Plan Now to Reduce AMT Exposure
First the bad news: Despite passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), the individual alternative minimum tax (AMT) is still in place. But there’s some good news: The law has made AMT rules more taxpayer-friendly for 2018 through 2025. In addition, other TCJA changes reduce the odds that you’ll owe the AMT for those…
The Concept of Asset Allocation
If you live in or have visited a big city, you’ve probably run into street vendors — people who sell everything from hot dogs to umbrellas in carts on the streets and sidewalks. Many of these entrepreneurs sell completely unrelated products, such as coffee and ice cream. At first glance, this approach seems a bit odd,…
Know the Rules Before Checking Employee Medical Records
When employees request time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), employers need to tread carefully. The FMLA can be a minefield in several ways, including how to document eligibility for leave. In the simple words of the Department of Labor, employees would qualify for time off under the act if a serious…
Negotiating a Commercial Lease
A commercial real estate lease, like any other contract, can be negotiated. But don’t use or accept a form lease. The lease should be constructed in a way that you obtain the maximum legal, economic and tax advantages. Keep in mind that any ambiguities in the lease are usually construed by the courts against the…
Your Donor Receipts: Do They Make the Grade?
Be careful with the language printed on the receipts you give in exchange for contributions. If you make a mistake, the results can be embarrassing for you and expensive for your donors. In one case, for example, the U.S. Tax Court disallowed deductions claimed by a California couple who split premiums with a national foundation…
Capture the Intellectual Property of Retiring Employees
How many Baby Boomer employees (those born between 1946 and 1964) will be leaving your organization in the next five years? When retiring employees clear out their desks and walk out the door for the last time, they often leave with fond memories — as well as vast amounts of intellectual property stored in their…
Five Important Rules When Registering Your Domain
With the proliferation of websites and domain registrations, it’s critical to protect your company. There is something out in the cyber world known as domain name hijacking. It refers to acts where a registered domain name is misused or stolen from the rightful name holder. hijacking is a security risk many organizations overlook when they…
How to Choose and Implement an Accessible Central Data Repository
If your business has data scattered across its departments and divisions with little interconnection, you may want to consider purchasing an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. Sound ERP software can provide your company’s management with a complete overview of the business’s operations and help facilitate informed and productive decisions. ERP systems allow you to harness…
New Study Reveals Costs, Means and Ways to Stop Fraud
Would you leave the front door unlocked to your business or not-for-profit organization? Of course not. That would give thieves easy access to your assets. Yet a surprising number of organizations don’t have strong antifraud controls in place to protect against dishonest people inside their organizations. And theft from insiders — also referred to as…
Should Your Business Be a C Corporation or a Pass-Through Entity?
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) introduced a flat 21% federal income tax rate for C corporations for tax years beginning in 2018 and beyond. Under prior law, profitable C corporations paid up to 35%. This change has caused many business owners to ask: What’s the optimal choice of entity for my start-up business?…