Taxpayers who use their home for business may be eligible to claim a home office deduction. It allows qualifying taxpayers to deduct certain home expenses on their tax return. This can reduce the amount of the taxpayer’s taxable income. Here are some things to help taxpayers understand the home office deduction and whether they can claim it:

As the end of 2019 approaches, more and more information and guidance is released by the IRS relating to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, as well as guidance relating to a number of different areas not impacted by the landmark tax reform act. While one of the claimed benefits of tax reform was the simplification of filing and the lowering of income tax rates, there are still many steps that individuals can take that can lower their tax bills. 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 over the last couple of years. 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 situation.

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.

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.

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.

"The IRS announced today it will be notifying taxpayers after third parties gained unauthorized access to information on about 100,000 accounts through the “Get Transcript” online application.

The IRS determined late last week that unusual activity had taken place on the application, which indicates that unauthorized third parties had access to some accounts on the transcript application. Following an initial review, it appears that access was gained to more than 100,000 accounts through the Get Transcript application." - https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-statement-on-the-get-transcript-application<

Soon, some will receive notification from the IRS that their personal information was compromised. This follows announcements from multiple retailers that they too mishandled private data <that should never have been made public. With ubiquitous weak points in security, and intelligent criminals with a financial incentive, what can ones do to protect themselves, and what can small businesses do to protect their clients?