Our Blog

Pollyanna King, CPA, MST •

According to the IRS, your nanny is just one person out of a handful of people found in the category of “household employees”. Your housekeeper, gardener, babysitter, nanny, caretaker, private nurse and maid (if you are so lucky) are all your employees, if you direct them (like a boss) and they work for you at your home. 
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Alyssa McBride, CPA •

​The time for spring cleaning may be past, but your accounting records might benefit from a cleanup. If you have used the same accounting system for a number of years, you could have accounts or transactions that you don’t use anymore that are taking up space and cluttering your system.

Following are some recommendations for cleaning up your records:
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Dana Bull, CPA •

Many taxpayers recently filed their taxes or may be waiting for a response from the IRS. Because of this, summertime tends to be a period when thieves increase their scam attempts.
 
It seems like a weekly occurrence. A telephone call or voicemail from someone posing as the IRS threatening that if you don’t contact them immediately to settle your past due account the local police will be sent to arrest you. These calls may seem obviously fake to you but people continue to fall prey to these scams. Other types of scams include “phishing”. Phishing (as in “fishing for information” and “hooking” victims) is a scam where internet scammers send e-mail messages to trick unsuspecting victims into revealing personal and financial information that can be used to steal the victims’ identity. Some of the more prevalent IRS impersonation scams include:

Alyssa McBride, CPA •

If you have been listening to business news recently, you probably heard of the Supreme Court Case “South Dakota v. Wayfair”. There is a lot of talk in the news, but nothing seems to specifically say, this is going to impact you because...
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Karyn Richardson, CPA •

The passing of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in December 2017, especially the new Internal Revenue Code Section 199A, has created a lot of buzz in the business community. In simple terms, the new provision allows pass-through entities (Sole Proprietorships, S Corporations, and Partnerships) to deduct 20% of the earned business income on the owner’s individual tax return. However, with tax law, nothing is that simple, as there are many exceptions and income limitations. There remains many unanswered questions, as little to no guidance has been released from the Internal Revenue Service to date. 

Nora Tellifson, CPA •

While much remains to be hammered out and confusion abounds relative to some of the 2018 tax law changes, especially with regard to small businesses, the changes for the Average Joe are fairly clear. Let’s agree on who is an Average Joe. If you receive an average W2, you have some average kids and you live in an average house with your average spouse (I see myself getting into a lot of trouble here.), you’re probably an Average Joe. Here’s a look at some of the significant tax law changes for you.

On Friday the IRS issued a news release detailing their first draft for a significantly modified “postcard‑sized” 1040. It uses a “building block” approach of up to six additional schedules to complete the modified form. They caution that this is only the first draft of the new form which is currently released for review and comment. To see the new form and schedules, check out the IRS’ Draft Tax Forms website. 
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Donna Deos •

As being one of the few people here at Mason + Rich, PA without an accounting degree, I can tell you the title of this article scares me too. Before working here, I wouldn’t have had the first clue about what to do and I can also relate to the panic that runs through folks when they see anything from the IRS.
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What I have learned both by being raised by an Accountant and by working here at M+R is, the first thing to do is Don’t Panic!

Andrew Luce, CPA •

The IRS recently updated one of their publications which provides details for tax rules associated with employer provided fringe benefits (Publication 15-B). Some of you may ask, what are fringe benefits and why should I take the time to understand them?  

Alyssa McBride, CPA •

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 created a lot of changes for taxpayers. One area that you should not overlook is the change to meals and entertainment. Entertainment is now nondeductible. Also no longer fully deductible are workplace meals, these now fall into the 50% deductible category. What is most concerning is that there is a current lack of information on business meals, these could be 50% deductible or they could fall into the nondeductible category. This could be a significant change for many taxpayers. We will keep you updated as more information becomes available. 

While we wait on the resolution, we have one recommendation you can immediately put in place: