It is tax planning time! From now until the end of the year, our CPAs will be meeting with clients to map out their 2021 taxes and implement strategies to reduce their tax liability. If you are interested in scheduling an appointment, please make sure to contact us today!
2021 Child Tax Credits
September 16, 2021 by · Leave a Comment
Many taxpayers with children have been getting monthly deposits from the IRS and have been wondering what the catch is. These payments are actually prepayments of your 2021 Child Tax Credit, which the government recently expanded. Since this is a prepayment of a credit, that means that this money won’t be available to you to credit against your tax liability when you do your 2021 tax return. So, in effect, if you were going to get a refund for 2021, then your refund will be less by the amount of the prepayments. If you were going to owe in 2021, then you’ll owe more by the amount of the prepayment. As always, if you have any questions, please give one of our CPAs a call. We offer complimentary consultations to potential new clients.
DELAY’S AT THE IRS
June 10, 2021 by · Leave a Comment
Unfortunately, it has been our experience that anything mailed to the IRS within the last 18 months to two years can take an incredibly long time for them to process. We are hearing this same refrain over and over again from other CPAs. This issue seems to be because of COVID. Most agents are working from home and only come into the office when called in. Originally, anything that was physically mailed to the IRS was stored in trailers and tracked to be processed in order of receipt. However, with the trailers literally being moved around the country, the IRS wasn’t able to continue tracking the order of receipt, or even which documents are in which trailer. So, truly, they are only processing the documents once they open up the trailers. We do have a practitioner telephone line that we can use for clients in certain circumstances, but unfortunately, sometimes the answer from the IRS is that we just have to wait and be patient.
2020 Tax Year Deadline Dates
April 1, 2021 by · Leave a Comment
As of today, 4/1/2021, the individual 1040 deadline for both Federal and Georgia to both file and pay has been extended to May 17th. 1120 returns (For C Corporations) are still due by April 15, 2021. Also, the first quarter 2021 estimated payment is still due April 15th.
UPDATE on April 15th Deadline
March 19, 2021 by · Leave a Comment
In addition to the IRS extending the deadline for filing 1040’s to May 17th, Georgia has announced they will also conform to this deadline date as well.
April 15th Tax Deadline
March 18, 2021 by · Leave a Comment
The IRS has pushed back the 4/15 deadline to 5/17. This is an automatic extension of both the filing and the payment requirement for 2020 tax returns.
As of today, March 18, 2021, this does not apply to quarterly estimates for 2021 due 4/15, and we do not know yet if the state will also push back their deadline.
2021 TAX SEASON HAS STARTED
February 3, 2021 by · Leave a Comment
Here at LKM, we have already begun processing business and personal returns. However, due to IRS and GA limitations, we will not be able to efile these returns for another week or two. Please get in touch with your CPA with any questions.
Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021
January 19, 2021 by · Leave a Comment
On 12/27, the President signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (the CAA) into law.
We wanted to take this opportunity to highlight critical information for our clients. Please be aware that this law is less than two weeks old, and so we do not have all the details yet. Please consider this a “big picture” email, and we will work diligently to get into the details as soon as they are available. More information is coming!
PPP Expenses – These expenses are now fully deductible.
PPP Forgiveness – Loans of $150,000 or less can use the simplified application (the SBA has 24 days from 12/27 to prepare this form, but then the banks will need time to update their systems)
PPP Second Round – There is a second round of PPP available – but it is very limited. You may be able to get more PPP funding if you can show a reduction in gross receipts.
Payroll Credits – there were quite a few changes and extensions to various coronavirus payroll credits – if you feel that you qualify for one of these, or would like to discuss further, please contact your CPA
EIDL Advance – The EIDL advance now does not reduce the amount of the PPP forgiveness, and the EIDL is not included in taxable income.
Big 1099 Changes – If you are required to issue 1099s – there are big changes here. The 1099-MISC form for services (used to be Box 7 of Form 1099-MISC) has been replaced by a new 1099-NEC form. The deadline for this form is Feb. 1 with no extensions. The penalties for late filing is $110 per form if filed before 8/1, $270 per form if after 8/1, and $550 if found that the form was willfully not filed.
Stimulus Checks for Non-Filers
April 11, 2020 by · Leave a Comment
The IRS has launched an online tool for non-filers to receive their stimulus payment. If you think that you are eligible to receive the stimulus payment, but you have not filed your 2018 or 2019 tax return, then follow the link below in order to register with the IRS.
https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/non-filers-enter-payment-info-here
CORONAVIRUS – INDIVIDUAL TAXPAYERS
April 1, 2020 by · Leave a Comment
As the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to affect local communities and global economies, you may have concerns about your financial well-being. Or you may be wondering about how recently passed legislation impacts you. We’re providing a high-level summary of some of the key provisions impacting individuals and recommend discussing your particular circumstances with us in more detail.
Relief available
There are several recently enacted tax changes and new or expanded benefits that might be helpful to you.
Income tax provisions:
- The IRS extended the April 15, 2020 federal income tax filing and payment deadline to July 15, 2020. However, we continue to work on filing returns as soon as possible.
- First quarter estimated tax payments usually due April 15, 2020 are now extended to July 15, 2020.
- Georgia has also extended the filing and payment deadlines to July 15, 2020.
Recovery rebates:
- Payments to individuals of $1,200 ($2,400 for joint filers) plus $500 for each qualifying child are expected to be delivered around mid-April.
- The recovery rebate begins to phase out for taxpayers with adjusted gross income (AGI) above $150,000 for joint filers, $112,500 for heads of households and $75,000 for other individuals. If you’d like to estimate the amount you’ll receive, download the AICPA’s CARES Act stimulus calculator in excel format cares-act-stimulus-calculator
- The payment is not taxable.
- More details on this payment are still forthcoming.
Retirement accounts:
- Through the end of the year, individuals who are under 59 ½ years old can take up to $100,000 in coronavirus-related distributions from retirement plans without the usual 10% penalty for early distributions. The distributions may be repaid within three years and any resulting income inclusion can be taken over three years.
- If you were over 70 ½ at Dec. 31, 2019 you won’t have to take required minimum distributions (RMD) in 2020. If your retirement assets have taken a hit, not having to take an RMD may allow those assets to recover some value before you liquidate them..
Other benefits:
- Other benefits are available including expanded unemployment, emergency paid sick and family leave benefits. (click on link for more info) https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic/ffcra-employee-paid-leave Unemployment benefits are extended to self-employed and part-time workers.
