Rod's Blog

There’s two guarantees in life; death and taxes. Taxes help pay for schools, your roads, your police and fire department and other things you use every day. Depending on where you live, you can pay income tax, sales tax, property tax, capital gains tax, inheritance tax or even estate tax. Every year millions of taxpayers file their federal tax return and pay their taxes. But for thousands of others, they either don’t file their federal tax return, or they don’t pay the taxes they owe. This can be for several reasons, either they don’t have the money to pay, they forget, or they don’t know how to file their tax return. Not filing your tax return and not paying the federal taxes you owe, can create a large tax debt and make you put into collections with the IRS. This can lead to IRS garnishments such as a bank account levy, a wage garnishment, Social Security garnishment or lien. Here’s what you need to know about tax law and how it affects you.

With now over 30 states legalizing either medical or recreational marijuana, more people are deciding to open a business within the industry to try and capitalize on the new changes. While owning a cannabis business could prove to be profitable, there are serious tax implications. While state regulations and taxes can vary state to state, federally, all cannabis businesses are treated the same.

Have you been saving for retirement? Good news if you have! The IRS announced that they will be adjusting the limitations for pensions plans and retirement- related items for 2019. This includes bumping up contributions and other changes that will help you save more for your retirement each year.

Check out some of the cases we were able to close this month! One includes a client who hadn't filed for five years and was on the brink of being levied. Read about our other client who fought back after the collapse in 2008 but couldn't find a way out of their tax trouble. 

You don’t have to be tied to one place for a job anymore! A new popular trend is being a digital nomad! People are taking advantage of being able to do their job from their computer without having to be in an office. More and more people are living in places farther from their actual office and working remotely. Now living in Spain while you work for a company based in New York may sound great, but it is important to think of the tax implications of doing so. If you retain your U.S. citizenship, Uncle Sam will still want you to pay taxes on your income. Luckily, the process for filing your federal income tax return and paying your taxes is the same whether you live in Kansas City or Rome. You just have to remember to do both tax returns and on time!

Every election, thousands of taxpayers support their candidates in several different ways. Taxpayers may wear clothes promoting their candidate or put their signs in their front yard, others will make a financial contribution to their candidate’s campaign. Now although the contribution may seem like a donation to you, it is important to know that political donations are not tax deductible. So it’s important you don’t try to deduct any political contribution on your income tax return.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act created hundreds of changes to the U.S. Tax code and changed how a lot of people and businesses will file their taxes this year. The good news is some of those changes are going to benefit farmers and ranchers and help their bottom line! The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed in December 2017 and takes effect for the 2018 tax year. Farmers and ranchers will need to look at their current financial situation and reassess some of their deductions and credits to see if they can benefit more from the tax law changes.

Has it been a few years since your favorite NFL team made it to the Super Bowl? New research says it could be due to your state’s taxes. The recent tax overhaul, The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act, made several changes that negatively affect players who reside in states with a high personal income tax or high property tax. The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act eliminated or limited several deductions, including limiting the deduction available for state and local taxes.

With severe weather season finally drawing to a close, thousands of people are still working to pick up after the storm. One thing taxpayers may need to do after disaster strikes is to reconstruct their financial records. This could help you prove your losses and have the necessary documents for tax purposes or for federal assistance. Here are some ways you can reconstruct your records after a disaster.

Every year, hundreds of people go to battle with the IRS and that includes a lot of celebrities. When it comes to Uncle Sam, everyone is open for levies and liens. On this month’s Celebrity Tax Trouble, two celebrities are headed to jail over tax evasion and tax fraud charges, while another fends off another tax lien after paying one off. You can catch other celebrities facing tax trouble here.