1. It boosts checkout efficiency.

Consumers today are busy and don’t want to spend time waiting in line to check out. According to eMarketer, 43 percent of U.S. internet users would rather try scan-and-go than wait in a checkout queue.

Plus, by going cashless, you can even do business on the go. Want to participate in a pop-up shop or local business fair? Instead of being tied down by a register, mobile and digital payments enable you to be where your customers are.

2. It makes accounting easier to manage.

When your business deals with cash, you have to count every penny. With mobile and digital payments, every transaction is automatically tracked and recorded, which means less room for error on your part and less time spent manually tallying and recording transactions. You’ll also save time by not having to run to the bank to get rolls of change or make daily deposits. Furthermore, with real-time data on the cash flow of your business, you’ll be better able to spot opportunities for improvement and make informed business decisions to improve your bottom line even more.

3. It reduces risks.

For obvious reasons, keeping cash on hand increases the risk of theft. Not only do you have to worry about being robbed, you also must worry about your employees taking from the register. Overall, going cashless can increase the safety of your employees while keeping your company assets secure.

Again, going cashless isn’t the right choice for every business, and you do have to consider your customer base. But if your customers are savvy and loyal, they’ll stick around through the cashless revolution. Now that you’re aware of the benefits, you can make an informed decision for your business.

We want to wish you a happy new year, and good luck in the decade to come! If you ever have any accounting needs, please think of us.

The due date to send individuals the 2019 Form 1095-B or Form 1095-C is now March 2, 2020. The original due date was Jan. 31, 2020.
However, the IRS has determined that there is no need for an extension of time for filing those forms with the IRS, or for the 2019 Form 1094-B, Transmittal of Health Coverage Information Returns, and Form 1094-C, Transmittal of Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage Information Returns. Those returns must be filed with the IRS by Feb. 28, 2020, if not filing electronically, and by March 31, 2020, if filing electronically.

We hope this is helpful to anyone who is providing health coverage to their employees. If you’re ever in need of any assistance sorting out how to do this, please give us a call. We are here to make your life easier.

The federal tax penalty for not being enrolled in health insurance was eliminated in 2019. However, those that received a penalty for not having health insurance in 2018 will still have to pay the penalty on your 2019 tax forms.

The 2018 penalty was $695 for adults and $347.50 for children or 2% of your annual income, whichever is more. The penalty was designed to protect both people from skipping out on health insurance and not being able to pay off their medical bills.

States Can Still Enforce Penalties

You should be aware that while the penalties at the federal level are no longer in effect, that doesn’t mean your state cannot enforce penalties of their own. Fortunately, Missouri is not one of these. However, if you live in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Vermont, or District of Columbia, you are subject to potential penalties. Please be sure to take the time to research them.

We hope this helps answer some questions for you for the 2019 tax year!

When Are Quarterly Estimated Taxes Due Every Year?

There are four dates you need to be concerned with if you pay quarterly estimates:

• January 15th

• April 15th

• June 15th

• September 15th

Keep these dates in mind every year, and make sure you’re ready when they come around!

What Happens If I Don’t Pay My Quarterly Estimated Taxes?

If you don’t pay enough tax by the due date of each payment period, you may be charged a penalty even if you’re due a refund when you file your income tax return at the end of the year.

If you mail your estimated tax payment and the date of the U.S. postmark is on or before the due date, the IRS will generally consider the payment to be on time.

Do You Need Help Managing The Taxes For Your Business?

At Cash Tax & Accounting, we help small businesses like yours with their taxes all the time. We’d be more than happy to make this easy for you. Please feel free to get in touch, and we’ll get started on making your business easier to run!

This was a result of some issues with the prior form (the 1099-MISC) having some filing issues resulting in late fees for some who submitted it. It is an attempt to make sure that all contractors income is reported more accurately. So, if you have contractors working for you – or you are a contractor yourself, you should review the form & note the changes from last years filing. Or, if you prefer, we can help you figure them out!

The court agreed with him that a tornado was, “an event beyond his control” and cited his credible testimony about the expenses in issue. Accordingly, it concluded that the disputed deductions were reasonable in light of the nature of his business.

What Does This Mean For Me?

To simplify, it means that if you are in extenuating circumstances and you lose the documentation you need to make a deduction, you can still file the deduction.

Obviously, this can get a little complicated, so you’ll need some help. But that’s where we come in! We’re more than happy to help you with any lost records, tax issues, book-keeping, or any other accounting related issue you may be having.

We’ll also include some deadline information which you’ll need to know.

However, if you need to know anything else we can help. We’re always here to answer any questions you have.

Determine Your Filing Status

You’ll need to fill out a Form 8832 to elect how to be classified for federal tax purposes. There are three options:

• A corporation
• A partnership
• An entity disregarded as separate from its owner (equivalent to a sole proprietorship)

To simplify, if you have no partners your business will be treated as a sole proprietorship. If you do have partners, you will be classified as a partnership unless you elect to be treated as a corporation.

To clarify, here’s a more detailed guide on selecting filing status.

Single-Member LLC’s

You’ll need to report all your income tax return on a schedule C and file it with your 1040 tax return.

For a more detailed guide to how to do this right, you can see the IRS article on this topic here.

These will be due on April 15th.

Multi-Member LLC’s

What you need to file changes based on your filing status:

If you register as a partnership: You’ll need to submit a Form 1065. Each partner will receive a Schedule K-1 to show his/her portion of profit or loss.

These are due on March 15th.

If you file as a corporation: You’ll need to fill out a Form 1120. Filling these out is relatively complex, so we’ll include the instructions from the IRS here.

These will be due on April 15th.

If you file as an s-corp, you fill out similar paperwork, a Form 1120S. You can see the instructions for those here, and they are due at the same time 1120’s are.

Do You Want Help Filing Taxes For Your LLC?

Cash Tax & Accounting has been helping small businesses like you for years. We’ll make it pain-free & straightforward for you.

Feel free to get in touch, and we’ll get your taxes done in a snap!

First & foremost, tax filings are due April 15th. If you have not gotten your information together for this year yet, you need to.

In case you need help figuring out how to get this done, you can see our tips on end of year filing here. If you need to file an extension, you can see this article here.

Assuming you have your tax filing taken care of, you’re ready to move forward.

List Of Dates To Be Aware Of:

5/31/2019: Deadline for reporting balances on IRA’s.

6/17/2019: Second-quarter estimated tax payments due.

9/16/2019: Third quarter estimated tax payments due. Also, this is the final deadline to file corporate tax returns assuming you requested an extension.

10/15/2019: Final deadline for individual tax returns who requested an extension.

What To Do If You Missed A Date

Just file your return as quickly as possible. You’ll probably receive with a mild penalty.

If you can’t afford to pay immediately, that’s okay. The IRS will allow you to make a payment plan. All you need to do is arrange to do so.

Need Extra Help?

That’s why we’re here. At Cash Tax & Accounting we can help you with anything from the simple to the complex.

Feel free to get in touch & we’ll see what we can do for you!

A few times an accountant may be useful include:

• During your business plan & company formation
• When you are filling out a loan application
• When you are being audited by the IRS

Sometimes you don’t need a full time accountant, you just need to consult one for a couple of hours. Sometimes you just need a particular task done. Other times it may be a good idea to hire a firm on a monthly retainer basis. These are all dependent on your needs.

How Do I Make The Decision That’s Best For Me?

The first thing to do is calculate the opportunity cost of doing something yourself. For instance, if your time is worth $50/hr and whatever you need done will take you 10 hours to do, that’s a $500 opportunity cost. That’s some expensive small business accounting.

If you can hire an accountant to do it for you for $250, it’s well worth the investment. Not to mention the hassle you’ll be saving yourself.

If your task is complex and has long lasting implications, it’s probably the time to hire an accountant. A good example is, like mentioned above, when you choose the legal structure of your business.

There are many tax implications & liability implications that go along with this decision if you choose the wrong one. If you want some resources on what entity is best, you can see this article here.

If you have a complex vendor structure, or many different customers, you’ll probably want an accountant’s help. They can help you keep track of who owes you what, what you owe whom, and when it all comes due.

This can be very important, as a lack of cash flow NOT a lack of revenues is much of the reason small businesses fail. Making mistakes in this regard can be absolutely fatal.

An accountant is probably not needed for your small business accounting if you only have a few customers with very loose payment terms (when the bill is due) and a simple tax structure. You should always consider hiring an accountant for a business plan or loan application though. These functions are vital to any business’s success and take experience to handle & present correctly.

What We Do To Help

We here at Cash Tax & Accounting specialize in helping small businesses in all areas that accountants have expertise in. We are a local, friendly business. More importantly, we know how to save you money & time when it comes to the tough stuff.

Feel free to give us a call or submit a contact form and we’ll  get in touch with you about how we can save you money!

1. Decide Your Filing Status
   • Are you single or did you get married this year?  Equally important, are you filing jointly? Did you become head of household? If so, you may want to consider the implications this has on your tax deductions. Your filing status has a hefty impact on how much you owe in any given year. Consider the impact this will have on you. The earlier you think on this, the better off you will be.
2. Familiarize Yourself With The New Tax Code
   • Many things have changed with the new tax code, especially the exemptions. Notably so if you have many dependents, since there will be no more personal exemptions. As a result you may have to file a return when you did not previously have to do so. It is important to realize if the new tax law makes an impact on your regular year end tax procedure. Learn more about the impact on deductions & exemptions in this Forbes article here.
3. Come Up With Your Own System For Year End Taxes
   • There’s more than one way to store all the documentation that you will need for your taxes. What’s important is that you choose a method. When you need the documentation, you’ll be glad you made the effort.

Need Help With Your Year End Taxes?

These are only one of many ways in which Cash Tax & Accounting can help you get ready for this tax season. In addition to making sure you’re ready, we can walk you through the filing process step by step. Please give us a call today, and we’ll make sure you are worry free by tomorrow!

What are QO zones?

These were created with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), and are for the purpose of attracting investment in low income areas. These are areas who are experiencing uneven economic development relative to their state, resulting in underdeveloped areas. For a list of QO zones, check out this article.

The government requires you invest through a QO fund in order to get the tax benefit. These funds need to be invested in at least 90% QO zones in order to qualify.

What Are The Tax Deductions I Can Receive?

The tax deductions you can receive show up in (essentially) one of two ways:

• 1) You can rollover profits from a sale of an asset (doesn’t need to be QO fund) into a QO fund within 180 days post sale to deffer the capital gains taxes on the profits.
• 2) You can hold your investment in the QO fund, and your tax benefits increase with time. You get a 10% tax deduction for holding the investment for 5 years. This increases to 15% after you’ve been invested for 7 years. After you’ve been invested for 10 years you gain a total exclusion from capital gains taxes (only applies to gains accrued after investment in the QO fund).

Need Help Figuring Out How To Get Involved?

This may seem a little complex, but we can break it down for you. We are happy to have a chat face to face or over the phone about your investment opportunities. Please give us a call and we’ll walk you through what to do!

We all know that online businesses have had it good for years. They have never been forced to pay sales tax… until now. This was due to a Supreme Court decision in 1992 (Quill Corp. v North Dakota) that declared, “a retailer isn’t required to collect and remit sales tax to a state unless it has a physical presence in that state.”

For decades it has been criticized by states, they have argued (quite correctly) that a physical presence isn’t necessary for a considerable impact on the state. This came to a head in 2016 when South Dakota declared a fiscal emergency based on its inability to collect sales tax from remote sellers.

South Dakota estimated they were losing $48-58 billion per year due to the lack of sales tax from online purchases. In a case against Wayfair (a large online seller) the Supreme Court ruled “the physical presence standard in Quill was ‘unsound and not correct’.”

What This Means For You (Or Your Online Business)

The ruling against Wayfair requires out-of-state sellers to collect and remit sales tax as if they had a physical presence in the state. This applies if they (1) deliver more than $100,000 of goods or services into the state or (2) engage in 200 more more separate transactions for the delivery of goods or services into the state.

If you shop online frequently, you should expect a slight bump in prices due to this ruling. If you own an online retail operation, you should expect things to get more expensive and complex. It is likely, as a result of this decision, the regulation within each state for its online sales tax is going to be changing. It is unlikely they will all change in the same way.

This law could even be applied retroactively (meaning you may have to pay on past sales tax you didn’t have to due to the Quill decision) depending on the state. Wayfair may also impact other state taxes, such as corporate income taxes.

This makes it a more important time than ever to ensure you have a great accounting staff to make sure you are up to speed and compliant with these new regulations. That’s what we do, and we’re here to serve you!

What is a Qualifying Child?

Someone who…

• Is of direct relation
• Lives with you
• Is under 17
• Does not provide more than half of their income
• Is unmarried

This is a simplified version. If you have more interest in exactly what this means, click here.

Old Child Tax Credit

Max CTC of $1,000.

Reduced credit for high income earners.

Nonrefundable that could only offset regular and alternative minimum tax, but you could transform it into the refundable Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC) for up to 15% of your income, that exceeded $3000.

You needed to have a Taxpayer Identification Number which could be a social security number (SSN), or an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN), or an adoption taxpayer identification number (ATIN).

New Child Tax Credit

Increases the max CTC from $1,000 to $2,000.

Less reduction for high income earners.

To get the maximum allowable you need to include your child’s social security number. If you can’t qualify for the max, there is a new partial CTC. This partial CTC only goes up to $500. This partial, however, does apply to a non-qualifying child.
ACTC is refundable for 15% of more than $2,500, for the year up to $1400.

If you want to learn more, check out H&R block’s article.

We have recently moved into a new building and we are loving it! Please come give us a visit anytime. We can help with all of your tax, accounting, or investment needs!

Pros: The form 1040 is a long and complex document that the elderly were forced into due to the less complex 1040-EZ form not being available to those who have income from Social security. This form is more user friendly.

Cons: If you retire before 65 you do not qualify to use the 1040-SR form and it still carries some income capping issues that the 1040-EZ has as well. The 1040-SR also does not allow for itimized deduction

If you want to know more, check out this article: https://www.thebalance.com/1040-sr-tax-form-seniors-4165749

We have recently moved into a new building and we are loving it! Please come give us a visit anytime. We can help with all of your tax, accounting, or investment needs!