Roger Rossmeisl, CPA, Author at Roger Rossmeisl, CPA

04 Feb 2019

(#488) What Do You Do When a Spouse Unexpectedly Dies?

What if the unthinkable happens and your spouse dies unexpectedly? Would you be prepared to cope emotionally and financially? As the surviving spouse, you’ll face several tasks and challenges. First steps first By no means complete, the following are areas that will need to be addressed: Death certificates. One of the first things to do is obtain death certificates, which you’ll need to provide for various dealings with financial institutions and others. While it may be difficult to estimate how many death certificates will ultimately be requested of you, you’ll probably want to start with at least a dozen. Notifications. You must get the word out to other interested parties, including your spouse’s employer, if applicable; credit card companies; life insurance companies; retirement plan and IRA administrators; the state...

04 Feb 2019

(#487) Stop Receivables Fraud Before It Starts

Roger Rossmeisl, CPA

Fraud Briefs

From invoices and payments to discounts and write-offs, many business transactions are recorded to accounts receivable. This makes receivables a popular fraud target. But your business doesn’t have to become a victim. Common schemes Receivables fraud occurs when dishonest employees divert customer payments for their personal use. They use various methods, including: Lapping. This is the most common type of receivables fraud. It involves the application of receipts from one account to cover misappropriations from another. For example, rather than credit Customer A’s account for its payment, a dishonest employee pockets the funds and later posts a payment from Customer B to A’s account, Customer C’s payment to B’s account and so on. Write-offs and discounts. Instead of crediting a payment to the customer’s account, fraudsters might pocket the...

04 Feb 2019

(#486) What Will Your Marginal Income Tax Rate Be?

Roger Rossmeisl, CPA

Taxes

While the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) generally reduced individual tax rates for 2018 through 2025, some taxpayers could see their taxes go up due to reductions or eliminations of certain tax breaks — and, in some cases, due to their filing status. But some may see additional tax savings due to their filing status. Unmarried vs. married taxpayers In an effort to further eliminate the marriage “penalty,” the TCJA made changes to some of the middle tax brackets. As a result, some single and head of household filers could be pushed into higher tax brackets more quickly than pre-TCJA. For example, the beginning of the 32% bracket for singles for 2018 is $157,501, whereas it was $191,651 for 2017 (though the rate was 33%). For...

04 Feb 2019

(#485) Have You Had Your Annual Estate Plan Checkup?

Roger Rossmeisl, CPA

Estate Planning Briefs

An annual estate plan checkup is critical to the health of your estate plan. Because various exclusion, exemption and deduction amounts are adjusted for inflation, they can change from year to year, impacting your plan. 2019 vs. 2018 amounts Here are a few key figures for 2018 and 2019: Lifetime gift and estate tax exemption 2018: $11.18 million 2019: $11.40 million Generation-skipping transfer tax exemption 2018: $11.18 million 2019: $11.40 million Annual gift tax exclusion 2018: $15,000 2019: $15,000 Marital deduction for gifts to a noncitizen spouse 2018: $152,000 2019: $155,000 You may need to update your estate plan based on these changes. But the beginning of the year isn’t the only time for an estate plan checkup. Whenever there are significant changes in your family, such as births, deaths, marriages or divorces, it’s a good...

28 Jan 2019

(#484) Paper or Plastic?

Roger Rossmeisl, CPA

Infographics

28 Jan 2019

(#483) Higher Mileage Rate May Mean Larger Tax Deductions for Business Miles in 2019

Roger Rossmeisl, CPA

Taxes

This year, the optional standard mileage rate used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business increased by 3.5¢, to the highest level since 2008. As a result, you might be able to claim a larger deduction for vehicle-related expense for 2019 than you can for 2018. Actual costs vs. mileage rate Businesses can generally deduct the actual expenses attributable to business use of vehicles. This includes gas, oil, tires, insurance, repairs, licenses and vehicle registration fees. In addition, you can claim a depreciation allowance for the vehicle. However, in many cases depreciation write-offs on vehicles are subject to certain limits that don’t apply to other types of business assets. The mileage rate comes into play when taxpayers don’t want to keep track of actual...

28 Jan 2019

(#482) How Experts Use Tax Returns to Find Hidden Assets

Roger Rossmeisl, CPA

Fraud Briefs

Business owners engaged in fraudulent activities often try to manipulate their companies’ financial statements. Fortunately for fraud experts, business owners’ tax returns aren’t as easy to misrepresent. Here’s how experts use them to locate hidden assets and income. Seeking buried treasure Certain items are more likely to provide information about hidden assets and income sources. These include: Form 1040, Line 1 — Income from wages, etc. If the individual receives wages from several businesses, it may be possible to discover previously undisclosed business interests. Form 1040, Line 2a — Tax-exempt interest income. This income may reveal other investment assets. Form 1040, Line 4a — Retirement plan distributions. These funds can be traced to determine whether they were rolled over into other tax-deferred plans or used for another purpose. Form 1040, Line...

28 Jan 2019

(#481) Transferring a Vehicle’s Ownership to a Trust Comes with Risk

Roger Rossmeisl, CPA

Estate Planning Briefs

A revocable trust — often referred to as a “living trust” — can help ensure smooth management of your assets during life and avoid probate at death. And you may know that the trust isn’t effective unless you “fund” it — that is, transfer ownership of your assets to the trust. But what about assets such as automobiles and other vehicles? Should you transfer them to your revocable trust? Navigate potential bumps in the road If you still owe money on an auto loan, the lender may not allow you to transfer the title to the trust. But even if you own the vehicle outright (whether you paid cash for it or your loan is paid off), there are risks to consider before you make such a transfer. As...

28 Jan 2019

(#480) The Perils of Irredeemable Paper Money

Roger Rossmeisl, CPA

Economic Concepts

As posted to the GoldMoney YouTube Channel on 6/18/11 (Run time 2 minutes, 58 seconds) In this excerpt (above ⇑) of the complete 30 minute discussion (below ⇓), Lawrence Parks, of FAME, and James Turk, Director of the GoldMoney Foundation, talk about the coming collapse of our monetary system and the lack of political will to resist the temptation to over issue paper money. They talk about fiat money inflation in France during the Revolution and mention "Fiat Money Inflation in France" by Andrew Dickson White, which Lawrence gave to Trichet, Paulson and others. They explain how that historic episode ended in disaster and what is ahead for the American economy. They explain how every fiat currency has ended being worth less than the paper it was...

21 Jan 2019