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The Ever Evolving World of Sales Tax

Each year politicians at the Federal and State level are often torn between increasing taxes or cutting services.  Although the Federal government has the ability to run a deficit, avoid raising taxes AND avoid cutting services, the States do not, since they must balance their budgets.  In the past, most taxpayers in Wisconsin have focused their tax "complaints" on income and property taxes, since Wisconsin has been historically high on both fronts.  As the global landscapes continue to evolve, we see the politicians following that lead while trying to avoid cutting services.  To that end, many Wisconsin politicians have turned

Did I Miss a Tax Credit?

Now that "Tax-Time" is unofficially ended for most people many people should be taking time to ask, "Did I miss anything".  For the tax professional, "Tax-Time" never ends.  It is an ongoing year of planning and review to make sure your clients are in the best position they can be from a tax standpoint.  With the passing of the tax overhaul, many professionals are finding this time is more important than the season itself.  Without good communication between you and your CPA many things that a business owner does not see as important can be tax windfalls.  Most people think

Here Comes 2019!

New Limits and Rates for 2019 As we burn the midnight oil to complete all of our last minute year-end tax planning, we also look forward to 2019. Each year many of the "standard" limits and rates provided as a part of our tax code are updated for inflation and other normal increases.  To help in your 2019 organizing, please remember to take into account some of these new rates and limits: Tax Provision  Details 2019 Limit 2018 Limit Mileage Rates Standard Business Mileage Rate 58 cents 54.5 cents   Charitable Mileage Rate 14 cents 14 cents   Medical Mileage

Tax Reform & Retirement Planning

Should My Retirement Planning Change After Tax Reform? As the Internal Revenue Service continues to forge ahead in writing regulations and opinions to help clarify the many gray areas in the largest tax reform in over 30 years, we as professionals also continue to research and explore areas in the revisions to help our clients save money, both now and down the road. As most of us are aware, there are a number of different products available to fund retirement for employees, employers, and business owners.  In order to determine what is the best product and method, not only do

Can Bad Bookkeeping Cost You Money?

Does it really matter how perfect my accounting records are if I am only a small business? When most small business owners think of bookkeeping and accounting, they think of it as a necessary evil and often fail to focus on making sure the records are clear and supported.  Many new small businesses often have cash flow needs that are sometimes not met by sales and require inflows from other sources such as loans.  Also, those same small businesses often co mingle personal expenses in with business accounts. Although some do not feel these items are a big issue so

State Income Taxes after the Wayfair

What Does the Wayfair Decision Mean for Income Taxes? Sales and use tax e-commerce considerations receive the bulk of attention from state lawmakers, perhaps because they are less difficult to conceptualize. The corporate income tax concerns raised by these transactions are just as pressing, if not more so, given the potential liabilities at stake. There are two primary issues. First, does selling purely electronic products and services to customers in a state establish nexus (a sufficient connection to warrant imposition of tax) for an out-of-state company lacking any other contacts with the state? Second, if an out-of-state company does have

Did Tax Reform Make the Kiddie Tax Worse?

How Tax Reform's kiddie tax may effect YOU In today's day and age we all strive to make sure our children are better off then we were.  To that end, we often see children with investment accounts which, in the past, also sometimes provided a way to shelter some income at lower tax brackets.  The last great tax reform, 1986, addressed this issue and brought us the kiddie tax.  Under these rules, children are taxed at their normal applicable rates on their earned income, and on their investment income up to a prescribed amount. Under the prior law,  children who

Corporate Debt, Is the ‘S’ Corporation Best?

Tax Planning with Corporate Structures and the New Tax Laws  As we look at tax Reform and the numerous challenges it presents to even the smart tax planner, one of the most asked question by business owners is "What type of entity should I be?". With the addition of the new 20% deduction available to most businesses, many tax preparers simply look at benefits of 'S' versus 'C' as more of a math problem to solve.  What is the tax impacts of that second layer of taxation (even though the rate is much lower) versus the pass-though higher rates and

The Power of Time Value of Money and Your Child’s Summer Job

Tax Planning for Your Children with the Help of  Time Value of Money    Tax planning and investment advice are (or should be) closely tied together.  Looking at one while ignoring the other can greatly alter actual results from your expectations.  Although we at RPB are not an investment advisory firm, we as tax planners work hand-in-hand with many advisory firms.  The smart investor knows that the one thing that is never changing is time, and with proper planning, time can be an investor's greatest asset instead of their worst nightmare.  Investing early can mean the difference between retiring when

Tax Reform….As the Dust Begins to Settle

Highlights and New Items on Tax Reform Its officially been two months since the passing of the biggest tax reform since 1986 and understandably there have been comments from all perspectives on what it will mean to everyone.  Although many of the items in the actual bill still need much clarification from the Internal Revenue Service on how they will interpret them, most people have a good overall idea of how this reform will most likely affect them.  Or do they? As with any tax laws, there are usually winners and losers (unfortunately at some point tax needs to be

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