As an employer, you must pay federal unemployment (FUTA) tax on amounts up to $7,000 paid to each employee as wages during the calendar year. The rate of tax imposed is 6% but can be reduced by a credit (described below). Most employers end up paying an effective FUTA tax rate of 0.6%. An employer taxed [...]
Autumn brings falling leaves and … the gridiron. Football teams — from high school to pro — are trying to put as many wins on the board as possible to make this season a special one. For business owners, sports can highlight important lessons about a profitability game plan. One, in particular, is that you and [...]
These days, most businesses need a website to remain competitive. It’s an easy decision to set one up and maintain it. But determining the proper tax treatment for the costs involved in developing a business website isn’t so easy.That’s because the IRS hasn’t released any official guidance on these costs yet. Consequently, you must apply existing [...]
Do you want to withdraw cash from your closely held corporation at a low tax cost? The easiest way is to distribute cash as a dividend. However, a dividend distribution isn’t tax-efficient, since it’s taxable to you to the extent of your corporation’s “earnings and profits.” But it’s not deductible by the corporation. Alternative Approaches to [...]
Everyone needs to think about succession planning and planning for retirement. But as a business owner, you face a distinctive challenge: you must save for your golden years while creating, updating, and eventually executing a succession plan. This is no easy task, but you can put the puzzle pieces together by answering some fundamental questions: [...]
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) has changed the landscape for business taxpayers. That’s because the law introduced a flat 21% federal income tax rate for C corporations. Under prior law, profitable C corporations paid up to 35%. The TCJA also cut individual income tax rates, which apply to sole proprietorships and pass-through entities, [...]
Summer is just around the corner, so you might be thinking about getting some vacation time via domestic travel. If you’re self-employed or a business owner, you have a golden opportunity to combine a business trip with a few extra days of vacation and offset some of the cost with a tax deduction. But be [...]
Few businesses today can afford to let potential buyers slip through the cracks. Customer relationship management (CRM) software can help you build long-term relationships with those most likely to buy your products or services. But to maximize your return on investment in one of these solutions, you and your employees must have a realistic grasp on [...]
Before graduating in December, I had worked as a work/study at a large accounting firm; however, I was not on the tax side of things. I had worked two tax seasons at that firm, and I always heard about the hours they worked – thinking, “eh, it can’t be THAT bad.” My mindset of that completely [...]
There are many ways for employers to conduct annual performance reviews. So many, in fact, that owners of small to midsize businesses may find the prospect of implementing a state-of-the-art review process overwhelming.The simple truth is that smaller companies may not need to exert much effort on a complex approach. Sometimes a simple conversation between supervisor [...]
