Start preparing for M&A on Day 1

It may seem odd, but as soon as you start up a business, you should begin preparing the documentation needed to sell or merge with another enterprise. It may be years down the road but the records often required in today’s M&A environment can be overwhelming. If your recordkeeping has been shoddy, it can be difficult or …
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Cost basis rules can have a big impact on your taxes

If you’re thinking about selling stocks, mutual funds or other investments, you need to first familiarize yourself with the cost basis rules and their implications for your tax bill. Learning the rules may help you significantly reduce the amount of capital gains that will be subject to taxation as a result of the sale. Why Cost …
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Letters of credit can help protect commercial landlords

Some commercial landlords have been hit by economic conditions, overbuilding, start-up companies failing, a depressed retail sector, or other factors affecting the real estate industry. The forecast for 2023 is for continued turbulence in the real estate industry as economic pressures and higher interest rates follow the seismic changes that the COVID-19 pandemic brought to markets …
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Medical practice accounting: Improving cash flow

Collection problems are very serious to the financial health of your medical practice. You may find costs and overhead going up while cash flow goes down. To make matters worse, your office is probably spending more time than ever before contending with third party regulations and rejected claims. Through it all, you’re trying to improve your …
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Seriously delinquent tax debt? Passport can be revoked

The bottom line: Seriously delinquent taxes can lead to revoked passports. In the recent case of Adams v. Commissioner, the U.S. Tax Court held that it lacks jurisdiction to review the constitutionality of passport-related actions taken by the U.S. Secretary of State in response to the taxpayer’s seriously delinquent tax debt. In 2023, a seriously delinquent …
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Physicians: How to avoid unpleasant tax surprises

By Jim Rice, CPA As a CPA for more than four decades, I’ve heard from doctors more than a few times after they were hit with a surprise tax bill. In most cases, the underlying problems were that their accountants didn’t communicate with them much and didn’t advise them throughout the year on what steps …
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Tax-filing extension: What to consider before you decide

In a statement posted to its website on February 3, 2023, the IRS asked certain taxpayers to temporarily hold off on filing their 2022 returns until it could issue guidance on how to treat special tax refunds and payments made by approximately 20 states in 2022. A week later, the IRS published additional guidance to resolve …
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Spendthrift trust can help protect wealth after transfer

Protecting assets from creditors is a critical aspect of estate planning, but you need to think about more than just your own creditors: You also need to consider your heirs’ creditors. Adding spendthrift language to a trust benefiting your heirs can help safeguard assets. Spendthrift Language Explained Despite its name, the purpose of a spendthrift trust …
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18 ways to pull the plug on employee theft

Not all crooks roam the streets at night. Some might be roaming company hallways, stealing cash, forging or altering checks, and pilfering inventory and property. Even worse, they may be stealing intellectual property such as confidential documents or trade secrets. What can you do to pull the plug on employee theft and fraud? Here are 18 …
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Planning can maximize your Social Security benefits

Get the most from Social Security Younger retirees face a harsh penalty for working part-time. For every $2 earned over $21,240 in 2023 (up from $19,560 in 2022), you lose $1 in Social Security benefits. In the year you reach full retirement age, a higher earnings threshold applies. Your benefits will be reduced by $1 …
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