Can Partners Deduct Business Expenses They Aren’t Reimbursed For?
Law firm partners must sometimes pay for certain firm-related expenses out of their own pockets. For instance, your firm’s partners may Have to personally absorb the costs of wining and dining prospective clients who are not on the “approved” firm-wide list of potential clients for which the firm will reimburse entertainment costs. Incur personal auto…
Congress Raises 401(k) Hardship Withdrawal Limits
Most 401(k) plans permit hardship withdrawals, though plan sponsors aren’t required to allow them. As it stands today, employees seeking to take money out of their 401(k) accounts are limited to the funds they contributed to the accounts themselves, and only after they’ve first taken a loan from the same account. Loans must be repaid,…
Getting Rid of an Electronic Headache
For e-mail users, spam can be irritating and costly: Appeals from a Nigerian general asking for money, services to help find a Russian bride, and pornographic messages are just a few of the items that can clog up your inbox. Can-Spam Facts The federal Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography Act includes a complex set…
Squeeze More Work Out of Your Computers
That computer sitting on your desk can do five times more than it’s doing now if you set up PC sharing among your employees. Let’s say you have one employee working a morning shift, and another working in the afternoon. In theory, you don’t need two separate computers and can save some money. But there…
Build Teams for Growth and Success
Teamwork. It’s a common enough term these days, and well-known companies such as General Electric, 3M, Texas Instruments and Federal Express have been using it to their advantage for decades. Now an increasing number of businesses have taken up team building for growth, efficiency and competition. However, building effective teams isn’t a snap, particularly here…
Is Your Company Facing a Cash Flow Crunch?
Cash flow is always an important element in the smooth and successful operation of your business and is particularly key in meeting opportunities and demands. Generating sales and managing operations are, of course, also important, but ensuring that that cash from those sales is collected and that your company’s daily cash flow needs are managed…
Survey: Employers Adapt Quickly to Withholding Tax Changes
Most employers had no problems meeting the February 15, 2018, deadline to begin using the 2018 federal income tax withholding tables, which reflect changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). However, many employees question how the TCJA will affect them.Those are findings of a recent American Payroll Association survey of 1,000 payroll…
How to Pay Retiree Health Costs Tax-Free
If you own a small business, you may have set up a defined benefit pension plan for you and your employees that will provide a specific amount of retirement income based on salary history and years of service. For 2018, the maximum annual benefit of a defined pension plan is $220,000 (up from $215,000 in…
Coping With a Nightmare: Firing a Relative in a Family Business
Of course, you love your family members. But let’s say you hired them — and their spouses and children — to work in the family business and one of them is not working out. In fact, an outside consultant has told you that the person is incompetent, destructive to the business morale and should be…
Are Roth IRAs Still Beneficial under the New Tax Law?
The Roth IRA remains an attractive retirement planning vehicle for many individuals after the changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). Here’s what you need to know about Roth IRAs and Roth IRA conversions under the new law. New Tax Law Eliminates Reversal Privilege for Roth IRA Conversions Did you know that…