February 10 - Non-Payroll Taxes File Form 945 to report income tax withheld for 2019 on all non-payroll items. This due date applies only if you deposited the tax for the year in full and on time.February 10 - Social Security, Medicare and Withheld Income Tax File Form 941 for the fourth quarter of 2019. This due date applies only if you deposited the tax for the quarter in full and on time.February 10 - Certain Small Employers File Form 944 to report Social Security and Medicare taxes and withheld income tax for 2019. This due date applies only if you deposited the tax for the year in full and on time.February 10 - Farm Employers File Form 943 to report Social Security and Medicare taxes and withheld income tax for 2019. This due date applies only if you deposited the tax for the year timely, properly, and in full.February 10 - Federal Unemployment Tax File Form 940 for 2019. This due date applies only if you deposited the tax for the year in full and on time.February 18 - Social Security, Medicare and Withheld Income TaxIf the monthly deposit rule applies, deposit the tax for payments in January.February 18 - Non-Payroll WithholdingIf the monthly deposit rule applies, deposit the tax for payments in January.February 19 - Payroll Withholding Employers begin withholding for employees who claimed exemption for withholding in 2019 but have not provided a W-4 (or W-4(SP)) to continue the exemption for 2020.February 28 - Payers of Gambling WinningsFile Form 1096, Annual Summary and Transmittal of U.S. Information Returns, along with Copy A of all the Forms W-2G you issued for 2019. If you file Forms W-2G electronically, your due date for filing them with the IRS will be extended to March 31. The due date for giving the recipient these forms was January 31.February 28 - Informational Returns Filing DueFile government copies of information returns (Form 1099) and transmittal Forms 1096 for certain payments you made during 2019, other than the 1099-MISCs that were due January 31. There are different 1099 forms for different types of payments.

Article Highlights: Appropriations Act of 2020 History of the Deduction Other Education Expense Benefits Which Tax Break Provides the Best Benefit On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed into law the Appropriations Act of 2020, which included a number of tax law changes, among them retroactive extension of certain tax provisions that expired after 2017 or were about to expire, several retirement and IRA plan modifications, and other changes that will, as a whole, impact a large portion of U.S. taxpayers. This article is one of a series of articles dealing with those changes and how they may affect you. Looking back a few years, a taxpayer who had higher education expenses could generally take advantage of four* possible tax benefits: an itemized deduction if the education was job-related, a higher education tuition and expenses tax credit using either the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) or the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit (LLC), or an above-the-line deduction for higher education tuition and fees. However, the 2017 tax reforms did away with the itemized deduction through 2025, and Congress allowed the above-the-line deduction for higher education tuition and fees to expire at the end of 2017, leaving only the two education credits as options. As part of the Appropriations Act of 2020, Congress has retroactively reinstated the above-the-line deduction for 2018 through 2020. For purposes of the higher education expense deduction, "qualified tuition and related expenses" generally has the same definition, with certain exceptions, as the AOTC and LLC use for higher education expenses, including tuition and fees paid for an eligible student attending school at an eligible higher education institution. The deduction can be claimed for the taxpayer, the taxpayer’s spouse or a dependent of the taxpayer for attending an eligible higher education institution. The deduction, up to $2,000 or $4,000 depending on adjusted gross income (AGI), is not allowed for joint filers with an AGI of $160,000 or more ($80,000 for other filing statuses, although no credit is allowed for taxpayers using the married filing separate status). These phase-out amounts are not inflation-adjusted.

Now is a good time to review the various changes that impact 2019 tax returns. Watch this video for details. .embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }

To stay afloat during tough times, financial experts recommend that you keep three to six months’ expenses in a savings account. But, if you are in the majority, you likely only have less than $1,000 in your savings account at any given time. Thankfully, 2020 is here to give you a chance to start anew and get your savings in check. All you have to do is follow the tips below to start building a healthy savings fund and boost the health of your finances. Build a Budget and Stick to It To halt excessive spending and channel your money into all the right areas, you need to build a budget and stick to it. Before you can do that, however, you need to see just where all your money is going. You can either use an app that connects to your accounts, like Mint, or simply write down all your spending for a month. With that information in hand, you can see where you can cut back your spending and divert the funds into savings instead. You can work your budget on paper or use a software program, such as You Need a Budget, to make every dollar count. As you build your budget, try to follow the 50/30/20 rule. By following this rule, you will assign 50% of your take-home income to necessities, 30% on what you want, and 20% for paying down debt and saving. You can tighten up these figures as you wish by pulling out of the “want” category for savings and debt repayment.To nix the urge to spend, consider taking a picture or screenshot of the item you want and waiting at least 24 hours. Or think about the hours it took to earn the money you will spend on that want. Before you know it, the urge to spend that money may dissipate, leaving more in your bank account at the end of the month. Switch to a High-Yield Savings Account The national interest rate for savings accounts has been steadily declining through the decades, landing at just 0.9% at this time. This does not even keep up with the inflation rate of 1.9%, putting you at a loss by the end of each year. To overcome this issue, you can switch to a high-yield savings account. With interest rates of 1.9% or higher, high-yield accounts keep your money growing at a decent rate. And since many are online, you cannot just head down to your bank for a withdrawal, helping keep your money in savings where it belongs. Go with Automatic Savings Deductions Automation makes everything easier and putting money in your savings is no exception. So, set up your account to automatically pull money from checking and put it into savings every month. You will hit your goal without even thinking about it and can adjust upward year to year to maximize your savings. Gradually Bump Up Retirement Savings Your high-yield savings account is not the only one in need of love. Your retirement account also needs attention each year to realize its full potential. You can maximize your retirement savings pain-free by increasing your contributions by just 1%. Then, make it a tradition to celebrate the new year with this smart move to keep bolstering your savings for the future. Additional Fun Ways to Save Big Once you have your retirement contributions and automatic deposits ticking away, you can continue to increase your savings in fun ways. Here are a few to try throughout the new year.

Tax time is always a bit unnerving, but when you’re hit with a large, unexpected tax bill, it can be shattering. There are few people who have the resources to simply pull out their checkbook and write a check for thousands of dollars, yet it can feel like that’s your only choice. The truth is that even people who owe significant amounts of money have several options available to them, including taking advantage of the IRS’ Fresh Start Initiative, which was specifically created for this purpose back in 2011. Though the lien program won’t make your tax obligation go away, it does offer solutions to make things a bit easier, including offering expanded installment plan options, the ability under a program called Offers in Compromise to negotiate a lower tax bill under severe circumstances, and even the opportunity to avoid having to pay some assessed penalties. Start by Checking the Math Though it’s a relief to know that these options exist, your very first step when faced with an overwhelming and unexpected tax bill is to check the math. It’s unlikely that you’ll have big changes to your tax obligation unless there’s been another significant shift in your life. Unless you’ve sold a business or property, or no longer can claim a child as a dependent, there’s a very good chance that there’s a math error that needs to be fixed, so start by comparing this year’s return to last year’s, and contact the tax professional who prepared your latest return to enlist their help both in understanding the big bill and to help you determine the best way to address it if it is correct. What If the Math is Right? If the math is right and you really do owe the amount that set off those alarms, your choices are really limited to figuring out the best way to pay it. It may be tempting to simply skip sending in the return, but doing so is not going to help – the IRS will quickly figure out that you haven’t filed and the amount that you owe, and that will land you in big trouble – and owing even more money because of penalties and interest. It is much better to take control of your situation rather than let the IRS take the lead and contact your employer to garnish wages or file a lien on your home or other property. Many people make the mistake of filing for an extension and thinking that will delay the need to pay; unfortunately, an extension does not negate the obligation to make your payment – it just extends the time for your paperwork. Some people submit a small amount of the amount owed along with an indication that more will be forthcoming when you can afford it. Though this can serve as a stopgap to a problematic situation, the truth is that the best way to approach this situation is to find a way to pay your debt immediately, no matter how painful doing so may be. Ways to Pay If you decide to pay in full without having the funds immediately available, there are really only a few options. These include:

When it comes time for financial documents to be corroborated, the three options available are a compilation, a review, and an audit. Each of these represents a very different degree of effort and investigation, and therefore each provides differing levels of confidence for investors and lenders. Let’s take a closer look at all three. The Compilation A compilation requires the least amount of work from an auditor, and though it is likely to cost the least of the three and take the least amount of time, it also provides the lowest level of assurance about the accuracy of the information presented. This is because in a compilation, the auditor does little more than hand over the original financial statements that were prepared internally by the company’s management, with no due diligence performed even to determine whether the information contained in the documents is accurate or true. It relies entirely on the information originally presented. The Review A review demands significantly more work on the part of the auditor, who is expected to determine the accuracy of the information contained in the financial documents presented to them through a series of inquiries and analytical procedures. Because some of the information contained in the financial documents presented by management has been tested, a review provides a moderate degree of assurance that the information is correct and can be trusted. The Audit An audit requires a much greater degree of due diligence than either a compilation or a review. It represents a significant amount of time spent making sure that all of the disclosures and ending balances that are contained in the organization’s financial statements are accurate, including time spent testing internal controls, confirming the engagement and statements from third parties, and examining all source documents in order to make sure that they are representative of the true situation at hand. An audit will often include a physical inspection where appropriate, as well as other procedures that are designed to confirm or refute the information that management has presented. Though an audit will take the most time and be the most expensive procedure, it also provides the highest level of assurance for those considering investing in an organization or lending it money. Feel free to contact this office with any questions relating to the different options for financial documents to be corroborated.