How does a “charitable IRA rollover” in 2016 affect your taxes?

Charitable IRA Rollover

Last year a break valued by many charitably inclined retirees was made permanent: the charitable IRA rollover. If you’re age 70½ or older, you can make direct contributions — up to $100,000 annually — from your IRA to qualified charitable organizations without owing any income tax on the distributions. Satisfy your RMD A charitable IRA […]

Streamline your sales staff’s workflow

Do you know how much time your salespeople spend actually selling? In many cases, sales reps spend too much time doing reporting, administrative tasks and other nonsales responsibilities assigned to them. If you can streamline your sales staff’s workflow to keep them better focused on selling, your profitability may benefit. Emphasize strengths To get started, […]

How can your business make the most of the cloud?

Like many companies, yours probably stores at least some of its business files, documents and information in “the cloud.” This is the widely used term referring to the seemingly infinite data storage capacity of the Internet. Using the cloud generally means lower IT costs, because you don’t have to deploy a lot of expensive hardware […]

Lower gas costs = lower business driving tax deductions

This year, the optional standard mileage rate used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business went down. The reason? Compared with last year, the cost of driving is less because gas prices are lower. Two options If you use a vehicle for business, you can generally deduct the actual expenses attributable […]

Help retain employees with tax-free fringe benefits

One way your business can find and keep valuable employees is to offer an attractive compensation package. Fringe benefits are an important incentive — especially those that are tax-free. Here’s a rundown of some common perks and their tax implications. • Medical coverage. If you maintain a health care plan for employees, coverage under the […]

Overview of inventory reporting methods

It’s critical to report inventory using the optimal method. There are several legitimate options for reporting inventory — but take heed: The method you choose ultimately affects how much inventory and profit you’ll show and how much tax you’ll owe. The basics Inventory is generally recorded when it’s received and title transfers to the company. […]

Estate tax deferral offers relief to some business owners

If a substantial portion of your wealth is tied up in a family or closely held business, you may be concerned that your estate will lack sufficient liquid assets to pay estate taxes. In such cases, heirs may be forced to borrow funds or, in a worst-case scenario, sell the business in order to pay […]

An effective succession plan calls for decisive action

The prospect of leaving your company in the hands of someone else likely brings mixed emotions. You’ve no doubt spent a substantial amount of time and a great degree of effort in getting your enterprise to where it is today. So, as the saying goes, parting will be such sweet sorrow. Yet, when it comes […]

Estate planning benefits of FLPs may be in danger

For many years, family limited partnerships (FLPs) have been a popular estate planning tool, in part due to their tax benefits. Specifically, they can allow you to transfer assets to your children (and other family members) at discounted values for gift tax purposes. The gifts may even be tax-free if you apply your lifetime exemption […]