Latest News on Denver Accounting & Taxes

Every taxpayer who submits a return is subject to an audit by the Internal Revenue Service and although many Americans will never be faced with such an issue, knowing what to do next is critically important. Depending on the size of your return and many other characteristics, the IRS may choose to complete a closer examination of your return - especially if there are significant changes from one year to the next or if the figures don’t make sense upon an initial review.

Income level is just one of the factors that may affect your chances of an IRS audit. While these figures may change annually, going over the $200,000 threshold in household income seems to increase an individual’s chances of being targeted. In addition, there are other factors that contribute to the potential of being selected for an audit due to the varying tax situations and available assets to those in upper tax brackets. 

Notification Method

First and foremost, if you are chosen for an audit the IRS will notify you via the United States mail service. There are numerous tax scams and others attempting to steal identity and gain access to funds and other information by appearing as a legitimate service - which is one reason the government operates as they do.

Instead of sending an email or calling on the phone, the IRS only initiates an audit through a letter addressed to the taxpayer and waits for a response before proceeding. Typically, the individual in question has up to 30 days in order to respond.

Timeline

An audit can take anywhere from weeks to months and even years depending on the size and scope of the review. While these timeframes may vary, a majority are completed in a few months and also rely on the type of audit for a closer example. 

There are four different types of audits and each requires varying levels of cooperation and materials. Depending on the specifics, the timeline can vary tremendously.

Initial Steps

If you receive a letter, seeking professional assistance can be a quality first step. Even before you respond, letting a trained professional take a look at the specifics of what is being asked or needs to be examined can be a beneficial step in order to ensure the audit gets started correctly.

Fortunately, the tax experts at Bloch Rothman and Associates are ready and willing to assist if you should need help navigating an audit from the IRS. In addition to providing a quality tax service and helping to navigate the intricacies of an audit, our group can also complete tax returns or answer any other factors associated with financial issues or concerns you may have. Serving in Denver and all of the surrounding areas for 35 years, our firm has an extensive history in helping clients with any and all of their tax issues or dealings with the Internal Revenue Service. If you have questions about your personal, business, estate or any other filings, don’t hesitate to contact us today. Available for all of your tax needs and filings, there are also a number of bookkeeping and payroll services offered to assist you and your business. We look forward to meeting you and serving whatever your needs may be soon!
 

The statement of there only being two guarantees in life - “death and taxes” is a familiar phrase often heard around tax time or when any event pertains to one or the other. However, for some the combination of both can have an effect on the inheriting parties from a wealthy individual. Coupled together, when death leads to taxes, the term estate tax becomes a reality and depending on the amount of monies involved and how or why people are receiving it, there could be some tax owed.

Fortunately, the estate tax from the Internal Revenue Service has been periodically increasing over the course of a few years. In fact, the most recent modifications enacted by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act significantly reduces the amount of American families who will be impacted by the requirements from any estate tax. Already a limiting application, the latest changes boost the amounts and limits the families responsible for having to deal with these issues.
Amount

For 2019, estate taxes apply on amounts of gross assets exceeding $11.4 million and nothing less. The significant amount of money and inheritances immediately eliminates a vast majority of American families as these particular types of taxes are only applied to the insanely wealthy. Increased from $11,180,000 only a year prior the changes jumped roughly $6 million from 2017 and these modifications not only assisted a majority of wealthy individuals and families but also reduced the amount of people impacted by estate taxes in general.

Individuals

Those individuals who may have gross amounts exceeding the estate tax limit typically have a vast understanding, or someone who assists with their financial matters. These people also may have much of their wealth involved with unrealized gains on stocks or some other type of investment tool. This amount of wealth generally has not incurred any taxation and through the continued transfer may not until it is sold.

Couples

Another feature of the estate tax also revolves around the amounts being tied to individuals specifically. For couples, the estate tax amounts are raised to double the amounts of those applied to individuals. Two people pushes the exceeding amount to over $22.8 million in terms of assets, of which any amounts underneath can be left without those who inherit it having to pay any type of taxes on the acquisition.

Fortunately, the tax experts at Bloch Rothman and Associates are ready and willing to assist if you should fall into any of the above categories. In addition to providing a quality tax service and helping to navigate the intricacies of an estate, our group can also complete tax returns or answer any other factors associated with financial issues or concerns you may have. Serving in Denver and all of the surrounding areas for 35 years, our firm has an extensive history in helping clients with any and all of their tax issues or dealings with the Internal Revenue Service. If you have questions about your personal, business, estate or any other filings, don’t hesitate to contact us today. Available for all of your tax needs and filings, there are also a number of bookkeeping and payroll services offered to assist you and your business. We look forward to meeting you and serving whatever your needs may be soon!

When it comes to running a business there are multiple things to consider in order to keep everything moving forward and becoming profitable. Whether you are a small, one or two person operation to even a bigger franchise, the headache of payroll can be both time consuming and worrisome. 

Undoubtedly, employees want to get paid - consistently and on time but payroll challenges are a fact of small business life. Retaining quality employees obviously helps to keep the business afloat, so ensuring these individuals are compensated regularly is an important feature. Even when the issue may not be entirely related to funding, any delay in distribution is going to cause tension in the workplace. For this and many other reasons, it is important to consider adding outside assistance, who can help with the following and many more issues, for payroll purposes.
 
Direct Deposit
The ability for businesses to offer direct deposit payment options for employees saves both time and money for the organization. Workers aren’t having to spend time away from their job in order to visit a bank before closing hours and companies don’t have to calculate for uncleared checks following pay day. 

Taxes
Payroll taxes are required but the changes associated with their implementation seem to change frequently. Instead of having to stay up to date on the latest tax tables and percentages, allocating payroll to an outside organization saves time, allowing owners to focus on the operation of their business instead of chasing down figures.

Overtime
Depending on the type of payment system implemented for workers - hourly or salary, the rules of overtime may be different. As with keeping tabs on the newest tax information, a business
owner could drive themselves crazy attempting to keep up with each person's hours, time off, holiday pay, and other fluctuating details of their pay.

Garnishment
Another issues regulated by the federal government and Internal Revenue Service revolves around the issue of tax garnishment. Suppose an employee has owed taxes and the next step is taking a portion of their pay in order to clear the debt. In addition to the preceding factors, this extra step only serves to add more time, calculations, and paperwork to the payroll process.

Fortunately, the tax experts at Bloch Rothman and Associates are ready and able to assist you with all of your payroll needs. In addition to providing a quality payroll service, so that you may remain focused on running the business, our group can also complete tax returns or answer any other factors associated with financial issues or concerns you may have. Serving in Denver and all of the surrounding areas for 35 years, our firm has an extensive history in helping clients with any and all of their tax issues or dealings with the Internal Revenue Service. If you have questions about your personal, business, estate or any other filings, don’t hesitate to contact us today. Available for all of your tax needs and filings, there are also a number of bookkeeping and payroll services offered to assist you and your business. We look forward to meeting you and serving whatever your needs may be soon!

 

Accounting is defined as the “action or process of keeping financial accounts” and is an extremely important feature for individuals and especially businesses. No matter the type of work you complete or business that is being run, if there are more parties than one who are responsible for putting money into the operation of an organization, then providing an accounting option to serve for monitoring where and how funds are being used is critical.

Even for smaller businesses that may be run solely by family members, a small number of trustworthy individuals, or friends who have known one another their entire lives, the benefits of having an accountant can still be helpful. Understanding why your business needs an accountant is only the first step in the process of providing accurate record keeping. Afterwards, there will be other questions to answer, including what type of accounting method will be used for reporting purposes.

There are currently two main options available, with the third being a combination of the two accounting processes from which to choose. 

Cash Accounting
The cash method of accounting is used primarily by smaller businesses and relates to keeping up with the flow of monies in and out of an organization. Recording revenue, income for the business, when cash is received and noting expenses when they are paid in cash keeps up with the financial part of the business.

Cash basis is not available for C type corporations, leading to the other accounting method option.

Accrual Accounting
Accrual accounting utilizes the investments made, in addition to revenue and accounts payable or receivable to establish a financial bottom line. By counting non-cash based incentives and other liabilities as assets a broader description of an organization's current financial standing can be established.

The accrual method is often recommended for larger companies and the Internal Revenue Service states it must be used for any C companies.

Hybrid Accounting
For non-C companies and other entities, a combination of cash accounting and accrual accounting can sometimes serve in the best interest of all involved parties. For any that have other partners outside of a direct line with the company, a manageable way to account for the funds within an organization is critical.

The tax experts at Bloch Rothman and Associates are ready and able to assist you with establishing an accounting practice for your business, complete tax returns, or answer any other factors associated with issues or concerns you may have. Serving in Denver and all of the surrounding areas for 35 years, our firm has an extensive history in helping clients with any and all of their tax issues or dealings with the Internal Revenue Service. If you have questions about your personal, business, estate or any other filings, don’t hesitate to contact us today. Available for all of your tax needs and filings, there are also a number of bookkeeping and payroll services offered to assist you and your business. We look forward to meeting you and serving whatever your needs may be soon!
 

Following the middle of April, tax season is complete for the majority of Americans. However, a small number of individuals or couples who filed for extensions now have an extra six months in order to complete their return paperwork although if they are expected to pay - they too need to have submitted their tax payment prior to the deadline.

For many people this tax season was even more stressful than usual due to the enormous amount of changes instituted. As often occurs, a change in the administration of the country results in there being an adjustment to the fiscal issues and this year such was the case for new laws to be implemented. However, the sizeable difference in standard deduction amounts often created less paperwork for individuals who in the past had benefited from keeping receipts for donations, some medical expenses, and other gifts or charities.

Now that it is over, but still fresh on your mind - taking a moment to reflect on the filing process and how it can be improved for next year should be given some consideration. Instead of waiting until the beginning of next year in order to attempt to remember what may be needed - making plans now can help significantly. Following are three ideas for making next season easier as this tax year continues.

What Can I Do Differently?
If you were one of the people who kept all of their receipts only to find out that you would benefit from the new standard deduction instead of itemizing and aren’t expecting any monumental changes this year, then save time by not worrying about these items. Also, maybe you started to file too late in the year and felt rushed at the end - if so, get a head start on next year by organizing all of your paperwork and documents for an earlier beginning to the process in 2020.

How Can I Increase My Refund?
If you ended up owing the federal government or want to increase a refund that you were paid then take steps this year to accomplish this goal. Changing your tax withholding is one of the best options in addition to seeking out the assistance of a tax professional for filing.
Plan Ahead for Financial Change

Finally, a third method is to consider any financial changes that may be taking place over the course of this year that may impact your taxes next filing season. While nothing should ever be done solely for the tax implications, understanding how certain purchases or selling of property may impact your taxes allows for individuals to be prepared and avoid any surprises when completing their return.

If there are sizeable changes in your earnings, or other tax related differences from the preceding year - getting married, having a child, moving to a different state, changing jobs, selling property, etc. - getting a jump on the impacts can allow for you to make some type of adjustments, if needed, before it is too late.

The tax experts at Bloch Rothman and Associates are ready and able to assist with not only completing a tax return when needed but also analyzing any other factors associated with issues or concerns you may have. Serving in Denver and all of the surrounding areas for 35 years, our firm has an extensive history in helping clients with any and all of their tax issues or dealings with the Internal Revenue Service. If you have questions about your personal, business, estate or any other filings, don’t hesitate to contact us today. Available for all of your tax needs and filings, there are also a number of bookkeeping and payroll services offered to assist you and your business. We look forward to meeting you and serving whatever your needs may be soon!