Posts by Rick Howard
“Of Course They’re Tax Deductible” Part 1
I have a client who farms… and produces fish… and writes books… and does a bit of almost everything. He is smart and witty. At tax time, our review of income and “deductible” expenses can be very entertaining. He surprised me a few years ago by including a whole chapter in his new book dedicated…
Read More“Of Course They’re Tax Deductible” Part 2
“Of Course They’re Tax Deductible” by Jim Schwartz Part 2 – Continued from “Of Course They’re Tax Deductible” Part 1 “There’s something else that I have been wondering about, also,” I said, since he was evidently finished with the possibilities of an audit. “What’s that?” he asked. “It will actually have to do with next…
Read More“Of Course They’re Tax Deductible” Part 3
“Of Course They’re Tax Deductible” by Jim Schwartz Part 3 – Continued from “Of Course They’re Tax Deductible” Part 2 “Ah, good,” I said. “Now, let’s get back to the dogs. You said their food was deductible, right?” “Yes, it should be,” he nodded. “They are cattle dogs, aren’t they?” “Sure are,” I said. “Darn…
Read MoreDave Ramsey… a Lesson in Motivating Others.
I was given a ticket to the Dave Ramsey “The Legacy Journey” event Thursday evening in Boise (thank you Zach!) and enjoyed the evening. I’ve attended a local “Financial Peace University” series and can attest that the personal financial principles that Dave teaches are sound. But, there is more to Dave Ramsey than “what” he…
Read More23% of IRS Computers & Other IT Equipment Unaccounted For
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (“TIGTA”) issued their report on September 16, 2013 titled, “Weaknesses in Asset Management Controls Leave Information Technology Assets Vulnerable to Loss” (Reference 2013-20-089) Excerpt from the reports highlights section… TIGTA also found that ineffective inventory controls created an environment where information technology assets are vulnerable to…
Read MoreSection 179 Deduction
When you purchase property or equipment, you utilize these assets over a period of several years (their “useful life”). Depreciation is the process of expensing or deducting the cost over the useful life of the asset rather than the entire amount in the year of purchase. Illustration of business financials information without…
Read MoreAdjust Your Payroll Withholding with Form W-4
Clients often ask , “How many allowances should I claim on my W-4?”. This may sound like a simple question, but it is very difficult to answer. The bottom portion of page 1 Form W-4 (the portion you give your employer) appears to be very straight forward. You can check in Box 3 whether…
Read MoreMinimize 2013 Income Tax Now. Don’t Wait Until April 15th.
If you wait until April 15th to try and reduce your 2013 income tax, there will be very few things you can do. Now, before December 31st, review your situation and take action to minimize your 2013 income tax. Unlike the end of 2012, Congress isn’t still debating tax law changes. We know what the…
Read MoreEquipment & Property Purchases: Expense or Capitalize?
You just purchased computer equipment. Can you expense the purchase this year? Or must you capitalize the purchase? T.D. 9636 came out in September 2013 and was published in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2013-43 on October 21, 2013. It “contains final regulations that provide guidance on the application of sections 162(a) and 263(a) of the Internal…
Read MoreSharing or Transferring Large Files
Do you need to transfer a large file? Clients often need to send us a big file (ie- QuickBooks backup file) but are limited by file size restrictions for email attachments. Here are some ways that you can send large files for free. Whether it is scanned documents into tif or pdf formats, or a…
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