Quickbooks, Bookkeeping and Accounting Blog

The 2008 standard mileage rate, which is used to calculate the deductible cost per mile of driving an automobile for business purposes, is the highest it has ever been. The standard rates, which went into effect on January 1, 2008, are as follows:

business miles driven: 50.5 cents per mile
miles driven for medical and moving purposes: […]

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Most taxpayers won’t have to do anything extra to receive their economic stimulus payments, which will begin going out in May. “If you are eligible for a payment, all you have to do is file a 2007 tax return and the IRS will do the rest,” said Acting IRS Commissioner Linda Stiff.
Payments to over 130 […]

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A list of upcoming dates and actions that accountants, bookkeepers and small business owners should be aware of follows:

3/3/2008 - Fishermen & Farmers: your 2007 income tax return (Form 1040) is due, along with any taxes you owe.
3/5/2008 - If you are subject to the semiweekly deposit rule, then deposit payroll taxes for payments made between February […]

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Congress is pressuring the IRS to ease the rules which currently require employees to keep detailed records of the business usage of their cell phones. In brief:
The current rules: workers are currently required to document the time and place of calls and the specific business purpose.
What’s changing: given that so many people have plans with unlimited […]

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Farmers and fishermen who file Form 1040 returns electronically with Form 4136 (Credit for Federal Tax Paid on Fuels) have to wait until March 3rd to e-file Form 4136, which has been revised to reflect changes related to the Leaking Underground Storage Tank tax (part of the Tax Technical Corrections Act of 2007, which was […]

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The IRS has warned taxpayers about several scams, the goal of which is generally to trick people into giving away personal and financial information, including social security numbers, bank account numbers and credit card numbers. The scammers then use these numbers to commit identity theft, incuding applying for new loans or credit cards, running up […]

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The 2008 Economic Stimulus Act, noted mostly for the stimulus payments it provides to individuals (see Bush Signs Economic Stimulus Package; Most People Will Receive Tax Rebates), provides two important incentives to businesses:

50 Percent Special Depreciation Allowance
Businesses will be able to depreciate 50% of the adjusted basis of certain qualified assets during the year the […]

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The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, signed into law by president Bush on December 20, 2007, enables homeowners to refinance their mortgages without paying taxes on debt forgiven in the process.  Information about this Act follows:

What is the current law guiding mortgage forgiveness?
Under the current law, if your house declines in value and […]

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President Bush signed the economic stimulus package into law today, meaning about 130 million Americans will receive tax rebates. Information about the rebates follows:

You have to file a return to get a rebate check. Most Americans file returns anyway, but approximately 10-20 million Americans (lower income tax payers, social security recipients, recipients of verterans’ benefits) don’t […]

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If you use part of your home for business, then you might qualify for a home office deduction. For some questions designed to help you determine if you qualify, see my previous blog titled Home Office Deductions: Do You Qualify. If you do qualify, then you may deduct portions of the following home expenses:

real estate […]

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If you use a portion of your home for business, then you might qualify for a home office deduction. The following questions are designed to help you figure out if you qualify:

Do you use a specific area of your home exclusively or regularly for business?
If you have not designated a specific area of your home as […]

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A list of upcoming dates and actions that accountants, bookkeepers and small business owners should be aware of follows:

2/1/2008 - If you are subject to the semiweekly deposit rule, then deposit payroll taxes for payments made between January 26th and January 29th.
2/6/2008 - If you are subject to the semiweekly deposit rule, then deposit payroll taxes for […]

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Many small businesses (large businesses, too) struggle with the question of whether an individual can be treated as an independent contractor or needs to be treated as an employee. The general rule is that if the employer has the right (whether or not they exercise such right) to control and direct the individual, both with respect […]

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There are many things to consider before hiring an accountant. Would you rather hire an independent accountant or a large accounting firm? Will you ask your accountant for business advice or just ask them to file your taxes? Will you ask them to help you clean up your QuickBooks file or is it not important to you […]

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I always recommend to clients that they close their books in QuickBooks as soon as they have finished entering regular bills and invoices from the prior year. Many clients are resistant to doing so claiming that they trust their bookkeeper and therefore don’t have any reason to do so. The primary reason to set a closing date in […]

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