Saturday, November 8, 2014

Act Now to Lower Your 2014 Taxes / Many Tax-Saving Strategies Require Action by Year-End

Laura Saunders for the Wall St Journal writes: If you want to lower your 2014 income taxes, you need to act now to limit Uncle Sam’s reach next April. The number of tax-cutting opportunities shrinks significantly after Dec. 31. Too often taxpayers let this deadline slip, says Ellen Minkow, an accountant at the firm MS 1040 in New York. She often finds herself asking clients, “Where were you in November?”

Congress hasn’t enacted wrenching tax changes this year, unlike in 2013. In fact, lawmakers have yet to move on dozens of taxpayer-friendly provisions that expired as of Jan. 1.
Among the most popular: a provision that allows owners of individual retirement accounts who are 70½ and older to give up to $100,000 of their IRA assets directly to charity each year; a federal write-off for state sales taxes instead of state income taxes; and a deduction of up to $4,000 a year for qualified expenses for college or other post-high-school education.
As far as these go, taxpayers should sit tight, says Melissa Labant, a tax specialist at the American Institute of CPAs in Washington. She expects lawmakers will extend these provisions during this year’s lame-duck session—as they have after several similar expirations over the past decade. And as before, the renewals are likely to be retroactive to the beginning of the year, she says.
Internal Revenue Service Commissioner John Koskinen has warned publicly that if lawmakers don’t pass the extensions by early December, the delay will cause problems and could even hold up refunds during the spring tax-filing season.
There are plenty of other issues facing taxpayers. Given the complexity of the current code, with its numerous phase-outs, phase-ins, surtaxes and hidden marginal rates, many people should consider running their actual 2014 tax numbers before year-end to see how they could benefit from specific strategies. 
ENLARGE
This exercise could be crucial, Ms. Labant says, for taxpayers who have had a significant change in income or a major life event—such as a birth, death, marriage, divorce, retirement, the sale of a home or a job change. In particular, a temporary drop in income can present opportunities.
Here are key areas to focus on before year-end. [snip] The article continues @ the Wall St. Journal, click here to continue reading....
Posted on 6:54 AM | Categories:

Zoho Books Announces Seamless Integration with Square

Zoho Books today announced the seamless integration between its online accounting software and Square, the leading point-of-sale service for sellers of all sizes. This integration greatly reduces the time spent by business owners on re-entering and reconciling their sales transactions in Zoho Books.
To demonstrate how to connect Square and Zoho Books accounts, Zoho will host a webinar on November 12, 2014, at 9:00 a.m. Pacific time. Register for the webinar at http://ow.ly/DUphg.
Square helps businesses accept credit cards, grow sales and offer their customers a simple and fun experience at the counter. With the addition of Zoho Books, Square sellers can now easily record their business transactions accurately into their accounting system. Business owners no longer need to deal with redundant data entry or track and record customer payments, tips, refunds, discounts and transaction fees separately. This integration allows business owners to fetch their Square transactions automatically into Zoho Books every day and reconcile them immediately.
“Square has simplified the way small businesses sell their products,” said Raj Sabhlok, president of Zoho Corp. “By integrating with Square, we’ve made it possible for business owners to pull their sales and other transactions seamlessly into Zoho Books, giving them a complete and accurate picture of their business to make informed business decisions.”
Key Highlights of the Integration
• Daily sales transactions are automatically fetched from Square and recorded in Zoho Books. • All Square sales, tips, refunds and discounts are tracked under appropriate accounts. • Business owners can track cash and credit card transactions separately in Zoho Books. • Taxes are automatically fetched based on a seller’s Square sales. • With Zoho Books, business owners can see, at a glance, how much they should expect as a bank deposit from Square.
Pricing and Availability
The Square integration with Zoho Books is available to all sellers for free. New users can sign up for a 14-day trial to evaluate Zoho Books for their business needs. Zoho Books is available on iOS, Android and Windows. Business owners can add unlimited users as well as their accountant to their Zoho Books account. A monthly subscription is available for $24. 
Posted on 6:50 AM | Categories: