Tag: estate planning

business taxes, Family Tax Issues, General Information, Self Employed, TAX DEBT RELIEF, Tax Reduction, TAXES

How Serious Is your IRS Letter?

Howard Tax Prep LLC

race
Has the IRS sent you a collections letter? How serious is that letter? Can you stroll to the phones, or do you need to break and run to the phones and call for help?

Listed below are the most common IRS collection letters that one may receive when they have tax debt. I’ve listed them in order from stroll to the phones (low detection on the IRS radar) to break and run to the phone lines & get help (requires immediate action).

CP14 – Casually stroll (No sense of real urgency).

CP501 – Put a little pep in your step (Take notice).

CP503 – Speed walk (Decide to do something).

CP504 – Start Jogging (things are getting very serious).
Schedule-button-nb
Letter 1058/LT11 – (Final Levy Notice)—Run like you’re trying to lose weight. —act now or lose your collection due process rights (your right to a hearing and a stop of collection).

CP90/CP91 – Run like you’re trying to lose weight. Another form of Final Notice of Intent to Levy.

CP71 – 10 Day Final Notice of Intent to Levy. RUN LIKE YOU’RE BEING CHASED IN A HORROR MOVIE. Act now, you are out of time.

Although we’ve given you the basics, this is not an all-inclusive article. Should you have questions, need help with tax debt, business tax preparation, business entity creation, business insurance, or business compliance
assistance please contact us online, or call our office toll free at 1-855-743-5765 or locally in Chicago or Indiana at 1-708-529-6604. Make sure to join our newsletter for more tips on reducing taxes, and increasing your wealth.

Schedule-button-nb

Never miss another tip again! Join our newsletter, to receive tax reduction/wealth building tips delivered right to your inbox!

newsletter

Business Strategies, business taxes, Family Tax Issues, General Information, RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS, Self Employed, TAX DEBT RELIEF, Tax Reduction, TAXES

401k For The Self Employed

Howard Tax Prep LLC

solo 401k

You Don’t Have To Work For Others To Have A 401k Plan

In our Chicago South Loop tax preparation office, we often meet people that are ready to leave their jobs & start a new business.  If you’re new to entrepreneurship, or even a veteran (seasoned) business owner, you may not realize that you can start an IRS qualified retirement plan for your business. The best thing about a small business owners solo 401k is that if you’re leaving your old an employer, you can transfer your current 401k plan to your own company’s 401k!

Transferring your 401k to a traditional solo 401k will help you avoid LOSING YOUR INVESTMENT TO TAXES & PENALTIES! Don’t want to leave your employer? No problem! You can still have a traditional or roth 401k plan with your own company, as long as you don’t defer more than the IRS yearly contribution limit.

WHAT DOES IT DO? A traditional solo 401k allows you to exclude income from currents years’ taxes,and defer the income for taxation at a later time. Build your retirement income, and maintain access of up to 50% of the funds’ assets through loans.

WHAT WILL IT SAVE ME? With the traditional solo 401k, you will be able to defer up to $56,000 of taxable income in 2019, and $57,000 in 2020. For example, if you generate $100,000 in business revenue, expenses, you would be taxed on the remaining $60,000. With a solo 401k, you can defer $19,000 as an employee of your company, and $15,000 for the employer contributions giving you a total deduction of $34,00 (leaving you with a taxable income of $26,000). By using this method you would remove yourself from the 22% tax bracket, and place yourself into the 12% tax bracket giving yourself a tax bill (including self employment taxes) of $4,650 instead of a $13,509 tax bill!

Schedule-button-nbor click here to call us 1-855-743-5765.

WHAT CAN I INVEST IN? If you choose the traditional 401k plan, you will be able to invest in securities such as stocks, bonds, ETFs, commodities, and more. Should you choose a self directed Solo 401k, you can invest in things such as real estate, businesses, antiques, and more.

WHAT IF I HAVE OTHER RETIREMENT PLANS? Any contributions you make to other types of retirement accounts, such as IRAs, do not affect your 401(k) contribution limit.

WHY DO I NEED IT? Retirement plans are an important element of a tax reduction plan. While an IRA is a good plan, if you need to access your money, you will have to pay a penalty. Those that can, should have a mix of 401k and traditional and Roth IRA’s.

Schedule-button-nbor click here to call us 1-855-743-5765.

Solo 401k Contribution Calculator: What is the maximum amount you can contribute?

The Solo 401k Contribution Calculator allows you to calculate the maximum amount you can contribute to your plan. Click on the link below, enter requested info below and click the “Submit” button to see your results. A PDF document will be generated with the option for you to save or print it. It is very important that you select the correct business type; please note that Sole-Proprietor is selected by default (if your business is a single member LLC, select the Sole-Proprietor type). For an alternative calculator click HERE.

Although we’ve given you the basics, this is not an all-inclusive article. Should you have tax debt help questions, need Chicago business tax preparation, business entity creation, business insurance, or business compliance assistance please contact us online, or call our office toll free at 1-855-743-5765 or locally in Chicago or Indiana at 1-708-529-6604. Make sure to join our newsletter for more tips on reducing taxes, and increasing your wealth.

Schedule-button-nb

Never miss another tip again! Join our newsletter, to receive tax reduction/wealth building tips delivered right to your inbox!

newsletter

Family Tax Issues, General Information, Retirement Income, Self Employed

12 Things you need to know about your parent.

Howard Tax Prep LLC

senior

While I am focused on helping small businesses grow by reducing their taxes, and organizing their books, I firmly believe that health of body and mind leads to wealth. To help you be better prepared in the event of an emergency involving your parents/loved ones, below (in order of importance) is a list of 12 things you need to know about your aging parents’ health.  If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please don’t hesitate to call us!

WHAT ARE THE NAMES OF THEIR DOCTOR’S & SPECIALIST? If you don’t know anything else, this is probably the most important piece of information. Why? Chances are good that your parents’ doctors can provide much of the rest of the information needed as well as more details about your parents’ specific health histories.

Do they have any major medical problems? This includes such conditions as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, etc.

What Medications are they on? Have a list of medications and supplements. It’s especially important that a doctor know if your parent uses blood thinners. It’s also important for your doctor to know if your parents take any vitamin or herbal supplements (as these might interact with medications given in an emergency situation.

What is their previous medical history? Have they had any surgeries and major medical procedures? List past medical procedures including implanted medical devices such as pacemakers.

What is their insurance information? Know the name of your parents’ health insurance provider and their policy numbers.

What Are their End-of-Life Wishes? For instance: Would you want a ventilator and feeding tube used to keep you alive even in an irreversible coma? Do you want CPR initiated if your heart stops, even if you are terminally ill? Make sure the health care proxy is aware of your parent’s decisions.

Do they have any ADVANCE DIRECTIVES? An advance directive (living will, Do Not Resuscitate aka DNR, etc) is a legal document that outlines a person’s decisions about his or her health care, such as whether or not resuscitation efforts should be made and the use of life-support machines.

Have they named a durable power of attorney to manage their finances, or healthcare?
The first step is to find out if they have named a Durable Power of Attorney (POA). Without a POA in place, you’ll have to go to court to get guardianship of your parent in order to access accounts on their behalf.

Where do they keep their financial records and important documents?
Whether they keep their money and documents in a bank, a safe, or under the mattress, you need to know where to find records when you need them. What is the location of keys or codes to lock boxes or safes?

What are their bank account numbers and names of their financial institutions?
In addition to knowing where they keep their money, you need specifics on all account numbers. What banks do they use? Who is their mortgage company? Do they have an investment firm?

What are your parent’s monthly expenses?
Gather information on their mortgage, car payment, credit card debt, electric bill and other expenses.

How do they pay their bills currently, ESPECIALLY THEIR LIFE INSURANCE!!
If there are automatic deductions being taken out of a checking account, you need to know about it. Do they use online banking, or are they mailing in paper checks? DO NOT ASSUME!

This list was provided to us by our partner nonprofit agency  Senior Resource Group Inc. The mission of Senior Resource Group Inc.

is to remove access barriers to service, empower seniors through education, lower prescription drug cost, consolidate resources, and mobilize assistance.

Senior Resource Group Inc. services range from locating no cost insulin for diabetics; applying clients for prescription drug grants; locating local/state/federal and private assistance programs; explaining Medicare; and identifying the lowest cost Medicare supplements, health plans, & insurance solutions. Each of our clients are given an extensive individual interview so that our advocates can uncover every transportation, tax, food, and medical discounts he/she may qualify for.