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It’s December 23rd and very stormy here in the NY metropolitan area, so no “white Christmas” for us but we are happily celebrating Hanukkah and looking forward to Christmas this weekend, no matter what the weather.  Of course it is all about family and friends and food.  Just this week we had an in-person training as we prepare for tax season 2023, and what better way than to start than with delicious danish and homemade chocolate covered marshmallows…

then stop for a lunch break with amazing pizza and a tossed salad from  our favorite pizza restaurant in Brooklyn, one type is named OMG and the name suits…

It was great that some of us could be in person to catch up and to brain storm on ways to make this upcoming tax season less stressful for our clients and ourselves.

Yesterday before the stormy weather hit, I was able to take a short morning walk at high tide, but those clouds never left…

Wishing you all a happy and healthy holiday season and hoping that you are able to spend time with frineds and family

WEEKLY TAKE AWAY

Keep your friends close, (forget about the enemies part).  Monday evening I received a call from Raquel just a few hours after she returned home.  Her car which had been parked in front of her building had been crashed into by a young uninsured driver.  Luckily no one was hurt in the accident but Raquel’s car is most probably totaled.  One of our longtime friends (also a client) owns a local body shop and was able to arrange for towing, inspection and a rental car.  It’s all in who you know, how grateful we are that we have friends and clients in the right places.

TAX ISSUES/TAX PLANNING

Year-End Tax Minimization Planning Considerations

Over the last few weeks/months I have been including suggestions on tax  reduction planning and yes it’s work but worth it and yes there is still time.  Feel free to click through to my prior blog posts for more detail:

• Charitable giving – help others and you may also be helping yourself to a lower tax bill.
• Consider contributing to a favorite charity directly from your Required Minimum Distributions (RMD).  This will reduce your taxable income even if you don’t itemize deductions
• Lower your current year’s earned income with contributions to your tax deferred annuity.
• Make use of your state’s Pass Through Entity Tax (PTET) deduction and reduce your federal tax while legally having your business pay some of your personal state and local tax bill.
• Consider rolling some of your regular IRA into your ROTH IRA.  This will increase your income and tax liability for 2022, but will enable your investments to grow tax free with future funds withdrawn tax free as well.
• Capital loss harvesting:  reduce capital gains tax by selling investments that have lost value to offset capital gains on appreciated stocks and other assets sold during 2022.
• Transfer as much as possible into a health savings account (HSA), which also reduces your overall taxable income.  Remember money put into this account can only be used for health care-related costs.

The IRS Backlog Will Continue into the 2023 Filing Season

The IRS is still way behind in answering notices and processing tax returns (9.6 million) as we head into tax season 2023.  Just the other day The Teasury Inspector General for Tax Administration released a report  (2023-46-007) saying that this will continue and increase as we start filing the 2022 tax returns.  In addition even with the hiring of additional IRS personnel, we are still unable to “get through” to IRS representatives via the tax practitioners hotline which we use to resolve many tax notices our clients receive.

ECONOMY

Stocks are Still Weak Heading into the Holiday Season

Wall Street closed lower on Monday for a fourth straight session, with investors avoiding riskier bets. They worry that the Fed’s tightening campaign could push the economy into a recession.

Twitter Users Feel Elon Musk Should Step Down

A Twitter poll created by Elon Musk asked whether he should step down as head of Twitter. Most respondents voted yes.

FTX Founder Agrees to Extradition

Sam Bankman-Fried has agreed to voluntary extradition to the United States from the Bahamas, with his next court appearance expected to happen this week. He has been charged with eight counts of wire fraud and conspiracy.

Carhartt is Adding 125  Jobs in Michigan

The Dearborn-based apparel firm Carhartt plans to hire up to 125 more workers in Dearborn with an average $43 hourly wage, rather than in Kentucky or Mexico. The decision is due to help from a recently approved state grant.

GENERAL RESOURCES

• IRS resources for stimulus payments:
  • Use the Get My Payment tool to check on EIP payment status
  • Eligibility and general information about Economic Impact Payments
  • A list of frequently asked questions for stimulus payments
• IRS information about the Advance Child Tax Credit Payments
  • Portal to update information
  • A list of frequently asked questions on the advance Child Tax Credit Payments
• The best source for up-to-date and accurate health information is the Center for Disease Control (CDC)
• Our Covid-19 Resource Center with relevant blog posts, videos and prior weekly newsletters
• Payroll, HR and benefits company Gusto has put together An Employer’s Guide to Navigating the Coronavirus
• Accounting Today has a special page for articles on COVID-19
• Intuit QuickBooks has a dedicated page to help small businesses
• Entrepreneur put together a listing of free tech resources for remote work
• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has warnings about COVID-related scams
• Fast Company has a listing of the best productivity apps for 2020
• The New York Times has an online newsletter on K-12 and higher education
• The Wall Street Journal has a collection of articles on education
• The Louvre has digitized 482,000 artworks from its collection
• PC Magazine explains how to carry your vaccination card on your phone
• How to create a strong password

We sincerely hope that you and your family are well and remain well. If you have any questions or concerns, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We are here for you.

If you need help with your accounting, want to create a tax minimization plan, want to discuss your business growth plan or your finances, are concerned about retirement goals or need to be held accountable for your 90 day action plan, contact us for a complimentary discovery session or an appointment to just get started.

Get in touch

Contact us if you have any questions or want to discuss the next steps for your business.