Many business owners ask: How can I avoid an IRS audit? The good news is that the odds against being audited are in your favor. In fiscal year 2018, the IRS audited approximately 0.6% of individuals. Businesses, large corporations and high-income individuals are more likely to be audited but, overall, audit rates are historically low. There’s no […]

As we head toward the gift-giving season, you may be considering giving gifts of cash or securities to your loved ones. Taxpayers can transfer substantial amounts free of gift taxes to their children and others each year through the use of the annual federal gift tax exclusion. The amount is adjusted for inflation annually. For […]

The Web has opened plenty of new avenues for criminal behavior. For example, you may have heard of cybersquatting. Someone registers a site’s domain name that includes a trademark and then tries to profit by selling that name to the trademark owner. But are you familiar with typosquatting? You should be — because these schemes […]

Traditional and Roth IRAs can be powerful estate planning tools. With a “self-directed” IRA, you may be able to amp up the benefits of these tools by enabling them to hold nontraditional investments that offer potentially greater returns. However, self-directed IRAs present pitfalls that can lead to unfavorable tax consequences. Consequently, you need to handle […]

You’d be hard pressed to find a business today that doesn’t have laptop computers listed among its assets. Large companies have hundreds of them; midsize ones issue them to managers to facilitate mobility; and many small businesses rely on them as primary computing devices. Now, in and of itself, a laptop may seem harmless. But […]

Business assets are generally reported at the lower of cost or market value. Under this accounting principle, certain assets are reported at fair value, such as asset retirement obligations and derivatives. Fair value also comes into play in M&A transactions. That is, if one company acquires another, the buyer must allocate the purchase price of […]

These days, most businesses need a website to remain competitive. It’s an easy decision to set one up and maintain it. But determining the proper tax treatment for the costs involved in developing a website isn’t so easy. That’s because the IRS hasn’t released any official guidance on these costs yet. Consequently, you must apply […]

You may have Series EE savings bonds that were bought many years ago. Perhaps you store them in a file cabinet or safe deposit box and rarely think about them. You may wonder how the interest you earn on EE bonds is taxed. And if they reach final maturity, you may need to take action […]

Affinity fraud — where perpetrators exploit connections of race, religion, age, politics and profession — is one of the cruelest forms of criminal deception. Fraudsters often belong to the groups they target and, in addition to stealing money, weaken the bonds within communities. Affects individuals and businesses Affinity fraud targets individuals. But it can also […]