Realizing that you made an error on your taxes can make you stop in your tracks. It feels stressful to realize that your tax returns may be sent to the wrong address, or worse, that your tax returns might be nonexistent due to a simple mistake. Read on to learn about how to file an amended tax return, in order to correct any errors that you may have made in the tax preparation process.

Common Tax Preparation Mistakes

Filing Too Early

One of the first mistakes that people tend to make is filing too early. If you work more than one job or are expecting additional forms to indicate student loan interest that has been paid or employer-funded moving expenses, you may be in the position of realizing that you forgot to add important documents into your tax submission. 

Missing an Opportunity to Deduct

Otherwise, you may have missed selecting a deduction that could save you money in the long run. You’ll want to go back and rewrite your tax submission to include the deduction that will impact the amount you get on your tax return.

Dependent Discrepancies

Did you file independently and then get told that your parents have claimed you on their taxes as a dependent? Assuming that they are correct in their decision to file with you listed, you will need to file an amended return in order to correct this. Additionally, if you have claimed your child but someone else claimed them also, you will need to determine who should have claimed them and the other person will need to adjust their paperwork accordingly.

Math Errors

Although the simplest, this is one of the most common errors. People who file without tax software often make simple math mistakes that contribute to them over or underpaying their taxes. Similarly, typographical errors, such as incorrect social security numbers or inaccurate account numbers can lead to the IRS having no venue through which to send your tax return to you. 

Filing Under the Wrong Status

The most common way that people misfile in this instance is filing as single when they should be filing jointly. Remember, the IRS expects you to file jointly if you were married at any point during the tax year.

Not Filing At All

Even if you are concerned about being able to take on all of your tax payments, you must still file. You can always ask the IRS to put your payments on an installment plan. In other words, there is always a solution, so do not use this concern as an excuse not to file your taxes. Trust us, the penalties for that are much worse. 

Why Should I Amend My Taxes?

Interest begins building quickly when the IRS notices that they were owed more money than they received. It is important that as soon as you are notified, or realize yourself, that an error was made on your taxes, you submit an amended tax return in order to avoid costly penalties. 

Amending Your Tax Return

Gather The Correct Paperwork

Of course, you will need all of your original tax documents. If you did not keep a copy of your W-2 (although we recommend that you always do!) you can file a Form 4852 to ask the IRS to send you a copy, assuming your employer furnished them with one. 

Additionally, you will need all of the paperwork required to submit your amendment. This can vary, based on what you are adding or removing from your tax paperwork. As this can get tricky, consider using professional tax services to ensure that you have selected all of the appropriate papers. 

Complete a 1040X

Rather than submitting an entirely new set of tax documents, the 1040X will allow you to submit paperwork indicating only the numbers that have changed. This form cannot be filed electronically; a hard copy must be mailed in. Traditionally, this form is due within two to three years from the date of the mistaken filing. However, if you choose to amend more than one year, you will need to submit separate forms for each year that you are amending. 

Again, this is an excellent place to receive professional help. Because your chances of being audited increase as you file incorrect paperwork, it is important that this amended form be filled out accurately and to the fullest extent. 

Submit Your Amendment

Ensure that you have all of the necessary documents included in the packet you intend to send to the IRS. File them securely within an envelope.

If you owe additional money to the IRS, consider sending a payment within your documents in order to lessen the impact of interest and other penalties over time. 

Wait for Verification

The process is not complete until the IRS sends you verification that they have accepted your amendments. This can take two to three months, so if you do not hear back immediately, do not feel stressed. 

You are able to track your tax status using the IRS’ online tracking tool. You can also call a progress check in at 866-464-2050. The holds can be lengthy, though–we would not advise calling until a few months after you have submitted your paperwork, in order to account for processing time. 

White Nelson Diehl Evans is Here to Help

As one of the leading Irvine CPA firms, WNDE is here to help you through your tax preparation needs. Don’t let something like needing to file an amendment set you back. Use our professional tax services to ensure that your paperwork is filed accurately and on time.

Most companies will offer some kind of qualified retirement package to their workers and when they do this, they’ll also have to have ERISA compliance because they’ll fall under the governing rules of the ERISA ACT of 1974. ERISA establishes minimum standards and guidelines designed to protect workers in the private sector that participate in welfare and retirement benefits plans.

Business operations that aren’t ERISA compliant and still offer qualified retirement plans can potentially be subjected to some costly fines and penalties.

If the employee retirement package you’re on allows for one to defer their retirement earnings or provides you with future retirement income, then it’s an ERISA plan.

Employers that provide such plan benefits are considered ‘named fiduciaries’ by ERISA. This means that they take the responsibility of administering the plan as well as the liability should the plan not comply with the standards, rules, and regulations established by ERISA.

Understanding ERISA Compliance 

Meeting these compliance requirements doesn’t have to be as burdensome as some tend to make It out to be and can help you avoid an audit.

While there are several different requirements, good 3rd party administrators can effectively manage a lot of the burden.

Most of the requirements are often calendar-driven, which means having to fill forms and documents by specific deadlines.

The deadline dates usually form one checklist that your human resource staff or third-party administrator can manage. Other requirements are met as circumstances dictate and are ad hoc in nature.

Ongoing ERISA Requirements

A few ERISA requirements are ongoing and are triggered by occurrences or are part and parcel of the plan’s administration. Hereinbelow are a couple of the most common guidelines and notifications that must be followed by businesses that comply with ERISA:

• Annual Participant Fee Disclosure: All beneficiaries, terminated employees and plan-eligible employees that have an account balance are entitled to a participant fee disclosure that is to be handed out every twelve months.
• Adherence to Plan Document: This is to make sure the plan management adheres to the terms of the plan document every step of the way. The IRS considers it an operational defect when there’s any failure to follow the terms of the plan document, which can result in the disqualification of the whole plan if not remedied
• Opportunity To Enroll: All workers that have met the plan service and age requirements are entitled a chance to enroll. This is an opportunity that must be given to them. They should be provided with all the necessary instructions and forms alongside Summary Plan Descriptions as well as any other applicable participant forms and notices.
• Notice of Plan Change: All participants should be informed of any plan changes within 30-90 days before the change’s effective date.
• Loan Compliance: This is to make sure that outstanding loan payments are being settled in accordance with the terms of the plan. It also ensures the promissory note of the borrowers.
• Conducting Quarterly Housekeeping: This is where the terminated employees’ small account balances are cashed out, loan defaults are processed and any unallocated forfeitures are used.

ERISA Calendar Checklist

401(k) plan administrations involve the performance of certain compliance tasks that have to be in accordance with an annual schedule. The most common tasks all companies should have on their checklist include:

• The First-Quarter Plan- Providing participants with fourth-quarter benefit statements, no later than forty-five days after the quarter’s end. Ensure to make prior-year worker contributions for the tax deductions to be counted in the prior year. 

• The Second-Quarter Plan- Providing plan participants with first-quarter benefit statements. Distribution of the excess deferrals made in the previous year. For the participants turning 72-years-old, distribute the required minimum distributions for first-year.

• The Third-Quarter Plan- Providing them with second-quarter benefit statements. Filing of Form 5558 or form 5500. If any modifications were made to the plan document during the previous year, distribute fresh, new Summary Plan Descriptions to participants

• The Fourth-Quarter Plan- Providing participants with third-quarter benefit statements. Sending of applicable notices to plan participants, automatic enrollment or Qualified Default Investment Alternative and changes to or installments of safe harbor 401(k) packages.

The Plan Document

Employers that decide to provide their workers with ERISA compliant plan benefits are required to write all these benefits down on a plan document. This document will contain the plan’s policy terms as well as the plan’s administration and operation.

ERISA plans can still exist even though it lacks a plan document. Not having one just translates into the document not being ERISA compliant.

ERISA doesn’t require for your document to look a certain type of way and has no set specific document format. The type of document that you intend on coming up with will mainly depend on the overall plan type, in general, as well as how complex the benefits are.

When you insure an ERISA plan document, the insurance certificate for the insurance company will usually contain detailed benefits data. But, in most scenarios, the certificate won’t have all the necessary provisions needed for an ERISA compliant plan document. For instance, while the insurance certificate might have a detailed benefits schedule, it may not touch on termination and plan amendment processes.

A great way to supplement the insurance certificate is by using something known as a “wrap document” which has the ERISA provisions that happen to be missing. This document has been given this name because it literally wraps around the insurance certificate eventually forming a single, ERISA compliant plan document.

What to Keep in Mind

Under ERISA compliance, the defined contribution plan administrator will need to provide plan participants with benefit statements when required. Depending on the scenario, these statements are to be provided annually, quarterly or upon participant’s written request.

Those criticizing the new ERISA rules and compliance argue that the required disclosures may end up leading to confusion among plan participants. They also question how employers will determine their income projections. For now, though, everything looks to be moving as smooth as ever and no hiccups just yet.

Hopefully, this article has shown you how you can follow these guidelines and avoid getting audited. If you’re reading this just a bit too late and our facing an audit, contact us today to learn about how we can help represent you.

By the end of 2020, industry watchers expect trusts and estates to hold an aggregate value of $198.8 billion. That will represent a 2.9% growth over the same period.

Do you know how to protect the assets in your estate and ensure they’re passed on to the right people?

The well-being of your loved ones after you die is a critical concern for many. As a result, estate planning is vital. While most people are familiar with a basic will, your options go well beyond that.

Keep reading for seven reasons why you should consider setting up a trust as soon as possible.

Defining a Trust

A trust is a financial vehicle through which one party (the trustor) gives a second party (the trustee) power to hold assets on behalf of a third party (the beneficiary). Trusts are a cornerstone of many estate planning strategies, as they expand your options in managing assets for your loved ones.

Although the average person might think that trusts are for the well-heeled, they are not difficult to understand or set up for the average Joe.

While there are different types of trusts available for you, each of them must identify the trustor, the trustee, the successor trustee, and the beneficiary if it’s to remain valid. A declaration of trust is the primary document that will lay out the terms of the trust.

How Is a Trust Different From a Will?

Both trusts and wills work to ensure that you can preserve your assets for the benefit of your loved ones. However, the approach that these two estate planning vehicles use vary in their execution.

A will goes into effect once you die. A trust, on the other hand, can take effect the moment you create it.

A will is a tool you use to designate who gets your assets after you die. Through it, you appoint a legal representative to execute the terms of the document.

With a trust, you start distributing your assets while you are living, at death, and after you pass away. The structure of a trust will encompass at least three parties, i.e., the trustor, trustee, and the beneficiary.

When you create a will, it can only handle assets that are in your name. A trust covers the property that has been transferred to it. Therefore, you will need to put the assets in the trust’s name.

Another essential difference between these two approaches is that a will undergoes probate. That is, a court can end up overseeing its administration. On the flip side, a trust passes outside of the probate process, meaning that a court won’t have to supervise the process.

Compelling Reasons to Consider Setting up a Trust

An effective trust must be documented comprehensively, and once created, kept up to date. Here are some reasons that make a weighty case for setting up and managing a trust for your loved ones.

1. Lower Estate Taxes for Married Couples

A revocable trust can enable a married couple to take advantage of federal and/or state estate tax exclusions for both spouses.

When one spouse passes on, the assets held in a revocable trust can go towards funding a family trust, up to the amount of that spouse’s state estate or federal tax exclusion.

The assets held in the family trust can then compound without any estate tax obligations when the surviving spouse passes on.

2. Retaining Assets Within Your Family

Are you worried that if your surviving spouse remarries, the assets might end up benefiting the new family instead of your loved ones? In such a scenario, a qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) trust provision becomes a useful estate planning tool for you.

With a QTIP, the surviving spouse will still be provided for. At their death, the remaining assets of the trust can go towards the beneficiaries defined by the grantor in the trust document.

3. Control the Distribution of Assets

As a grantor, a trust gives you granular control over how to distribute your assets.

You may decide to give out assets for a particular purpose. As such, you can declare that the proceeds of a trust only go towards future college education expenses, for example.

Creating a trust also empowers you as the grantor with the capacity to make age-based terminations. That is, you can distribute the assets periodically based on age.

4. Distribute Your Retirement Assets as You Wish

If a beneficiary to a retirement account decides to liquidate it, they will incur a significant income tax obligation. To avoid this, you can rely on a trust to help you direct the distribution of such assets as planned.

You can name a properly created trust as the beneficiary to your retirement account upon your death. That will then give the trustee the power to limit withdrawals from the retirement account to required minimum distributions (RMDs) for each beneficiary.

5. Timely Access to Your Heirs

Perhaps the most compelling reason to open a trust is that it helps your heirs receive timely access to the assets. When you use a will, a state court will settle it using a probate process.

Probate processes can take up a lot of time, which causes unnecessary delays. Furthermore, the process is a public affair that becomes part of the public record and which anyone can access. Don’t forget that probate costs can also be prohibitive.

Therefore, by using a trust, you can bypass this process to ensure your heirs receive the assets efficiently.

6. Protection from Creditors

Through a properly created irrevocable trust, you can shield assets from creditors as they will not be in your name as the grantor or that of the beneficiary.

As such, assets in this type of trust can’t be part of any future claims from creditors (as long as you meet certain conditions at the time of settlement).

7. Protection from Divorce Judgment

Any asset you transfer to a properly established irrevocable trust is no longer deemed to be marital property. In light of this, such assets generally don’t get to be divided as part of a divorce settlement should a beneficiary get a divorce.

Secure Your Legacy

Taking care of your loved ones is vital, no matter your net worth. If you don’t want to wait till you die for your heirs to deal with divvying up what you leave behind, you should consider setting up a trust. Such a vehicle helps you secure your legacy while you’re still living, when you die, and even after your death.

For more than 90 years, White Nelson Diehl Evans LLP has been offering tax, advisory, and accounting services. Talk to us today for estate planning solutions that will protect and care for your loved ones.

The regional accounting and advisory firm of White Nelson Diehl Evans LLP (WNDE) is excited to announce the debut of their new website.

“We put a lot of thought into the comprehensive redesign of our website in order to create a space that accurately represents the mission of our firm and provides an optimized user experience,” said Paul Treinen, CPA, Managing Partner of WNDE.

The new WNDE website offers visitors a complete picture of the California-based accounting firm. Prospective clients and employees can peruse information about firm services and detailed bios of the WNDE team. WNDE clients can access their portal and make online payments. Additional features include numerous helpful e-guides and a blog covering a wide variety of relevant topics.

“Our goal is to provide visitors with a full picture of the type of firm we are, the industries we serve, and our specific areas of expertise,” explained Treinen. “We are thrilled to be able to offer our contacts an attractive and useful space for interacting with the firm.”

Hiring full-time employees to execute business-essential functions can become extremely expensive. Businesses looking to optimize their capital should consider business support services. Outsourcing critical functions can save money and time for your organization.

Bookkeeping

Making an accounting mistake or payroll error results in confusion and wasted time. If you’re not skilled in leading the accounting and financial tasks, then you will benefit from bookkeeping services.

Essential Functions

What functions can they fulfill? A professional service will cover these areas:

• Accounting and bookkeeping
• Payroll
• Budgets
• General ledger entries and reconciliation
• Forecasts, projections, and analysis
• Training
• Limiting costs

Choose how you want to optimize your capital. A support service can take over the financial operations and scale as you grow, or you can have them advise employees to become the managers.

Executive support will formulate a cost-saving strategy that transitions operations back to you or evolves as your business does.

Save Money

Pouring over the numbers and books against tight deadlines at tax time can create undue hassle and stress.

If you get the numbers wrong, you can end up being audited and pay hefty fines. Focus your energies on operations, sales, or engagement.

Save your organization money by outsourcing the financial operations. You can eliminate costly benefits packages, but you can also save your organization from internal fraud.

An external audit or CFO will have the knowledge and experience to prevent and detect internal fraud. They can also implement checks and balances to keep everyone honest.

Know Your Finances

It’s important to know you don’t have to completely give up financial operations. It’s recommended you stay current on your books.

If something doesn’t look right or add up, then ask the accountant to explain. They should understand every single line on the profit and loss statement.

All of your management decisions depend on the numbers. Are you making money? Is there an unnecessary expense?

Having a business management support service can be the difference between your or organization folding and or enjoying success.

Taxes

Making sure your numbers are correct for tax time is half the battle. The federal, state, and local governments want their due payment.

Law

Do you know every exemption and loophole in the tax code? Not knowing the tax law is a detriment that could cost your business thousands of dollars a year.

New tax laws are added every year and trends shift with legislation at every level of government. A professional service can advise you on financial and political climate as it pertains to tax codes.

Planning

Like the accounting portion, letting a business support service handle your taxes will save money and time. Hiring a friend or someone not completely qualified is a critical mistake.

Skilled professionals will make sure you pay everything you owe on time and help you avoid government audits and penalties that can ruin a profitable year.

With your taxes straightened out, you can start planning for the following year. Rate increases from vendors can be capitalized and passed to your clients. You will know exactly how much money you’re paying in taxes per transaction.

In conjunction with your team, business support services can develop cost-containment strategies that avoid unnecessary waste and taxes.

Assets

Tax preparation will be especially helpful as you prepare to purchase or sell large assets or holdings. Capital gains taxes and assets might concern someone who is not familiar.

Luckily, capital gains taxes are at rates much lower than income tax; however, it can be extremely complicated.

Business support services understand the rules and separate forms needed to define capital asset transactions.

This is a perfect solution if your business is too small to hire a full-time accountant or you’re too busy.

Audits

You may want your company audited to discover information flow breakdowns or weak financial controls.

A business support service should have a customized approach to your business. No two businesses are exactly the same. An audit service should treat yours uniquely.

Conducting an audit to ensure compliance is a great way to avoid the government conducting its own audit.

Mergers & Acquisitions

Audits don’t have to be just to improve processes or find mistakes. They can be used in the evaluation of a possible merger or acquisition.

A potential buyer wants to know if the numbers they see have another story behind them. It’s possible a business owner may be hiding losses, hemorrhaging money, or have weak financial controls.

The profits and margins may be great for a company you’re looking to merge with, but it’s possible they owe back-taxes. Many times business owners do not know they are going to be hit with a penalty.

You are entitled to know if the company you’re joining or acquiring is financially and legally set for the future.

Valuation

If you are preparing for a sale, it’s important to know the valuation of your company. What is a fair price for your robust business?

Maybe you’re on the other side of the coin and want to know how much a company is worth versus what they are asking.

Audits examine more than revenue and expenses. They will examine items such as an aging trial balance and hunt down bad debt to factor it into the total valuation.

It’s hard to put a price tag on a name, but if Nike were to sell its company the name alone would have a significant price. Professional audits do their due diligence by figuring out what the name brand means to the market.

There are inevitably going to be subjective numbers during valuation. Someone wanting to sell a business will value brand name and reputation a little more than someone buying that same business for its distribution channels.

Optimize Your Capital

Your capital should work for you. Hiring business support services eliminates hiring in-house departments and paying salaries and benefits.

The money and hassle you save can be used to expand operations, increase sales, or develop brand loyalty.

If you need a professional business support service, contact us to serve all your needs.

Tax season is upon us. Although filing taxes has been known to bring on stress, frustration, and even confusion, tax planning can alleviate these woes. 

By arranging and analyzing your financial situation, you can minimize your tax liabilities and maximize your tax breaks. 

Navigating the tax system in America can be a harrowing experience. But, with proper preparation, you can make the whole process go a lot smoother and even save money as well.

Interested in learning more? Continue reading, and we’ll walk you through the top tax planning strategies you should know about. 

Understand Your Tax Bracket

You can try to stay informed about all the loopholes and tax breaks, but if it’s not relevant to your tax bracket, it’s not going to help you much.

The very first step to tax planning is knowing which federal tax bracket you’re in. Here in the United States, we have what’s known as a progressive tax system. This means that people with higher incomes will also pay higher tax rates. 

There are seven income tax brackets to know: 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35% and 37%. However, no matter the bracket you’re in, you most likely won’t end up paying that tax rate on your entire income. 

There are two main reasons for this. First, you’re not taxed simply by multiplying your taxable income with your tax rate. The IRS splits your income into pieces and then taxes each piece at the corresponding rate. 

Second, you’ll have the opportunity to subtract deductions from your income. This is why your salary isn’t the same as your taxable income. 

Let’s look at an example:

Imagine you are a single filer who has a taxable income of $32,000. For the tax year 2019, that would put you in the 12% tax bracket. However, you don’t actually pay 12% on the entire $32,000.

Instead, for the first $9,700, you will pay 10%. Then you’ll pay 12% on the rest of the taxable income. 

Know the Difference Between Tax Credits and Tax Deductions

Tax credits and tax deductions may be the most fun part of preparing your tax returns. Both will lower your tax bill. Although they work in different ways. 

Knowing the difference between a tax credit and tax deduction will help you better implement your overall tax strategy.

A tax credit is when the government gives you a reduction in your tax bill, dollar-for-dollar. So a tax credit valued at $2,000 will lower your tax bill by $2,000.

A tax deduction is a specific expense that you had to pay that can be deducted from your taxable income. They reduce how much of your income can be taxed. These are extremely valuable, although tax deductions might not save you as much money as tax credits.  

Know Which Tax Records to Keep

Although many people may be reluctant to do it, holding onto the documents that you use to complete your tax returns is extremely important. In general, the IRS has three years to decide if they’re going to audit your tax return. So you want to keep your documents for at least that many years. 

Also, if you file a claim for a refund or credit after you filed a return, then you should hang onto those tax records. There are some circumstances where the IRS has a longer window of time to decide to audit you. Those circumstances include: 

• Six years if you reported that your taxable income was at least 25% less than it actually was
•  Seven years if you wrote off a loss from a worthless security
• Indefinitely if you didn’t file a tax return or you committed tax fraud

Make sure you keep your records organized and in a safe and private location.

Consider Putting Money in a 401(k) or IRA

Check with your employer to see if they offer a 401(k) plan that can give you a tax break on the money that you save for retirement. If you divert money from your paycheck directly to your 401(k), then that money can’t be taxed. 

For the tax year 2019, you can put at most $19,000 a year into a 401(k) account. People aged 50 or older can funnel up to $25,000.

Even though employers usually sponsor these accounts, a person who is self-employed can also open a 401(k). And if your employer matches your contributions, you’ll get free money added to the account. 

When it comes to IRAs, you have until the tax deadline in April to fund your IRA for the previous tax year. There are two types of IRAs: a traditional IRA and a Roth IRA. 

The main difference between these two retirement account types is the tax advantage. If you open a traditional IRA account, then you only pay taxes when you take your money out of the account. With a Roth IRA, you pay taxes upfront but don’t have to pay taxes when you finally take the money out of the account. 

The Importance of Knowing Top Tax Planning Strategies

Hopefully, after reading this article, you’ll feel like you have a better understanding of tax planning. Although filing your taxes may seem complicated at first, knowing what to look out for can make the whole process more enjoyable while also working in your favor.  

Hiring a CPA is a great way to make sure that your taxes will be filed properly and with the best chance for saving the most money. 

Need help with your taxes? Contact us today and see what we can do for you!

When was the last time you or your attorney reviewed or updated your will or trust? If it was before the passage of the 2017 tax reform legislation, or the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), your documents may be out of date. Among the many changes in that law was a more than doubling of the estate tax exemption. Prior to the TCJA, if the value of an individual’s estate at his or her death was about $5.5 million or more, it was subject to the estate tax. For deaths in 2020, and based on the TCJA inflation-adjusted amounts, just over $11.5 million is exempted from estate tax. So, if your will or trust was premised on the lower value, it may need to be revised so that it provides the appropriate estate tax results for your situation.

No doubt your will or trust was prepared with not just estate taxes in mind but so that your assets will be distributed after your death according to your wishes. However, certain events besides the tax laws being revised can cause these documents to become outdated.

Life’s ever-changing circumstances make estate planning an ongoing process. If you don’t keep your will or trust up to date, your money and assets could end up in the wrong hands. That’s why a periodic review of your will or trust is an essential part of estate planning. Here is a partial list of occurrences that could cause your will or trust to be outdated:

• Your marital status has changed.
• Your heirs’ marital status has changed.
• You have relocated to another state.
• You’ve had or adopted children.
• Your children are no longer minors.
• Your children are now mature enough to handle their own financial matters.
• Your assets have significantly changed in value.
• You have sold or acquired a major asset(s).
• Your personal representative (executor, trustee) has changed.
• You wish to delete or add heirs.
• Your health status has changed.
• Estate laws have changed.

Are your named beneficiaries up to date on your life insurance policies, IRA accounts, and pension plans? For example, did you forget to remove your ex-spouse or a deceased relative as your beneficiary?

You should never overlook or put off these issues because once you pass on, it will be too late to make changes.

If you have questions about how your changed circumstances may impact your estate taxes, please give contact us.

The creditworthiness of your business is measured by its credit score. This number is issued by Dun & Bradstreet, Experian, Equifax, and FICO SBSS, and is an essential reflection of your company’s payment reliability and timeliness.

Why is Your Business Credit Score Important?

Your company’s overall financial health is of key importance to any lenders, creditors, and trade partners with whom you wish to do business. Those partners need to be able to trust in your ability to provide the good or services that you are promising: to pay back any loans you may apply for. Your financial health can also be a determination of the terms that you are able to negotiate with lenders.

Ultimately, your business credit score is the main way third parties can measure your company’s financial health. It’s typically used by lenders, creditors, and trade partners during various business transactions, such as applying for business loans, leasing, winning contracts, doing business with vendors or suppliers, obtaining net terms with trade partners, and even getting better interest and payment rates for instruments such as business contracts and mortgages.

Businesses in possession of strong credit scores have a much better chance of obtaining the capital that they need to grow compared to those with weak credit scores. Many lenders have minimum credit score requirements in place, and businesses that cannot meet that threshold will be unable to secure the loan that they seek. Even if your business has a credit score that exceeds that threshold, the stronger your credit score, the more advantageous the interest rate or repayment terms you are likely to have extended to you.

Business credit scores are also used as a gauge by suppliers and others who will need to rely on you to pay them in a timely manner. Vendors, landlords, and other stakeholders with whom you will have a financial relationship will look to your past performance with others as an indication of how you are likely to treat them. Have a weak credit score? Even if these trade partners agree to do business with you, they are likely to include terms that will protect their own interests and be less advantageous to you.

How to Interpret Business Credit Scores

Unlike personal FICO credit scores which can reach as high as 850, business credit scores generally only go as high as 100, and can fall as low as 0. As is true in so many other types of grading systems, the higher the score, the better the credit rating is considered to be, though different credit rating agencies have different levels at which they bestow the value judgment of being “good.” For Equifax a credit score of 90 or above is considered good while Experian considers 7 or above good. Dun & Broadstreet bestows the term “good” on scores of 80 or above, while FICO SBSS (whose highest scoring ranges well above 100) considers a score of 140 or more a good rating.

The higher a business’s credit score, the better their chance of obtaining loans or positive trade terms with vendors and suppliers. This is because the high score reflects a history of making payments on a timely basis rather than being late or delinquent.

Can You Fix A Bad/Thin Business Credit Score?

Having a low business credit score can be a reflection of several possible factors, including having filed for bankruptcy, having liens against your business, having a poor repayment history filled with delinquent payments or non-payments. In addition to having a bad score, businesses that don’t have a significant history of payments have credit scores that are termed “thin.”

When you’re applying for a loan, having either a bad business credit score or a thin credit score can work against you. Lenders are unlikely to provide advantageous terms to businesses with a poor history of repayment, and even if your business is simply new and doesn’t have much of a record of either timely payments or delinquencies, many lenders will be hard pressed to take a leap of faith on you. Whichever situation you find yourself in, it will be well worth your time to either build a credit history or repair your poor credit. There are ways to do both. Here are several steps you can take that can have a significant impact.

1. Keep your Business and Personal Finances Separate

You are not your business and your business is not you. Therefore, you should keep separate accounts for your company and for your personal use. Doing so will not only help you keep track of transactions and obligations for each, but will also help prevent any mistakes that you make (i.e. delinquent payments) from affecting either your business credit score or your personal credit score.

2. Don’t Fall Behind On Your Bills

When your business makes a purchase or agrees to pay for a service, holding up your end of the bargain and paying in full (and on time) reflects on your business in a number of ways. Early payments will boost your credit score and be welcomed by trade partners, while delinquent payments will negatively impact your business’s credit score and have a negative impact on your reputation in general.

3. Develop A Strong Relationship With Your Vendors

Keep in mind that your vendors and suppliers are the ones who report on-time or early payments to the credit bureaus as well as late payments. The better your business relationship with those partners, the more likely that they will report your positive actions and the less likely that they will report delinquencies.

4. Maintain a Low Credit Utilization Ratio

Building credit as a business is done in much the same way as building personal credit: by establishing a history. One of the fastest ways to build a positive business credit report and score is to obtain a business credit card; however, use it sparingly and stay below 33% of your available credit.

5. Keep Your Eye on Your Numbers

Credit reports change constantly, and it is essential that you keep your eye on it to make sure that it is an accurate reflection of your payment history. If you find a mistake you should act quickly to dispute the error within the framework provided by the bureau that is publishing the mistake.

6. Add More Credit Options

Businesses that have either thin or bad credit can build their reputation by establishing additional lines of credit through a secured business credit card. These vehicles are backed by a deposit, making them easy to get and an excellent way to improve your business’s history (as long as you make your payments promptly).

Positive Credit Scores for Future Success

Having a solid, positive credit score for your business is more than just a report card. It is what can make the difference in your company’s future opportunities for growth. A business’s credit report should be nurtured, and this can be done by remaining organized and dedicated to making on-time or early payments, but for those who have made mistakes, it is not too late to repair and rebuild. Contact one of our business advisors for information on your business’s credit score.

Congress, at almost the last minute, has passed a large number of tax changes, including retirement plan issues that will become effective in 2020, as well as extensions through 2020 of a number of tax provisions that had expired or were about to end. The list of changes is quite large, so we have only included those that are most likely to affect individual tax returns. Here is a run-down on some of the new tax provisions:

TAX EXTENDERS

The tax changes retroactively revive a number of provisions that had previously expired or were going to at the end of 2019, and extend them through 2020. So, review them carefully to see if any of them provide you with an opportunity to amend your return for a refund.

Discharge of Qualified Principal Residence Indebtedness – When an individual loses his or her principal residence to foreclosure, abandonment, or short sale or has a portion of their loan forgiven under the HAMP mortgage-reduction plan, they will generally end up with cancellation-of-debt (COD) income. COD income is equal to the amount of debt on the home that is forgiven by the lender. To the extent that the mortgage debt becomes COD income, it is taxable income unless the taxpayer can exclude it based on specific provisions in the tax code.

After the housing market crash a few years back, Congress added the qualified principal residence COD exclusion, which allowed taxpayers to exclude up to $2 million ($1 million if married filing separately) of COD income, to the extent it was discharged debt used to acquire the home, termed acquisition debt. Equity debt was not eligible for the exclusion. However, equity debt is deemed to be discharged first, thus limiting the exclusion if both equity and acquisition debt are involved in the transaction.

This COD exclusion was temporarily added in 2007, was extended, and then expired at the end of 2017. Under the current legislation, the exclusion for qualified principal residence indebtedness is retroactively extended through 2020. Thus, if you paid taxes on principal residence COD income in 2018, be sure to call attention to that fact so your return can be amended for a refund.

Mortgage Insurance Premiums – For tax years 2007 through 2017, taxpayers could deduct the cost of premiums for mortgage insurance on a qualified personal residence as an itemized deduction. The premiums were deducted as home mortgage interest on Schedule A. To be deductible:

• The premiums must have been paid in connection with acquisition debt (note: acquisition debt includes refinanced acquisition debt).
• The mortgage insurance contract must have been issued after Dec. 31, 2006.
• It must be for a qualified residence (first and second homes).
• The deductible amount of the premiums phases out ratably by 10% for each $1,000 by which the taxpayer’s adjusted gross income (AGI) exceeds $100,000 (10% for each $500 by which a married separate taxpayer’s AGI exceeds $50,000).
• Qualified mortgage insurance means mortgage insurance provided by the:
• Dept. of Veterans Affairs (VA),
• Federal Housing Administration (FHA), or
• Rural Housing Services (RHS), as well as
• Private mortgage insurance.

This deduction was previously allowed through 2017 and has retroactively been extended through 2020.

Above-the-Line Deduction for Qualified Tuition and Related Expenses – An above-the-line deduction for qualified tuition and related expenses for higher education has been available since 2002 and was previously extended through 2017. For purposes of the higher education expense deduction, “qualified tuition and related expenses” has the same definition as for the American Opportunity and Lifetime Learning credits for higher education expenses – that is, with certain exceptions, tuition and fees paid for an eligible student (the taxpayer, the taxpayer’s spouse, or a dependent) at an eligible higher education institution. The deduction – up to $2,000 or $4,000, depending on AGI – is not allowed for joint filers with an AGI of $160,000 or more ($80,000 for other filing statuses), except no deduction is allowed for taxpayers using the married filing separate status. The phase-out amounts are not inflation-adjusted. The same expenses can’t be used for both an education credit and the tuition and fees deduction.

This deduction was previously allowed through 2017 and has retroactively been extended through 2020.

Medical AGI Limits – For 2017 and 2018, individuals could claim an itemized deduction for unreimbursed medical expenses, to the extent that such expenses exceeded 7.5% of their AGI. For post-2018 years, the percent of AGI has been increased to 10%. The provision retroactively extends the lower threshold of 7.5% through 2020.

Residential Energy (Efficient) Property Credit – This non-refundable credit has been available in one form or another since 2006 and through 2017, with credit amounts varying from 10% to 30% and the maximum credit ranging from $500 to $1,500. Most recently, the credit percentage was 10%, with a lifetime credit amount limited to $500. This credit is best described as an energy-saving credit since it applies to improvements to the taxpayer’s existing primary home to make it more energy efficient. Generally, it applies to insulation, storm windows and doors, and certain types of energy-efficient roofing materials, energy-efficient central air-conditioning systems, water heaters, heat pumps, hot water systems, circulating fans, etc., but the expenses eligible for the credit do not include installation costs.

The recent legislation extends this credit through 2020, with a lifetime credit cap of $500.

Caution: The lifetime credit extends to returns going all the way back to 2006.

Employer Credit for Paid Family and Medical Leave – This credit provides an employer with credit for paid family and medical leave, which permits eligible employers to claim an elective general business credit based on eligible wages paid to qualifying employees with respect to family and medical leave. The maximum amount of family and medical leave that may be taken into account for any qualifying employee is 12 weeks per taxable year. The credit is variable and only applies if the leave wages are at least 50% of the individual’s normal wages. The credit percentage is 12.5% and increases by 0.5%, up to a maximum of 25%, for each percentage point that the payment rate exceeds 50%.

The credit was originally only for 2018 and 2019 but has been extended through 2020.

RETIREMENT PLAN AND IRA CHANGES

Maximum Age Limit for Traditional IRA Contributions – The legislation repeals the maximum age for making traditional IRA contributions, which, prior to this legislation, prohibited traditional IRA contributions after an individual reached the age of 70½. The provision is effective for contributions made for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2019.

Penalty-Free Pension Withdrawals in Case of Childbirth or Adoption – The legislation allows a penalty free but taxable distribution of up to $5,000 from a qualified plan made within one year of birth or in the case of a finalized adoption of an individual aged 18 or younger or an individual who is physically or mentally incapable of self-support. Distributions can later be repaid to avoid the tax on the distribution.

Increase in Age for RMDs – For decades, individuals were required to begin taking distributions from their traditional IRAs and qualified plans once they reached age 70½. These distributions, commonly referred to as a required minimum distribution or RMD, have never been adjusted to account for increases in life expectancy. The legislation changes the required beginning date for mandatory distributions to age 72, effective for distributions required to be made after December 31, 2019, with respect to individuals who attain the age of 72 after this date.

Special Rule – Difficulty of Care Payments – Many home health-care workers do not have a taxable income because their only compensation comes from “difficulty of care” payments that are exempt from taxation under Code Section 131. Because such workers do not have taxable income, they cannot save for retirement in a defined contribution plan or IRA. This provision will allow home health-care workers to contribute to a qualified plan or IRA by amending the tax code so that tax-exempt difficulty of care payments are treated as compensation, for purposes of calculating the contribution limits to defined contribution plans and IRAs. This is effective for plan years after December 31, 2015, and IRA contributions after the act’s date of enactment (December 20, 2019).

Sec. 529 Plan Modifications – Sec. 529 plans (also referred to as qualified state tuition plans) were originally created to allow tax-free accumulation saving accounts for a child’s education but generally limited the funds’ use to post-secondary education tuition and certain college fees. Since then, Congress has continued to expand the use of funds to include supplies, books, equipment, and reasonable room and board expenses for attending college. With the passage of the tax reform at the end of 2017, Congress allowed up to $10,000 a year to be used for elementary and secondary school tuition expenses. This new legislation adds the following to the list of qualified expenses:

• Qualified higher education expenses associated with registered apprenticeship programs certified by the Secretary of Labor under Sec. 1 of the National Apprenticeship Act
• Payment of education loans, up to a maximum of $10,000 (reduced by the amount of distributions so treated for all prior taxable years), including those for siblings
• These changes are effective for distributions made after December 31, 2018.

RMDs for Designated Beneficiaries – The legislation modifies the required minimum distribution rules with respect to defined contribution plan and IRA balances upon the account owner’s death. Under the legislation, distributions to individuals other than the surviving spouse of the employee (or IRA owner), disabled or chronically ill individuals, individuals who are not more than 10 years younger than the employee (or IRA owner), or a child of the employee (or IRA owner) who has not reached the age of majority must generally be distributed by the end of the tenth calendar year following the year of the employee’s or IRA owner’s death. A special rule for children requires any remaining undistributed funds to be distributed within 10 years after they reach the age of maturity.

This is a major change since beneficiaries previously had options to take certain lifetime payouts. This will require careful planning to minimize the tax on the distributions. The change applies to distributions with respect to employees or IRA owners who die after December 31, 2019.

Penalty for Failure to File – The legislation increased the minimum penalty for failure to file a tax return within 60 days of the return’s due date to $435, up from $330, for returns with a due date (including extensions) after December 31, 2019. Thus, the $435 penalty will apply to 2019 returns and will be inflation adjusted for future years.

Kiddie Tax – The tax reform enacted late in 2017 changed how the income of dependent children is taxed, causing a child’s unearned income to be taxed at fiduciary rates that very quickly reach the maximum tax rate of 37%. That change created an unintentional tax increase for survivors of service members and first responders who died in the line duty. This last-minute change reverts the kiddie tax computation to the pre–tax reform method for years beginning in 2020. It also allows taxpayers to choose whichever method provides the lowest tax for 2018 and 2019. Taxpayers can amend their 2018 return if doing so will provide a better outcome.

The changes are extensive and, in many cases, open the door to amending prior years’ returns. If you have any questions or think any of these changes might benefit you for a prior year, please contact us.

THE BRAVE NEW WORLD OF CYBER-ATTACKS

Cyber-attacks arguably pose the single biggest modern threat to businesses. The number of cyber-attacks, their level of sophistication, and the financial and reputational impact they have all continue to increase at an alarming rate. The research firm Cybersecurity Ventures predicts that cybercrime will cost $6 trillion globally by 2021. Inside actors, nation-state groups, and criminal organizations now often work together to deploy an ever-expanding array of social-engineered cyber-attacks. Common tactics include: spear-phishing, business email compromises (BEC), ransomware, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) and Trojan horse malware.

The impact on both the public and private sectors is significant, creating unprecedented financial, operational and reputational risk factors for organizations worldwide. According to the SEC, the average cost of a cyber data breach is now $7.5 million. And the average cost of cyber liability insurance coverage has increased by 30% or more each year for the past several years. Worse still, with the growing popularity of the Internet of Things (IoT), there has been a 600% increase in the number of cyber-attacks on IoT-connected devices in the past year, especially those focused on medical devices.

The expanding use of the Internet and software applications has dramatically increased the number of vulnerabilities within information systems, networks, software and their respective endpoints, exposing each to the potential for fraudulent actions such as identity theft, identity fraud, business email scams and data breaches. The types of information that hackers consider most valuable include: intellectual property (IP), personally identifiable information (PII), protected health information (PHI) and payment card information (PCI).

From a regulatory standpoint, the continually evolving cybersecurity and data privacy requirements in the U.S. and abroad create significant liabilities for companies. The pending January 2020 implementation of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) is of significant concern to organizations who do business in California, and could open a Pandora’s box of potential litigation related to data breaches involving the personal information of California residents.

As a result, C-suite executives are struggling to determine the right strategy and investments to secure their vital data assets, ensure business operations meet evolving regulatory compliance requirements, and reduce the impact of data breach litigation. The best practice to address each of these concerns is to implement a threat-based cybersecurity program, which takes steps to safeguard against the most likely threats an organization will face, juxtaposing internal vulnerabilities against the evolving external threat environment.

THE GROWTH OF THE CYBERSECURITY MARKETPLACE

The cybersecurity marketplace has rapidly grown to a $100 billion industry, offering a wide range of cybersecurity hardware, software and professional services. There are now an incredible number of companies offering cybersecurity technologies, products and services, often claiming to have the solution to many of your cybersecurity needs. Unfortunately, no single product or service can provide a magic solution to this multifaceted, ever-evolving, and highly complex set of global information security challenges.

Thus, many C-suite executives are trying to make the right investment decisions, but often they are not well informed regarding the cyber threats facing their organization and all the potential cyber liabilities. Rather than investing valuable resources in protecting specific types of high value data, a threat-based approach to cybersecurity identifies the vulnerabilities that a cyber-attack would likely try to exploit, and outlines measures to secure those vulnerabilities.

CYBERSECURITY FOR C-SUITE EXECUTIVES – TOP TEN CHALLENGES

Based upon our experience with hundreds of companies worldwide, across all industries, the following questions capture the most significant cybersecurity and data privacy challenges faced by the C-suite in most organizations:

1. What are the best methods and tools to identify, track and maintain all data/information assets with appropriate information governance, data mapping and cybersecurity?
2. How can the C-suite efficiently and cost-effectively verify identities and control information access?
3. What are the best tools and practices to ensure compliance of third parties and supply chain partners with evolving cybersecurity and data privacy regulatory requirements in the U.S. and internationally?
4. What is the best method to effectively deliver timely cybersecurity and data privacy education and training?
5. Should the C-suite invest in acquiring new information security hardware, software and resources to enhance cybersecurity, or is it better to outsource to a proven managed security services provider (MSSP)?
6. Who should the C-suite turn to for advice after a major cyber data breach occurs within an organization?
7. What actions should the C-suite take to ensure they are compliant with all current regulatory requirements for their industry and geographic location, as well as all customer contractual requirements?
8. What proactive actions can the C-suite take to mitigate insider threats and fraud?
9. What is the best approach to ensure an organization has developed an appropriate business continuity plan (BCP)?
10. How much cyber liability insurance coverage is sufficient?

THREAT-BASED CYBERSECURITY – GUIDELINES FOR IMPROVED BUSINESS RESULTS

We recommend a threat-based cybersecurity approach to combat cyber-attacks and mitigate costly cyber data breaches. Threat-based cybersecurity is forward-looking and uses analysis of a company’s unique threat profile to identify at-risk areas and protect against the most likely types of cyber-attacks that could occur. This requires a multipronged strategy and a range of proactive steps, including:

1. Hire an independent firm to conduct some or all of the following advanced diagnostics:
   • Email threat assessment
   • Network and endpoint threat assessment
   • Vulnerability assessment
   • Penetration testing
   • Spear-phishing test campaign
   • Red-team security assessment
   • Security software tools assessment
2. Hire a dedicated Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) who reports to the CEO or General Counsel to develop a sound cybersecurity and data privacy risk management program tailored to the specific cyber threats facing your organization
3. Implement advanced software encryption with multi-factor authentication, including biometrics
4. Provide timely and effective cybersecurity education and training programs for the entire organization, top to bottom
5. Implement a timely and effective software security patch management program
6. Ensure the organization has developed and implemented a robust information governance program to map, track and secure all data assets
7. Review and periodically test the organization’s Incident Response Plan
8. Review and periodically test the organization’s Business Continuity Plan and Disaster Recovery Plan
9. Conduct or outsource 24x7x365 managed detection and response (MDR) of the organization’s information systems, networks, endpoints, software applications, and email systems using the most advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence applications
10. Verify the compliance of the organization and all supply chain partners with all cybersecurity and data privacy regulatory requirements by using independent compliance and risk assessments conducted by qualified firms

SUMMARY

The C-suite worldwide is increasingly concerned about the growing risk of a massive cyber data breach, like those encountered by Capital One, Facebook, Equifax, and numerous government agencies. Thus, C-level executives within all organizations need to understand the value of the information assets they possess, the cybersecurity and privacy related risks, and then factor the benefits of cybersecurity investments and risk variables into their respective business equation.

Simply put, it is vital that C-suite executives adopt a threat-based cybersecurity strategy to understand the cyber threats they are facing, and then make the right investments to mitigate identified vulnerabilities, thereby reducing their cyber liability while also maximizing resources.