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I know where I was 37 years ago today; Happy Birthday Jessie🎂; I already texted her birthday wishes from the beach this morning along with a sunrise photo. She had great timing back then too; we had a very special Father’s Day 🕺🏼gift🎁👼🏼 and good reason to celebrate🎆.  This week I have been “sleeping in” a bit and using my walks to add some strength and stretching to my morning routine utilizing the flat soft sand, small dunes and rock jetties. I am glad to say we have finalized our work on the 2024 personal and business estimates #2 and helped our clients schedule payments for a stress-free weekend.  Our office is now turning our sites to finalizing extended tax returns, 2024 tax planning and projections and Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) Reporting Requirements for our clients who entities meet the reporting criteria as determined in the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA),  H.R. 2513, as enacted in January 2021.

Taking longer walks and varying my start times allows for some great photo opps.  It was nice to “sleep in ” and have a sifter surface and blue sky Wednesday morning …

I still get out at sunrise most mornings though…

Jessie’s birthday sunrise shot..

I just couldn’t resist taking this photo this morning…

Time to pick lunch…

Best wishes to our amazing dad’s, man those grills and enjoy!!!!!  Need a last-minute gift? I found this list of DYI Father’s Day Gifts.

WEEKLY TAKE-AWAY

George Bernard Shaw, in his 1905 play “Man and Superman” coined the phrase “Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach…”  very derogatory, and I feel incorrect. For the past XX years/months/weeks/days, I along with many of my professional friends have been studying and discussing entity requirements in relation to Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) Reporting Requirements for ourselves and our clients.  This law was enacted in January 2021, but takes effect this year for most business entities.   On Tuesday I presented on a webinar panel with 2 of my friends Craig Wild, CPA and Scott Ahroni, esq. to a “packed house” of tax professionals.  Our catchy title “BOI – More Clarity, More Confusion, FAQs – You Decide” was apt; by the end of our presentation we all had more clarity and most of us had decided on how we would handle this new requirement.  I always find that I learn so much from putting together a presentation and my staff and clients benefit from this.  You are wrong George, when I am tasked to teach, I learn so much more and can do a better job when working with and understanding the law.  “Those who teach gain a deeper understanding”!

TAX ISSUES/TAX PLANNING

2024 Tax Estimate #2 are Due Monday: June 17th 2024

Yes, it’s that time again; it’s time to review your year-to-date income and profitability results. Let’s also put a positive spin on this exercise. You can take the time to determine what your 2024 tax liability is, as well as look to schedule an appointment with your tax professional to create or update your tax plan, hold a cash flow review and/or business operations assessment. Proactive planning may help you achieve your desired outcome.

• First steps, review your financial statements and compare activities with your prior year, annualize and project for a full year so that you are prepared to meet your current and full year business and personal tax liability.
• Next, consider making some changes in operations to positively affect your cash flow, life-work balance, return on investment.  Certainly look at equipment needs and use, professional services effectiveness, employee focus allocation, profit centers, etc.
• Finally, update or create a 90 day action plan to incorporate tax plans, business goals, personal goals and exit plans

Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) Reporting Deadline: Now or by January 1st 2025

It is expected that Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) Reporting Requirements will affect approximately 32 million “reporting companies”.  We need to be prepared and to comply by the filing deadlines which are no later than January 1st 2025.  There are steep civil penalties for non-compliance at $591 per day, up to $11,820 per violation and criminal penalties of up to 2 years of federal prison for willful violations.  Reporting is administered by: The Federal Crime Enforcement Network of the US Department of Treasury (FinCEN), here is their link for reporting and general information.   Here are links to 2 of my recent posts on BOI as well: January 5th, 2024, March 8th, 2024.

Many of you will be able to analyze your situation and prepare and submit on your own.  Our office has engaged a third-party provider to assist us in submitting reports for those clients we will assist as they determine if their entity is required to report and who the beneficial owners of those entities are.  What happened to having a relaxing summer?

ID.Me Will NOT Contact You Directly

The newest SCAM is a No Reply ID.Me email from “someone:  ”no-reply@noamyaron.uworld.ai,  looking for your credentials. Do NOT reply, do NOT open the email or the link, please just DELETE it.

Be aware that this is a scam.  ID.Me is not supposed to contact anyone directly.

The IRS is using ID.me, a trusted technology provider of identity verification and sign-in services, for taxpayers to securely access IRS tools. Anyone with an existing ID.me account from the Child Tax Credit Update Portal, or from another government agency, can sign in with their existing credentials. If they are a new user, they will have to provide a photo I.D. such as a driver’s license, state ID or passport as part of the identity verification process. They also need to take a selfie with a smartphone or a computer with a webcam. Once they verify their identity, they can use their account across multiple IRS tools and at other government agencies that also use ID.me.

ECONOMY

The Economy is Healthy, but Inflation is Overshadowing Growth

As recently reported by the US Chamber of Commerce:  “Despite high interest rates and stubborn inflation, the economy is growing remarkably well. All the major indicators we use to gauge its health—and how families and businesses are faring—are strongly positive:

• Wages are growing close to 4% on an annual basis, which is above the rate of inflation.
• The unemployment rate is low, at 3.9%.
• Consumer spending was up in March (the latest available data).
• On the business side, business investment is rising.”

Federal DOT-PLOT is Set to Offer Glimpse of Rate-Cut Resolve

As reported in this article by Finance.Yahoo: “Investors may glean more on the Federal Reserve’s resolve to ease monetary policy when US policymakers update their forecasts for interest rates Wednesday for the first time in three months.”

US Home Sales Post Second Straight Monthly Drop: House Prices Accelerate

As reported in this article by Reuters.com:  “U.S. existing home sales unexpectedly fell in April as higher mortgage rates and house prices weighed on demand, dealing another setback to the housing market.

• Existing home sales fall 1.9% in April
• Housing inventory increases 9% to 1.21 million
• Median house price rises 5.7% to $407,600 from year ago”

The Federal Reserve is Seen Waiting to Cut Rates as Job Growth Picks Up

As reported in this article by Reuters.com:  “A U.S. job market scorecard that exceeded all forecasts has undercut confidence over when, or even if, the Federal Reserve will begin easing policy this year, putting the focus for the policy outlook on next week’s Fed meeting and Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s own guidance.  The latest monthly Labor Department report did break the economy’s 2-year string of below-4% unemployment, a run not seen since the 1960s.”

US Business Travel is Back but Hotel CEOs say it Looks Different,

As reported in this recent article by Reuters.com:  ‘Business travel has returned to the United States, hotel executives at a New York industry conference said this week, as companies of all sizes are increasingly booking trips at higher levels and prices than before the pandemic.  Corporations are eschewing long-haul international business travel, however, and are instead prioritizing U.S. trips. Small- and medium-sized enterprises have led the recovery over the past couple of years, but large corporate bookings are rising as well.”

GENERAL RESOURCES

• News about the Child Tax Credit
• The best source for up-to-date and accurate health information is the Center for Disease Control (CDC) 
• Our prior blog posts, videos and prior weekly newsletters 
• Entrepreneur put together a listing of free tech resources for remote work
• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has warnings about COVID-related scams 
• 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 
• How to create a strong password