It’s not uncommon for folks here in Portland and all across Maine to be self-employed. Those who are probably pay the self-employment (SE) tax. But people who do the occasional odd job or only collect income for one-off circumstances may not have to pay the SE tax. If this type of work applies to you,  Continue Reading »

Though the individual federal income tax rates established by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) aren’t scheduled to expire until the end of 2025, some analysts think they could be repealed sooner. Next year’s presidential election and concerns over an increasing national deficit are two reasons why tax breaks may not stick around for  Continue Reading »

Between 2010 and 2018 the median age in Maine increased from 42.7 to 44.9, this according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That 2.2 year increase is twice the national average and a reminder that our state’s population is aging. When you consider this fact alongside the recent changes in the estate tax code, it may  Continue Reading »

Exelon Corp. v. Commissioner In 2016, Tax Court Judge Laro ruled on the legitimacy of a series of Section 1031 transactions involving Exelon, an Illinois-based energy giant. The court agreed with the Internal Revenue Service that Exelon was liable for a deficiency of nearly $432 million as well as an $87 million accuracy penalty. The  Continue Reading »

If you’re spending one of Maine’s many rainy spring days to clean up your home or office, you may want to purge yourself of some old paperwork. But before completely cleaning out your filing cabinet or deleting old files from your computer, it’s important to know what you should hold on to and what you  Continue Reading »

What should you do if your company becomes the victim of a W-2 scam? The IRS recently explained how to report the scam and your next steps (and how to avoid being taken in by this scam!). What Is A W-2 Scam? Any company can be the target of a W-2 scam. These scams have  Continue Reading »

Three federal agencies—the IRS, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Health and Human Services—have issued proposed regulations that would let employers fund tax-exempted health reimbursement arrangements in order to help pay for employees’ individual health insurance premiums. A health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) is an arrangement funded by an employer that is set up  Continue Reading »

One of the changes in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) was to eliminate itemized deductions for employees who incur unreimbursed expenses for company business for 2018 through 2025. To minimize the adverse effects of this TCJA, you can set up a so-called “accountable plan.” Here’s how the accountable plan deal works and why  Continue Reading »

There are a number of important tax changes for individuals and businesses in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). It can be hard to keep track of which changes are permanent and which are scheduled to expire at the end of 2025 without Congress extending them. Here is a cheat sheet of which changes  Continue Reading »

The IRS has issued much-anticipated regulations regarding the new deduction of up to 20% of qualified business income (QBI) from pass-through entities. The QBI deduction is a major piece of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into law in December 2017. The deduction will be available to eligible owners of pass-through entities for tax  Continue Reading »