Anthony Sykes & Company

         A sweeping change of the Federal Tax code has been passed. There are many questions and concerns about how it will affect individuals and businesses. Some changes are planned to be permanent, others will go away after a period of time, but now is the time to get familiar with the details of what this act will really do.           First of all, please keep in mind that this law will not affect the Tax Return you will file by April 2018 . The provisions and changes in this Act will start in 2018 and will be seen in the Tax filings in 2019. For individuals , there will be some very big adjustments in how their finances are taxed. For example, a Taxpayer will only be able to file as: Single or Married Filing Jointly . In future posts we will go into greater detail on this and other changes.           In the area of business , we can find other ways the Tax Code is different. The tax rate for businesses will lowered to 21% starting in 2018. However, there are certain cor

          In recent years, there has been a rapid growth in the travel industry with regard to vacation accommodations. It seems that there are many options that allow people to choose where they can stay when visiting other areas, but most interestingly, more people than ever can now offer up their home or a vacation home for travelers to stay in. While this might be a new field to some, this is a source of income that is quite familiar to the IRS. As a result, there are well established rules in effect when it comes to renting a vacation home.           Simply stated, the rules about taxing vacation home rentals change depending on whether the home is rented for 15 days or more in the given year. If it is less than 15 days, then congratulations are in order. There will be no taxes applied to that income! Qualified expenses can still be used as deductions as well.            If the home is rented for more than 15 days, the rules will change drastically. Yes, taxes will be owed

          Now is the time of year when many employers may give gifts to their employees or show appreciation to the staff for a year of good work. These are common expressions, but like with most situations, there is a potential Tax impact depending on the details of what is provided and how.           If the gifts provided are infrequent and have a low cash value to make it impractical and unreasonable to account for them, they meet a certain criteria. They will be tax-free to the employee and tax-deductible for the employer. For example, books or flowers given for outstanding performance, “low cash value” holiday or birthday gift, or an occasional meal for employees and their guests would fall into this category. This is a familiar situation for many.           However, if the gift is cash, or can easily become cash, the circumstances change. In the view of the IRS, this becomes an addition to the income of the employee and is subject to Income Tax. This would be true no

          Identity theft has been a growing source of criminal activity for many years. Unfortunately, the same can be said for businesses, especially small businesses. This information has often been used to gain fraudulent Tax Refunds or credit cards. Stealing this sort of data has essentially turned into an industry of theft.           To combat these clever thieves, the IRS has new protection methods in place that will go into full effect next year. They are designed to spot suspicious Tax Returns, while at the same time, making sure the true Returns are processed faster. This is really an expansion of some pilot programs that were put in place 2 years ago. Last year that program was expanded, now it is going full scale, and their effects will be made known in the coming months.           There will be a variety of new questions that will accompany a submission for a Small Business Tax Return. They will relate to different subjects including: past deductions and the person