Thursday, December 17, 2009

Employment Tax Compliance, Benefits


In November 2009, the IRS) has adopted a new National Research Initiative (Initiative: a random audit of all the sectoral employment taxes for 6000 launched by companies including during the thirty-six months ahead. The scope of the initiative has a dual nature: first, to determine compliance with systemic employment tax, and the second, the collection of contributions from delinquent employers.

With declining tax revenues has the economy down, pay the U.S. Treasury Department stepped up its efforts to the tax gap, the difference between total liabilities and taxes to the IRS. Audit work is collected by the tax authorities as a central instrument for closing the tax gap. For fiscal 2001, for example, the difference between the gross tax by the IRS was estimated at over $ 345 billion, with under-reporting of non-wage costs make up about 17% of the variance tax.

The IRS will review the companies to ensure that federal tax deductions to be deducted and the government paid the wages of workers to Social Security and Medicare, and federal unemployment taxes. An employer can be found in non-severe penalties and interest on unpaid taxes face. Those fines would have a particularly severe impact on small business owners.

The IRS has prioritized four areas to focus their testing efforts within the Initiative, including:

Classification of workers: ie, if an employer treats an employee properly classified as an employee or independent contractor for tax purposes. Determine which depends on behavioral finance and the type of relationship the company has with the person doing the work.

Advantages: a contribution in kind is a form of compensation for services. ie services such as insurance, company cars or child care, etc., which are provided by employers tax-free employees, not independent contractors.

Reimbursed business expenses, for example, to make reimbursement of a customer to lunch, my office supplies, have a written business expenditures may be required. This means you must pay or costs that are deductible if the provision of services as an employee. You need to take sufficient account of the employer for these expenses within a reasonable time, and you have excess reimbursement or allowance within a reasonable time back.

Compensation to owners who are also employees of the company, the outstanding taxes be conducted in May, the personal liability for the employer.

As employment tax audits initiative began, it was reported that the IRS has already begun to review the process for selecting companies for their employment taxes. Non-compliance with employment tax laws can have serious consequences for employers. To ensure that procedures are in place in order to meet the compliance requirements for tax laws to save time, money and stress in the case of an audit.

For example, the Internal Revenue Code requires that employers ensure their qualification to properly classify the employee not only that they are consistent with the tax laws, but also in a position to properly manage their staff. Employers should consider consulting a lawyer experienced in the preparation of the initiative and, if a test of their employment taxes.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Computing Self-Employment Tax


If you are self-employed, you must be a Schedule C with your Form 1040th basket In addition, you need your self-employment tax on Schedule SE to calculate 1040. You have to tax themselves to pay work if you are working for yourself and your net income $ 400 or more.

The net profit includes a farm, or non-agricultural businesses. If you have more than one business, your self-employment tax based on the income from the combination of all your winnings. The advantage of more than one company when submitting self-employment, that the tax loss carryforwards reduced by an entity the income of others. Self-employment tax is the part of the comprehensive health and social security taxes from your income. Employees who pay for other people to use only half of these people who pay taxes, the other half work equipment. An independent contractor is for the full amount.

The option and related non-farm optional methods can be used as options for the calculation of taxes paid self-employment are used. Benefit from using these methods, you could claim a credit for a child or a larger Earned Income Credit. They could also increase your self-employment tax.

The maximum profits, you are obliged to pay even used against tax is $ 87,000. You can also deduct half of your self-employment tax when calculating your income tax. If you are a member of the clergy, you can ask the Internal Revenue Service, you are exempt from self-employment tax.

If you expect to owe more than $ 1000 in taxes, you are required to make quarterly payments of estimated tax. Otherwise, your self-employment tax is not payable until the end of the year. Since most self-independent contractors do not produce their profit / loss figures to the end of the year. If there is a loss, independent employee will receive a tax credit in half the self-employment tax due.

If you are self-employed, you're in business. They are therefore your tax liability on any deductions for legitimate business purposes, you reduce the strong. As an entrepreneur, the best way would be to go to a lawyer or financial advisor before they ask for a decision on how you calculate your self-employment taxes before filing your tax return. They are professionals when it comes to self-employment deductions from corporate income taxes. You should seek advice as the best way to reduce your tax obligations for your situation.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Basic Accounting Principles


Accounting has been defined as the accounting professor at the University of Michigan William A Paton as a basic function: "facilitating the administration of economic activity. This function has two closely related phases: 1) measuring and identifies the economic data, and 2) reporting the results of this process to interested parties. "

For example, an accounting firm periodically measure the profit and loss account for a month, quarter or year and publish the results in a profit and loss account will make as a tax return. These statements include elements such claims (the company was) and liabilities (what the company owes). It can also be quite complicated with issues such as retained earnings and accelerated depreciation. The higher levels of accounting and the organization.

Much of the accounts but also about the basic accounting period. It is the process that pays every transaction, every bill, every cent spent due and cents for every dollar earned.

But can the owners of the company, the individual owners or millions of shareholders, are included with summaries of these transactions in the financial statement. The financial statement summarizes a company's assets. The value of an asset is what it costs when it was first acquired. The financial statement also records what were the sources of these assets. Some assets will be repaid in the form of loans. Profits are also an asset of the company.

In what is called double-entry bookkeeping, the liabilities are also summarized. Of course a company wants to show offset a larger amount of assets, liabilities and profits. The management of these two elements is the essence of accounting.

It is a system for the possibility that each company or individual to develop their own systems of accounting, the result would be chaos!

Saturday, December 5, 2009

The fundamentals of commercial loan review


The owner of a commercial property like a shopping mall, shopping center, apartment complexes, office buildings and multi-tenant building that allows the bank or lender together for a possible change in commercial loans. This adjustment to the commercial loans of May a reduction in the amount due, payment of interest only temporary extension of the loan or lower interest rates. However, prior to discussion on possible changes to the terms of the loan agreement are held, the creditor must, a review of commercial loans. This review will include an analysis of information about the borrower and the various documents.

Include a review of commercial loans, both the borrower and the lender before a loan modification business is necessary, could be accepted by both parties. It should be noted that financial regulators are recommending loan workouts, because they realize that most borrowers do not necessarily want to default on their loans, but only temporarily lost their ability to reach an agreement, you see the origin of the payments as a result of the economic situation. A number of beneficial owners need a break to recover from their current financial conditions in May, while others require a permanent change in the conditions of the loan. The loan restructuring to benefit the borrower, because it prevented the recovery or foreclosure property. It will benefit the lender because the necessary expenses of a foreclosure is avoided and the payments are always made by the borrower, but in smaller quantities. During the crisis in the market for commercial real estate, the lender avoids the stands with assets to sell very difficult to know if a loan modification business is allowed.

The lender is the review of commercial loans to ensure that the company the ability to mortgage payments in the event that adjustments are permitted to predict. Some factors that determine the bank or lender in the process view of the creditworthiness of the owner of premises, including the development of cash flow for the company, buying behavior, market conditions, and the presence of a guarantor.

From the perspective of the borrower of the review process for commercial loans is quite different. Attorneys for the limitation of losses and experts usually help the owner of this procedure in carefully scrutinized the various details of the original loan agreement. The reason is that many agreements have been created in times when the commercial real estate boomed current deficiencies or violations of laws and regulations are to protect the rights of borrowers. If these violations are discovered in the contracts of loan, the lender would not be in a position to all the provisions contained in the agreement is implemented and that includes the foreclosure. The lender may even be forced on to the borrower, the interest has been paid since the beginning of the loan. Therefore, the investigation can provide commercial loans to borrowers with powerful tools that can speed up the trade agreement with the lender for commercial loan modification request.