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what-to-know-before-donating-appreciated-assets-to-charity

What to Know Before Donating Appreciated Assets to Charity
What to Know Before Donating Appreciated Assets to Charity 1600 941 smolinlupinco

If you often give to charity, you’re likely aware that long-term appreciated asset donations—stocks, for example—are more advantageous than cash donations. But in some instances, it may be a better idea to sell those appreciated assets and donate the proceeds instead. 

This is because, for cash donations, adjusted gross income (AGI) limitations on charitable deductions are higher. Additionally, the deduction rules can be different for assets that don’t qualify for long-term capital gain treatment. 

Tax treatments by donation type

If all were equal, it would be ideal to donate long-term appreciated assets directly to charity because you could:

  • Enjoy a charitable deduction equivalent to the assets’ fair market value on the date it was gifted (assuming deductions are itemized on your return) 
  • Avoid capital gains tax on their appreciation in value 

In this scenario, if you were to sell the assets and donate the proceeds, the resulting capital gains tax could then reduce the tax benefits of the donation. 

But all is not equal. Charitable donations of appreciated assets are typically limited to 30% of the AGI, while cash donations are deductible by up to 60% of the AGI. 

In either case, excess deductions may be carried forward for up to five years. 

Crunch the numbers

If you’re considering donating appreciated assets greater than 30% of your AGI, do the math first. 

Then, determine whether selling the assets, paying the capital gains tax, and donating cash up to 60% of the AGI will result in greater tax benefits during the donation year and the following five years. 

The answer will depend on a number of factors, such as: 

  • The size of the gift
  • Your AGI in the year that you made the donation
  • Your projected AGI in the following five years
  • Your ability to itemize deductions during those years 

Making charitable donations? Talk to a tax professional

Before making charitable donations, it’s helpful to discuss your options with a knowledgeable tax advisor. Contact us for assistance making charitable donations with the greatest tax benefits. 

5-tips-to-prepare-for-year-end-inventory-counts

5 Tips to Prepare for Year-End Inventory Counts
5 Tips to Prepare for Year-End Inventory Counts 1600 941 smolinlupinco

The end of the year is approaching fast. For many, this means time for a physical year-end inventory count—the best way to ensure an accurate amount reported in your company’s perpetual inventory system.

Physical counts may seem tedious and time-consuming, but they can offer valuable insight into your company’s operational efficiency. Fortunately, there are some ways to streamline the process. 

Preparing for your inventory count

Follow the five tips listed below to increase the efficacy of your year-end inventory count. 

1. Use numbered inventory tags

Many companies use two-part tags to count their inventory: one to stay with the item on the shelf, and the other to be returned to the manager following the count. To ensure that the manager can account for every tag issued, use a tagging system to avoid double-counting or omitting items. 

The best way to do this is to number your tags sequentially—whether you order pre-numbered tags or create them yourself is up to you. Either way, you’ll want the tags to be numbered and ready to go well before the count is scheduled to begin. 

2. Preview your inventory

For an efficient inventory count, many companies do a test run a few days before the actual count. This helps to identify and correct any foreseeable problems (such as missing part numbers, unbagged supplies, and insufficient inventory tags). It also helps you determine how many workers to schedule for the project. 

3. Assemble counting teams

To avoid fraudulent counts, it’s helpful to assemble and assign teams to specific areas of the warehouse. (A map often helps workers identify count zones.) Additionally, avoid giving workers inventory listings to reference—encourage them to bring any possible discrepancies to attention rather than duplicating the amount from the listing. 

4. Write off unsaleable items 

If you already know that certain items are going to be written off, such as defective or obsolete items, be sure to dispose of them properly before the inventory count begins. 

5. Pre-count select items

If possible, take some time to pre-count items that aren’t expected to be used before year-end, complete with tagging and storing. If you notice a broken seal on the day of the actual count, those items should be recounted.

Value of inventory

Under the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), inventory is recorded at cost or market value—whichever is lower. That said, estimating the market value of inventory may require subjective judgment calls. It can be especially difficult to objectively assess the value of work-in-progress inventory, especially when it includes overhead allocations and percentage of completion assessments. 

Because the value of inventory is constantly fluctuating as work is performed and items are shipped and delivered, the best way to capture a static value is to “freeze” operations while the count takes place. This could involve counting inventory during off hours or breaking down counts by physical location. 

External auditors

If your company issues audited financial statements, at least one member of your external audit team will observe the physical inventory count. 

The auditor’s roles include: 

  • Observing procedures, including statistical sampling methods
  • Reviewing written inventory processes
  • Evaluating internal controls over inventory
  • Performing independent counts for comparison
  • Looking for obsolete, broken, or slow-moving items that should be written off

Be prepared to provide your auditors with invoices and shipping/receiving reports, which will be used to evaluate cutoff procedures and confirm reported values. 

Work with an advisor

If you’re concerned about your physical inventory counting procedures, our advisors can help you get it right, including investigating any discrepancies between your inventory count listing and the amount reported in your perpetual inventory system.

Contact us to get started. 

remember-fully-deduct-business-meals

Don’t Forget to Fully Deduct Business Meals in 2022
Don’t Forget to Fully Deduct Business Meals in 2022 1600 941 smolinlupinco

This year new business expense relief is coming from the federal government. Under a new COVID-19 relief provision, the standard 50% deduction for business meal costs has been doubled to 100% for any food and beverages bought at restaurants for 2021 and 2022. 

This increase means the entire cost of customer meetings at your favorite local cafe could qualify as write-offs. Related expenses, such as sales tax, tips, and delivery charges, are also included.

Business meal deduction guidelines

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) had eliminated the deductions for business entertainment expenses after 2017, but business owners could still enjoy a 50% deduction on qualifying business meals. This tax break included meals while traveling for business or while away from home. 

The motivation behind this latest increase to 100%? To aid restaurant owners who have struggled financially during the past two years because of the pandemic. The Consolidated Appropriations Act is doubling this business meal deduction temporarily. Unless Congress decides to extend this tax break beyond 2021 and 2022, it will sunset on December 31st of this year. 

Currently, the deduction for business meals is allowable under the following circumstances:  

  • It is a usual expense your business typically pays to conduct business or trade during the year. 
  • The meal can’t be overly extravagant or lavish for any reason. 
  • The taxpayer or one of their employees is present at the meal. 
  • Only prospective or existing business customers, consultants, clients, or similar business contacts receive the meal. 

If the meal is part of a larger entertainment event, purchase the food and drinks separately or have them itemized on the primary bill. 

As you can see, taking clients out for business meals could qualify for a 100% tax deduction if you follow the guidelines mentioned above. 

Restaurants have to provide the meals

One of the main goals of this deduction is to support restaurants. Guidance also allows purchasing food and beverages from these establishments for immediate consumption or off the premises. This means you can have lunch delivered to your office instead of disrupting a sales meeting to go out to eat. 

Keep in mind that the IRS’s use of the word “restaurant” doesn’t include a business that only offers pre-packaged meals that cannot be eaten immediately on the premises. Specifically, food and beverage sales are excluded from certain companies, such as:

  • Convenience stores
  • Gas stations
  • Grocery stores
  • Beer, wine, or liquor stores
  • Vending machines or kiosks

If you have an onsite cafeteria at your workplace, these meals are typically excluded from an employee’s taxable income. If you opt to buy business meals from such facilities, you can only claim a 50% deduction. This rule applies even if your food service is operated by a third-party company contracted by your company.  

Maintain detailed expense records

As you would with any other business expense, you should keep detailed records of your business meal costs to ensure maximum tax benefit at the end of the year. 

You should record the below pieces of information:

  • Date
  • Itemized cost of every expense
  • Name and location of the restaurants used
  • Business purpose of the meal
  • Business relationship of those fed

You should also ask establishments to divide up the tab between entertainment costs and costs for food or beverages. Contact your tax advisor for more information.

© 2022

Could a cost segregation study help you accelerate depreciation deductions?
Could a cost segregation study help you accelerate depreciation deductions? 150 150 smolinlupinco

Businesses that acquire, construct or substantially improve a building — or did so in previous years — should consider a cost segregation study. It may allow you to accelerate depreciation deductions, thus reducing taxes and boosting cash flow. And the potential benefits are now even greater due to enhancements to certain depreciation-related breaks under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).

Real property vs. tangible personal property

IRS rules generally allow you to depreciate commercial buildings over 39 years (27½ years for residential properties). Most times, you’ll depreciate a building’s structural components — such as walls, windows, HVAC systems, elevators, plumbing and wiring — along with the building. Personal property — such as equipment, machinery, furniture and fixtures — is eligible for accelerated depreciation, usually over five or seven years. And land improvements — fences, outdoor lighting and parking lots, for example — are depreciable over 15 years.

Too often, businesses allocate all or most of a building’s acquisition or construction costs to real property, overlooking opportunities to allocate costs to shorter-lived personal property or land improvements. In some cases — computers or furniture, for instance — the distinction between real and personal property is obvious. But often the line between the two is less clear. Items that appear to be part of a building may in fact be personal property, like removable wall and floor coverings, removable partitions, awnings and canopies, window treatments, signs and decorative lighting.

In addition, certain items that otherwise would be treated as real property may qualify as personal property if they serve more of a business function than a structural purpose. This includes reinforced flooring to support heavy manufacturing equipment, electrical or plumbing installations required to operate specialized equipment, or dedicated cooling systems for data processing rooms.

A cost segregation study combines accounting and engineering techniques to identify building costs that are properly allocable to tangible personal property rather than real property. Although the relative costs and benefits of a cost segregation study depend on your particular facts and circumstances, it can be a valuable investment.

Depreciation break enhancements 

Last year’s TCJA enhances certain depreciation-related tax breaks, which may also enhance the benefits of a cost segregation study. Among other things, the act permanently increased limits on Section 179 expensing. Sec. 179 allows you to immediately deduct the entire cost of qualifying equipment or other fixed assets up to specified thresholds.

The TCJA also expanded 15-year-property treatment to apply to qualified improvement property. Previously this break was limited to qualified leasehold-improvement, retail-improvement and restaurant property. And it temporarily increased first-year bonus depreciation to 100% (from 50%).

Assess the potential savings

Cost segregation studies may yield substantial benefits, but they’re not right for every business. To find out whether a study would be worthwhile for yours, contact us for help assessing the potential tax savings.

Please reach out to your trusted Smolin professional with any questions or concerns.

Protect computers from employee theft
Protect computers from employee theft 150 150 smolinlupinco

To head off employee theft, businesses need to know what crooked employees are most likely to steal. The number one preference is cash. But if that’s off limits, the next choice is something expensive that they can use outside work. And, of course, the most costly and useful items in most offices are laptop and desktop computers and other technological devices.

Mark equipment

How can your company protect its technology assets from theft? First, consider adding security plates and indelible markings. These additions can help you track stolen equipment, inhibit resale and discourage thieves from ever trying to steal.

Security software also can track a stolen computer online. As soon as the thief connects to the Internet, its software contacts the security firm’s monitoring system, which traces the machine’s current IP address. To locate a physical address, firms use GPS and Wi-Fi tracking. However, there can be legal obstacles to obtaining the actual address of a thief.

Most computers and mobile devices can also be tracked by sites and apps such as Google, Facebook and Dropbox, which capture the IP addresses of users when they log into their accounts. Apple products can be tracked using iCloud.

Fasten it down

To keep laptop and desktop computers where they belong, you can lock them down with cables and attach motion sensor alarms. If you store numerous laptops on your premises, consider locking them in heavy-duty cabinets or carts when not in use.

To deter desktop computer theft, consider a locked steel case bolted to the desktop. If you prefer not to drill holes in furniture, you can attach super-strength adhesive security pads to desks or other furniture to prevent thieves from lifting the equipment off the surface.

Keep it safe

It’s worth the effort to add extra security and keep your company’s assets where they belong. Also make sure that your business insurance provides adequate coverage for computer losses. Contact us for more information.

Please reach out to your trusted Smolin professional with any questions or concerns.

Auditing royalty agreements
Auditing royalty agreements 150 150 smolinlupinco

Companies often grant licenses to others allowing them to use intellectual property — such as a patent or proprietary computer code — in exchange for royalties. Licensors can hire an external audit firm to ensure the licensee pays the correct royalty rate and amount. Here’s how the audit process works.

The agreement

The parties’ attorneys usually create a royalty agreement that governs the use of the intellectual property. This legal contract between the licensor and licensee details the terms of the arrangement. It spells out how the licensee may use the asset, the duration of the license and how much the licensee agrees to pay the licensor in royalties for the right to use the asset.

Unfortunately, royalty payments sometimes fall short of the agreed-upon amount. This may be due to a clerical error, confusion regarding the agreement’s terms — or even fraud. To detect and deter shortfalls, most contracts include a “right-to-audit” clause, meaning that the licensor retains the legal right to hire an outside firm to audit the licensee’s payments to confirm compliance with the terms detailed in the agreement.

The auditor’s role

When auditing royalty agreements, CPAs typically perform the following six steps:

1. Review the agreement to understand its scope, including the asset under license, the duration of the contract, prohibited uses and the royalty rate.

2. Analyze sales data used to derive royalty payments to date. Depending on the type of asset under license, the audit team may request production and inventory records.

3. Perform a detailed walk-through of the process the licensee follows to identify, track and report sales subject to a royalty payment.

4. Conduct random sampling of sales data to ensure the licensee applies the correct rate to generate the royalty payment.

5. Review sales and royalty payment trends to confirm that the licensee’s sales align with the royalty payments.

6. Gather individual invoices from key customers to locate and confirm that sales transactions subject to royalties actually generated a royalty payment.

Usually, the licensor assumes the cost of the royalty audit. However, some agreements include a clause that requires the licensee to assume responsibility for the cost of the audit if the audit uncovers underpayment of royalties by a certain margin.

Keep licensees on their toes

Most licensing arrangements function without a hitch. But a minor error or oversight could result in a significant shortfall in royalty payments. Periodic royalty audits can prevent small, but honest, mistakes from spiraling out of control — and help reduce the temptation for dishonest licensees to commit fraud. Contact us to discuss the benefits of auditing your royalty agreements.

Please reach out to your trusted Smolin professional with any questions or concerns.

Retiring abroad? Review your estate plan before making the move
Retiring abroad? Review your estate plan before making the move smolinlupinco

If you dream of spending your golden years in a tropical paradise, a culture-rich European city or another foreign locale, it’s important to understand the potential tax and estate planning implications. If you don’t, you could be hit with some unpleasant surprises.

Avoiding the pitfalls

If you’re a citizen of the United States, U.S. taxes will apply even after you move to another country. So if your estate is large, you might be subject to gift and estate taxes in your new country and in the United States (possibly including state taxes if you maintain a residence in a U.S. state). You also could be subject to estate taxes abroad even if your estate isn’t large enough to be subject to U.S. estate taxes. In some cases, you can claim a credit against U.S. taxes for taxes you pay to another country, but these credits aren’t always available.

One option for avoiding U.S. taxes is to relinquish your U.S. citizenship. But this strategy raises a host of legal and tax issues of its own, including potential liability for a one-time “expatriation tax.”

If you wish to purchase a home in a foreign country, you may discover that your ability to acquire property is restricted. Some countries, for example, prohibit foreigners from owning real estate that’s within a certain distance from the coast or even throughout the country. It may be possible to bypass these restrictions by using a corporation or trust to hold property, but this can create burdensome tax issues for U.S. citizens.

Finally, if you own real estate or other property in a foreign country, you may run up against unusual inheritance rules. In some countries, for example, your children have priority over your spouse, regardless of the terms of your will.

We’re here to help

If you’re considering a move overseas after you retire, discuss your plans with us before making a move. We can review your estate plan and make recommendations to help avoid tax pitfalls after you relocate.

Please reach out to your trusted Smolin professional with any questions or concerns.

Contemplating compensation increases and pay for performance
Contemplating compensation increases and pay for performance 150 150 smolinlupinco

As a business grows, one of many challenges it faces is identifying a competitive yet manageable compensation structure. After all, offer too little and you likely won’t have much success in hiring. Offer too much and you may compromise cash flow and profitability.

But the challenge doesn’t end there. Once you have a feasible compensation structure in place, your organization must then set its course for determining the best way for employees to progress through it. And this is when you must contemplate the nature and efficacy of linking pay to performance.

Issues in play

Some observers believe that companies shouldn’t use compensation to motivate employees because workers might stop focusing on quality of work and start focusing on money. Additionally, employees may feel that the merit — or “pay-for-performance” — model pits staff members against each other for the highest raises.

Thus, some businesses give uniform pay adjustments to everyone. In doing so, these companies hope to eliminate competition and ensure that all employees are working toward the same goal. But, if everyone gets the same raise, is there any motivation for employees to continually improve?

2 critical factors

Many businesses don’t think so and do use additional money to motivate employees, whether by bonuses, commissions or bigger raises. In its most basic form, a merit increase is the amount of additional compensation added to current base pay following an employee’s performance review. Two critical factors typically determine the increase:

1. The amount of money a company sets aside in its “merit” budget for performance-based increases — usually based on competitive market practice, and2. Employee performance as determined through a performance review process conducted by management.

Although pay-for-performance can achieve its original intent — recognizing employee performance and outstanding contributions to the company’s success — beware that your employees may perceive merit increases as an entitlement or even nothing more than an inflation adjustment. If they do, pay-for-performance may not be effective as a motivational tool.

Communication is the key

The ideal solution to both compensation structure and pay raises will vary based on factors such as the size of the business and typical compensation levels of its industry. Nonetheless, to avoid unintended ill effects of the pay-for-performance model, be sure to communicate clearly with employees. Be as specific as possible about what contributes to merit increases and ensure that your performance review process is transparent, interactive and understandable. Contact us to discuss this or other compensation-related issues further.

Please reach out to your trusted Smolin professional with any questions or concerns.

Auditing the use of estimates and specialists
Auditing the use of estimates and specialists 150 150 smolinlupinco

Complex accounting estimates — such as allowances for doubtful accounts, impairments of long-lived assets, and valuations of financial and nonfinancial assets — have been blamed for many high-profile accounting scams and financial restatements. Estimates generally involve some level of measurement uncertainty, and some may even require the use of outside specialists, such as appraisers or engineers.

As a result, examining estimates is a critical part of an audit. Companies that understand the audit process are better equipped to facilitate audit fieldwork and can communicate more effectively with their auditors. Here’s what you need to know about auditing the use of estimates as we head into next audit season.

Audit techniques

Some estimates may be easily determinable, but many are inherently complex. Auditing standards generally provide the following three approaches for substantively testing accounting estimates and fair value measurements:

1. Testing management’s process. Auditors evaluate the reasonableness and consistency of management’s assumptions, as well as test whether the underlying data is complete, accurate and relevant.
2. Developing an independent estimate. Using management’s assumptions (or alternate assumptions), auditors come up with an estimate to compare to what’s reported on the internally prepared financial statements.
3. Reviewing subsequent events or transactions. The reasonableness of estimates can be gauged by looking at events or transactions that happen after the balance sheet date but before the date of the auditor’s report.

When performing an audit, all three approaches might not necessarily be appropriate for every estimate. For each estimate, the auditor typically selects one or a combination of these approaches.

Regulatory oversight

Accounting estimates have been on the agenda of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) since it was established by Congress under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Although the leadership of PCAOB changed hands in early 2018, proposals to enhance the auditing standards for the use of accounting estimates and the work of specialists remain top priorities.

Earlier this summer, Chairman William Duhnke told the PCAOB’s Standard Advisory Group (SAG) that he hopes to complete these projects in the coming months. The updated auditing standards would help reduce diversity in practice, provide more-specific direction and be better aligned with the risk assessment standards.

Prepare for next audit season

Improvements on the audit standards for the use of estimates and the work of specialists could be coming soon. As companies plan for next year’s audit, they should contact their audit partners for the latest developments on the standards for auditing the use of estimates and specialists to determine what (if anything) has changed.

We can help you understand how estimates and specialists are used in the preparation of your company’s financial statements and minimize the risk of financial misstatement.

Please reach out to your trusted Smolin professional with any questions or concerns.

Hidden liabilities: What’s excluded from the balance sheet?
Hidden liabilities: What’s excluded from the balance sheet? 150 150 smolinlupinco

Financial statements help investors and lenders monitor a company’s performance. However, financial statements may not provide a full picture of financial health. What’s undisclosed could be just as significant as the disclosures. Here’s how a CPA can help stakeholders identify unrecorded items either through external auditing procedures or by conducting agreed upon procedures (AUPs) that target specific accounts.

Start with assets

Revealing undisclosed liabilities and risks begins with assets. For each asset, it’s important to evaluate what could cause the account to diminish. For example, accounts receivable may include bad debts, or inventory may include damaged goods. In addition, some fixed assets may be broken or in desperate need of repairs and maintenance. These items may signal financial distress and affect financial ratios just as much as unreported liabilities do.

Some of these problems may be uncovered by touring the company’s facilities or reviewing asset schedules for slow-moving items. Benchmarking can also help. For example, if receivables are growing much faster than sales, it could be a sign of aging, uncollectible accounts.

Evaluate liabilities

Next, external accountants can assess liabilities to determine whether the amount reported for each item seems accurate and complete. For example, a company may forget to accrue liabilities for salary or vacation time.

Alternatively, management might underreport payables by holding checks for weeks (or months) to make the company appear healthier than it really is. This ploy preserves the checking account while giving the impression that supplier invoices are being paid. It also mismatches revenues and expenses, understates liabilities and artificially enhances profits. Delayed payments can hurt the company’s reputation and cause suppliers to restrict their credit terms.

Identify unrecorded items

Finally, CPAs can investigate what isn’t showing on the balance sheet. Examples include warranties, pending lawsuits, IRS investigations and an underfunded pension. Such risks appear on the balance sheet only when they’re “reasonably estimable” and “more than likely” to be incurred.

These are subjective standards. In-house accounting personnel may claim that liabilities are too unpredictable or remote to warrant disclosure. Footnotes, when available, may shed additional light on the nature and extent of these contingent liabilities.

Need help?

An external audit is your best line of defense against hidden risks and potential liabilities. Or, if funds are limited, an AUP engagement can target specific high-risk accounts or transactions. Contact our experienced CPAs to gain a clearer picture of your company’s financial well-being.

Please reach out to your trusted Smolin professional with any questions or concerns.

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