You filed your tax returns and have anxiously been waiting for your refund. You may be asking yourself: “Where is my refund? Why hasn’t my refund been sent to me?”
One reason that the issuance of your refund may have been delayed is [Read more…] about WHERE IS MY TAX REFUND?
The tax issues related to individuals who telecommute (work from their home for their employer) are complex. This posting addresses the tax issues associated with employees who telecommute, not those who work from home as independent contractors. If the telecommuter is an independent contractor, then the worker is responsible for remitting his own self-employment taxes (FICA & Medicare), pays for his own insurance and benefits, and is not entitled to any employer-provided benefits (health care, retirement, etc.).
Thus an important consideration is whether the person working at home is classified as an employee or independent contractor. For most workers, this classification depends on the common law rules which primarily focus on the behavioral and financial controls that the recipient of the services has over the worker. We have addressed the differences between an employee and independent contractor in blog postings dated Feb. 15, 2015, Mar. 4, 2014, Sept. 10, 2013, Oct. 15, 2012 and Aug. 19, 2011. Needless to say, you can refer to these earlier posts to better understand this issue.
Telecommuting may create unintended state income tax consequences for the employee. For example, if the employee is [Read more…] about TELECOMMUTING – MULTI-STATE ISSUES FOR EMPLOYER & EMPLOYEE
Every year we learn that a client or two has invested in rental real estate when sending us his tax information to prepare his personal tax returns. Rather than consulting with his tax professional about the additional tax preparation services that will be required, and more importantly meeting with his tax consultant to discuss tax planning strategies associated with making the purchase, the buyer has impulsively acted on his emotions which is not prudent. While real estate can be a very important component as part of a diversified portfolio, as with any investment, due diligence should be done.
What are some tax and other considerations that are often ignored? [Read more…] about INVESTING IN REAL ESTATE – HAVE YOU DONE YOUR DUE DILIGENCE?
If you are using your tax professional only for tax preparation services, you are short-changing yourself. An experienced tax professional is an excellent resource for tax planning strategies and retirement planning. Many individuals are not planning today for tomorrow’s retirement.
The Indexed Annuity Leadership Council (IALC) reported on its April 29 blog that because guaranteed pensions and retirement plans of employers are now increasingly the responsibility of the individual employee, individuals must take financial planning into their own hands. The IALC conducted a national poll that included 605 retirees and 1,664 people employed and found that:
As Jim Poolman, the executive director of the IALC stated, “This tells me is that we might have a retirement crisis on our hands from the standpoint of people not preparing. One of the things this project does is highlight the need for people to do long term financial planning, especially retirement planning.”
If you have not already met with your tax professional to discuss your retirement strategy, why are you waiting? The earlier you begin saving for retirement, the more retirement funds you can accumulate. You should be planning for your retirement 20 years before you retire, not the year before retirement. Why meet with a tax professional? You should be discussing with your tax professional contributing to a Roth IRA versus traditional IRA, whether converting traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs makes financial sense, alternatives to your company’s 401(k) plans, are 529 plans the best strategy to pay for your child’s college education, adequacy of your life and disability insurance policies, high cash value permanent life insurance, long term care planning, is your financial advisor returning an adequate return on your retirement funds, etc. etc. etc.
If you want to learn more about retirement planning, we invite you to call 610-594-2601 today to make an appointment at our Exton PA CPA office to discuss your situation. You can also schedule a consultation at Click Here.
