08 Feb 2020
0

Don’t Contemplate Fraud Litigation Without a CPA

Roger Rossmeisl, CPA
Fraud Briefs
Dont Contemplate Fraud Litigation without a CPA

You may already know how CPAs can help businesses uncover and prevent fraud. But what about when a fraud incident leads to civil litigation? Don't contemplate fraud litigation without an experienced CPA that can help your legal team collect and summarize complex financial documents and reconstruct lost or stolen records. CPAs can also serve as expert witnesses in court. From investigator to expert witness As a fraud investigation becomes a fraud case, CPAs can help identify critical evidence. They may also be enlisted to analyze and translate financial data for attorneys, insurers and other parties. These financial experts can be equally valuable with depositions by helping to frame questions that attorneys ask witnesses. They also are skilled at spotting inconsistencies and flaws in witness testimony. Once a case...

04 Feb 2020
0

Highlights of Tax Laws Passed at Year-End

Roger Rossmeisl, CPA
Small Business Tax Briefs
Highlights of the Tax Laws Passed at Year-End

While you were celebrating the holidays, you may not have noticed that Congress passed a law with a grab bag of provisions that provide tax relief to businesses and employers. The “Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020” was signed into law on December 20, 2019. It makes many changes to the tax code, including an extension (generally through 2020) of more than 30 provisions that were set to expire or already expired.  Two other laws were passed as part of the law (The Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act of 2019 and the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act).  Here are five highlights of tax laws passed at year-end. Long-term part-timers can participate in 401(k)s Under current law, employers generally can exclude part-time employees (those who work...

04 Feb 2020
0

QOFs as Part of Your Estate Planning

Roger Rossmeisl, CPA
Estate Planning Briefs
QOFs as Part of Your Estate Planning

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) created a new program to encourage investment in economically distressed areas through generous tax incentives. The Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ) program relies on investments in Qualified Opportunity Funds (QOFs) — funds that can provide wealthy taxpayers with some new avenues for estate planning. 3 big tax benefits Investors in QOFs stand to reap three significant tax breaks: They can defer capital gains on the disposition of appreciated property by reinvesting the gains in a QOF within 180 days of disposition. The tax is deferred until the QOF investment is sold or Dec. 31, 2026, whichever is earlier. Depending on how long they hold their QOF investment, they can eliminate 10% to 15% of the tax. After 10 years, post-acquisition appreciation...

02 Feb 2020
0

Post-Wayfair Sales Tax Obligations

Roger Rossmeisl, CPA
Small Business Tax Briefs
Post-Wayfair Sales Tax Obligations

In its 2018 decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld South Dakota’s “economic nexus” statute, expanding the power of states to collect sales tax from remote sellers. Today, nearly every state with a sales tax has enacted a similar law, so if your company does business across state lines, it’s a good idea to reexamine your post-Wayfair sales tax obligations. What’s nexus? A state is constitutionally prohibited from taxing business activities unless those activities have a substantial “nexus,” or connection, with the state. Before Wayfair, simply selling to customers in a state wasn’t enough to establish nexus. The business also had to have a physical presence in the state, such as offices, retail stores, manufacturing or distribution facilities, or sales reps. In Wayfair, the...

30 Jan 2020
0

Healthcare Data Breaches Can Threaten Your Financial Well-Being

Roger Rossmeisl, CPA
Fraud Briefs
Healthcare Data Breaches Can Threaten Your Financial Well-Being

Like many sectors of the economy, the healthcare industry regularly suffers data breaches. Healthcare  data breaches can threaten your financial well-being.  Healthcare analytics company Protenus has found that nearly 32 million patient records were breached between January and June 2019 alone. Alarmed? You should be. However, there are steps you can take to reduce the risk that thieves will get a hold of your medical records and use them for nefarious purposes. Why they’re valuable Unlike other types of personal data, healthcare records command a hefty premium on the black market. That’s at least partly because criminals can potentially use information about an individual’s health to blackmail him or her. Also, stolen medical records include valuable details about people’s identities. In fact, there’s usually enough information in medical files...

26 Jan 2020
0

Life Insurance Beneficiary Pitfalls

Roger Rossmeisl, CPA
Estate Planning Briefs
Life Insurance Beneficiary Pitfalls

Life insurance is an important asset (in the case of whole life policies) that should not overlooked by families. It can also be a powerful financial and estate planning tool, but its benefits can be reduced or even eliminated if you designate the wrong beneficiary or fail to change beneficiaries when your life circumstances change.  Common life insurance beneficiary pitfalls to avoid include: (1) Naming your estate as beneficiary Doing so can subject life insurance proceeds to unnecessary state inheritance taxes (in many states), expose the proceeds to your estate’s creditors and ensure that the proceeds will go through probate, which may delay payment to your loved ones. (2) Naming minor children as beneficiaries Insurance companies won’t pay life insurance proceeds directly to minors, which means a court-appointed guardian...

26 Jan 2020
0

Defrauded? Prioritize Evidence Preservation

Roger Rossmeisl, CPA
Fraud Briefs
Defrauded? Prioritize Evidence Preservation

You may suspect that an employee has stolen from your company. But without evidence of a crime, you’ll have a hard time pursuing prosecution. So if you discover a fraud, first call your attorney. Then take immediate steps to preserve the evidence. Safeguard paper documents Place any hard documents related to the possible fraud in a safe location that’s accessible only to key people. The fewer who handle it, the better. Don’t make notes on any paper documents and, unless necessary, don’t let them be handled. Instead, make separate notations about when and where they were found and how you preserved them. A court case can be derailed if you don’t preserve the chain of evidence and can’t prove to a judge’s satisfaction that the documents haven’t...

26 Jan 2020
0

Making Direct Payments of Tuition and Medical Expenses

Roger Rossmeisl, CPA
Estate Planning Briefs
Make Direct Payments of Tuition and Medical Payments

With the lifetime gift and estate tax exemption at $11.40 million for 2019 ($11.58 million for 2020), you may think you don’t have to worry about gift and estate taxes.  However, there are no guarantees that estate tax law won’t be revised in the future or that your accumulated assets won’t eventually exceed the available exemption (which is scheduled to drop significantly in 2026). Thus, there’s a need to investigate other tax-saving possibilities. Beyond annual exclusion gifts Under the annual gift tax exclusion, you can reduce your taxable estate without using up any of your lifetime exemption by giving each recipient gifts valued up to $15,000 a year. For example, if you have three children and seven grandchildren, you can give each one $15,000 tax free, for a...

26 Jan 2020
0

5 Business Service Scams to Watch Out For

Roger Rossmeisl, CPA
Automotive, Fraud Briefs
5 Business Service Scams to Watch Out For

Preventing fraud from costing your company can sometimes seem like a game of whack-a-mole: Squash one scheme and another one pops up. Business service scams are particularly abundant. Fraud perpetrators know that business owners don’t always have time to verify the identities of salespeople or service reps and the legitimacy of their claims.  Your best defense is to refuse to pay anyone anything until you’ve ascertained the facts. It also helps to know what schemes are popular with criminals. Here are 5 business service scams to watch out for. (1) Utility Bill Fraudsters Someone claiming to be from your gas, electric or water company may call and say services are about to be cut off for non-payment. However, you can stop the discontinuation if you immediately pay the...

ROGER ROSSMEISL, CPA

Kho & Patel CPAs
160 E. Arrow Highway
San Dimas, CA 91773

(714) 325-0442
roger@khopatel.com

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