blog
January 23, 2018
Is the Cost of the Company Party Deductible Under the New Tax Law?

As we uncover the details associated with the Tax Cut and Jobs Act and apply the rules to the real-world activities in our trades and businesses we found conflicting messages associated with the deductibility of certain entertainment expenses....

January 23, 2018
Checklist of Common Estate Tax Audit Triggers

About nine percent of the estate tax returns reporting gross estates of $5 or more were audited by the IRS during 2014.  And the bigger the estate the more likely the audit....

January 23, 2018
Deep Dive on 529 Plans

With federal changes to the way 529 plans work in Dec 2017 and MN changes to the way 529 plans work passed in summer 2017 now seems like the perfect time to take a deeper dive into a subject which many people have some awareness around, but perhaps don’t fully understand a...

January 22, 2018
New Tax Law Eases Rules for Bonus Depreciation

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act effectively lowers the cost of acquiring capital assets by making substantial changes to the income tax rules for bonus depreciation and other "cost recovery" methods....

January 22, 2018
Making the right choice about your office space

For many companies, there comes a time when owners must decide whether to renew a lease, move on to a different one or buy new (or pre-existing) space. In some cases, it’s a relatively easy decision. Maybe you’re happy where you are and feel like such a part of the local...

January 22, 2018
Eight Factors Indicating a Buy/Sell Agreement Needed

1. Liquidity: The owners want to ensure a ready market for their ownership interests (in the event of death, disability, retirement, etc.). A mandatory buyout provision provides liquidity to the family of a deceased or disabled owner....

January 22, 2018
Three Flavors of Form 1095 – A, B, C

There are three different flavors of Form 1095 and most people don’t know much about them, so what’s the scoop with the 1095-A, B, and C?...

January 22, 2018
Can Hiring Your Kids Save on Taxes?

School is out and you are wondering how to keep your kids occupied for the summer – why not think about hiring them to work in your business?  This is an option for many business owners as long as the federal and state laws are followed.  You need to treat your child as ...

January 22, 2018
How do the tax reform proposals affect my business?

Here is a recap of the proposals in both the House and the Senate, that could affect your business in 2018 and beyond....

January 22, 2018
2018 Tax Bill Update

Republican House and Senate negotiators released a final tax bill on Friday bridging differences between the House and Senate bills and appeared to lock down the votes needed to passage....

January 19, 2018
What is UNICAP?

UNICAP is short for Uniform Capitalization.  That probably doesn’t even help explain it.  The IRS Code Section 263A is all about the Uniform Capitalization rules.  In general UNICAP is the amount of costs that a company needs to capitalize related to their inventory....

January 19, 2018
Built-In Gains Tax is a BIG Bad Wolf

Built-in Gains tax is a BIG bad wolf.  Every business owner should strive to avoid the built-in gains (BIG) tax like you would avoid the BIG bad wolf.  It’s not always possible to avoid it, but by planning ahead you can definitely minimize it.  So what is the BIG tax an...