Archives for tax planning

Preparing Yourself and the Best People to Replace You

Gregory Lambourne, Esq. Senior Planning Consultant   Plato observed that “Nothing ever is, but is always becoming.” We begin dying the day we are born. A bleak sentiment for sure, but useful if you allow it to focus and move you. Life is fragile and life is short; it’s over before we know it. But if we live right, once is enough, and we are ready when the time comes. Business owners, are you ready? Our firm counsels many self-made, multi-millionaire business owners.  They are remarkable people with sharp minds and often hard personalities, but also quite soft in the
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Categories: Newsletter and Updates.

Expect IRS Delays on Paper Filed Tax Returns

Hani Sharestan, CPA, MST Tax Partner   In amidst of the 2021 tax season, you should expect delays from the IRS in processing paper filed tax returns that require manual processing. Based on a recent published report, the National Taxpayer Advocate said in its annual report to congress the IRS continues to experience unprecedented severe backlogs in processing paper filed tax returns that require manual processing.  The report shared the following data regarding the IRS backlog of unprocessed returns and correspondence: 2 million unprocessed individual returns (Form 1040) mainly from 2020 and before; 8 million unprocessed payroll tax returns (Form
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Categories: Industry News and Newsletter and Updates.

2022 Payroll Tax & Auto Mileage Rate Changes

By Bonnie Thompson Beginning January 1, 2022 the following changes go into effect for the withholding of payroll taxes and reimbursement of auto mileage.   SOCIAL SECURITY The wage base for withholding social security tax has increased to $147,000. The social security tax rate will be 6.2% for both employers and employees for a maximum expense of $9114.00  For Medicare, the rate is still 1.45% each for employers and employees with no limit this year. Continuing in 2022, employees earning in excess of $200,000 will be subject to a mandatory additional 0.9% medicare tax withholding regardless of their individual tax
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Categories: Industry News and Newsletter and Updates.

CA Proposition 19 and the Qualified Personal Residence Trust

Nancy Van Lanen, CTFA, EA Estate & Trust Director   The recently passed Proposition 19 in California provides expanded property tax benefits by allowing homeowners who are disabled, over 55 years of age, or whose homes were damaged in wildfire or other natural disasters, to transfer their property tax base value to a replacement residence of any value anywhere in the state.   This new law becomes effective on April 1, 2021. However, Proposition 19 limits the availability of the parent-child exclusion for purposes of real estate tax assessments.  It now requires inherited homes that are not used by the child
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Categories: Industry News and Newsletter and Updates.

PPP Loan Forgiveness Taxability in 2020

Richard A. Huffman, CPA, MST Tax Partner Tony Maldonado, CPA Tax Senior   While the current law states forgiven Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans are tax-free, the Internal Revenue Service previously issued guidance stating that the qualifying expenses paid with the forgiven loan funds are nondeductible for income tax purposes.  There has been uncertainty as to whether the qualifying expenses would be non-tax deductible when paid in 2020 or when the loan is forgiven which could go into 2021. The IRS just recently released awaited guidance stating if your business received a PPP loan and there is a reasonable expectation
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Categories: Industry News and Newsletter and Updates.

WFY Introduces New Podcast: The WFY Podcast

Wright Ford Young & Co. has introduced a new way to give you exclusive content from our tax and accounting experts. The WFY Podcast is Wright Ford Young & Co.’s new podcast featuring our WFY tax and accounting specialists discussing relevant and important issues that could effect you and your business. Our first episode includes Tax Partners Andy Bautista and Richard Huffman discussing 2020 tax planning in regards to President Trump’s and Vice President Biden’s tax proposals. Stay tuned for upcoming episodes in other accounting topics with WFY accounting professionals. Where to listen to the episode:        
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Categories: Company News and Newsletter and Updates.

Why Gifting During an Economic Downturn May Be Right for You

Janelle Tokunaga, CPA, MST Tax Supervisor   While it may seem like there has been a shortage of good news lately, we wanted to bring your attention to a few bright spots that have come about during our current economic downturn.  With the extra time you have at  sheltering in place, it may be a good time to revisit your current estate and gift plan. To recap: the 2020 Federal lifetime exemption is $11.58 million per person, including inflation, and the 2020 annual Federal gift exclusion is $15,000 per donee and donor.  The current economic market is showing decreased values
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Categories: Newsletter and Updates.

Six New Hires Join WFY Team

Wright Ford Young & Co. is proud to announce we are adding six new hires to our team. We have Cheryl Shelton joining our estates & trusts department, and Brody Alcanter, Marzeh Khanjari, Rajbir Singh, Linh Trinh and Diane Waxler-Milne joining our tax department. WFY is pleased to welcome these new hires to our team. Cheryl Shelton In January, Cheryl Shelton started with WFY as an Estates & Trusts Supervisor in our estates & trusts department. She graduated from Cal State Fullerton and continued her education at Western State Law School. Cheryl has worked in accounting for over 15 years.
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Categories: Company News and Newsletter and Updates.

Tax Director Melodie Reguero on Tax Planning at Bruin Professionals

On Wednesday, November 20th, our WFY Tax Director Melodie Reguero presented at the Orange County Bruin Professionals meeting. Ms. Melodie Reguero spoke on tips about year-end tax planning along with Cheryl Gee from UBS. Year-end tax planning is especially critical this time of year to proactively reduce a taxpayer’s risk exposure and tax liability before the new year. If you are interested in tips about year-end tax planning, read our article on Year-End Tax Saving Moves for Individuals. Reguero regularly attends Bruin Professionals meetings, which is diverse group of UCLA alumni who are established in business. The group focuses on
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Categories: Company News and Newsletter and Updates.

Year-End Tax Planning Strategies

As the end of the year approaches, it is a good time to think of planning moves that will help lower your tax bill for this year and possibly the next. We have compiled a checklist of actions based on current tax rules that may help you save tax dollars if you act before year-end. Not all actions will apply in your particular situation, but you will likely benefit from many of them. We can narrow down the specific actions that you can take. In the meantime, please review the following list and contact us if you would like additional
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Categories: Newsletter and Updates.