Post by
Dave Lorenzi CPA
Senator Tom Coburn, R-Oklahoma, is proposing budget cuts that would reduce spending by $9 trillion over the next 10 years. Admittedly, this plan has little chance of coming to fruition. But what are interesting ideas for certain tax cuts do seem to be gaining steam with law makers. Under the Senator’s plan, tax rates would remain the same as they are today, but many deductions would be eliminated, easing taxpayer’s into higher brackets. Although some of his cuts would be in niche areas like eliminating tax breaks for auto race tracks, hockey arenas and Eskimo whaling captains, others will hit home for more of the general public. For instance, he would eliminate the mortgage interest deduction on vacation homes and limit the deduction on homes worth over $500,000. There has been more talk coming out of Washington regarding these sorts of cuts recently. We will keep you posted for how any tax cuts could affect you.
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Post by
Maureen C. Conway, CPA, MST
In response to rising gasoline prices, the IRS has raised the standard mileage rate for business use of an automobile from 51 cents per mile to 55½ per mile, effective July 1, 2011 . The medical and moving standard mileage rate is increasing to 23½ per mile, also on July 1, 2011.
The new optional standard mileage rates will apply until superseded by future guidance and can be used by taxpayers to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile. Alternatively, taxpayers can instead use their actual costs, but must maintain adequate records and be able to substantiate their expenses.
The standard mileage rate for services to charitable organizations is set by statute at 14 cents per mile and remains unchanged by Thursday’s announcement.
The standard mileage rate for expenses incurred before July 1, 2011 is 51 cents per mile for business use and 19 cents per mileage for medical and moving expenses.
Posted by
David Lorenzi, CPA, Partner
We are pleased to announce that The Paresky, Flitt & Company, LLP, Annual Book Scholarship winners are Grant Schaller, of Natick, MA and Kassandra Santana of Framingham, MA.
Post By
Scott Gallagher, CPA
Greetings and Welcome to my initial blog post on small business software applications. This blog will comment on various topics involving small business software such as Quickbooks Pro and Premier, Peachtree Accounting (although I’ll admit I am partial to Quickbooks over Peachtree for various reasons), Microsoft Office Applications, and more. My name is Scott Gallagher, and I am a Quickbooks Proadvisor and C.P.A. with over 13 years experience in public accounting (the majority of which has been with small businesses).
Examples of more specific topics to be covered in future posts may be subjects like Peachtree vs. Quickbooks, Most Common Errors in Quickbooks, Proper Usage of Quickbooks for Accurate Accrual and Cash Reports, Explanation of specific Microsoft Excel Functions (thousands to choose from, but so few used), as well as topics suggested by readers. I have actually learned the most from others approaching me with questions, so strongly encourage requests from readers for future topics.
Thank you for your interest, and I look forward to your future feedback!