Please feel free to read our client newsletter. It is provided to keep you up to date on the latest tax and accounting news.
As the dust settles on the July tax bill and the IRS starts to figure out how to implement tax-free tips and overtime, the rest of us need to move into the planning phase of the tax year. To help keep tax planning top of mind is an article about common tax myths. Each of them reinforce the need to periodically review your tax situation to be as efficient as possible.
There is also an article discussing ways to create a planning partnership with parents, children and grandparents as it relates to a smooth transition as we all age. Plus an interesting article to consider if you are a sole proprietor concerning the need to incorporate your business.
And not to be excluded, is an insightful article about the most mundane of inventions. You would not believe their stories!
As always, should you have any questions please call. And feel free to forward this information to someone who could use it!
As a freelancer or contractor, at some point you may wish to incorporate and be taxed as an S corporation. Here’s a closer look at the process of becoming an S corporation and when switching might make sense for you.
While transitioning from a sole proprietor to an S corporation can certainly result in significant tax savings, there are a few trade-offs to consider.
Most of the trade-offs are centered around administrative requirements and potential costs. These include:
Switching to an S corp generally becomes worth considering when your net income (after expenses) is in the range of $75,000 to $100,000 or more per year.
Here’s an example:
Assume you earn $120,000 in net income as a consultant.
That’s a potential tax savings of nearly $9,000 per year.
Switching from a sole proprietor to S corp can offer real tax advantages, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. It's usually best practice to review your situation once per year to ensure your business is organized properly.
As you get older, so do your parents and grandparents. And at some point, the need for support and transition becomes unavoidable. If you're lucky, the shift happens gradually. But without planning, it can arrive suddenly and feel overwhelming. Here are some suggestions to make the transition smoother for everyone involved.
Talking to your children or grandchildren about money, health, and living arrangements are not normally addressed. Your goal is to be prepared should you be faced with an emergency. This way you can avoid making key decisions in emergencies, such as in the ER, after a fall, or under emotional strain.
What you can do:
This isn't about taking control from your parents, but rather it’s about being ready to help when it's needed. Ideally your parents are having these conversations with you periodically, but if not you may find that you need to step into this void.
How you can help:
Money is often the biggest stress point in transitioning to new living arrangements or higher levels of care. But many families overlook the tax credits, deductions, and programs that can ease the financial burden. Here are some key areas to explore:
The problem isn't that children and parents don't care about transition planning...it's that they think there's plenty of time to do it. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Here's how you can start taking action today:
If handled properly, these planning discussions build a level of trust and create a level of partnership. The sooner you start talking and planning, the more control you’ll have over choices, costs, and comfort.
Tax myths can spread quickly, leading to costly mistakes or missed opportunities. Here are several common tax myths along with best practices to help you stay grounded in reality.
Reality: The U.S. tax system is progressive, meaning your income is taxed in layers. There are currently 7 different layers, with tax rates ranging from 10% to 37%. When you enter a higher tax bracket, only the portion of income above the bracket threshold gets taxed at the higher rate, not your entire income.
Best Practice: Know your marginal tax rate! This is the tax rate of the next dollar you earn. By understanding this you can do your own calculations on the impact of any additional income you earn.
Reality: A tax refund means you overpaid your taxes. It’s your money, coming back to you – without interest. Getting a big refund might feel great, but from a cash flow perspective, you’re better off adjusting your withholding so you keep more of your paycheck each month.
Best Practice: Review last year's tax return, then update the numbers to reflect your situation for the current year. Factor in the latest changes such as tax-free tips, tax-free overtime, and increased standard deductions, including the new $6,000 deduction for seniors. Once you’ve made these adjustments, revisit your paycheck withholdings to make sure they’re on track.
Reality: Not quite. While being self-employed certainly opens up more deduction opportunities, not every expense qualifies. Only ordinary and necessary business expenses can be deducted. That family trip overseas doesn’t qualify unless it was genuinely work-related (and even then, only parts of it might qualify).
Best Practice: Set up a dedicated business bank account to handle all income and expenses related to your work. Then establish a regular schedule to transfer funds into your personal account for all non-business spending. And don't commingle funds with your personal expenses. The IRS may be quick to throw out ALL expenses if they see this occurring.
Reality: If you earn money, the IRS expects to hear about it, regardless of whether you received a Form 1099. Many people assume that if a client or gig platform doesn’t send you a 1099, then that income doesn’t need to be reported on your tax return. But that’s not how it works. The tax code requires you to report all income, no matter how it’s documented – or if it’s not documented at all.
Best Practice: Keep a list of past 1099s to help you remember which clients or platforms have paid you before, and to double-check if you earned income from them again this year.
Please call if you have any questions about your tax situation.
It's easy to overlook the ordinary. A zipper, a fork, a paperclip. Each plays a small but essential role in daily life. Yet behind many of these tools are extremely interesting, strange, or accidental histories. Here’s a closer look at the real origins of some of the objects we use every day.
The paperclip may seem like a product of office supply boredom, but its story is more complicated...and even political. While several designs emerged in the 19th century, the most widely recognized version was never patented. Norwegian inventor Johan Vaaler filed a similar patent in 1899, but it was less functional than the Gem-type paperclip we know today, developed by an unknown British manufacturer.
Oddly enough, during World War II, Norwegians wore paperclips on their lapels as a silent protest against Nazi occupation. It became a symbol of resistance and unity, proof that even the smallest items can carry weight.
The fork is now a staple of Western dining, but for centuries it was considered unnecessary, even decadent. In medieval Europe, people ate with their hands, spoons, and knives. When forks began appearing in Byzantine courts, they were viewed by some religious leaders as prideful, a sign of vanity or softness.
It wasn’t until the 17th century that forks gained acceptance in France and Italy. Catherine de’ Medici is often credited with bringing them to prominence in Europe when she married into the French royal family. By the 18th century, forks had gone mainstream, changing table manners forever.
The zipper’s development was a slow burn. In 1893, Whitcomb Judson introduced a clasp locker meant to fasten boots and shoes. His invention, though, turned out to be bulky and unreliable. In 1913, Gideon Sundback improved the design, creating what we now recognize as the modern zipper. But it wasn’t until the B.F. Goodrich Company used it on rubber boots in the 1920s, and called them Zipper boots, that the name and invention caught on.
Zippers weren’t just for fashion. During WWII, they became standard on military gear, appreciated for their speed and simplicity. Today, billions are manufactured each year, quietly holding our world together.
Before rubber, people erased pencil marks with…bread. Crustless, balled-up bread was the go-to erasing tool from the 1500s until the late 1700s. In 1770, British engineer Edward Nairne accidentally picked up a piece of rubber instead of bread and discovered it worked better. He began marketing rubber erasers soon after.
The term rubber itself came from this use. It described a substance that could rub out pencil marks. It wasn’t until vulcanized rubber (made more durable by adding sulfur) was invented by Charles Goodyear that erasers became a durable staple of stationery.
Everyday objects are often invisible until we pause to consider them. Yet their histories are full of innovation, cultural resistance, accidents, and reinvention. They remind us that even the most ordinary things have extraordinary stories, if we take the time to look closer.
As the dust settles on the July tax bill and the IRS starts to figure out how to implement tax-free tips and overtime, the rest of us need to move into the planning phase of the tax year. To help keep tax planning top of mind is an article about common tax myths. Each of them reinforce the need to periodically review your tax situation to be as efficient as possible.
There is also an article discussing ways to create a planning partnership with parents, children and grandparents as it relates to a smooth transition as we all age. Plus an interesting article to consider if you are a sole proprietor concerning the need to incorporate your business.
And not to be excluded, is an insightful article about the most mundane of inventions. You would not believe their stories!
As always, should you have any questions please call. And feel free to forward this information to someone who could use it!
As a freelancer or contractor, at some point you may wish to incorporate and be taxed as an S corporation. Here’s a closer look at the process of becoming an S corporation and when switching might make sense for you.
While transitioning from a sole proprietor to an S corporation can certainly result in significant tax savings, there are a few trade-offs to consider.
Most of the trade-offs are centered around administrative requirements and potential costs. These include:
Switching to an S corp generally becomes worth considering when your net income (after expenses) is in the range of $75,000 to $100,000 or more per year.
Here’s an example:
Assume you earn $120,000 in net income as a consultant.
That’s a potential tax savings of nearly $9,000 per year.
Switching from a sole proprietor to S corp can offer real tax advantages, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution. It's usually best practice to review your situation once per year to ensure your business is organized properly.
As you get older, so do your parents and grandparents. And at some point, the need for support and transition becomes unavoidable. If you're lucky, the shift happens gradually. But without planning, it can arrive suddenly and feel overwhelming. Here are some suggestions to make the transition smoother for everyone involved.
Talking to your children or grandchildren about money, health, and living arrangements are not normally addressed. Your goal is to be prepared should you be faced with an emergency. This way you can avoid making key decisions in emergencies, such as in the ER, after a fall, or under emotional strain.
What you can do:
This isn't about taking control from your parents, but rather it’s about being ready to help when it's needed. Ideally your parents are having these conversations with you periodically, but if not you may find that you need to step into this void.
How you can help:
Money is often the biggest stress point in transitioning to new living arrangements or higher levels of care. But many families overlook the tax credits, deductions, and programs that can ease the financial burden. Here are some key areas to explore:
The problem isn't that children and parents don't care about transition planning...it's that they think there's plenty of time to do it. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Here's how you can start taking action today:
If handled properly, these planning discussions build a level of trust and create a level of partnership. The sooner you start talking and planning, the more control you’ll have over choices, costs, and comfort.
Tax myths can spread quickly, leading to costly mistakes or missed opportunities. Here are several common tax myths along with best practices to help you stay grounded in reality.
Reality: The U.S. tax system is progressive, meaning your income is taxed in layers. There are currently 7 different layers, with tax rates ranging from 10% to 37%. When you enter a higher tax bracket, only the portion of income above the bracket threshold gets taxed at the higher rate, not your entire income.
Best Practice: Know your marginal tax rate! This is the tax rate of the next dollar you earn. By understanding this you can do your own calculations on the impact of any additional income you earn.
Reality: A tax refund means you overpaid your taxes. It’s your money, coming back to you – without interest. Getting a big refund might feel great, but from a cash flow perspective, you’re better off adjusting your withholding so you keep more of your paycheck each month.
Best Practice: Review last year's tax return, then update the numbers to reflect your situation for the current year. Factor in the latest changes such as tax-free tips, tax-free overtime, and increased standard deductions, including the new $6,000 deduction for seniors. Once you’ve made these adjustments, revisit your paycheck withholdings to make sure they’re on track.
Reality: Not quite. While being self-employed certainly opens up more deduction opportunities, not every expense qualifies. Only ordinary and necessary business expenses can be deducted. That family trip overseas doesn’t qualify unless it was genuinely work-related (and even then, only parts of it might qualify).
Best Practice: Set up a dedicated business bank account to handle all income and expenses related to your work. Then establish a regular schedule to transfer funds into your personal account for all non-business spending. And don't commingle funds with your personal expenses. The IRS may be quick to throw out ALL expenses if they see this occurring.
Reality: If you earn money, the IRS expects to hear about it, regardless of whether you received a Form 1099. Many people assume that if a client or gig platform doesn’t send you a 1099, then that income doesn’t need to be reported on your tax return. But that’s not how it works. The tax code requires you to report all income, no matter how it’s documented – or if it’s not documented at all.
Best Practice: Keep a list of past 1099s to help you remember which clients or platforms have paid you before, and to double-check if you earned income from them again this year.
Please call if you have any questions about your tax situation.
It's easy to overlook the ordinary. A zipper, a fork, a paperclip. Each plays a small but essential role in daily life. Yet behind many of these tools are extremely interesting, strange, or accidental histories. Here’s a closer look at the real origins of some of the objects we use every day.
The paperclip may seem like a product of office supply boredom, but its story is more complicated...and even political. While several designs emerged in the 19th century, the most widely recognized version was never patented. Norwegian inventor Johan Vaaler filed a similar patent in 1899, but it was less functional than the Gem-type paperclip we know today, developed by an unknown British manufacturer.
Oddly enough, during World War II, Norwegians wore paperclips on their lapels as a silent protest against Nazi occupation. It became a symbol of resistance and unity, proof that even the smallest items can carry weight.
The fork is now a staple of Western dining, but for centuries it was considered unnecessary, even decadent. In medieval Europe, people ate with their hands, spoons, and knives. When forks began appearing in Byzantine courts, they were viewed by some religious leaders as prideful, a sign of vanity or softness.
It wasn’t until the 17th century that forks gained acceptance in France and Italy. Catherine de’ Medici is often credited with bringing them to prominence in Europe when she married into the French royal family. By the 18th century, forks had gone mainstream, changing table manners forever.
The zipper’s development was a slow burn. In 1893, Whitcomb Judson introduced a clasp locker meant to fasten boots and shoes. His invention, though, turned out to be bulky and unreliable. In 1913, Gideon Sundback improved the design, creating what we now recognize as the modern zipper. But it wasn’t until the B.F. Goodrich Company used it on rubber boots in the 1920s, and called them Zipper boots, that the name and invention caught on.
Zippers weren’t just for fashion. During WWII, they became standard on military gear, appreciated for their speed and simplicity. Today, billions are manufactured each year, quietly holding our world together.
Before rubber, people erased pencil marks with…bread. Crustless, balled-up bread was the go-to erasing tool from the 1500s until the late 1700s. In 1770, British engineer Edward Nairne accidentally picked up a piece of rubber instead of bread and discovered it worked better. He began marketing rubber erasers soon after.
The term rubber itself came from this use. It described a substance that could rub out pencil marks. It wasn’t until vulcanized rubber (made more durable by adding sulfur) was invented by Charles Goodyear that erasers became a durable staple of stationery.
Everyday objects are often invisible until we pause to consider them. Yet their histories are full of innovation, cultural resistance, accidents, and reinvention. They remind us that even the most ordinary things have extraordinary stories, if we take the time to look closer.
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