What taxes on real estate are deductible? Many people will get out their end of year mortgage statement or Form 1098 and look for the “Real Estate Taxes Paid” line on the form and use that amount. However, depending on where you live this number may contain several non-deductible fees and assessments. In order to accurately determine the deductible taxes you paid you need the actual tax bill. The state of California is making an effort to educate property […]
Posting by Larry Beebe, CPA
In Trustees of the Sheet Metal Workers’ Local Union No. 33 Profit Sharing Annuity Funds v. Beckley Mechanical Inc., an employer argued that it had agreed to execute Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) in exchange for several promises, including a promise by a union agent to withdraw a criminal action against one of the employer’s executives. The employer said it was not contractually bound to make contributions to the funds because the contract was illegal or […]
Under current law, 2011 is the final year a charitable contribution can be made from an IRA, (by an individual age 70 ½ or older), directly to a qualified tax-exempt charity. This type of distribution is called a “qualified charitable distribution”. The distribution is not taxed to the donor, and counts towards fulfilling the required minimum IRA distribution amount (RMDs) that must be withdrawn each year.
If a “qualified charitable distribution” is made, no itemized deduction is allowed. However, since […]
For the second consecutive year, Bond Beebe, a certified public accounting and advisory firm with offices in Bethesda, Maryland and Alexandria, Virginia, participated in the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light the Night Walk which took place in Rockville, Maryland on October 22, 2011. The Firm’s team of 40 employees raised over $2,700 to support cancer research. Light the Night Walk is the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s annual fundraising event that pays tribute and brings hope to people battling cancer; […]
Posting by Andrew Staab
As an attorney working to enforce contractual contribution obligations on behalf of Taft-Hartley benefit fund fiduciaries, I know that I cannot do my job without effective payroll auditors. These professionals are the messengers of liability, sentinels of successorship, and interpreters of delinquency gobbledygook. How do I express my thanks to payroll auditors? I demand more from them. Is that inappropriate? To ask a payroll auditor for more is to validate and honor the work that they […]
Posting by Jacqueline M. Thompson, CPA, Principal
All businesses face challenges, whether it is dealing with the changing economy, finding and hiring the right employees, or increased competition in the market. Family-owned businesses are not immune to these challenges. In fact, there is also a unique set of challenges that family-owned businesses have to face as a result of the nature of their business structure. It is important to understand what these hurdles are so that if you find yourself […]
David Dorsey, CPA
Record retention is an often overlooked part of running an employee benefit plan. Benefit plans must adhere to record retention requirements mandated by ERISA, IRS, DOL and other federal and state authorities. However, record retention is as much about what you should retain and for how long as it is about what you should discard and when; often, benefit plans conclude another year of providing benefits to participants by putting documents in a filing cabinet(s) or in […]
Brian Wynne, CPA
The IRS has announced many cost-of-living-adjustments for retirement plans, social security tax and some other tax items.
The limits on contributions to retirement plans have been increased for 2012. Participants can elect to defer up to $17,000 (up from $16,500) into 401(k) plans. The “catch-up” contributions for participants over age 50 is still the same at $5,500. The total contribution for defined contribution plans has increased to $50,000 from $49,000, using a compensation base of up to $250,000 (up from $245,000). […]
Michael D. Rockefeller, CPA
As a small business owner or senior executive, it is your responsibility to promote integrity and ethical values to your employees and implement the proper controls and procedures to prevent fraud. In this series, we are highlighting ten basic fraud prevention steps you can take to keep your organization safe.
Identifying potential risks and instituting proper internal controls to mitigate these risks are essential components to effectively preventing occupational fraud. However, the risk assessment process must be […]
Posting by Phil Vivirito
In this series, I will explain several fundamental payroll auditing principles. This post discusses guidelines for determining how much of the employer’s population a payroll auditor should test.
The payroll auditor should test one hundred percent of the employer’s population to ensure all eligible employees are being reported. Larger employers that have departmentalized payrolls can be tested and eliminated rather quickly. For organizations with a non-departmentalized payroll, the auditor can compare names on W-2s to those being […]
