Atlanta CPA Firm

Last week, just a few days after tax season ended, the IRS released their second round of proposed regulations for the tax reform’s Opportunity Zone Program. This program, which was passed as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, incentivizes taxpayers to fund investments in economically depressed areas by offering significant tax credits. Late last year, the IRS released their initial set of proposed regulations. These regulations were helpful, but they did not answer every question investors had, and many taxpayers were hesitant to invest in a qualified opportunity zone (QOZ) without more information. Fortunately, this second round of proposed regulations delves even deeper and addresses most taxpayers’ questions

Atlanta auto dealerships are required to manage multiple variables on the path to growing and sustaining profitability and success. Attention needs to be focused not only on new and used car sales, but also on financing, sale of insurance products such as extended warranties and service department opportunities. Beyond this, intangible factors such as economic strength, interest rates and borrowing standards can have an impact on dealership performance. The convergence of these variables and how they are managed are a strong indicator of how well a dealership will perform. As the first quarter of 2019 draws to a close, there are important trends that auto dealers need to consider and accommodate to maximize growth potential.

Those in the sports and entertainment industry are hard workers. They have to be. Success does not come easy in such a fast-paced industry, and when one does achieve fame, there is not always a wide window to capitalize on it. During these periods of boom and bounty, celebrities and athletes should take the time to plan for the future. The Internal Revenue Code can help in this endeavor. Entertainers who receive substantial endorsements may be able to defer their endorsement income into future tax years. Not only does this provide them with a steady stream of income for years to come, but it helps keep tax rates low both now and into the future. This option in the IRS tax code is often called a “structured celebrity endorsement.”

The Internal Revenue Code Section 199a Qualified Business Income (QBI) Deduction provides owners of pass-through entities the chance to significantly lower their tax bill by allowing them to take a deduction equal to 20% of their business income. This tax law was created as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and ever since it was passed in December of 2017, owners of rental real estate businesses questioned whether they would be eligible for the deduction. Fortunately, when the 199a regulations were finalized in January of this year, the IRS simultaneously released Notice 2019-07. Section 6 of this notice sets forth a proposed revenue procedure that will help owners of rental real estate businesses assess their QBI Deduction eligibility.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s flagship provision was to reduce the corporate tax rate from a max of 37% down to a low, flat rate of 21%. Overnight, U.S. C corporations became more competitive in the global marketplace, and here at home they had grand plans for the tax savings they were bound to accumulate. Their good fortune made pass-through entity owners question whether their entity selections were still viable. Fortunately, the tax law also provided a break for these concerned business owners: the potential to take a 20% deduction off of their bottom line. This deduction, called the Qualified Business Income Deduction, can greatly reduce the tax bills of some flow-through entity owners, but others may not be as lucky. Lawyers in particular may find themselves at a disadvantage.

Finding new ways to increase productivity is an essential task for many Georgia business owners Whether it’s refining a manufacturing process, identifying ways to streamline materials and equipment scheduling or reducing the number of steps in the sales process, enhanced productivity is essential to reducing costs and driving profits. Although it can be challenging to identify broad changes that will have a significant impact on the bottom line, there are still opportunities to make small changes. This is especially true of the software applications found in most offices such as Microsoft Word, Excel and even Outlook. There are several shortcut keys and options that make it easier to leverage the various functions and tools often hidden in plain sight.

Recently, the IRS released final regulations providing guidance on the Qualified Business Income Deduction, also known as the Section 199A deduction. This guidance was originally released as proposed regulations back in August, and after a few tweaks and adjustments, they were made final on January 18th of this year. While the proposed regulations were helpful, taxpayers could not legally rely on them. They let taxpayers know how the IRS viewed certain aspects of the tax law, but they could not move forward with their tax plans until the regulations were finalized. Now that they are, taxpayers and their accountants can fully understand how this deduction will impact their 2018 taxes, and they can solidify their tax plans for 2019 and beyond.

For many CFOs, Controllers, and others, the annual employee benefit plan audit has become part of the compliance process. The time, energy and effort spent preparing for the audit, managing inquiries, and documentation requests as well as reviewing the final auditor’s report has become a normal part of the compliance process. While consistency is a good thing in financial reporting, there are several changes coming to the benefit plan audit process. Last month the AICPA voted to approve, Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) Forming an Opinion and Reporting on Financial Statements on Employee Benefit Plans Subject to ERISA. Since the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a 2015 report highlighting the high percentage of audit deficiencies and other identified issues in reviewed audit work, the AICPA developed the new standard to improve benefit plan audit quality. This new standard will affect several areas of the plan audit and includes multiple provisions that will impact plan management.

At the end of 2017, there was a lot of debate and political posturing about how to pass tax reform. Concerns about which individual and business tax incentives should be eliminated, bolstered and changed dominated the media. While it was clear the overall focus was on a broad tax reduction, it was the resolution of specific details that created the challenge. There were many important changes to the tax code including an overall reduction in the tax rate, the introduction of the qualified business income deduction and changes to the meals and entertainment deduction.

Over the next couple of years, nonprofits must face an array of accounting standard modifications. Not only must they take more universal requirements into account, like the new revenue recognition requirements and the new leasing standards, they must also consider nonprofit-specific pronouncements. One of the most impactful regulatory pronouncements for nonprofits is Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2016-14, Presentation of Financial Statements of Not-for-Profit Entities.