Over the last few weeks, many clients have asked me the same question—will we see any of the big tax changes this year that the president and Congress promised? The answer is an overwhelming “maybe.” Some in Washington have indicated they are within a few weeks of agreeing on central aspects of a tax overhaul plan and hope to have actual legislation that will be ready in September. Based on prior history, I think that means late October, but Congress has surprised me before.

It’s about to get more expensive if you fail to file your taxes. On February 11th, the Senate passed the “Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015” by a vote of 75 to 20. This bill contains a number of tax provisions, including stiffer penalties for failing to file returns. It also authorizes U.S. Customs and Border Protection and makes the Internet Tax Freedom Act, which bans taxes on internet access, permanent. Under the current law, unless due to reasonable ca

As you open this email, you are probably saying to yourself, wait a minute, it’s not Tuesday! You are correct, but the content this week is very time sensitive so we are here early. The first item today is the Iowa Caucus tonight. We have a great opportunity to influence who will be on the ballot for president this November. There are many different approaches to tax policy from the various candidates so this is going to be very important. Please be sure to participate to

Today we will discuss the status of the annual tax extenders bill. Once again, Congress needs to pass legislation to extend over 50 different items that expired at the end of 2014. Unless Congress acts, taxpayers will be unable to use these provisions on their 2015 returns. Historically, they have extended these items for one or two years at a time. They are trying to make some of the provisions permanent, but have not had any success yet. The Senate plans to adjourn for Chr

​We have been keeping you updated on the status of the extenders bill, which Congress has yet to pass. But as a start, at least the Ways & Means Committee has approved some tax bills. On September 17, the Ways & Means Committee approved the following tax-related bills: H.R. 2940: the “Educator Tax Relief Act of 2015” — would make the above-the-line deduction for certain expenses of elementary and secondary school teachers permanent and annually adjust the $250 amount for infl

On July 21, the Senate Finance Committee approved the extenders bill. This bill includes the extension of 52 tax provisions that usually get extended each year. It includes reinstating the section 179 expense amount back to $500,000 and also includes the 50% bonus depreciation. Will this bill become law? The answer is maybe. And while we don’t know when this could happen, the good news is Congress is working on this extenders bill early in the year. Tax Tip Tuesday will be

“What is the current status of Code Section 179 for the calendar year of 2015?” That is the question that I have been asked multiple times in recent weeks. As of right now, the Section 179 limit for 2015 is $25,000. That’s dramatically lower than in 2014 when it was $500,000. Will this be increased this year? I think it will. But, to what level, I don’t know for sure. Many members of Congress have talked about raising this. But one issue that keeps coming up, as well as with

Today we have an update in regards to some end of year-end tax legislation. The House has passed a bill that would extend 55 different provisions that expired at the end of 2013 through the end of 2014. This includes the $500,000 Section 179 limit, 50% bonus depreciation and individual provisions like the exclusion for IRA donations for charity and the deduction for educator expenses. The Senate has not indicated when or if they will vote on this bill. Hopefully it will be

The elections are over in most states and we know that the Republicans will control both the House and Senate starting in 2015. However, we still have a split for the rest of 2014 with a Republican House and Democratic Senate. With that split remaining in Congress, we have a lot of tax legislation that they need to address including the Section 179 deduction and bonus depreciation along with a very long list of items that are normally extended one year at a time. These are

We are continuing our discussion from last week on year-end tax planning challenges. Businesses that have benefited from the generous $500,000 Code Sec. 179 expensing limit for tangible personal property (and certain software) for the past few years may be in for a shock this year. Starting with the 2014 tax year, unless Congress makes a retroactive change, the maximum annual Code Sec. 179 expensing limit drops precipitously to $25,000. The dollar limit on the phaseout o