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TAX TIPS AND FACTS
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ROGER A. KAHAN Certified Public Accountant and Advisor Serving the tax and financial needs of individuals and small to medium sized businesses 11 Jeanne Road, Randolph, MA 02368 TEL: (781) 963-RAK-1 (963-7251) E-mail: kahan@rak-1.com Copyright © 1999 Roger A. Kahan, CPA ALL RIGHTS RESERVED |
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You are the person to access this issue!
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| TOPICS COVERED IN THIS ISSUE | |
| IRS CUTS MILEAGE RATE | |
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Starting April 1, 1999, the optional standard mileage rate allowed for business use of a car will drop to 31 cents from 32.5 cents. The IRS says
the 1.5-cent decrease was caused by lower car operation costs (not according to my bills). It is time to think about a change to your company
policy for reimbursing employee business miles. A note accompanying a payroll check on or before April 1 should put your employees on alert for
a change. Save some time by remembering: It is so easy for an employee to say he/her have been paid too little, and so hard for the employee to
say when you paid him or her too much. By the way, the IRS originally planned on making the change effective January 1, but many businesses
complained there wasn't enough time to make the change and they held it off until April 1.
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| FEDERAL TAXES WILL CHANGE | |
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FICA stays the same this year. The rates for Social Security will stay the same at 6.2% and the Medicare Hospital Insurance program stays at
1.45%. The change comes from a change in the wage base for Social Security wages which will rise from $68,400 in 1998 to $72,600 in 1999. This
means an employee earning maximum Social Security wages will pay an additional $260.40 into the fund. Of course, the employer will match that
increase. The rates for self-employed persons will remain the same, but their maximum Social Security tax will increase in 1999 by $520.80. Social Security beneficiaries under age 65 can earn $9,600 before benefits are reduced. Those ages 65 through 69 can earn up to $15,500 in 1999 without a reduction in benefits. Of course, those over age 70 have NO benefit reduction assessed to them. Peter Luscko of PAYCHEX, a payroll processing company, made suggestions for this article.
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| YOU WANT A WISH? | |
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A man was walking along a California beach and stumbled across an old lamp. He picked it up and rubbed it and out popped a genie. The genie said "OK, OK. You released me from the lamp, blah blah blah. This is the fourth time this month and I'm getting a little sick of these wishes so you can forget about three. You only get one wish!" The man sat and thought about it for a while and said, "I've always wanted to go to Hawaii but I'm scared to fly and I get very seasick. Could you build me a bridge to Hawaii so I can drive over there to visit?" The genie laughed and said, "That's impossible. Think of the logistics of that! How would the supports ever reach the bottom of the Pacific? Think of how much concrete...how much steel!! No-think of another wish." The man said OK and tried to think of a really good wish. Finally, he said, "I've been married and divorced four times. My wives always said that I don't care and that I'm insensitive. So, I wish that I could understand women....know how they feel inside and what they're thinking when they give me the silent treatment....know why they're crying, know what they really want when they say 'nothing'....know how to make them truly happy...." The genie said, "You want that bridge two lanes or four?" Thanks to Yoav Sisley for this joke.
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| Roger A. Kahan is a Certified Public Accountant and Advisor with an office in Randolph, serving the tax and financial needs of individuals and small to medium sized businesses almost anywhere in the United States. And with the advent of the Internet, professional consultation extends to several other countries. Roger is always seeking additional clients and professionals wishing to save money and better manage their own, a friend, a relative or a client's personal or business life. | |
| EXCEL's Simply 7 | |
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EXCEL Communications offers its lowest-priced residential calling plan - EXCEL's Simply 7 DALLAS - As a leading provider of long distance services, Excel Communications, Inc. (NYSE: ECI) today unveiled Excel's Simply 7SM - its lowest-priced, residential calling plan. Excel's Simply 7 is its newest, flat rate calling plan, with one of the lowest residential rates among top carriers. All state-to-state calls are seven cents a minute, 24 hours a day, seven days a week except for calls originating or terminating in Hawaii or calls terminating in Alaska and Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands. In-state calling rates vary according to state. There is a monthly service charge of $4.95. "We designed Excel's Simply 7 calling plan for heavy long distance Users who don't want restrictions that dictate the time or length of the call," said Ken Hilton, executive vice president of marketing at Excel. "Our goal is to continue developing a suite of calling plans that will meet each long distance consumer's needs." If you would like to learn more about saving money on your long-distance telephone or FAX calling, call Discount Buyer's Network at 781-963-5800.
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Remember, "It's not what you make that counts, it's what you keep."
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| QuickBooks 99 | |
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"Intuit to Launch QuickBooks 99 with Office Links Countering technology advances made by competitors. Intuit this month will launch an upgrade
of its accounting software title with links to Microsoft Office," sources said. QuickBooks Pro 99, will debut on retail shelves in January and will allow users to import or export accounting data to Microsoft Word and Excel applications, sources said. "With this, you can run accounting data in Office and do an analysis on your payables," said a retail source, who asked to remain anonymous. We are an authorized support center for QuickBooks. Call us if you have any problems or need software. This press release is from Computer Retail Week.
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| WAYS TO GET TAX INFORMATION | |
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You are no longer limited to calling, writing, or visiting the IRS to get information about taxes. The IRS is providing several electronic ways
to get what you need.
Internet WWW: www.irs.ustreas.gov FTP: ftp.irs.ustreas.gov Telenet: iris.irs.ustreas.gov IRS Electronic Bulletin Board (IRIS): (703) 321-8020
IRS Tax Fax
CD-ROM of Tax Forms
TeleTax: 1-800-829-4477 Recorded Tax Information has about 140 recorded topics that provide basic tax information. You can listen to up to three topics on each call you make. This touch-tone service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Select, by number, the topic you want to hear. For the directory of topics, listen to topic 123. Have paper and pencil handy to take notes. Tax Forms and Publications: 1-800-829-3676 Tax Assistance: 1-800-829-1040 Other agencies that may provide information for your business:
Social Security Administration
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| INTERNET ACCESS | |
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We are kahan@RAK-1.com (that is a "one" and not a small
"L") and an active user of the INTERNET. You can E-mail us from any service connected to the
NET. Our Internet provider is The Xensei Corporation of
Quincy. For more information about Xensei and a reasonably priced and easy to use
unlimited-time, local internet access, call me at (781) 963-RAK-1 or Xensei at
(617) 376-6342, e-mail info@xensei.com.
TAX TIPS AND FACTS will appear on our World Wide Web page, at http://www.rak-1.com making it available the WORLD. Last month, 1,923 Internet surfers from 18 countries accessed our web page and read TAX TIPS AND FACTS on-line. Several of the readers asked to be added to the list to receive TAX TIP OF THE WEEK.
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| TAX TIP OF THE WEEK | |
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I am now writing a TAX TIP OF THE WEEK that is distributed over the Internet to a growing list of people each week. Some items in the weekly
version will appear in the printed monthly version. If you would like to be included in the weekly electronic distribution, just send me your
e-mail address with your City and State (for statistical purposes) by e-mail, snail-mail, voice-phone or fax.
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| FEATURES WANTED | |
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We want to feature our clients in future editions of TAX TIPS AND FACTS.
If you would like to have a FREE spot to sell us on your company, its
products or services, simply send us a brief story about your company, an
overview of your company's products and future plans. We may edit the
information and include it in a future edition. Send the information to
Roger A. Kahan, CPA via mail, E-mail
or FAX it.
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| WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT | |
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If you like our work, recommend us to a friend. If you are not happy with our work, please call me and let's talk about it. We will both appreciate it.
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| CERTIFIED? | |
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Your doctor is certified. Your lawyer is certified. Is your accountant certified? If your accountant isn't a Certified Public Accountant, think twice about where you are getting your advice. Who do you want handling your financial and business matters? If your accountant isn't a CPA, it's time to seek professional help.
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| WHY DO I NEED A CPA? | |
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CPAs do much more than prepare tax returns. A CPA can help you with all of your Personal Financial Planning
needs to help you achieve your goals.
Whether you're saving to buy a house, send your children to college or secure your retirement, you need a member of the Massachusetts Society of CPAs to assist you. Roger A. Kahan is an active member of the Massachusetts Society of CPAs.
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| Many accountants view their goal as minimizing their clients' taxes. NOT ME! I like to see my clients pay more taxes - because their earnings and profits are increasing dramatically. I can make a major difference in achieving those profits. Talk to me and find out more. | |
| **VIRUS WARNINGS** | |
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Mike Tyson virus............Quits after one byte. Oprah Winfrey virus..........Your 200MB hard drive suddenly shrinks to 80MB, and then slowly expands to 300MB. Dr. Jack Kevorkian virus..........Searches your hard drive for old files and Deletes them. Titanic virus....Makes your whole computer go down. Disney virus..............Everything in your computer goes Goofy. Prozac virus...........Messes up your RAM but your processor doesn't care. Sharon Stone virus................Makes a huge initial impact, then you forget it's there. Tim Allen virus.......Appears helpful, only to destroy your hard drive upon contact. Woody Allen virus........Bypasses the motherboard and turns on the daughter card. Saddam Hussein virus........Won't let you into any of your programs. Tonya Harding virus..............Turns your .BAT files into lethal weapons. George Michaels virus................Runs its course, occasionally releasing excess data buildup. Joey Buttafuoco virus.........Only attacks minor files. X-files virus........All your Icons start shape shifting. Spice Girl virus....Has no real function, but makes a pretty desktop. AT&T virus..........Every 3 minutes it tells you what great service you are getting. Arnold Schwarzenegger virus.........Terminates and stays resident. It'll be back. Another thank you to my friend Mark Gulko, CPA
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| PAY-BACK AGREEMENT | |
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When you take money out of your corporation (or LLC), the Internal Revenue Service wants a large share of it. Sometimes, they think you took too
much and want you to pay it back or reclassify it as a non-deductible dividend. Enter into a payback agreement with the company. Under such an
agreement, if the IRS deems a salary payment to be unreasonable compensation, the money is considered a loan to you -the shareholder- to be
repaid to the corporation. You get a personal tax deduction in the year that the money is actually repaid.
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TAX TIPS AND FACTS is published periodically by Roger A. Kahan, CPA.
Subscription is free to clients, prospective clients and friends of Roger
A. Kahan, CPA. If you know of someone interested in a subscription to TAX
TIPS AND FACTS allowing him or her to obtain valuable comments on
national, Massachusetts or local tax issues, call (781) 963-RAK-1.
The information contained in this publication has been obtained from sources I believe to be reliable at the time of writing, but I do not guarantee its accuracy or completeness. Neither the information nor any opinion expressed constitutes a solicitation by me of the purchase or sale of any securities or other investment. This material, or any portions thereof, may not reproduced without prior written permission of Roger A. Kahan, CPA. |
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