Murphy, Murphy & Murphy, Inc. Online Newsletter

 

ONLINE NEWSLETTER CATEGORIES

THIS MONTHS NEWSLETTER

Dear Valued Client,

Take advantage of the special tax breaks that are still available. If you have been impacted by the economy and need to hold on to your cash, there are many incentives that can help you out.

If you need to discuss your circumstances or would like more information on the topics covered in this edition, please call this office for an appointment.

Murphy, Murphy, Murphy

Having a Bad Year? You May Qualify for the Earned Income Credit. - 25 June 2010, 11:00 am
Many individuals find themselves earning less during these troubled economic times than in years past.  As a result, they may qualify for a credit that they previously were not entitled to because of income limitations.The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is for people who work, but have lower incomes. If you qualify, it could be worth up to $5,666 for 2010.  So, you could pay less federal tax or even be eligible for a refund.  The credit is a refundable credit, meaning you can rec.. [Read More]

Declare Your Independence From Security Worries: Use QuickBooks’ Protection Tools - 25 June 2010, 11:00 am
If there’s one application that you don’t want compromised by a security breach, it’s the one that contains all of your financial information. Recognizing that, Intuit has built a number of security features into QuickBooks that are designed safeguard your debits and credits.Tip: QuickBooks integrates with Microsoft Internet Explorer for some of its work. We’ll discuss some of its safety tools, but you may want to check with your accounting professional to see if your lar.. [Read More]

Tax Exempts Can Benefit from Health Insurance Credit - 25 June 2010, 11:00 am
A part of the recently enacted health care legislation is the new Small Business Health Insurance Tax Credit for eligible small employers (ESEs) that provide non-elective health insurance to their employees.  A qualified small business is one that has 25 or fewer equivalent full-time employees with average annual full-time wages of $50,000 or less.   Generally, the credit will be at its maximum for employers with 10 equivalent full-time employees making average full-time wages of .. [Read More]

More Details – Health Insurance Coverage for a Child under Age 27 - 25 June 2010, 11:00 am
The Department of Health Services and the Treasury Department have recently released additional guidance and details related to the health insurance coverage for a child under the age of 27.  Before the passage of the Affordable Care Act into law, many health plans and issuers could remove adult children from their parents' policies because of their age, whether or not they were a student, or where they lived.  Under this new law, plans and issuers that offer dependent coverage will be.. [Read More]

Reasonable Compensation is Becoming a Hot Issue - 25 June 2010, 11:00 am
Corporate officers will sometimes attempt to disguise what should be payment for services as distributions of cash, dividends, and loans as a means of avoiding payroll taxes on the income.  Because they are pass-through entities, Sub Chapter S corporations are especially prone to the misclassification of income attributable to a misunderstanding of the compensation rules or by deliberate attempts to reduce the payroll tax bite.  Hence, the IRS and Congress are placing an increased emph.. [Read More]

The State of the Estate Tax Reform - 25 June 2010, 11:00 am
Many clients have been asking about the status of the estate tax.  Regrettably, there is nothing new to report on this issue for federal purposes.  Presently, there is no federal tax on the estates of individuals dying in 2010.  Although many believed that Congress would reinstate the tax on estates in 2010, that has not happened, and the more time that passes the less likely it is that it will happen.  Meanwhile, some states whose estate tax laws were tied to the feder.. [Read More]

2010 is the Last Year for the Lean Burn Vehicle Credit - 25 June 2010, 11:00 am
2010 is the final year during which taxpayers can purchase an advanced lean burn technology vehicle and claim a tax credit for the purchase.  Unlike the hybrid credit, the lean burn credit is available to vehicles with internal combustion engines that are designed to operate primarily using more air than is necessary for complete combustion of the fuel, incorporate direct injection, and achieve at least 125% of the 2002 model year city fuel economy rating.  The table below lists the ve.. [Read More]

Misclassifying Workers Can Be Costly! - 25 June 2010, 11:00 am
With the current economy, and not always knowing what lies ahead, most business owners and executives tend to be financially conservative and preserve the cash of the business.  This conservative approach frequently carries over to hiring activities, with many employers choosing to hire independent contractors/freelancers as opposed to full-time employees.  In doing so, they eliminate the cost of company benefits such as vacation, sick pay, health insurance and retirement funding. .. [Read More]

Hiring Family Members in a Family Business - 25 June 2010, 11:00 am
In today’s tough job market, students seeking summer employment, young adults looking for full-time employment, and college graduates looking to begin their careers are finding it difficult to land a job.  The family business may be the only place for some family members to find work, even if only temporarily until another opportunity arises.  Financially, it makes more sense to keep the family employed rather than hiring strangers, provided of course, the family member is suitab.. [Read More]

Three New Information Reporting Tools Being Added By the IRS - 25 June 2010, 11:00 am
The IRS has long used information reporting as a tool to enforce compliance with the tax laws.  This is done in a variety of ways.  Information reporting provides the IRS with the ability to perform vast numbers of compliance checks using their computer system.  For example, Bank A issues a Form 1099-INT to Customer X and the IRS that reports the $1,000 of interest it paid to Customer X during the year.  The IRS then checks X’s tax return to see if the $1,000 of income .. [Read More]

Big Break for Adoptive Parents - 25 June 2010, 11:00 am
As part of the Health Care Legislation passed earlier this year, the credit for expenses of adopting a child was increased and made refundable.  Prior to this change, the credit was non-refundable and could only be used to reduce the adoptive parent’s tax to zero, with any unused portion of the credit carried over for up to five years and used against future years’ tax.What this means is that taxpayers with unused adoption credit carryovers will be able to get the full benefit o.. [Read More]

Exemption for a Child - 25 June 2010, 11:00 am
Generally, the custodial parent is the one that is entitled to deduct the exemption for a child unless the custodial parent releases the exemption.  The release (IRS provides form 8332 for this purpose) must be a written declaration, and it must be unconditional (no strings attached, such as requiring the non-custodial parent to meet support payment obligations).  If both parents were to claim the children as dependents, the IRS’s computer matching program is designed to flag bot.. [Read More]

The Murphy, Murphy & Murphy, CPAs newsletter is available via e-mail on a free subscription basis. You can subscribe or unsubscribe at any time. For more information about - Murphy, Murphy & Murphy, CPAs, go to http://www.murphy3.com. This message was sent using ClientWhys Persyst. View our permission marketing policy.

Join the family!

Sign up for the newsletter!



1040
Quickbooks Tips
Real Estate & Mortgage
Small Business
First Name*:
Last Name*:
E-mail Address*:
I would like information on:
Privacy Policy