News and Posts

“Innocent spouse” relief may protect individuals from additional tax and penalties if they’ve filed joint tax returns with spouses or ex-spouses who underreported income without their knowledge. But as a recent U.S. Tax Court case showed, such relief isn’t available in every situation. After the IRS wrongly paid a refund to a divorced couple, the IRS sought to recoup it. The wife requested equitable relief [...]

The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) 2.0 Act was signed into law in December 2022, bringing more than 90 changes to retirement plan and tax laws. Many of its provisions are little known and were written to roll out over several years rather than immediately taking effect. Here are several important changes that went into effect in 2024: Pension-Linked Emergency Savings Accounts (PLESAs). [...]

Accurate financial statements are essential to making informed business decisions. So, managers and other stakeholders may express concern when a company restates its financial results. Before jumping to premature conclusions, however, it’s important to dig deeper to evaluate what happened. Uptick in restatements In June 2024, the Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) reported a recent uptick in financial restatements by public companies. The report, “Financial [...]

Whether hiring contractors, buying equipment or paying vendors, many businesses struggle with the procurement process. Here are some tips for streamlining your company’s purchase order (PO) approval process. Benefits of a formal workflow POs create legally binding agreements between buyers and vendors. For example, your business might outsource a function, such as payroll or marketing, to a third party. A systematic approval process helps your [...]

The IRS recently released guidance providing the 2025 inflation-adjusted amounts for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). These amounts are adjusted each year, based on inflation, and the adjustments are announced earlier in the year than other inflation-adjusted amounts, which allows employers to get ready for the next year. Fundamentals of HSAs An HSA is a trust created or organized exclusively for the purpose of paying the [...]

Choosing the right business entity has many implications, including the amount of your tax bill. The most common business structures are sole proprietorships, partnerships, limited liability companies, C corporations and S corporations. In some cases, a business may decide to switch from one entity type to another. Although S corporations can provide substantial tax benefits over C corporations in some circumstances, there are potentially costly tax issues that you [...]

After experiencing a downturn in 2023, merger and acquisition activity in several sectors is rebounding in 2024. If you’re buying a business, you want the best results possible after taxes. You can potentially structure the purchase in two ways: Buy the assets of the business, or Buy the seller’s entity ownership interest if the target business is operated as a corporation, partnership or LLC. In [...]

Let’s say you plan to use a C corporation to operate a newly acquired business or you have an existing C corporation that needs more capital. You should know that the federal tax code treats corporate debt more favorably than corporate equity. So for shareholders of closely held C corporations, it can be a tax-smart move to include in the corporation’s capital structure: Some third-party debt (owed to [...]

There are several financial and legal implications when adding a new partner to a partnership. Here’s an example to illustrate: You and your partners are planning to admit a new partner. The new partner will acquire a one-third interest in the partnership by making a cash contribution to the business. Assume that your basis in your partnership interests is sufficient so that the decrease in [...]

The deadline for most not-for-profits to file Form 990 with the IRS (May 15, 2024) has come and gone. Assuming your organization operates on a calendar-year tax basis and filed its Form 990 on time, you probably don’t want to think about tax reporting again until next spring. However, it’s important to keep your future Form 990 in mind as your organization carries out its programs and events this year. [...]

To administer productive programs worthy of your not-for-profit’s budget, you need to determine whether they’re meeting clients’ needs. In general, the best way to assess this is by surveying participants. But survey fatigue — frustration or disinterest when asked to take yet another online survey or one that’s overly complicated or takes too long to complete — is a real and growing problem. Multiple studies [...]

External audits can help assure your not-for-profit’s stakeholders that your financial statements are fairly presented according to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. They can also help prevent occupational fraud. Often, audit reports contain recommendations for organizations to act on. And if you fail to make changes that respond to risks or concerns discovered in an audit, it could threaten your nonprofit’s future. Discuss the report [...]

If you donate valuable items to charity and you want to deduct them on your tax return, you may be required to get an appraisal. The IRS requires donors and charitable organizations to supply certain information to prove their right to deduct charitable contributions. How can you protect your deduction? First, be aware that in order to deduct charitable donations, you must itemize deductions. Due [...]

In 2023, Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy released a public opinion survey that provided both good and bad news for nonprofits. Although the respondents said they trust philanthropic organizations more than government and businesses, 30% believe that not-for-profits are on the “wrong track.” Only 18% say charities are on the “right track.” (The rest of the surveyed individuals were undecided.) Obviously, you want [...]