tax - Linkenheimer LLP CPAs & Advisors

New Law Provides a Variety of Tax Breaks to Businesses and Employers

While you were celebrating the holidays, you may not have noticed that Congress passed a law with a grab bag of provisions that provide tax relief to businesses and employers. The “Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020” was signed into law on December 20, 2019. It makes many changes to the tax code, including an extension (generally through 2020) of more than 30 provisions that were set to expire or already expired.

Two other laws were passed as part of the law (The Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2019 and the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act).

Here are five highlights.

Long-term part-timers can participate in 401(k)s.

Under current law, employers generally can exclude part-time employees (those who work less than 1,000 hours per year) when providing a 401(k) plan to their employees. A qualified retirement plan can generally delay participation in the plan based on an employee attaining […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2020-09-03T20:03:21+00:00January 29th, 2020|401k, affordable care act, business, tax, tax credit|0 Comments

2020 Q1 Tax Calendar: Key Deadlines for Businesses and Other Employers

Here are some of the key tax-related deadlines affecting businesses and other employers during the first quarter of 2020. Keep in mind that this list isn’t all-inclusive, so there may be additional deadlines that apply to you. Contact us to ensure you’re meeting all applicable deadlines and to learn more about the filing requirements.

January 31

File 2019 Forms W-2, “Wage and Tax Statement,” with the Social Security Administration and provide copies to your employees.
Provide copies of 2019 Forms 1099-MISC, “Miscellaneous Income,” to recipients of income from your business where required.
File 2019 Forms 1099-MISC reporting nonemployee compensation payments in Box 7 with the IRS.
File Form 940, “Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return,” for 2019. If your undeposited tax is $500 or less, you can either pay it with your return or deposit it. If it’s more than $500, you must deposit it. However, if you deposited the tax for the year in full and on time, you have until February 10 to file the return.
File Form 941, “Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return,” to report Medicare, Social Security and income taxes withheld in the fourth quarter of 2019. If your tax liability is […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2020-09-03T20:03:23+00:00January 10th, 2020|business|0 Comments

Medical Expenses: What It Takes to Qualify for a Tax Deduction

As we all know, medical services and prescription drugs are expensive. You may be able to deduct some of your expenses on your tax return but the rules make it difficult for many people to qualify. However, with proper planning, you may be able to time discretionary medical expenses to your advantage for tax purposes.

The basic rules

For 2019, the medical expense deduction can only be claimed to the extent your unreimbursed costs exceed 10% of your adjusted gross income (AGI). You also must itemize deductions on your return.

If your total itemized deductions for 2019 will exceed your standard deduction, moving or “bunching” non-urgent medical procedures and other controllable expenses into 2019 may allow you to exceed the 10% floor and benefit from the medical expense deduction. Controllable expenses include refilling prescription drugs, buying eyeglasses and contact lenses, going to the dentist and getting elective surgery.

In addition to hospital and […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2020-09-03T20:03:25+00:00December 6th, 2019|deduction, deductions, expensing, medical deduction|0 Comments

Minimum Wage Raised in City of Petaluma

A local minimum wage raise is coming for employees of the City of Petaluma. Effective Jan. 1, 2020, the hourly minimum wage rate for employers with 26 or more employees will be $15.00, and $14.00 for employers with fewer than 26 employees. By ordinance, the minimum wage must be adjusted annually, based on the Bay Area Consumer Price Index. This ordinance applies to all employees who work two or more hours per week in Petaluma and are covered by state minimum wage law. It doesn’t apply to federal, state or county agencies or school districts. A youth minimum wage rate applies to those who are ages 14 to 17 during the first 160 hours of employment in occupations new to them. If you have any questions, please contact your Linkenheimer CPA.

By Linkenheimer LLP|2020-09-03T20:03:25+00:00December 3rd, 2019|ca, CA tax, california|0 Comments

2 Valuable Year-End Tax-Saving Tools for Your Business

At this time of year, many business owners ask if there’s anything they can do to save tax for the year. Under current tax law, there are two valuable depreciation-related tax breaks that may help your business reduce its 2019 tax liability. To benefit from these deductions, you must buy eligible machinery, equipment, furniture or other assets and place them into service by the end of the tax year. In other words, you can claim a full deduction for 2019 even if you acquire assets and place them in service during the last days of the year.

The Section 179 deduction

Under Section 179, you can deduct (or expense) up to 100% of the cost of qualifying assets in Year 1 instead of depreciating the cost over a number of years. For tax years beginning in 2019, the expensing limit is $1,020,000. The deduction begins to phase out on a dollar-for-dollar basis for 2019 when total asset acquisitions for the year exceed $2,550,000.

Sec. 179 expensing is generally available for most depreciable property (other than buildings) and off-the-shelf computer software. It’s also available for:

Qualified improvement property (generally, any interior improvement to a building’s interior, […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2020-09-03T20:03:25+00:00December 3rd, 2019|bonus, depreciation, expensing, section 179|0 Comments