2011 New Law Letter

Over the past 18 months, Congress has been passing tax legislation at a frantic pace. The primary “tax” themes underlying this legislation are Congressional attempts to provide temporary tax relief for both businesses and individuals and to spur a struggling economy by encouraging businesses to make capital investments. Examples of these tax relief provisions for Individuals include: extending all existing income tax rates for two years (through 2012); providing temporary estate and gift tax relief through 2012; extending a long list of tax breaks that would have otherwise expired; a “2011 only” Social Security tax cut of two percentage points; and an increased refundable adoption credit. Businesses also received their share of tax relief and incentives, including: a temporary increase

2011 Individual End Of The Year News Letter

   As the end of 2011 approaches, there are many actions to consider that could reduce your 2011 taxes. Year-end planning is particularly challenging this year given the growing national debate over comprehensive tax reform, the rapid pace of recent tax law changes, and the extensive list of current tax breaks that are scheduled to expire at the end of 2011. Regardless of these looming uncertainties, there are many “time-tested” year-end tax savings techniques that you should consider for 2011.  We are sending you this letter to remind you of the traditional year-end tax planning strategies that help lower your taxable income and postpone the payment of your taxes to later years. In this letter we also help you navigate

2011 Year End Corporate and Non-Corporate Businesses

   We have reached that time of year when businesses need to consider year-end tax planning. This year is particularly challenging because Congress has enacted a series of tax breaks which are generally scheduled to expire after 2011. For example, unless Congress acts to extend these provisions, the following business tax breaks will generally expire (or become less beneficial) after 2011: 100% §168 bonus depreciation; larger and expanded §179 deduction; 100% gain exclusion for “qualified small business stock;” and relaxation of the S corporation built‑in gains tax rules. There have also been recent IRS releases and Court cases that address: the ability of self-employed individuals, partners, and S corporation shareholders to deduct health insurance premiums (including Medicare premiums); whether compensation

2011 Q4 Newsletter

Hello All, Our latest tax newsletter is now available for viewing on our website. Below are the featured articles. A Year of Uncertainty? Officially, year-end tax planning is fairly straightforward in 2011. At year-end 2010, Congress extended many of the income tax laws that were in place at the time. Some laws were changed, especially in the estate planning area. For the most part, the tax law passed at the end of last year is effective for two years: 2011 and 2012. Therefore, you may… Year-End Tax Planning for Investors Stocks performed reasonably well for much of 2011 but fell precipitously after the downgrading of the United States’ credit rating. As of this writing, the investment outlook for 2011 is quite uncertain. Despite that

Managing Tax Records

The IRS posted five tips on keeping good tax records, including: (1) the use of a three-year rule for keeping most records, (2) certain records that should be kept longer (e.g., settlement statements, stock transactions, IRA and business and rental property transactions), (3) general advice on keeping documents that impact the federal tax return, and (4) the kinds ofrecords that should be kept (e.g.,r receipts, invoices, mileage logs). IRS Pub. 552 (Recordkeeping for Individuals) contains additional information what kinds of records to keep. IRS Tax Tip 2011-71.