“I’m sorry, officer. I didn’t know the speed limit was only 25 in a school zone.” When is the last time that one worked for you? Right. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. It usually doesn’t fly with the IRS either. Despite this, the tax court issued an opinion suggesting that in some cases ignorance can indeed be bliss. Well, maybe not bliss, but it can be a valid excuse—at least to escape certain accuracy-related penalties. For example, a California couple that botched the tax … [Read more...]
Are Your Clients Taking Advantage of Sellable Tax Credits?
State governments realize the economic benefit of spending billions of dollars on tax credits. Are your clients taking advantage of this? Many are not due to low tax liability. Nonprofit organizations or start up businesses that generate very little income are among them. Some states have found a solution. They have created a secondary market by enticing these types of businesses with transferable or sellable tax credits. The secondary market incentives are sophisticated and growing at a … [Read more...]
The Hazards of Selling to a Related Party
You may have a client who comes to you with a “great idea” to sell their property to a family member at a loss in order to get a juicy tax deduction. Your client may ask the family member to resell it to them later, or maybe your client plans to just continue to use the land and keep it in the family. Unfortunately for your client, this is strictly forbidden by 26 U.S. Code § 267. This section of the code relates to sales within a family, some corporate sales, and some transfers between those … [Read more...]
How To Help Your Clients Get Organized At Tax Time
You can add value to your relationships with clients by assisting them in coordinating their tax documents for their CPAs and get organized. By helping your client get organized for tax season, you’ll also be helping your client’s CPA. You’ll save them from having to waste time trying to get what they need and in the process, could create relationships with CPAs that have the potential to turn into ongoing partnerships. With that in mind, let’s look at 6 ways you can help your clients … [Read more...]
The Surprising Link Between Workplace Efficiency & Your Budget
As a tax business owner, you know the importance of constantly looking for ways to reduce costs. We’re going to help you by sharing the benefits of increasing workplace efficiency. Workplace efficiency has a sort of domino effect to it: Every time you practice efficiency in the workplace, you decrease the amount of time (and money) you need to spend in order to get things done right, the first time. When things run smoothly at the office, you have happy employees. Of course, happy employees … [Read more...]
9 Action Steps to Take to Create a Website That Converts
Have you ever wished you had the key to converting more of your leads into paying clients? We’ve got good news for you. Today we’re going to identify 9 action steps to take to create a website that converts. Step 1 - Determine what “conversion” means to you Before you can build a website that converts, you first need to be able to answer the question “what is a conversion?” Simply put, a conversion is when a website visitor does what you want them to do. In your case, a conversion … [Read more...]
AICTP Member Tim Wolfe’s Accomplishments are Inspiring
For Timothy C. Wolfe, 2019 was a year of major accomplishments. He completed his intensive training to become a Certified Tax Coach and then went on to write and publish his first book, Fight Back: Successful Income Tax-saving Tips and Strategies to Keep More of Your Own Money. “I’ve been in the business for many years, and I only recently fully began to realize that practically everybody overpays their taxes,” shared Tim, “and something needs to be done.” Tim’s business focuses primarily on … [Read more...]
Why Your Database Is Your Most Powerful Asset
As the old saying goes, it takes money to make money. Sure, your small business owner clients can bootstrap their new business to a certain extent. However, when it's time to scale and make substantial investments in property and/or personnel, in most cases, outside capital has to be acquired. And truth be told, many of the entrepreneurs you know simply don’t know how to get their hands on the capital they need. On the flip side, investors are always looking for ways to grow their portfolio. … [Read more...]
6 Ways To Decrease Business Expenses
The clarity and direction you derive from analyzing financial statements is powerful. The problem is, most small business owners struggle to make any sense out of these documents. Profit and loss statements, balance sheets, cash flow projections…oh my! It’s all so confusing—especially to the right-brained side of the entrepreneurial world that would rather do anything EXCEPT analyze numbers! This is where you come in. Your number-crunching ninja powers are something most of your clients … [Read more...]
How to Decrease Your Payroll Taxes with a Common Paymaster
Today’s large businesses are often comprised of many different companies such as subsidiaries in various locations. If some employees work for more than one of those related companies, and if the companies have their own payrolls, both the business and the affected employees may be overpaying FICA (social security) and FUTA (federal unemployment) taxes. Fortunately, the federal government provides a solution. Multi-entity corporations may avoid overpaying payroll taxes and duplicating payroll … [Read more...]
