Ashford Lane Tax and Accounting, LLC

11/09/2024

Basics of self-employed people deducting health insurance.

• If you’re self-employed, you may be eligible to deduct premiums you pay for medical, dental, and qualifying long-term care insurance coverage for yourself, your spouse, and your dependents.

• You can't claim the health insurance premium write-off for months when you, or your spouse, are eligible to participate in an employer-subsidized health plan.

• The health insurance premium deduction can't exceed the earned income you collect from your business.

• If you have a business and pay health insurance premiums for your employees, these amounts are deductible as employee benefit program expenses.

Caution: See your accounting or tax professional to see whether these general rules apply to your situation.

12/26/2023

Here's something to be thinking about in this final week of 2024...

Write down a snapshot of where you want to be -- financially, vocationally, etc -- in the long-term, and then craft a few steps you can take NOW to go in that direction.

Does it feel...
A) Totally doable
B) Overwhelming and out of reach
C) Reachable, but hard to get there

12/25/2023

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."
- Winston Churchill

In the giving and in the getting of this holiday season, we hope your lives are enriched with every good thing.

12/22/2023

Those who reach their financial goals usually carry a willingness to live beneath their means for as long as it takes. While their peers are showing a tendency toward embracing the good life at the first sign of prosperity, the would-be wealthy take a pass on all of that.

A drive to save large amounts of money causes frugal spending habits, which then enable the ability to make purchases without using debt.

It's a domino effect.

12/21/2023

Cash flow management is a daily exercise in a small business, and the goal is always to achieve positive cash flow. That is to say, there is more cash coming in than going out.

If you're not there, that’s a problem.

If you want to grow a sustainable and healthy business, you need positive cash flow (extra cash) to do that — for inventory purchasing, equipment and technology upgrades, additional staffing, marketing and advertising, and on and on.

Solving this means...
1. Make sure you're including a cash flow statement in your regular data reports so you know how much cash you have on hand minus expenses.
2. Do some cash flow forecasting to account for future income and transactions.

12/20/2023

Healthcare is a topic on many people's minds right now, it being re-enrollment season and all.

If you're juggling high healthcare deductibles, an HSA could be a good option for reducing those. An HSA, in very simple terms, is like a piggy bank for your health. It's a savings account for individuals with HDHPs. It allows you to pay high deductibles using your pre-tax dollars. Any contributions you make to your HSA can be pre-tax (if through an employer) or tax-deductible (if personal contributions) — distributions for medical expenses being tax-free.

Unlike flexible spending accounts (FSAs), HSAs don't have a use-it-or-lose-it rule. HSA funds carry over year after year.

And, after you turn 65, funds can be withdrawn for non-medical purposes — with income tax tacked on.

12/19/2023

Thanks to the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), a new federal filing requirement will go into effect for most corporations, LLCs, and limited partnerships starting Jan 1, 2024: filing a BOI (Beneficial Owner Information Report) with FinCEN (Financial Crimes Enforcement Network).

📅 Deadline for filing the BOI: Dec 31, 2024
❗ There are heavy fines and up to 2 years imprisonment for not filing.

Do you need to report?
Yes, if you're an entity with a 25%+ ownership stake or substantial control over the entity, or you're a single-member LLC.

Those exempt from filing a BOI include:
• Businesses with 20+ employees & $5M+ in receipts
• Publicly traded companies, banks, insurance firms, non-profits, etc.
• Sole proprietors/general partnerships (in most states)

Starting Jan. 1, 2024, many companies will be required to report information about who ultimately owns and controls them. Here's what we know so far.

12/18/2023

This is the time of year when we re-examine what success looks like.

In re-thinking and re-examining, you'll soon discover that sometimes the "most successful" people can be the most impoverished ... and those without many zeroes in their accounts can be flat-out rich.

"Success" is a state of mind. Agree or disagree?

12/15/2023

Looks like interest rate hikes are over for now (as long as the economy holds steady).

In fact, the Fed could actually be making cuts next year... up to three.

With inflation slowing down, it looks like 2024 could see interest rates dropping. We could all use a little relief.

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday held its key interest rate steady for the third straight time and set the table for multiple cuts to come in 2024 and beyond.

12/14/2023

You as an employer will need to meet multiple payroll requirements for your business before year-end. So set aside time this week to take care of this list.
1. Make sure you verify employee information, paycheck records, and tax rate changes for your year-end payroll reconciliation process.
2. Determine if additional payments need to be issued in the areas of unused PTO and paychecks for you and any of your children that also work in your business.
3. Run one last payroll reconciliation audit to make sure all information will be reported properly on W-2s.

12/13/2023

The job market is starting to look up. And there are all kinds of jobs out there. Ever thought about being a wind turbine technician? It's the fastest growing job in the U.S. right now.

And you get an office with a view... 300 feet off the ground.

Wind turbine technicians are in high demand, even with the recent cancellations of offshore projects.

12/12/2023

Here are 10 smart ways to reduce your 2023 tax bill, and they're still doable right now.

1. Consider an extra mortgage payment.
2. Pay your property taxes right now (not next year).
3. Donate to charity—it's ok to do good and save at the same time.
4. Take care of those medical bills.
5. Get your papers in order NOW.
6. Sell losing investments to offset capital gains.
8. Wait to invest until after the ex-dividend date.
9. Max out your retirement savings.
10. If you have one, make the most of your flexible spending account.
11. Avoid the gift tax by giving $16,000 or less per year per person.