1. IRS Updates Estate and Gift Tax Limits for 2016 - For wealthy individuals and couples looking to leave a tax-free inheritance, the individual estate and gift tax limit has increased by $20,000. High net worth individuals looking to cut down their estates to remain below the previous $5.43 million threshold will be thankful for this increase (now $5.45 million). Read more on how married couples could be affected by this increase.
2. IRS Updates 2016 Per Diem Rates for Business Travel - Looking for a way to avoid lengthy and burdensome record keeping requirements for business travel expenses? Per diem rates could be the answer. Read about how they’ve changed from 2015. Our 2017 per diem rates are out as well—Check them out.
3. Deciphering Qualified vs. Nonqualified Dividends - The way you treat dividends could have a huge impact on your taxes and ROI of your investments. While nonqualified dividends are taxed at ordinary income rates, qualified dividends are taxed at capital gains rates. Make sure you’re aware of the status of your dividends and how they will affect your taxes.
4. Top 10 Challenges Facing Restaurants - Working in the restaurant industry presents its difficulties; understand common challenges such as market trends, how to manage capital and stay on top of technology trends, and minimize employee turnover. Read our two blogs for all ten challenges, and tips on avoiding them.
5. FBAR’s June 30th Due Date Will Change for 2017 - 2016 was the last year for the Foreign Bank Accounts Report (FBAR) June 30th due date. The new due date is April 15th. Why the change? The Department of Treasury wanted to end the disconnect between the filing date for FBAR and income tax returns. Pay attention to your filing duties—you don’t want to face civil penalties for failing to file.
6. The Pros & Cons of Making the Grouping Election for Your Rental Real Estate Activities - If you have several rental activities, and cannot meet the material participation rules for any single activity, the grouping election allowed under IRC §469 may be a good option. The grouping election can be very beneficial but also produce unintended negative consequences—read our blog for all the facts that should be taken into consideration.
7. How Returning a Portion of Your Signing Bonus Affects Your Taxes - When NFL players return unearned portions of their signing bonuses, do they have to go back and amend their prior year tax return to correct the amount of income reported from the signing bonus? Not quite. The proper treatment is to actually take a deduction in the year of payment under the “claim of right” doctrine. Read our blog to find out more.
8. Should You Take Bonus Depreciation or Sec. 179 Expensing on Your 2014 Return? - Though written in 2014—this blog still makes our top 10! If your business purchased — and placed in service — qualified assets in 2016, you may be eligible for enhanced depreciation-related breaks on your 2016 income tax return. Both Section 179 expensing and 50% bonus depreciation can provide valuable tax savings; our blog explains which is better for you (depends on various factors).
9. What are Gross Receipts on the Form 990? - Knowing how to calculate gross receipts can be an area of confusion for nonprofit organizations. The IRS has a very specific calculation for gross receipts which is different from what is typically seen on a profit and loss or income statement—Read our blog to find out how to calculate your organization’s gross receipts, and why this value is important.
10. Form 990: Compensation Information, Part 7 - Compensation in the nonprofit world is tricky. The first step for all nonprofits is knowing who is an officer, director, key employee and highly compensated employee. Our blog explains each designation and how each should be reported on Form 990. Read the rest of our series on form 990 here.

Check these blogs out for helpful information about your business and tax liabilities. Feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions.