Finance & Enjoyment Blog
January 09, 2012Advantages in HOA Tax Reporting
Category: Rules and Regulations
Did you know a homeowner’s association can retroactively change its tax status? By allowing this, an HOA can optimize their tax due to take advantage of certain rules. An 1120-H, which is exclusive to HOAs allows the organization to be taxed at a flat 30% on all regular and investment income. This can be advantageous under the right circumstances, while harmful in others. The alternative to this type of tax status is to file an 1120 as a corporation. The lowest tax rate under this type of status is 15%, but only up to $50,000 in income …
Read The Rest of This PostJanuary 04, 2012The 2% Payroll Tax Cut And You
Category: Your Financial House, Rules and Regulations
Much talk has been made lately of the 2% payroll tax cut that has been the holdup in Congress over the past month. At face value, the common employee would assume this will result in a straight 2% increase in their take-home pay, but there are many other factors involved that also affect this amount. Additionally, this does not extend to the employer, so that rate remains at 6.2%. First of all, this cut has been in effect since 2011 so what Congress was actually fighting over was whether or not to return to the rate to pre-2011 rates. This payroll tax is solely tied to …
Read The Rest of This PostJune 07, 2011Rules for Your Car Tax Deduction
Category: Rules and Regulations
Rules for Your Car Tax Deduction - A vehicle that is used for both personal and business is tax deductible for business related purposes only. There is no minimum in regards to the percentage of business use for the automobile and whether the vehicle was financed, purchased outright or leased does not matter. Either a standard mileage rate or the actual costs can be used to calculate this deduction. There are, however, several rules one must follow when taking these deductions, and only one expense method may be used. Rule # 1: Adequate written records must be kept. These should provid …
Read The Rest of This PostJune 01, 2011Colorado Accounting: Depreciation Changes Likely
Category: Your Financial House, Rules and Regulations
Depreciation Changes Likely for Colorado Accounting - It is likely that this year will be the last year in which businesses can claim special depreciation on new asset purchases equal to 100% of the assets cost, if they are purchased new. This can add to significant tax savings in the 2011 tax year. With these tax savings unlikely to be extended into the future, businesses may wish to consider purchasing any new assets in the current year before this tax advantage is gone. Another depreciation change that may be coming is an increase in the tax lives for assets put in service in the fut …
Read The Rest of This PostMarch 01, 2011Health Care Medical Deductions
Category: Your Financial House, Rules and Regulations
The Latest in Health Care Tax Deductions - Due to the health care act of 2010, in the near future it will become increasingly difficult to deduct health care expenses if you itemized on your tax return. With the current rate of medical expenses being deductible by the amount which exceeds 7.5% of your adjusted gross income, this rate will increase in 2013 to the amount that exceeds 10% of AGI and then in 2017 it will increase to 10% for individuals 65 and older. There are many expenses which the IRS deems qualifying medical expenses when itemizing, these include items such as health insuranc …
Read The Rest of This PostFebruary 26, 2011Adoption Tax Credit Changes
Category: Your Financial House, Rules and Regulations
Changes to the Adoption Tax Credit - There have been several changes to the adoption tax credit this year. Many of these changes are new to this year due to the passage of the health care reform bill. Several new opportunities for tax savings in both 2010 and 2011 have been created, yet all these savings expire after 2011 unless Congress takes further action to extend them. This addition to the adoption credit allows for a maximum tax credit of up to $13,360 per eligible child, to cover processing fees and other costs directly attributable to the adoption process, with the credit extend …
Read The Rest of This PostFebruary 18, 2011Important Information on Residential Energy Tax Credits
Category: Your Financial House, Rules and Regulations
Energy Tax Credit - What You Should Know! As you are beginning to prepare your taxes there are a couple of federal tax credits that you may want to consider this year as they may save your money. One of which you should look at for money savings is the residential energy tax credit. This tax credit can be up to $1,500 or 30% of the purchase price of items such as central air conditioning, energy efficient windows and doors. If you have purchased any of these items during the year of 2010 be sure to take this into consideration while preparing your tax information. One unfort …
Read The Rest of This PostJanuary 26, 2011Tax Planning Basics
Category: Successful Practice Management, Your Financial House, Rules and Regulations
What You Should Know About Tax Planning - For the most part, significant tax issues may be avoided by careful planning and attention to your financial situation. The goal of any tax payer should be to pay the least amount of tax, but this philosophy may lead to errors or even create more of a tax liability than what was originally saved. Tax returns filed by medical practices can be complicated, and leaving it up to Turbotax or H&R Block can have disastrous results. Usually the cost associated with hiring a CPA is made up several times over by the dollars saved on the tax …
Read The Rest of This PostJanuary 01, 20112011 Tax Due Dates
Category: Your Financial House, Rules and Regulations
Due Dates for the 2011 Tax Season: January 15, 2011 Individuals Pay fourth installment of estimated income tax for 2010, accompanied by Form 1040-ES and for CO Form 104-ES. Corporations and S-corporations (years ending October 31, 2010) File U.S. Corporation Income Tax Return, Form 1120, or U.S. Income Tax Return for an S Corporation, Form 1120S, or an application for extension of time to file, and pay the balance of the income tax, if any. Colorado corporations are due the same day as federal. A worksheet, Form 1120-W, is availab …
Read The Rest of This PostDecember 28, 2010New Healthcare Bill - Penalties Enforced for Employers
Category: Successful Practice Management, Rules and Regulations
New Healthcare Bill - Penalties Enforced for Employers Due to the recent Healthcare bill there will be new penalties enforced that may affect employers with over 50 full-time employees, or full-time employee equivalents. These new penalties have been enacted to encourage employers to provide employees with either health insurance or another health plan that pays for 60% of their employee’s health care costs. If an employer fails to do this they will incur a $2,000 penalty for each employee beginning in 2014, with 30 employees being exempted from the calculation of the penalty. The gove …
Read The Rest of This PostSeptember 29, 2010Imaging Services: Medicare Spending Reduced
Category: Rules and Regulations
Imaging Services: Medicare Spending Reduced Provider payments from Medicare as it pertains to medical imaging procedures have changed since the passing of the Health Care Reform Act of 2010. The reasoning behind this is to curb Medicare spending on imaging services, which rose sharply from $6.6 billion in to $13.7 billion in 2006. The new legislation resulted in three changes, two of which are payment related, while the third deals with disclosing information. Effective in 2011, there will be a rise in the utilization rate assumption for calculating the payment for advanced imaging equ …
Read The Rest of This PostAugust 11, 2010Physician Quality Reporting Initiative - Need to Know!
Category: Rules and Regulations
The Healthcare Reform Act of 2010 will bring many changes to Medicare payments to physicians. Most of these changes will occur in years after 2010, with the exception of payment amounts being increased for practices with low costs in 2010. Starting in 2011, Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) incentive payments will be increased by .5% every year until 2014. Whereas, if physicians do not participate in PQRI programs, they may face penalties in 2015. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will be developing a ‘physician compare’ website, as well as appl …
Read The Rest of This PostAugust 02, 2010Medicaid Undergoing Changes
Category: Rules and Regulations
Medicaid, the health program for eligible individuals and families with low incomes and resources will undergo several changes resulting from the Health Care Reform Act of 2010. The majority of these changes will be seen by the provider and are: Providers are allowed to be recognized as Accountable Care Organizations and share in cost savings on both the federal and state levels. Payment rates to primary care physicians will equal 100% of the Medicare payment rate in 2013 and 2014, this will be funded solely by the federal government. One new rule resulting from the act is tha …
Read The Rest of This PostJuly 16, 2010Health Information Technology Extension Program
Category: Rules and Regulations
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH Act), created by ARRA, creates a Health Information Technology Extension Program. The extension program consists of Health Information Technology Regional Extension Centers (RECs) and a nationwide Health Information Technology Research Center (HITRC). The HITRC is tasked with gathering information on effective practices and facilitating the RECs in working with one another, and with germane stakeholders to identify and share best practices in EHR adoption, successful use, and provider support. The RECs will supp …
Read The Rest of This PostOctober 20, 2009Computer Crime and Abuse
Category: Rules and Regulations
Popular business press, from the Wall Street Journal, various cable news networks, other business magazines and websites; frequently publish stories about newly discovered cases of financial fraud relating to or carried out by using computers. KKB would like to increase awareness of these problems and aid in devising controls to prevent them or reduce the damage they can cause to your company. A computer crime is the manipulation of a computer or computer-generated data to dishonestly obtain something of value for personal gain, or to cause loss. Statement on Auditing Standards No. 99: Cons …
Read The Rest of This PostSeptember 17, 2009Estate Tax Changes
Category: Rules and Regulations
Estate tax is defined by the Internal Revenue service as "A tax on your right to transfer property at your death. It consists of an accounting of everything you own or have certain interests in at the date of death." In 2001, Congress enacted sweeping changes to the estate tax, gradually increasing the exemption amount from $675,000 to $3,500,000 today in 2009. Because this legislation passed in the Senate with fewer than 60 votes, the changes could not be made permanent. If Congress does not address estate tax in 2009, the tax will disappear as of January 1, 2010, …
Read The Rest of This PostAugust 18, 2009KKB's Take on Proposed Healthcare Reform
Category: Rules and Regulations
Healthcare Reform, or Health Insurance Reform as it is currently being called, is the hottest topic on many people's minds right now. The House has passed a complex bill that is over 1,000 pages long; there are many, many provisions in this bill, and I doubt anyone can say that they know what it all means. Democratic senators and congressmen rely on advisors who are guided by Mr. Obama's team for a political script for their public communications. I wonder if any one of them has read the entire bill. There are provisions within the bill that are highly questionable, such as …
Read The Rest of This PostAugust 13, 2009Identity Theft and Red Flag Rules
Category: Rules and Regulations
The Red Flag Rules were developed to address identity theft issues through creditor handling of personal consumer information. In theory, finding identity theft early in source transactions and taking proactive steps to stop the damage should lessen financial losses to organizations, and protect consumers from becoming victims. The FACT Act, of which the Red Flags Rules are a part, is a significant piece of legislation that amended the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and requires businesses to implement the law through a number of regulations. According to the Federal Trade Commi …
Read The Rest of This PostJuly 18, 20092009 Potential Tax Changes
Category: Rules and Regulations
2009 is shaping up to be active and perhaps even baffling year. The following paragraphs outline some of the key activities that seem to support this forecast. Our team of tax professionals at KKB will be following these and other changes as they occur. Recently Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, said the House would have its version of healthcare reform out by July 31, 2009, yet no mention was made about how it would be funded. The most pressing tax issue for 2009 is the existing estate tax exemption. On Ja …
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