This article was first published in December 2016 on the CFO website. The tax rules governing research and development are complex, but they can yield significant benefits for a broad range of companies, not just those involved in scientific research. Developments in the tax benefits of R&D are such that all CFOs, controllers, tax directors, and accounting managers need to have a perspective on when and how the rules affect them. The R&D credit was made permanent in 2015, and President-elect Trump plans to retain this incentive. An important liberalization of the R&D credit rules aimed at benefiting small- and medium-sized businesses began in 2016, and also this year the IRS issued final R&D regulations for internal-use software. Deduction or Amortization Incentives In general this topic is about engineering and science, and perhaps patent law. For example, marketing and tax research are not R&D items, for our purposes. The rules can … [Read more...] about A Guide to R&D Tax Rules
Bob’s Blog
Tips on Registering your Charity
This article was first published in December 2016 on the Planned Giving Design Center website. Download the article Watching charities is a necessary government function because, while rare, there's an occasional bad charity, and any number of charities whose activities may deserve occasional scrutiny. The first step in this process is requiring the charities to register with the state's group that monitors charities. Regulatory Scrutiny Grows Our purpose is to put this topic in some general perspective, making every effort to be brief with a topic that is inherently complex. There are about forty jurisdictions that may require registration. We look generally at such questions as when registration is required and the costs. There is soon to be a centralized, electronic place where the charity can register once and this gets sent to myriad jurisdictions. The vehicle is to be launched in upcoming months with some thirteen initial governmental participants. See "Simpler … [Read more...] about Tips on Registering your Charity
How to Choose a 401(k) Plan Auditor
CFOs must be careful in making this choice, because there may be issues of penalties and personal legal liability. For startup companies or others that are putting a 401(k) plan in place, the details may seem endless. Generally, audits of such plans with 100 or more participants are required as part of the Form 5500 filing for employee benefit plans. For 2015, the instructions for the form ran 82 pages. By comparison, the instructions for Form 1120 for corporate tax returns were only 26 pages. The regulatory environment, which effectively encompasses the IRS, the Department of Labor, and possibly state regulators, is a unique world with a stream of new regulations that may seem endless as well. The DoL looks at fiduciary standards, reporting and disclosure requirements, and its own meticulous rules. The Internal Revenue Service and its specialists are looking at the plan’s qualified status and potential tax issues. The regulators look at not only what’s in the plan, but … [Read more...] about How to Choose a 401(k) Plan Auditor
David Strathairn at Rojas & Associates
Last week our office was used for a location shoot! Here is a picture of David Strathairn and Bob in our Downtown LA office during the location shooting. … [Read more...] about David Strathairn at Rojas & Associates
Selling Your Dental Practice: Part I The Transition Period
By Bob Rojas, CPA Selling a dental practice requires negociation and agreement on many issues. This article will cover the transition period. This is the period between settlement and when the seller exitits the practice. One major variable is how long the seller would like to continue practicing, and when the seller would like to retire. There is an entire spectrum of possibilities to include retiring as soon as the practice is sold to working full time for a period and phasing out gradually. Keep in mind if the seller wants to keep practicing there needs to be enough patients to keep two doctors busy. Practices with two or more offices make scheduling easier two doctors easier. If the seller stays it is important to list hours, days, benefits and compensation in the agreement. Generally the seller is paid a percentage of collections as would an associate. If the seller stays a period shorter than six weeks, generally there is no compensation and it is just considered a … [Read more...] about Selling Your Dental Practice: Part I The Transition Period
AMT Changes for 2015 … and its good news!
Your AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax) exemption goes up. For tax year 2015 your AMT exemption has increased to $53,600 for individuals and $83,400 for married couples. This lets us all make 1.5% more income than last year without thinking about going into Alternativve Minimum Taxes. Every tiny bit helps. Happy 2015! … [Read more...] about AMT Changes for 2015 … and its good news!
Taxes in 2013 – The Marriage Tax Penalty
Call me old fashioned, but I love being married. When I met my future wife, we fell in love and we knew we wanted to get married. I had a Masters Degree in Tax and helped many clients minimize their taxes. I knew exactly what our marriage would cost. We were married anyway despite the Marriage Tax Penalty. We are still in love and I love being married. We also still pay higher taxes for being married. What are the facts? In 1990 55% of US households were married, in 2000 51% and in 2010 it is 49%. Clearly more couples chose not to marry. How did the Marriage Tax Penalty come about? It was supposed to help married couples with one income which at the time was the majority of US households. Today most couples living together have two incomes whether they are married or not. This older law penalizes the married couples. Its not a huge penalty, but when we were married my wife and I did feel it. I personally think marriage is worth the tax penalty. … [Read more...] about Taxes in 2013 – The Marriage Tax Penalty
Saving Money In My Home Laundry
This month I'd like to talk about a simple way to save money. Saving money is like tax free income and puts money in my bank account I would not otherwise have. Consumer's Report did a great article on effectiveness versus price of laundry detergent. I personally find the price per use misleading as it is based on an unrealistic quantity of the product. The conclusion I drew from Consumer's Report is Wisk Deep Clean this is liquid costs 14 cents per load. It scored an 80 out of 100. Costco's Kirkland Signature Ultra Clean this is powder and runs 9 cents per load. It scored 73. Target Up and Up is liquid and is 13 cents per load and scored 69 out of 100. Both of those "best buys" are much cheaper than Tide Ultra plus Bleach Vivid White + Bright HE (powder), the highest-ranked laundry detergent of all. At 23 cents a load, the Tide offering got an 82 yet failed to clinch the magazine's seal of approval. … [Read more...] about Saving Money In My Home Laundry
Deductions for 2013 IRS Tax Return. Where am I safe?
My wife is a commercial airline pilot. She obsesses over tickets. I mean the bad kind of tickets sometimes called citations. This includes everything from speeding to parking tickets. She also loves to drive fast. She checks web sites for red light cameras. She generally drives just a little over the speed limit but not enough to get pulled over. She never mixes alcohol with driving. I even caught her checking our city's parking regulation web site. She almost never gets a ticket. I do the same thing for my clients and their tax returns. I pay careful focus to IRS areas of attention and expertise. An area the IRS loves to enforce is travel and entertainment deductions. I look at these areas as intersections with red light cameras. If you push the tax code you will get unwanted attention. We Americans love our travel and entertainment deductions. Right next to that is our business use of our cars. These are areas which IRS Auditors are experts. Each year the rules change, … [Read more...] about Deductions for 2013 IRS Tax Return. Where am I safe?
Tired of decorating?
Enjoying the decorations. Don't forget end of year tax planning for 2013. Contact your CPA before the end of the year. … [Read more...] about Tired of decorating?