomeabuse.net on your website so that we can reach more people about this important topic.
The National Family Caregivers Association educates, supports empowers and speaks up for the more than 65 million Americans who care for loved ones with a chronic illness or disability or the frailties of old age. NFCA reaches across the boundaries of diagnoses, relationships, and life stages to help transform family caregivers' lives by removing barriers to health and well being. NFCA's core Caring Everyday messages are: Belief in Yourself. Protect Your Health. Reach Out for Help. Speak Up for Your Rights. Rosalyn Carter said it best: “There are only four kinds of people in the world – those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers and those who will need caregivers”. Caregivers are needed for family members of all ages. With appropriate information and support, family caregivers can help their loved ones across the lifespan.
Nursing Home Abuse Guide - Was created so families and loved ones could seek answers on elder abuse and neglect. Injury types to claims, nursing home abuse guide covers an extensive amount of elder abuse discourse.
Each year, 1/10 seniors in nursing homes and assisted living facilities are abused or neglected. Only 1/5 of those incidents actually goes on to be reported. Nearly 65% of those abused are women. Let’s help raise awareness, get families the help they need, and make life safer for our seniors.
People having severe money problems can ask for a break on back taxes...can offer to settle their tax bill for less than the total amount owed.
This reverse auction site allows you to tell many companies what you want and they will bid to get your business.
This website focuses on small business owners and self-employed individuals and provides them assistance with an array of basic tax questions and issues.
The Social Security Administration website. This is a great place to request earnings reports or to ask questions about Social Security.
A Web site developed by Boston University professor Laurence Kotlikoff and other economists. You find the case studies by first clicking on the "Learn More" link at the site.
Find addresses quickly using People Pages or do a reverse lookup based on telephone number.
When an ongoing tax issue can't be resolved through the usual IRS channels. When significant hardship could result unless tax relief is granted. This taxpayer may qualify to request a Taxpayer Advocate. Your Advocate will hear your point of view, take a fresh look at the situation and stay with you until those tax tangles are resolved fairly. This service can be requested for both individual and business taxpayers.
Topic SearchEnter one or two words and search through all of the (about 5,000) topics in Tax MapTopic IndexSelect the appropriate letter below and browse through a list of frequently used topics (approximately 400) to start your search
Let us give you some tax relief by stopping IRS penalties and interest. You don't have the fight the IRS alone anymore, trust the experts at Guardian Tax Resolutions to help fight for you.
Track your refund. If you would like to know when you will be receiving your tax refund from federal and state, this is the place to check. IRS: Click here
Understanding Your IRS Notice or Letter
In 1990, the Treasury Department announced the "Education Bond Program." This program allows interest to be completely or partially excluded from Federal income tax when the bond owner pays qualified higher education expenses at an eligible institution or State tuition plan in the same calendar year the bonds are redeemed. Payments to State tuition plans have been eligible since January 1, 1998. Series EE bonds issued January 1990 and later, along with all Series I Bonds, are eligible for this program. You aren't required to indicate that you intend to use the bonds for educational purposes when you buy them, but make sure you meet the program's requirements, some of which apply when you buy the bond(s).
Timely information for small business people.
Keep up with active legislation in the Senate.
No matter what stage your business is at, you will find a wealth of information here on starting, running and expanding. Get step-by-step information on launching a business, find out about SBA loan programs, take an online course or register your business in Pro-Net for government contracting opportunities.
This is NOT the IRS government site. It is an independent tax source, providing information, forms and useful links. It also provides a link to tax professionals and contains filing software.
One of the most frequently visited sites in America. The Internal Revenue Service has more than you would ever want to know regarding taxes. This government site contains information about taxation and forms that can be downloaded. Publication 17 (Your Federal Income Tax) provides instructions for completing Form 1040. Publication 554 (Older American's Tax Guide) offers a detailed discussion of taxation issues of special interest to seniors. Publication 915 (Social Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits) offers a comprehensive discussion of the taxation of Social Security and railroad retirement benefits.
This site provides weather local, national, and international weather forecasts.
The Money and Work section of AARP's website contains information on financial planning, low-income help, reverse mortgages and Social Security.
This calculator is provided by the Social Security Administration.
Bob Brinker leading you to the land of critical mass.
Economy at a glance, career guides, jobs, inflation, and spending.
Across the world, death and serious injuries occur from Consumer Products all too often. This site is dedicated to helping raise awareness of these products that we hope will decrease the amount of these tragedies. Education is the key to consumer protection, and we hope to be the best resource available.
A helpful consumer site regarding general estate planning information.
Many faith communities fulfill a strong social role in providing services to seniors. Churches may run adult day care programs or provide meals or shelter. Organizations such as Catholic Charities and Jewish Family Services often have some care management and companion services available for seniors.
Is my donation deductible? Verify charity exemption status:
Check out the FTC's section on "Consumer Protection," including a quiz on investments.
Financial Engines offers a web-based calculator, developed by Nobel Prize winner William F. Sharpe, professor emeritus at Stanford University. The calculator analyzes relative portfolio risk and the probability of reaching retirement financial goals with a given portfolio. It also allows the user to modify assumptions about returns, asset class selections, and retirement dates to project the likelihood that certain actions will increase the likelihood of achieving retirement goals.
This site provides general information on estate planning and the opportunity to locate an attorney who specializes in estate planning.
Read up on the latest business news, then check out the Starting Your Own Business articles in the Small-Business Center for ideas and advice.
Surf Kiplinger's website for new ideas on investing, managing money, spending, and informative articles.
I know no one likes to think about this as if thinking about it might cause it to happen, but your physical existence is going to end one day. More often than not, it's a total surprise when it happens and no one, including the deceased, is prepared for all that comes next. Personal Fact Sheet | Simple Will | Living Trust | Pour Over Will | Advance Health Care Directive | Living Will | Health Care (Durable) Power of Attorney | Power of Attorney | Organ Donation | Funeral Home Arrangements | Treatment of the Body | Memorial Services | Notification | Additional Information | Links
We offer an annual scholarship essay contest where we give out $10,000 in scholarships to students in colleges and universities.
This is of course on top of our active online community made up of very medical professionals: two thoracic nurses with more than 25 years of experience, Ricki Lewis, PhD, geneticist who has proven to be an invaluable expert resource for MesotheliomaHelp as we report on the latest breakthroughs in gene therapy, two caregivers and survivors that share their experiences and advice with our readers (just to name a few).
One other notable aspect is our live Q&A's with our team of nurses (you can visit our website to view prior and upcoming sessions)
Click on "Retirement"
The Market Segment Specialization Program focuses on developing highly trained examiners for a particular market segment. A market segment may be an industry such as construction or entertainment, a profession like attorneys or real estate agents or an issue like passive activity losses. An integral part of the approach used is the development and publication of Audit Techniques Guides. These Guides contain examination techniques, common and unique industry issues, business practices, industry terminology and other information to assist examiners in performing examinations.
A network of 10,000 tax experts serving individuals and companies. Responsive and respectful to diversity and client needs. Representing over 5 million US taxpayers.
This site provides general information on estate planning and the opportunity to locate an attorney who specializes in estate planning.
"Bringing you the latest on the accounting and tax profession."
This site contains broad information on estate planning, trusts, probate, wills, estate and gift taxes and incapacity.
OSHA's pages provide a wealth of information related to the agency's workplace safety standards and regulations.
QSTP earnings will be tax-free if spent on qualifying education -- in this case college only. Each state has its own, and there are several differences in the details from state to state.
Scanned images of all 990's and 990PF's filed with the IRS
Extraordinary tools for self-improvement and natural brilliance.
This site includes consumer information, articles and calculators for net worth and estate taxes.
What You Need Today To Protect Your Tomorrows
News, articles, interactive research, monthly articles and published writings.
The IRS established a website designed to alert tax practitioners and taxpayers to tax scams and fraud schemes. The website highlights priorities for Criminal Investigation (CI). Current focus is on abusive foreign and domestic trusts, employment tax evasion, and nonfilers.
This site is a tax and accounting site directory and features an extensive list of federal guidelines to help with tax preparation.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has developed an interactive quiz for students, "Test Your Money $marts." And for those already in the stock market, check out the information on consumer protection, listed under "Investor Assistance and Complaints."
THOMAS Library of Congress Website - Government contacts. THOMAS was launched in January of 1995, at the inception of the 104th Congress. The leadership of the 104th Congress directed the Library of Congress to make federal legislative information freely available to the public. Since that time THOMAS has expanded the scope of its offerings to include the features and content listed below. Bills :: Resolutions :: Activity in Congress :: Congressional Record ::Schedules :: Calendars :: Committee Information :: Presidential Nominations :: Treaties :: Government Resources For Teachers :: Help and Contact
Quatloos! Why pay taxes? "The Truth About Frivolous Tax Arguments" responds to some of the more common frivolous "legal" arguments made by individuals and groups who oppose compliance with the federal tax laws. These arguments are grouped under six general categories, with variations within each category. Each contention is briefly explained, followed by a discussion of the legal authority that rejects the contention. A final section explains the penalties that the courts may impose on those who pursue tax cases on frivolous grounds.
This is a search engine specifically for U.S. Government information.
Keep up with active legislation in the House.
This is the website of the President of the United States. Want to hear, first hand, what the President is saying? Or want a tour of the White House? This is the place.
Classify independent contractors at inception.