A new tax bill was signed into law on December 18, 2015 retroactively reinstating several key tax provisions that had expired December 31, 2014. These include: Increase in the first year write off of certain assets – knows as section 179 – back up to $500,000.  this provision is permanent and will be annually indexed...

Many people itemize deductions on Schedule A of their tax returns, rather than taking the standard deduction. Your tax preparer will generally advise you to do so if your allowable itemized deductions exceed the standard deduction. Most itemized deductions are well known and fairly well-understood. Examples include property taxes, home mortgage interest, state and local income...

The following table provides some important federal tax information for 2016, as compared with 2015. Many of the dollar amounts are unchanged or have changed only slightly due to low inflation. Other amounts are changing due to legislation. Social Security/ Medicare 2016 2015 Social Security Tax Wage Base $118,500 $118,500 Medicare Tax Wage Base No limit...

This holiday season, taxpayers are receiving a “gift” from Washington, D.C. It’s the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 or, simply, the PATH Act. It does more than just extend expired tax provisions for another year. The bipartisan deal makes about one-third of these tax provisions permanent. Many others have been extended for periods ranging...

Buying a gas-guzzling SUV, pickup or van may be frowned upon for environmental reasons. But these vehicles can be useful if your business needs to haul people, materials, inventory or equipment around. They also offer major tax advantages for businesses when they’re acquired. How It Works Thanks to the Section 179 deduction privilege, you can immediately...

If you participate in a qualified retirement plan through your job or self employment — such as a 401(k), profit-sharing, or Keogh plan — you might be allowed to borrow from the account. (The borrowing option is not available for traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, SEPs or SIMPLE-IRAs.) In the right circumstances, taking out a plan loan...