Our Financial Blog
How To Pay Off Your SBA EIDL Loan
Last year when the pandemic started, Congress created two loan programs to help small businesses and the self-employed mitigate the economic impact; The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL). With the uncertainty surrounding...
Writing Off Your Business Start-Up Expenses
Unfortunately, as a result of the COVID pandemic many small firms have gone out of business. Fortunately, with the help of vaccines, new businesses will be opening as the economy returns to near normal. New business owners, especially those operating small...
Tax Court Decision Holds Potential Impact for Travel Deductions
There are many professions that require taxpayers to travel extensively and spend significant amounts of time in paid lodging. These expenses are traditionally claimed as travel deductions. However, a case recently heard by the Tax Court – Soboyede, TC Summary Opinion...
Don’t be a Victim to IRS-Impersonating Scammers
Thieves and IRS scammers use taxpayers’ natural fear of the IRS and other government entities to ply their scams, including e-mail and phone scams, to steal your money. They also use phishing schemes to trick you into divulging your SSN, date of birth, account...
IRS to Automatically Adjust Prior Filed 2020 Returns with Unemployment Income
The IRS announced on March 31, that it will take steps to automatically refund money this spring and summer to people who filed their tax return reporting unemployment compensation before the recent law change made by the American Rescue Plan Act. The American Rescue...
Big Increase in Child Tax Credit For 2021
A big increase in child tax credit for 2021 is part of President Biden’s stimulus package to help tackle the coronavirus pandemic and stimulate the economy. This stimulus package, which was passed by Congress on March 10, 2021 and is known as the American Rescue Plan...
You Can Expense Business IT Purchases
Thanks to some very liberal tax laws written to encourage investment in personal tangible equipment, including information technology (IT) equipment, many businesses will be able to expense (write off as a tax deduction) all such assets purchased and placed in service...
Are Your Unemployment Benefits Taxable?
With the passage of the CARES Act stimulus package early in 2020, the federal government began supplementing the normal state weekly unemployment benefits by adding $600 per week through the end of July 2020. When this provision ran out, and with Congress at a...
Creditor Garnishment Maximum to be Based on State Minimum Wage in Virginia
Effective July 1, 2021, the maximum amount of disposable earnings subject to garnishment will be based on the state minimum wage, which will be $9.50 per hour in Virginia because of the scheduled increase that begins May 1, 2021. The maximum amount subject to...
Virginia Individual Income Tax Filing & Payment Deadline Extended
Virginia's Governor has directed the Department of Taxation to extend the individual income tax filing and payment deadline in Virginia to Monday, May 17, 2021. This extension aligns with the recent extension by the IRS to the same date.
Tax Day for Individuals extended to May 17
The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service announced today that the federal income tax filing due date for individuals for the 2020 tax year will automatically be extended from April 15, 2021 to May 17, 2021. Individual taxpayers can also postpone...
Obscure and Overlooked Tax Deductions, Credits, and Benefits
As tax time approaches, here are some tax issues that taxpayers frequently overlook, ranging from obscure deductions to overlooked tax credits and benefits. Of course, not everything can be included since the tax law has grown significantly in complexity, and it would...
Unemployment Fraudsters May Create a Tax Nightmare for Unsuspecting Taxpayers
As if this past year with all of its pandemic perils has not been stressful enough, the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Labor has just added to our anxieties by announcing that at least at least $36 billion and possibly as much as $63 billion has...
Understanding Tax-Filing Status
Filing status is determined on the last day of the year and most often is based on marital status. The two most prevalent are as follows: Single – Unmarried individuals without dependents.Married Taxpayers Filing Jointly (MFJ) – The couple combines their incomes,...
March 2021 Individual & Business Due Dates
March 10 - Report Tips to EmployerIf you are an employee who works for tips and received more than $20 in tips during February, you are required to report them to your employer on IRS Form 4070 no later than March 10.Your employer is required to withhold FICA taxes...
The Number of Americans Who Didn’t Pay their Mortgage Hit 5% in December 2020
Obviously, the still-ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has been a major challenge for all of us since it kicked into high gear in March of 2020. In the months since, millions of people have found themselves out of a job and the ones that remained were suddenly faced with...
Employee Retention Credit Extended
In order to help trades and businesses to retain employees and keep them employed during the COVID-19 crisis, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act created the Employee Retention Credit for 2020. As part of the Consolidated Appropriations...
Interaction between PPP Loans and the Employee Retention Credit
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CCA), which was passed by Congress and signed by the president late last December, included a very tax-beneficial provision that liberalized the interaction between PPP loans and the Employee Retention Credit (ERC). Prior to...
Charitable Contributions Deductions Liberalized for 2021
As a means to stimulate charitable contributions during the COVID crisis, Congress made two notable changes for 2020—one allowing taxpayers that don’t itemize their deductions an above-the-line deduction for cash contributions of up to $300 and another for those...
February 2021 Individual and Business Due Dates
February 1 - File 2020 Individual Return to Avoid Penalty for Not Making 4th Quarter Estimated Payment:If you file your prior year’s individual income tax return and pay any tax due by this date, you need not make the 4th Quarter Estimated Tax Payment that was...