Owner: PDX CPA URL:http://pdxcpa.wordpress.com/ Join Date: Sun, 03 Aug 2008 20:21:59 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Accounting, tax, and technology advice for small business owners with sole proprietorships, SMLLCs, partnerships, S-Corporations, and Corporations. Site statistics:Click here
Office in Home Depreciation 2008-08-02 12:22:28 When meeting with new clients that have sole proprietorships or single-member LLCs, I often find that their prior accountant or CPA had them take depreciation on the portion of their home used for an office in home. I am not necessarily against taking the deduction, but I do think it is not right for everyone [...]
The IRS Does Not Value Your Time 2008-07-30 01:58:26 This is a simple tax issue but surprisingly one that I get a lot of questions on. Here is the common scenario…
I get a call from a small business owner who recently provided their services to a school at no cost as a “charitable contribution” (or at least in their mind). The question is always [...] Read more:Value
Rock Star Accountant? 2008-07-17 05:19:14 I found this near the end of tax season and thought it was great! I figured this would be a great break after the last two technical posts. :) Being a guitar playin’ CPA myself, it is fitting to say the least. Enjoy…
If you find any tax & accounting humor out there on the web, [...] Read more:Accountant
, Rock Star
To 179 or Not to 179 2008-07-16 21:52:01 For most business owners faced with questions on how to depreciate their fixed assets, usually the most common response is to expense as much as possible using Section 179 and then depreciate the remaining portion using MACRS. This makes sense and usually saves considerable tax in the current year; however, you might want to put some more thought into that question the next time your CPA calls wh
Incorporation Breakeven Point? 2008-07-07 23:43:57 In talking with non-incorporated small business owners that are not clients of our firm, I often ask why they have not formed an S-Corporation for their business. A common response I have been hearing is that their accountant or CPA told them that they had not reached the “breakeven point” for incorporating. Some have even [...]
PDXCPA is Back! 2008-07-06 21:45:31 My intentions last October were to post weekly on this blog, and I even had over 30 posts worked out…however, sometimes life happens. I have a 3 year old son Colin and a 13 month old daughter Calleigh and I love being a father, but couple that with a very busy tax season and lets [...]
Possible AMT Patch Battle Complicates Year-End Planning 2007-12-03 17:08:03 It is that time of year again…and I am not talking about Christmas shopping or the recent snow showers. No, it is actually time once again for last minute tax planning for 2007 and calculating your 4th quarter estimated tax payments. Well, this year Congress is adding some complication to your planning and [...] Read more:Battle
, Patch
, Possible
IRS Releases Mileage Rates 2007-11-29 12:46:41 Tuesday the IRS released the 2008 mileage rates. They still remain far from actual costs per mile; however, the IRS has spoken and here they are…
50.5 cents per mile for business miles driven;
19 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes; and
14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations
For More [...] Read more:Rates
Welcome to PDXCPA! 2007-10-02 02:41:02 Welcome to my new blog!
Soon I will have posts on tax advice, IRS developments, accounting technology, QuickBooks tips, and anything else I can find that would be helpful for small business owners and individuals.
Check back soon… Read more:Welcome
Sourcelink - Go Paperless in QuickBooks! 2008-08-16 05:07:51 One of the big problems with QuickBooks, or any accounting system for that matter, is that you are constantly having to go back to the paper back up documents when reconciling or reviewing a transaction or balance. Memos are great, but what if you could click right to the source document from the transaction in [...]
Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008 - Part I 2008-08-04 22:59:48 President Bush signed the Housing
and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008, which contained tax provisions titled the Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008. There are many changes that will affect the 2008 tax year, and I hope to cover them in the next week for you.
Here are some great resources:
CCH [...]
McCain vs. Obama Tax Plan Calculator 2008-09-26 16:58:18 I know this “McCain
vs. Obama
Tax Calculator
” is already all over the news today, but I found it to be an interesting tool to visually see the differences in the current tax plans. Obviously, there are a lot of assumptions going into this, but at least it gives you a general idea.
Next they need [...]
Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008 - Part 2 2008-09-10 20:33:31 Well, here is the bad news I promised on the Housing
Assistance Tax Act of 2008 and that is the closing of a “loophole” that was a great piece of tax planning for clients with rental properties. I fail to see the “assistance” in this tax act…
Under current law, you can take a property that [...]
Reasonable Wage For S-Corporation Shareholders 2008-10-10 00:04:41 For those of you with S-Corporation
s, now is the time of year to look at your wage for the year-to-date as well as start the planning for 2009. A “reasonable wage” needs to be paid to more than 2% shareholders in S-Corporation, and there is still time to make changes without incurring payroll tax penalties.
This [...] Read more:Reasonable
, Shareholders
Oregon Hearing Society Presentation 2008-11-01 19:52:06 Today I had the honor of speaking at the OregonHearingSociety
’s 2008 Fall Educational Seminar in Salem. I went over several new tax law changes, common sense tax savings, weekly expense reports, limiting liability with entities, and more. Below is the PowerPoint file for those of you that attended the seminar.
“What’s New to Use [...]
New Bicycle Commuter Fringe Benefit 2008-10-31 03:31:55 I was scanning the ever-popular Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (aka The Bail Out Bill) and going through all the tax provisions they buried in with it, and I stumbled upon a small new fringe benefit that I figured would be interesting for Portlanders.
The Act allows employers to provide employees who commute to work [...]
Partnership Late Filing Penalty Abatement 2009-01-06 01:07:35 If you have filed a partnership late in the last few years, chances are you received a penalty notice for late filing with a $50 “per partner, per month” late penalty. I hope none of you simply paid the notice without consulting your CPA or accountant as you may have paid the IRS a penalty [...] Read more:Filing
, Penalty
Please, No Shoeboxes This Year! 2008-12-16 13:22:50 Unfortunately, this happens more than it should. Please
- do not give your CPA a shoebox. It is for your own safety.
Posted in Tax and Accounting Humor Tagged: clients to fire, CPA attacks clients, CPA humor, shoebox tax stuff
Oregon IDA Tax Credit 2008-12-16 12:35:52 Tis’ the season for making your final charitable contributions for the year and helping out your community at the same time. If you are going to make only one contribution this year, I would highly suggest contributing to Oregon
’s Individual Development Account (IDA) Initiative.
With a normal charitable contribution, you get an itemized deduction on the [...]
Oregon Political Contribution Credit 2008-12-14 02:20:17 It is this time every year that I start getting advertisements from different political action commitees advertising the Oregon
political contribution credit while requesting contributions to their PAC. Many people just toss these mailings; however, if you haven’t already made a polictical contribution during the year - giving $50 ($100 if married filing joint) to [...] Read more:Contribution
2009 Standard Mileage Rates 2008-12-01 14:08:33 Last Monday, while everyone was getting ready for the holiday, the IRS came down from the mountain and with their tablets laying forth the 2009 standard mileage rates. As always, they still remain below actual average costs per mile; however, the IRS has spoken and here they are…
55 cents per mile for business miles [...] Read more:Standard
, Rates
Year-End Planning for 2008 2008-11-29 12:37:37 With a little over a month remaining in 2008, it is important to start year-end planning for tax year 2008 as there are still a number of things you can do to save on taxes and avoid costly mistakes.
If your income has increased from 2007 or you have some big, one-time gains, it is [...]
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