For existing clients who wish to request an extension, please fill out the following document:

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed by President Trump on December 22. The Act makes sweeping changes to the U.S. tax code and impacts virtually every taxpayer. For businesses, tax benefits include a reduction in the corporate tax rate, increase in the bonus depreciation allowance, an enhancement to the Code Sec. 179 expense and repeal of the alternative minimum tax. Owners of partnerships, S corporations, and sole proprietorships are allowed a temporary deduction as a percentage of qualified income of pass-through entities, subject to a number of limitations and qualifications. On the other hand, numerous business tax preferences are eliminated.

Year-end 2017 is shaping up as an important deadline to have tax strategies in place to take advantage of certain opportunities before they sunset along with the close of the tax year on December 31, 2017. A major challenge this year, of course, involves the uncertainty that will remain, likely into late November/early December, over pending tax reform legislation. This includes uncertainty regarding rate cuts, certain deductions, and much more. Effective strategies in response to any of these “tax reform” priorities involve close monitoring of any proposed tax bill as it moves through negotiations within the various Congressional tax committees and Trump administration officials, with year-end action steps ready to go based upon alternative legislative outcomes.

Although year-end 2017 may be unique because of possible tax reform, planning during the final weeks and months of this year involves much more –both in terms of traditional year-end strategies and strategies developed in response to developments that have taken place since last year. Here are some points to consider:

As year-end approaches, each business should consider the many opportunities that might be lost if year-end tax planning is not explored. A business may want to consider several general strategies, such as use of traditional timing techniques for delaying income recognition and accelerating deductions. A business should also consider customized strategies tailored to its particular situations.

For the 2017 tax year, taxpayers have relative clarity with respect to available credits and deductions. With the exception of a handful of industry specific tax credits and deductions that expired at the end of 2016, most temporary credits and deductions were permanently extended by the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (PATH Act). A few others were extended for 5-years through 2019. Far less clear, however, is the possibility of the enactment of tax reform legislation by year’s end. The final scope of such legislation, if enacted, remains unknown. At a minimum, tax reform legislation is expected to result in a reduction of corporate and individual tax rates. However, whether such reductions would apply to 2017, as well as to 2018, will remain uncertain, likely until late November or early December. Nevertheless, much of the preparation for these contingencies should begin now.

In 2014, consumers were subjected to security breach after security breach as major retailers and service providers disclosed that they had involuntarily shared your personal data. While this is an extremely dangerous trend, the majority affected could move on with only being inconvenienced. However, over the past few years, a new form of digital extortion has arisen that has damaged unprepared small businesses—Ransomware.

Ransomware is state of the art extortion that combines: Your Data, Bitcoin, Software Insecurity, Cryptography, Phishing Attacks, and Organized Crime. Ask yourself, would your business survive if you lost 100% of your data and backups? Could you afford a $1,000.00 to $100,000.00 ransom? Likely law enforcement will not be able to help.

The IRS has announced changes to two of its offshore voluntary compliance programs; namely, the streamlined filing compliance process and the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP). These programs are part of a wider effort to stop offshore tax evasion, which includes enhanced enforcement, criminal prosecutions, and implementation of third-party reporting via the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). The changes

The premium tax credit is a refundable tax credit that helps eligible people with moderate incomes afford health insurance purchased through the Health Insurance Marketplace.

You can choose to have all or part of the credit paid in advance to your insurance company to lower what you pay for your monthly premiums, or you can claim the credit when you file your tax return. If you choose to have the credit paid in advance, you must reconcile the advance payments with the actual credit you compute when you file your tax return.

Under the Affordable Care Act, the federal government, state governments, insurers, employers and individuals are given shared responsibility to reform and improve the availability, quality and affordability of health insurance coverage in the United States. The individual shared responsibility provision, also referred to as the individual mandate, calls for each individual to have minimum essential health coverage (known as minimum essential coverage), qualify for an exemption, or make a payment when filing his or her federal income tax return.

In an effort to be a kinder friendlier IRS, the organization has released its Taxpayer Bill of Rights:

Bill of Tax Rights<

• The Right to Be Informed<

• The Right to Quality Service<

• The Right to Pay No More than the Correct Amount of Tax<

• The Right to Challenge the IRS’s Position and Be Heard<

• The Right to Appeal an IRS Decision in an Independent Forum<

• The Right to Finality<

• The Right to Privacy<

• The Right to Confidentiality<

• The Right to Retain Representation<

• The Right to a Fair and Just Tax System<

What does this mean for you? How well does the IRS follow these guidelines? As a taxpayer, it is absolutely vital to be informed, and understand what these "rights" mean, and what they do not.