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Having a baby is such a wonderful blessing, but along with the tremendous amount of joy comes a large amount of new expenses. The federal government offers a number of tax breaks to help parents save money on their tax bill.
For 2016, you can claim a $4,050 exemption by adding your child as a dependent. This will reduce the amount of income which you will be taxed on. This is not a prorated amount, meaning that you qualify for the entire amount no matter what time of the year the child was born. For example, a married couple with one child would qualify for three exemptions, even if that baby was born in December of the year.
There is a phase-out on the dependent exemption that applies once your adjusted gross income exceeds $259,400 for single filers, $285,350 for head of household, $155,650 for married filing separately, and $311,300 for married couples filing jointly in 2016.
The child tax credit provides a credit of $1,000. A credit is different than a deduction in that it reduces the amount of the tax bill dollar for dollar compared to a deduction that reduces the amount of income you are being taxed on.
There is a phase-out for the child tax credit which starts when your income is above $110,000 for married couples filing jointly, $75,000 for single filers and head of household, or $55,000 for married filing separately.
The child care credit provides a credit for the costs you pay for a qualifying individual while you and your spouse, if you are married filing jointly, work or look for work.
The dollar limit on the amount of the expenses you can use to figure the credit is $3,000 for the care of one child under age thirteen or $6,000 for two or more children under age thirteen. The amount of your credit is between 20-35 percent of your allowable expenses. There is not a complete phase-out for this credit, but the credit decreases as the amount of income increases. Families with an adjusted gross income of $43,000 or more will only be able to take 20% of allowable expenses.
On December 9th, 2016, the IRS announced that the 2017 tax filing season will begin on January 23rd, 2017, when it will start accepting electronic tax returns. Per its website, the IRS is expecting more than 153 million individual tax returns to be filed during 2017, some of which will be affected by recent changes in tax law. 
Specifically, the IRS is now required to hold refunds claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) until February 15th, 2017. This rule applies to the entire refund, not just the portion of the refund relating to these credits. Furthermore, due to delays in refund processing through financial institutions, weekends, and the Presidents’ Day holiday on Monday, February 20th, 2016, the IRS is warning taxpayers who claim either credit that they most likely will not be receiving their refunds before February 27th, 2017.
How can you check the status of your refund?
There are two easy ways:
– Where’s My Refund on the IRS website – This website will be updated with estimated deposit dates for early EITC and ACTC refund filers after February 15th, 2017. All you need is your social security number or ITIN, filing status, and your exact refund amount.
– IRS2Go – This is the official mobile app of the IRS. It can be downloaded from the IRS website. EITC and ACTC refund filers can start checking the status of their refunds after February 15th, 2017.
With the year coming to an end, it is important to start getting your books in order to have them ready to close, and get a head start on filing your tax return. It is important to know that for the upcoming year, many due dates have changed for 2016 returns, and will be changed going forward.
Here are a few of those dates that have changed for the upcoming filing season. Additional guidance can be found on the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) website:
• Partnerships with a calendar year end will have a new due date of March 15th, and the extension date remains as September 15th. Fiscal year partnership returns are due on the 15th day of the 3rd month after year end, and a six month extension is allowed from that date.
• Trusts and Estates Form 1041 will have the same filing date of April 15th, but the new extension date is now September 30th.
• Exempt organizations will have the same filing date of May 15th, but with a single automatic 6-month extension of November 15th.
• FinCEN Report 114 will have a new due date of April 15th, with a new extension date of October 15th.
• Information returns including W-2 and most 1099 MISC forms will be due to the IRS/SSA on January 31st. This is the same date that they are due to the taxpayer. All other 1099 forms are due February 28th or March 31st if filed electronically.
• C Corporations have different rules for the upcoming years depending on when the year end is:
C Corporations with a calendar year end will have a new due date of April 15th with an extension date of September 15th.
C Corporations with a fiscal year end return other than December 31st and June 30th will be due on the 15th of the 4th month after the year end with an extension on the 15th of the 10th month after year end.
C Corporations with a June 30th fiscal year end will have a due date of September 15th with a new extension due date of April 15th.
It is important to be aware of these new filing dates since this will effect many entity returns in the upcoming filing season.
Reno, Nevada CPAs in the office of Barnard Vogler & Co. can assist individuals in many ways. We offer the traditional CPA services of 1040 preparation and tax planning. 
More specifically, our Reno CPAs have tax experience with California residency issues, cancellation of debts of recourse and nonrecourse, Chapter 11 bankruptcy tax matters and various trusts issues beyond just the preparation of the tax return.
Our CPAs in Reno, Nevada are also versed in a wide array of business matters. Some areas of expertise are the customary services that Certified Public Accountants typically provide such as financial statement preparations, compilations, reviews and audits. Additionally, we have assisted businesses with a congressional tax audit returning to the taxpayer a multimillion dollar tax refund, entity selections to provide the most beneficial business types, or controller/CFO services of remote bookkeeping, budget assistance and development of accounting policies and procedures. 
At our downtown Reno, Nevada location CPAs have also helped unravel and report on multimillion dollar frauds, been Chapter 7 bankruptcy examiners, and performed business valuation and expert witness testimony.
Give our office a call if you need a Reno CPA for yourself or your business.
Modern day business is built on constant competition and an ever changing landscape, where CEO’s must take risks to survive. Risk-taking is something that happens in everyday business and those that have good results from the risks are given bonuses. 
What if the CEO received a bonus from good results in the current year and then 3 years down the road that risk had then flipped and the company tanks? Should the CEO be liable?
Well, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article, that very thing is being proposed on Large Firm Wall Street Bankers. The thought is that their bonuses be deferred over four years and any actions that hurt the firms or a financial statement restatement would have a “claw back” affect over a period of seven years. The CEO’s would have to pay back a portion of their bonuses. There is already a form of “claw back” that is in place, but it is less stringent and only goes back about three years. 
Regulators are presuming that issues arising from the CEO’s decisions usually take more than three years to show up; thus the reason why they are proposing pushing the time limit to seven years. The purpose of the proposition is to combat and prevent another recession by holding CEO’s more accountable.
The issue that has been raised is if this passes, would the CEO’s adjust their pay structure? Would they opt for more stock and salary instead of bonus structure?
Just over a month away is the election for the 45th President of the United States. No matter which side of the aisle you find yourself on, there is no doubt that each candidate has proposed some substantial tax legislation changes. Here is a comparison of the candidates tax plans:
• “Fair Share Surcharge” – A proposed 4% increase to the top tax rate of 39.6% for individuals making over $5,000,000 per year. All other tax rates for individuals would remain constant.
• Closing loopholes – Strengthening the Buffet Rule and broadening the base of income subject to the rule, closing Bermuda reinsurance loophole and the “Romney Loophole”, and closing the “step up in basis” loophole.
• Closing the “Carried Interest” Loophole – Loophole which allows hedge fund managers to avoid ordinary income tax rates for earnings.
• Restore Estate Tax to 2009 Parameters($3,500,000 Estate exemption, 45% tax rate) with rates increasing to as much as 65% on estates over 1 billion.
• Ensure millionaires pay a minimum tax rate of 30%.
• Impose a “risk fee” on the largest financial institutions.
• Corporate tax rate will remain at 35%.
• Reduce tax rates for individuals from 12% for Married Filing Jointly (MFJ) filers under $75,000, to a maximum of 33% for MFJ filers over $225,000. Single filers would be half of these numbers.
• Retain current capital gains rates(max of 20%).
• Repeal net investment income tax of 3.8%.
• Increase standard deduction to $30,000 for MFJ, and get rid of personal exemptions.
• Cap itemized deductions at $200,000.
• Repeal Estate Tax unless capital gain assets valued over $10,000,000 were held until death, disallow private established charity donations.
• Above-the-line deduction for childcare for children under 13, capped by states per child. Not available to MFJ taxpayers over $500,000.
• Spending rebates for childcare expense to certain low-income taxpayers through the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).
• Cut corporate tax rate from 35% to 15%, and provide 1 time repatriation of offshore funds for a 10% tax rate.
Each tax plan is diametrically opposed from the other, but both will change the tax planning efforts that accountants will need to have to properly advise clients in the coming years. To view the tax plans in full detail, click on each candidates name to connect to their websites.
The Harvard Business Review recently published an article outlining an interesting strategy which should make negotiations more civil, speedy and fair.
The authors have proposed an approach they call the “final-offer arbitration challenge” for reaching fair agreements efficiently.
It works like this. If the other side’s position is unreasonable, one’s initial reaction is often to be just as unreasonable, believing that the issue will be resolved somewhere in the middle, and thus be reasonable. This may ultimately be the result but often only after investing a lot of time and money to get there. It stands to reason that if the parties come to a negotiation with realistic starting positions, the negotiations that follow should be relatively civil, speedy and fair.
But how can a negotiator who wants to be fair at the outset be sure that his or her counterpart will do the same? This is where the “final-offer arbitration challenge” can help to reach fair agreements efficiently. It works like this: To encourage reasonableness, one side should make their offer demonstrably fair from the outset. Then, if the other side is unreasonable, they should be challenged to take the offers to an arbitrator who must not compromise, but must choose one or the other offer. This approach should result in offers that are more aligned from the beginning. 
Thus it is to everyone’s benefit if the parties come to the negotiations with reasonable offers in hand.
This is not unlike the way thoughtful parents have resolved disputes between two siblings. Have one cut the last piece of cake in half, and have the other choose first.
Selling your home sale could impact your income taxes. You may or may not have to pay income taxes on the gain from the sale of your home.
The gain from the sale of your home may be excluded, either all or in part, from your income tax if you meet the eligibility test. The eligibility test consists of ownership and the use of the home rules. 
You must have owned and used it as your main home for at least two out of the five years before the date of the sale. Property acquired through a like-kind exchange (1031 exchange) during the 5-year period is not eligible for the exclusion.
The 24 months used as your main home can fall anywhere within the 5-year period and does not need to be consecutive 24 months. Short absences count as time lived at home. Only 12 months of residence will meet the requirement if you are physically or mentally unable to care for yourself. Time spent living in a licensed care facility also counts toward the residency requirement.
Partial exclusion is available if you moved because of work, health or an unforeseeable event. Work-related exception qualifies if your new job is at least 50 miles farther from home than your old work location. Health-related exception qualifies if you moved to obtain, provide, or facilitate diagnosis, cure, mitigation or treatment of disease, illness, or injury for yourself or a family member. Health-related exceptions also include a doctor’s recommendation of a change in residence due to health problems. Giving birth to two or more children from the same pregnancy is one of the situations qualifying as an unforeseeable related exception.
The maximum gain exclusion is $250,000 or ($500,000 if married filing jointly). The eligibility test must be met to qualify for the full or partial exclusion. Check for additional rules and any exceptions that may apply to you. One last note: You must report the sale to claim the exclusion and if you receive a form 1099-S, Proceeds from Real Estate Transactions, even if you have no gain from the sale.
It’s hard to believe we are two-thirds of the way through 2016 already. Seems like just yesterday you were gathering all of your tax documents and filing your 2015 return (or maybe you still are if it was extended). I know for a lot of individuals and business owners taxes are the last thing on their mind right now, but if you are willing to spend a little time in September it might save you some heartburn come next tax season.
For most business owners and self-employed individuals, September 15th marks the due date for your third round of 2016 estimated tax payments. 
Most simply rely on the vouchers printed out with their 2015 tax return. There is nothing wrong with this, but these figures are based on your 2015 income. If you have experienced changes in 2016, whether good or bad, the amount you are planning on paying on September 15 may require some tweaking.
We are far enough in to the year to put together a good picture of where you will be at the end of the year. Doing some quick forecasting now could save you from a big cash hit on January’s estimated payment (if you tax plan at year end) or on April 15th. If you take a look at your books and notice some big changes from 2015 now is a good time to adjust your payment.
Keep in mind that as long as you make the payment amounts on your current vouchers you will have met the withholding requirements and will not be subject to estimated tax penalties, but the consequence of withholding too little or too much hits the pocketbook down the line, and we all know the lifeblood of small business is cash.
If you have any questions or would like a qualified professional to take a quick look at your numbers to make sure you aren’t going to be forking out extraordinary amounts of cash come spring, give your CPA a call. It may be well worth it.
As we approach the last month of summer, many of us are still trying to gather documents to finalize the 2015 tax returns due in the next few months. But these are the prime months to begin the planning procedures to reduce your taxes in 2016. 
With the passing of the PATH Act of 2015 last year, the looming issues of expiring tax deductions have been delayed, or extended permanently. For the first time in several years, we know before December what our tax break limitations will be. Here are a few planning options to look into:
This is the best time of year to review your P & L from the first half of the year to project your net income at year’s end. If you have excess income and are looking to reduce the tax burden, it may be the perfect opportunity to purchase new vehicles or equipment and utilize Section 179 or Bonus Depreciation.
Have you had any life changes, such as getting married, having children, etc.? Or has your business produced more income than you expected when your estimates were prepared? You should review your withholding now to make sure you are not surprised with a substantial bill at tax time, or alternatively, that the IRS is not holding excess funds for the rest of the year that you could be utilizing.
Are you on track to max out your 401K contributions?You may have an opportunity mid-year to adjust your contributions to make sure you are maximizing your limits. Retirement contributions are a fantastic way to reduce your AGI if you are being hit with Net Investment Income Tax, high tax rates, or limited deductions.
If income is projected to be lower than expected this year, it may be the ideal time to convert your Traditional IRA to a Roth. If you anticipate that this will be the lowest tax bracket that you may be in for the foreseeable future, converting a Traditional to a Roth IRA and taking advantage of the lower tax rates may be ideal. You will have to pay taxes on the converted value of the IRA, but your converted funds will be able to grow and be withdrawn tax free in the future.
Stay Organized.The best tax advantage for your small business may just be getting every deduction that you deserve. Being organized and maintaining good records throughout the year will help ensure that all of your expenses get properly recorded. This includes maintaining mileage logs, which are much tougher to recreate months later.
If your accountant is informed about your financial plans before the transaction is made, strategies to mitigate taxes can be discussed. After the transaction is completed, it cannot always be readily reversed and can lead to huge tax implications if done incorrectly.
So enjoy the remaining warm days of summer, but get into the habit of planning for taxes now, and you can reap the benefits of your hard work for years to come.
