The IRS says that you should normally keep your records for 3 years, and for some situations you should keep them for 6 to 7 years. However, I strongly disagree and here is what you should do and how to do it: Tax returns: Do you want to know the prudent answer to how long […]
Expenses
8 Red Flags That Could Trigger an IRS Small Business Audit
My colleague, Brad Paladini, has granted me permission to post this article that was originally posted on his blog: Last year, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) audited just over one million returns. That’s a lot less than the 1.74 million returns they audited in 2010, but it’s still no fun for the millions of taxpayers that had […]
Be Careful When Making Online Payments to the IRS
We usually recommend that taxpayers make their tax payments online to the IRS and states. Here are the benefits, but a few caveats to watch out for: Benefits: When making payments online, your payments are generally credited on the day that you make the payment. Additionally, you can clearly apply your payments to a prior […]
Is It Better to Pay Off Debts or Invest?
Almost everyone has some sort of debt and economic data shows that this is the case. Between mortgages, student loans, credit cards, business debts, and auto loans and leases (yes, a car lease is debt), many people find themselves allocating large portions of their income towards debt payments. When you are in a position to […]
How to Successfully Start a Second Business
Quite often entrepreneurs want to start a second business or even possibly a third, fourth and so on. What are the ways to make this successful, especially without selling or potentially harming your existing business(s), and what are some alternatives? Similar or complementary business: Instead of say, an attorney, starting a restaurant, they may consider […]
3 Ways to Turn Around a Struggling Business
After the Great Recession there are still some businesses that may be struggling and don’t know what to do about it. Here are a few ways to turn around a struggling business: Upgrade: The rate of change nowadays seems to be accelerating at a pace that has not existed in the past. This includes technology, […]
So You Want to Flip Homes?
Buy a house, put in a few improvements, and then sell it for a much higher price. Do it again and again. It sounds so simple, but here are a few pointers to keep in mind if you want to succeed with house flipping: Experience: If your experience in real estate is performing repairs on […]
5 Financial Truths
There is a lot of information out there about finances, and it’s hard to figure out what is exactly true or not true. Always seek the truth, especially from someone that is not trying to sell you something. Here are some examples: College: We are led to believe that all of our children must go […]
A Few Tax Scams to Be Aware Of
The IRS posts a list of tax scams each year that you should be aware of: Phishing: This is when fake emails are sent claiming to be from the IRS, however, the IRS never initiates contact with taxpayers via email about a bill or tax refund. You’ll see more of these during tax season. Phone […]
IRS and NJ Taxation Highlights
Yesterday I attended a continuing professional education seminar with speakers from both the IRS and the State of New Jersey. Here are some highlights after all of the recent Federal changes and also many New Jersey changes that most people are not aware of: Your paycheck may be under withheld: After the new Federal […]