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Small Business Jobs Act of 2010- Tax Ideas

admin — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 21:57:52 +0000

On September 27, 2010 The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 was signed. Here is a quick rundown on some tax strategies to use for 2010. These are just some of the major items and various exceptions come in to play. Please check with us to see how they would apply to you.

1. Larger Section 179 Deductions. For 2010 and 2011, you may take the Section 179 expense deduction up to $500,000 if you place $2 million or less of such assets in service during the year. This does not change the limits on sports utility vehicles which is $25,000.

: Image by JD Hancock via Flickr

2. Real Property is temporarily included for the Section 179 deduction. This means you can expense up to $250,000 for qualified leasehold improvements.

3. Bonus Depreciation is extended for one more year.

4. Deduction for Self Employed Health Insurance. For 2010 only, the new law allows self-employed taxpayers to deduct their qualified self-employed health insurance on Schedule C. This is big as it becomes a deduction that will reduce your self-employment taxes.

5. No Taxes on Sale of Qualified Small- Business Stock. If you buy or set up a new corporation with this type of Stock from now until the end of this calendar year and hold it for at least 5 years, you will not pay any taxes on the gain when you sell it. Check with us on this as there are many rules you have to follow.

6. Rollover to Roth. You know that there have been rules to convert part of your IRA into a Roth but this has been expanded to allow some employees to convert their 401K balances to Roth 401K accounts. The plan you are in must offer a Roth option and the plan must allow an in-service distribution. Again there are some additional tax strategies to check with this.

We have just hit a few of the items in this act. Please contact us so we can see how to take advantage of these ideas for you. Warning, there are many exceptions to these laws so you need to check with a tax professional that can help you.

Here are some related articles you can check out.

Economic, political climate make tax planning hard (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
New tax breaks for the 2010 tax planning home stretch (iowabiz.com)

Where To Find Help With Your Expensive Medicine

admin — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 01:54:19 +0000

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As the economy keeps sputtering, you need to find ways to keep your household costs down. Below is a great article on finding help on paying for prescriptions that are not covered by your health insurance. As with everything, it helps to look for ways to shop the costs and finding strategies to save. This is one Tax deduction you don’t need. Enjoy and let me know if I should be looking for more user friendly articles.

Help for prescriptions is available if you qualify. Prescription medication could be awfully pricey and maybe more so if you don’t have health care insurance. Help with prescriptions can make your recovery go a lot faster. For those patients with cancer, this is especially true.

Let’s say you have been receiving chemotherapy, however it causes an upset tummy, therefore you are given a anti-nausea medicines to go along with it. You will perhaps need an iron supplement too since the chemo will cause you to become anemic. This list could go on and on. What it amounts to is that a cancer patient can very easy be spending more for prescription medicine than their house payment! At this point you need to turn to a prescription program assistance.

What are you to do when you need help paying for your medicine?

The one thing you don’t want to do is stop taking your medicine. There are quite a lot of programs accessible which offer free and reduced cost patient assistance.

• Social Worker- Most hospitals boast a social worker that may help you acquire grants and other plans aimed at assisting you with your health care needs. This can be your initial stop in searching for assistance. Always enlighten your doctor if you cannot pay for medicine or treatment. He or she possibly will know of a package firsthand to support you, also.

• PPA- The Partnership for Prescription Assistance is a society intended at serving those that can’t find the money for their medications. They have produced a database of over 200 programs and over 5000 prescription medicine offered for reduced or no cost aid. They help in determining what you are entitled for and applying for the assistance. The assistance is free and accessible online.

• Drug Companies- A lot of patients wouldn’t think drug companies provide assistance, on the contrary many will. Johnson and Johnson provides a prescription medication plan for persons taking their prescription medicine and can’t manage to pay for them. Locate the maker of your drugs by asking your doctor of medicine or pharmacist and check the website for medicines assistance programs.

Long-Term Care Insurance Is Not Expensive

admin — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:14:19 +0000

One of the great misconceptions about long-term care insurance is that it’s expensive.One argument goes, it’s expensive because I could pay for something I never use.

Would you say the same thing about your homeowner’s insurance?It’s a waste if my house never burns down. Or your car insurance?I’d better total that car so I get my premiums back. Of course you wouldn’t make either of these statements.That’s because you know that every day many people have bad car accidents and every day house fires happen.You count yourself quite lucky when they don’t happen to you.

The same is true for long-term care insurance.Every day many people submit a claim on their long-term care insurance policy.According to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance some 180,000 individuals are receiving benefits from their insurance coverage yearly.Some $8.5 billion is paid out annually.

Long-term care insurance is incredibly valuable protection to have should you need it.Consider yourself lucky if you live a long life and never need long-term care.

For those who are still not convinced, I’d like to share two real examples of individuals who purchased long-term care insurance.These are real people with the information provided to the Association by the nation’s leading insurance companies at the beginning of 2009.

COMPANY A:Largest open claim: $1.2 million.

The individual (a woman) purchased long-term care insurance at age 43, paying an annual premium of $1,800.Three years later her claim began and has continued for almost 12 years ($1.2 million in benefits already paid).

COMPANY B:Largest open claim: $1.02 million.

The individual (also a woman) purchased long-term care insurance at age 72 paying an annual premium of $12,766. Three years later her claim began and has continued for almost 9 years ($1.02 million is benefits already paid) for her nursing home care.

Individuals between the ages of 55 and 59 paid between $700 and $6,950 for long-term care insurance according to a new report from the trade organization.People are taking advantage of readily available discounts to and policy design techniques to reduce the cost of coverage.You can too.

The cost for long-term care insurance coverage is based on a variety of factors.Some you have no control over such as your age and current health when you apply.Others are choices that can significantly impact what you pay.Understanding how to take advantage of applicable discounts and saving techniques can reduce the cost by 20-to-50 percent yearly.

Spouses as well as partners residing together can take advantage of the most significant discount available today when both parties purchase coverage.The discount can be as much as 40 percent applied to both policies.A number of insurers will even offer the discount when only one individual purchases coverage or can health qualify.

If you would like more information, please call me at 847-243-3600. I can help make this important protection more affordable than you might think.

2009 Year End Tax Tips- Medical Expenses

admin — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:42:19 +0000

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Medical Expenses

Typically, you may not qualify for medical deductions on your tax return. Reason: You’re entitled to a deduction only to the extent your unreimbursed medical and dental expenses for the year exceed 7.5% of your AGI.

Year-end strategy: If you are near the 7.5% mark—or already over it—schedule nonemergency medical and dental visits before year-end. For instance, you might have an eye examination and end up ordering new glasses. The additional expenses can help you qualify for a medical deduction in 2009 or increase your existing deduction. You may be closer to qualifying for a medical expense deduction than you think. If you’re like most employees, you must contribute an ever-escalating amount to the company health insurance and/or dental plan. When you add in the other expenses, co-payments and deductibles, you might qualify for a deduction in 2009, especially if your family has incurred other sizeable expenses this year.