In June, 2018, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced “Operation Main Street: Stopping Small Business Scams,” a partnership between federal and state authorities and the Better Business Bureau. The initiative supports what fraud experts have long known: Small businesses can be easy targets for scams because they don’t always have the staffing or financial resources [...]
Companies will be able to capitalize, or spread out the costs of, setting up pricey business systems that operate on cloud technology under an update to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Here are the details. FASB responds to business complaints Over the last three years, businesses have complained to the Financial Accounting Standards Board [...]
In a world of increasing exposure to online security threats, it’s nice to be able to rely on voicemail for risk-free communication. The problem is, you can’t. Your voicemail system can easily be hacked if you don’t take some precautions. Passwords as passports In the most common scheme, hackers figure out the passwords for voicemail [...]
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) created the Opportunity Zones program to increase investment in economically distressed communities. The program provides preferential capital gains treatment for investments within designated low-income census tracts. Policymakers hope opportunity zones will unleash investment in low-income communities throughout the country. This analysis describes opportunity zone program incentives, reviews both [...]
That could delay tax refunds A recent Washington Post article makes an interesting observation about the impact of large numbers od IRS employees skipping work. Here is an excerpt. "Hundreds of Internal Revenue Service employees have received permission to skip work during the partial government shutdown due to financial hardship, and union leaders said Tuesday [...]
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) announced that more than $650,000 in scholarships for accounting students is available for the 2019-20 academic year. The applications will be available online at ThisWaytoCPA until March 1. AICPA Announces $650,000 in accounting scholarships for the 2019-2020 academic year - apply now through March 1! The scholarships, [...]
Taxpayers and tax practitioners received guidance from the IRS on what to expect in the areas of audits, collections, tax return processing, and Tax Court operations now that the government shutdown has concluded. The IRS explained on its website that IRS employees returned to work on Jan. 28 and are going through mail and voicemail [...]
With the partial federal government shutdown now going into its 34th day as of Jan. 24, the already daunting chore of filing taxes may have some taxpayers especially weary. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been closed since the shutdown began on Dec. 22, but the period for filing tax returns officially opens in just [...]
Meal, vehicle and travel expenses are common deductions for businesses. But if you don’t properly document these expenses, you could find your deductions denied by the IRS. A critical requirement Subject to various rules and limits, business meal (generally 50%), vehicle and travel expenses may be deductible, whether you pay for the expenses directly or [...]
Does your business reimburse employees’ work-related travel expenses? If you do, you know that it can help you attract and retain employees. If you don’t, you might want to start, because changes under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) make such reimbursements even more attractive to employees. Travel reimbursements also come with tax benefits, [...]
