By Dominique Molina, CPA
How to Find the Tax Pro That’s Right For You.
Do you feel that you pay too much in tax? You’re not alone! The General Accounting Office estimates that Americans overpay their taxes by a total of almost a billion (yes, that’s billion) dollars each year!
Why do so many pay more than they have to? The main cause is mistakes and errors they, or their tax preparers make on their tax returns!
So how do you find a reliable person to keep some of that billion in your wallet? I put together the following criteria and questions to help you find the best advisor and stop giving Uncle Sam too much!
First ask yourself, what role will this advisor perform as part of your team? How much experience do they have delivering the kind of results you are looking for? What experience do they have with the specific issues you will have? Do their current clients have business experience and average income similar to yours? If you have to educate your advisor about their area of expertise, its time to look for someone new! Remember that you are paying for their knowledge, not paying them to learn! [click to continue…]
By Dominique Molina, CPA
If you’re wondering what the single biggest expense is for your business, think again. It may surprise you!
As a business owner you’ve already experienced the benefits of self-employment. You know what I mean: no schedules or performance reviews, a steady income for expenses and extras, total control over your tax bill, and more qualified, capable workers lining up for your next job opening than you could ever hire.
Sound familiar? Well, at least it sounded great when you laid out your options on paper before taking the entrepreneur plunge.
If some of those benefits haven’t worked out like you’d planned, you can still take steps today to seize control over your single biggest expense for your business: taxes.
You’ve probably experienced what I call the “April 15 terror” as you wait to see the bottom line of your tax return. This often means a nasty surprise when you realize you owe Uncle Sam much more than you’d hoped, or sometimes can even afford!
Imagine how much better you’d sleep on April 14 if you could plan your taxes — how much you pay and even when you pay. [click to continue…]
By Dominique Molina, CPA
You’ve finally done it! The kids are out of the house, you’ve finally gotten your finances under control, and you’ve built up enough home equity to pay cash for a home in some parts of the country. Now what? If you’ve thought about relocating to a place with lower cost of living to reduce your expenses what happens to your tax bill when you move?
It depends on what you do with your existing home.
Sometimes, simply selling the property might be the best option. You can maximize the gain exclusion ($250,000 for singles, $500,000 for married filing jointly). This exclusion will save you up to $75,000 in tax. If your profit on the sale is higher than these limits, you’ll generally still enjoy capital gains tax rates of only 15% on the remaining gain.
But let me introduce you to another option – one with tax benefits and a possible income opportunity!
You can convert the property to a rental by selling it at fair market value, to a business entity, which you own. Doing this can create huge benefits! You still get the gain exclusion I mentioned above so it’s possible this could cover all your tax. Second, this might create an income source in your retirement years through the rental income. [click to continue…]
