Category: AHP Blog

That’s just the cost of doing business.” You’ve probably heard this expression many times. It’s true that, to invoke another cliché, you’ve got to spend money to make money. But that doesn’t mean you have to take rising operational costs sitting down.

Summer jobs can be an effective way to teach children about financial responsibility, encourage them to save for college or retirement, and provide them with spending money during the school year. If you own a business, consider hiring your child (or grandchild) as a legitimate employee. It can be a smart tax-saving strategy for employee and employer alike, especially under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).

Every business owner launches his or her company wanting to be successful. But once you get out there, it usually becomes apparent that you’re not alone. To reach any level of success, you’ve got to be competitive with other similar businesses in your market.

You may have breathed a sigh of relief after filing your 2017 income tax return (or requesting an extension). But if your office is strewn with reams of paper consisting of years’ worth of tax returns, receipts, canceled checks and other financial records (or your computer desktop is filled with a multitude of digital tax-related files), you probably want to get rid of what you can. Follow these retention guidelines as you clean up.

The clock is ticking down to the tax filing deadline. The good news is that you still may be able to save on your impending 2017 tax bill by making contributions to certain retirement plans.
For example, if you qualify, you can make a deductible contribution to a traditional IRA right up until the April 17, 2018, filing date and still benefit from the resulting tax savings on your 2017 return. You also have until April 17 to make a contribution to a Roth IRA.
And if you happen to be a small business owner, you can set up and contribute to a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) plan up until the due date for your company’s tax return, including extensions.

Last week, the IRS announced in Bulletin No 2018-10, a reduction in the family contribution limit for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).

In 2017, the IRS announced a $3,450 limit for individuals and $6,900 limit for families. While the limit for individuals remains the same, the limit for families has been reduced by $50 to $6,850. The decrease from the previously announce amount is due to the change in the cost of living index in the new tax bill which caused the limit to rise a little slower than previously anticipated.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) changes the rules for deducting interest on home loans. Most homeowners will be unaffected because favorable grandfather provisions will keep the prior-law rules for home acquisition debt in place for them.

On Friday, February 9, 2018, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 was signed into law. The new law includes an extension of certain expired tax provisions for 2017, and tax relief for victims of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria and the California Wildfires. Below is a summary of the key provisions affecting individual taxpayers.

As you’ve heard by now, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) includes a number of changes that will affect individual taxpayers in 2018 and beyond. Significant attention has been given to the reduced tax rates for most individuals and the new limit on deducting state and local taxes. But there is more to the story. We provide a summary of some of the lesser-known provisions in the new law.

This week the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the Act) has officially passed. The Act significantly changes the landscape for individuals and business for tax years beginning after December 31, 2017.

For many taxpayers, the changes made by the legislation present a host of tax planning challenges and opportunities going forward. We have included an overview of these challenges and opportunities for both individuals and businesses below.

Please contact your AHP tax consultant with any questions or concerns you may have.