2011 Required Minimum IRA Distributions

Now that the New Year is here, you can begin taking your required minimum distribution (RMD) for 2011. The following is an overview of the rules regarding these mandated distributions for older taxpayers. The IRS does not allow IRA owners to keep funds in a Traditional IRA indefinitely. Eventually, assets must be distributed and taxes paid. If there are no distributions, or if the distributions are not large enough, the IRA owner may have to pay...

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Do You Have Enough to Retire?

Generally, retirees need somewhere between 70 and 80 percent of their pre-retirement salary to maintain their current standard of living upon retirement. This includes income from company pension plans, Social Security benefits, individual retirement plans (such as IRAs, 401(k) plans, etc.) and other investments. Do you plan to stay in your existing home or are you planning to downsize? Downsizing and relocating may provide additional cash and reduce expenses. How is your health and do you have reasonable medical coverage? When will you be eligible...

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Business & Rental Owners – Begin Collecting W-9s for 2011

If you use independent contractors to perform services for your business or rental and you pay them $600 or more for the year, you are required to issue them a Form 1099 after the end of the year to avoid facing the loss of the deduction for their labor and expenses, and to avoid a monetary penalty. (This requirement generally does not apply for payments made in 2011 to a corporation.) IRS Form W-9 (Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and...

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2011 Standard Mileage Rates

The Internal Revenue Service has issued the 2011 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2011, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be: 51 cents per mile for business miles driven (includes a 22 cent per mile allocation for depreciation); 19 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes; and 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations....

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Employers Must Stop Advance Earned Income Credit Payments in 2011

Advance earned income credit has been repealed for 2011. This credit allowed certain low-income employees to receive an advance payment of the earned income credit in their paychecks. Their withholding was lowered to take into account the payment. However, employers are cautioned that the advance earned income credit has been repealed beginning with the 2011 tax year. Therefore, they must stop the advance EIC credit payments effective for payroll payable in 2011. If you have questions, please call our offic...

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It's Tax Time!

Are You Ready? If you’re like most taxpayers, you find yourself with an ominous stack of “homework” around TAX TIME! Unfortunately, the job of pulling together the records for your tax appointment is never easy, but the effort usually pays off when it comes to the extra tax you save! When you arrive at your appointment fully prepared, you’ll have more time to: Consider every possible legal deduction; Better evaluate your options for reporting income and deductions to choose those best suited to your situation; Explore current law changes that...

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Tax-Free IRA to Charity Distributions Reinstated

The provision that permits taxpayers age 70½ and over to make direct distributions (up to $100,000 per year) from their Traditional or Roth IRA account to a charity has been reinstated for 2010 and 2011. The distribution is tax-free, but there is no charitable deduction. This provision can be very beneficial to taxpayers who have social security income and/or do not itemize their deductions. The key benefits of this provision lie in the fact that...

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Are You Required to File 1099s?

If you use independent contractors to perform services for your business and you pay them $600 or more for the year, you are required to issue them a Form 1099 after the end of the year to avoid facing the loss of the deduction for their labor and expenses, and to avoid a monetary penalty. The 1099s for 2010 must be provided to the independent contractor no later than January 31, 2011. In order to avoid a penalty, copies of the 1099s need to be sent to the IRS by the last day of February. The 1099s must be submitted on magnetic media or on optically...

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Federal Estate Tax Retroactively Reinstated

The Bush era tax cuts slowly phased out the federal estate tax and abolished it altogether for decedents dying in 2010, and replaced it with a rather complicated modified carryover basis regime. Just about everyone assumed Congress would reinstate the estate tax for 2010. As the year wore on, opinions began to change to where just about everyone predicted Congress would not reinstate the estate tax for 2010. Then out of the blue, mixed in with the GOP/Obama Administration compromise agreement tax provisions, was a proposal to retroactively reinstate...

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New Reduced Payroll Tax for Employees Can Be a Headache for Employers

As part of the new tax cuts for 2011, the Social Security (OASDI) payroll tax withholding for employees has been cut by a full 2 percentage points from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent of wages paid. This late action has created problems for both the IRS and employers in implementing this last minute change. The IRS recently issued guidance to employers: Employers should start using the new withholding tables and reducing the amount of Social Security tax withheld as soon as possible in 2011 but no later than Jan. 31, 2011. Notice 1036 contains the...

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