Our Blog

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:

The IRS recently issued a news release that notes while some states are planning or have already implemented workarounds for the State and Local Tax (SALT) deductions, specifically mentioning state-established “charitable funds”, that the IRS is planning to issue proposed regulations in the near future to disallow these contributions. Those contributions would likely be determined by substance-over-form principles and be disallowed after the maximum $10,000 deduction for SALT taxes that was enacted by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

New Jersey has responded to the notice by writing a letter discouraging the IRS from going down that path.
 
To learn more see IRS news release IR-2018-122 or Notice 2018-54 which both address the issue. 

The IRS issued a news release in April 2018 to perform a “paycheck checkup” to ensure taxpayers have the right amount of tax withholding following the recent tax law changes. The IRS has unveiled several new features to help taxpayers understand the implications of the tax law changes including YouTube videos and a “Special Tax Tip series.” 
 
This IRS news release emphasizes one important aspect of many changes from the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. As always, if you have any questions feel free to contact us and please view the entire news release here.
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The IRS recently issued a news release that warns of a new twist on a phone scam. Scammers are calling taxpayers with the local IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center showing as the caller ID. When the taxpayer questions the scammer they have the taxpayer verify the caller ID phone number on the IRS website.

Note that the IRS typically initiates most contacts through regular mail. For more information see the news release, IR-2018-103.

Karyn Richardson, CPA •

Now that we are nearing the mid-year mark, it is a good time to review how your business has done thus far and project where it is going for the remainder of the year. Many people believe that tax planning is something that happens in December, but successful tax planning is an on-going process that requires the business owner and their tax advisors to communicate and evaluate the business and the owner’s personal tax situation on a continuous basis.

When reviewing your year-to-date numbers, consider the following:
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Nora Tellifson, CPA •

Gentle Readers,
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This is likely my shortest missive of all time. Don’t dismay: if I survive the April tax deadline (and I always do), I’ll be back with long and windy articles with breathtaking insights and commentary. However, today my message is short and sweet.

You must return the signed Form 8879 before your tax preparer can file your return!! 
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Alyssa McBride, CPA •

As you prepare your QuickBooks file for your accountant, make sure you don’t have any other changes that need to be made in 2017 before sending your accountant a copy of the file. If you use QuickBooks Online, be sure to communicate when you are done making changes to your accountant. 
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​As you wait for your tax return to be prepared, you want to make sure you don’t make any changes to the past year. A simple solution is to add a closing date and password in QuickBooks. 

Alyssa McBride, CPA •

Do you have to file a tax return in multiple states? You may hear that question every year from your accountant. Having a requirement to file tax returns in multiple states is becoming more and more prevalent. If you have employees who work in another state, have property in another state, ship to other states, or even if you perform work in your state for an out of state business you could potentially have a liability to register and file tax returns in that state depending on the laws of that state. That list is not all-inclusive!
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