Health Insurance Penalty

With the press conference this morning from President Obama about the millions who received cancellation notices, President Obama has given the authority to the State Insurance Commissioners to extend coverage for another year.  Now, my family was one that got such letter, and I am hoping that they do extend our insurance, if not we will go uninsured and face the penalty.

So, I thought I would write about the Penalty that is supposed to be in effect on your 2014 Tax Return.

As a Tax Preparer I get a lot of question about the new "Obama Care" penalty and how it is going to effect them.

Here are two of the questions that I have gotten:

1.  What will be my penalty if I don't get Insurance?

2.  I have a child that is 23 and they don't live with me, do I have to provide Insurance for them?

After researching these two questions here are my interpretation of what I read:

1.  According to the Affordable Care Act Chapter 48 "Sec. 5000A. the penalty is $95 per person that does not have insurance over the age of 18.  If you have a dependent under the age of 18 the penalty is one-half of the penalty.  Now the fun part: The other part of the penalty is OR 1% of  the "Household Income" "Modified Gross Income".  Which ever is larger.

Household Income - This is the income of You and your spouse, plus the income of any dependent that is required to file a tax return.

Modified Gross Income - You take the your Adjusted Gross Income (which is the last number on page 1 of your tax return) subtract your Standard or Itemized Deduction add any tax exempt interest.

Adjusted Gross Income - Standard/Itemized Deduction + Tax Exempt Interest = Modified Gross Income

Still with me?

2.  According to "Section 2714 Extension of dependent coverage" -  Group health plan and a health insurance company has to allow you to continue to coverage your adult child (who is not married) until the child turns 26 years of age.

Going back to Chapter 48 "Sec. 5000A. - Family Size is equal to the allowed personal exemptions for that calendar year.

So, the way that I read the Act - if you can't claim them on your Tax Return there is no requirement for you to put them on your plan.

We will see what happens between now and January 2015 if this will change or stay the same.

Sincerely,

Gabe The Taxguy

Payroll and Sales Taxes

If you have employees or sell tangible products i.e.: clothing, food, books, internet sales and many other items. As a business owner you may be required to file tax reports with the IRS, Franchise Tax Board (FTB), and/or the Board of Equalization (BOE).

If you have employees you need to make

sure that your payroll provider (Like Myself) is filing your quarter Tax reports to the IRS and the FTB. 

If you buy materials & supplies that helps produce the product that you sell, you can get a re-sellers permit so you do not have to pay sales tax to that vendor.

If you are selling a tangible product, then you are required to report your sales tax
to the Board of Equalization (BOE) and pay sales tax to them.

Do you sell in the city of El Cajon, La Mesa, Vista or National City in San Diego County? If so, there is an additional form you need to fill out to adjust the extra sales tax.

Give us a call 619 -726-1158 for a quote on your payroll services. We can help you get set up with the IRS, Franchise Tax Board and/or the Board of Equalization (BOE).

Keeping you connected and on top of your business is another piece to the puzzle. We can help you see the bigger picture. 

Importance of staying on top of your Bookkeeping

Are you Self Employed or are you an Independent Contractor?

First, let's answer what an Independent Contractor is....this is anyone who gets paid and their employer doesn't take any taxes out of their check.  Someone who will receive a 1099 at the end of the year.  

If you answered yes to either one, you need to stay on top of your bookkeeping. You may be saying, “What bookkeeping?”  You may be saying, “I don’t have a lot of invoices or bills” or “I am just a small business owner not a large corporation”.  "I'm not a business owner!!"  

You have no idea how often I have heard these words. Well, if you are self employed or get paid without taxes being taken out, then I suggest you do something, so you don't have a big tax liability when it is time to do your tax return. 

By meeting with me on a regular basis, this can help you save money and stay on top of your business. This will allow me to look at your information and see what kind of self employment taxes you may owe, or see how to reinvest back into your business, or yourself to lower that self employment tax. 

Give us a call 619-726-1158 for a free consultation on how we can give you some peace of mind.

Having Peace of Mind is an important piece to your puzzle. Come and talk with me and I can help you find that piece.  

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Deductions and Credits that you may qualify for.

There are different deductions and credits that are out there that not everyone knows about. If you qualify for these deductions or credits, this could help you get more of a tax refund or it could help cut down your tax liability.

One thing that I enjoy doing during tax season:  Sitting down with my clients talking with my them and hearing about their life.  As we all know, life events happen. 

I listen to key words like: I now have a college student, I finally retired, we sold our house, we bought a house, we have a new rental, or we have a new baby. This helps me to hear key words to match up different deductions and credits that you qualify for.   This will also help me to give you advise to prepare for next year.  My goal is to get you all the deductions and credits you qualify for.

Finding the right puzzle pieces can sometimes be difficult. I am here to listen and am able to help find the right piece for you. 

Do you think you paid too much in 2012?  Do you feel that there was something missing?  Give us a call 619-726-1158 and we can look over last year's taxes and see if there was anything that was overlooked.

We appreciate your feedback, let us know what you want to read about, or what your favorite blog as been so far.

The Cloud

Why you want to use The Cloud?

I have a number of clients who have shared their folders from their “Dropbox” or “Google Drive” with me.  Let me tell you, I love it!

It is one of the best ways to share Documents, Excel Spreadsheets, PDF’s, and Word Documents.  It helps streamline the process without resending documents when you update them.  It helps to cut out on the confusion of duplicate documents: Excel Spreadsheets, PDF’s, and Word Documents.  With the cloud, you can update the document and it saves it in the cloud.  It also notifies the other person who has access to the Documents, Excel Spreadsheets, PDF’s, and Word Documents.

If you don't have a Dropbox, click on the link, sign up and get an additional 500MB of space.  Dropbox Sign up here

You will need to have a Google Account username in order to get a Google Drive account.  Click here to Google Drive Sign up here 

Both clouds have a free start-up space, if you want to expand and grow your space you can purchase some for a small fee.  Check out both sites and see what works for you.

Just another way to be organized and streamline your business with another helpful piece to the puzzle.  

It is a great way to share documents in a safe, eco friendly and easy system.

We value your busy schedule and we aim to help save you time and money.

Give us a call 619-726-1158 to set up an appointment for a free consultation.

Check out our other blog articles, and we would love for you to connect with us on our other social media sites to your right.  Be social friendly and share our blog with your friends.  

Thanks for checking us out

Gabe The Taxguy

The Right Tools

When you are trying to get organized, the first thing is to find what works best for you. Find what fits your needs, not your Bookkeepers needs. The second thing is to make it a habit.

It could be tools like an app (see our blog from yesterday The Perfect App) from your app store on your smart phone or tablet. You can also purchase file organizers, large for invoices, bills or receipts, or small file organizers for just receipts from your local office supply store. You can also purchase millage log books.  

 

Once you pick up the tools try it out for a while and see if it fits your needs.  If it doesn't seem to fit your needs give me a call (619) 726-1158. We can meet you at your local office supply store (we love office supply shopping) and help you out. The goal is to streamline and make things easier for you. 

Using Excel Spreadsheets and Word programs are another way to get organized and we will talk about that in the next blog.....stay tune.

With only 9 weeks left in 2013, start looking now so when 2014 comes you will have the system that works for you.

Having the right tools for the right job is another piece to the puzzle.  We are here to help guide you int he right direction for you and your business.

Give us a call 619-726-1158 to set up an appointment for a free consultation.

Check out our other blog articles, and we would love for you to connect with us on our other social media sites to your right.  Be social friendly and share with your friends.  

Thanks for checking us out

Gabe The Taxguy

The Perfect App

As I start my 10th tax season, the #1 Most Common Problem I have seen over the years.....

Not Being Organized. 

I have been given shoe boxes filled with receipts and invoices, paper bags filled with receipts and invoices and many other creative ways during a Bookkeeping or Tax appointment.  

www.expensify.com

With the Smart phones, there are apps that can help you get organized.  My favorite app that I use is called “Expensify” . It allows you to scan your receipts, keep track of your mileage and keep track of your time you spend on a project.  It will also allow you to run reports and share them with your Bookkeeper and Tax Preparer.

That’s what I call a Win-Win situation.

Go on to the app store on your phone or tablet and try out "Expensify", which is a "free" app and  give it a couple of weeks and see if it works for you.  Or check out the many other apps that could fit your needs and help you get organized. 

With only 9 weeks till 2014, it is a good idea to find out what works best for you now, so when January 1, 2014 comes along you are ready to start the new year organized.

It can be a puzzle to find that method that is tailored to your needs, we are here to help guide you in the right direction.

Give us a call 619-726-1158 to set up an appointment for a free consultation.

Check out our other blog articles, and we would love for you to connect with us on our other social media sites to your right.  Be social friendly and share with your friends.  

Thanks for checking us out

Gabe The Taxguy