2016 Income Taxes: Obamacare & Trump’s Executive Order

2016 INCOME TAXES: OBAMACARE & TRUMP’S EXECUTIVE ORDER by Rick Howard, CMA, CPA 2/17/2017 The Affordable Care Act, referred to as “Obamacare”, imposes a penalty for taxpayers who do not have the required health care coverage.  President Trump signed an Executive Order directing the authority and discretion to “waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay…

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The New FLSA Overtime Rules Do Not Have to Mean Higher Wage Costs

Update…  11/23/2016.  Yesterday, a Federal court in Texas put a temporary injunction on the new law. 21 states had been contesting the bill, which was consolidated into a single suit claiming the Department of Labor did not have the authority to make this large change. This action doesn’t reverse law, but only puts the implementation…

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Part 3 – Increasing The Minimum Wage Rate: Solution or Problem?

  Part 3 – Increasing The Minimum Wage Rate: Solution or Problem?   Many states have, or are considering, increasing the minimum wage rate. I’ve written two articles to help business owners/managers analyze the impact a wage rate increase (Part 1), and to discuss some of the primary strategies in dealing with it (Part 2).…

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Taking the Political Easy Path – Extender Tax Provisions Update

In an earlier post, I discussed the on-going issue with Congress where they continue to extend 50+ key tax provisions (nick-named “extender tax provisions”) for only one or two years, and then the process must be repeated. Why won’t Congress make the changes permanent? Because of politics. Specifically, these changes reduce tax revenue and increase…

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Reduce Taxes Now! Take Steps Before Dec. 31st!

If you wait until April 15th to try and reduce your 2015 income tax, there will be very few things you can do. Review your tax situation now, before December 31st, and take action to minimize your 2015 income tax. There is some uncertainty in which tax provisions Congress may decide to extend, but the…

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