CHRISTMAS EDITION 2006 - A Semi-Regular Publication of the Northland Pioneer College SBDC
Jessica Stago, Director
dIRECTORS REPORT
Get in all your tax deductions before year end!
A SPECIAL ONE TIME TAX CREDIT ON YOUR 2006 TAX RETURN
When it comes time to prepare and file your 2006 tax return, make sure you don’t overlook the “federal excise tax refund credit.” You claim the credit on line 71 of your form 1040. A similar line will be available if you file the short form 1040 A. If you have friends or family who no longer file a tax return AND they have their own land phone in their home and have been paying a phone bill for years, make sure they know about this form 1040 EZ-T.
What is this all about?
For the full story click here.
IT'S TAX TIME - ARE YOU READY?
Your SBDC has lots of tools to help your small business with accounting and taxes. We offer basic training in the leading accounting software, Quick Books, and can even offer one-on-one assistance on helping with your systems and needs. (Note: we do not offer tax advice and refer clients to professional tax advisors as a normal course of assistance.)
Here are five tax tips for small businesses, offered to you by
Jessica Seid Dickler, CNNMoney.com staff writer. Aside from
buying gifts, attending parties and making travel arrangements it's
also the season to be tax planning.
The following advice, culled from a few small business tax experts,
will help make your tax burden less like coal and more like candy -
just as long as you get your accounts in gear before New Year's Eve.
For the full story click
here.
The following site offers basic training for taxes - it's online and
easy to use:
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/green/taxes/basics-toc.asp
How long should records be kept? To download a PDF file that explains what you need to keep and for how long, click here.
USING RETIREMENT FUNDS FOR BUSINESS INVESTMENT
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| Tax Talk by George Saenz, CPA • Bankrate.com |
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Dear
Tax Talk,
Is there a product where I can roll
-- Richard
Dear
Richard,
You can't borrow from or pledge your IRA, as that would be considered
a taxable distribution. However, you can borrow from certain
retirement plans.
Basically, the plan has to allow for participant
loans. You can borrow up to the lesser of $50,000 or one-half of your
vested account balance. However, if you're leaving your current
employer to explore business opportunities, you should be able to set
up your own pension plan with a rollover of the
You'll need to set up a company, preferably an S corporation that will establish a pension plan. You don't actually have to use the S corporation for the new business operations; rather you can use it as your form of investment in the new business. You should meet with a qualified CPA that can help you set up the planned investment and provide guidance on establishing the right retirement plan and on structuring your potential investment.
To ask a question on Tax Talk, go to the "Ask the Experts" page, and select "taxes" as the topic.
CONTROL RISING HEALTHCARE COSTS
Several years ago, the United States Congress piloted a program called
Archer Medical Savings Account (MSA) to help small businesses cope
with increasing health insurance premiums. Used in conjunction with
Qualified High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs), these medical plans
had to meet government guidelines for maximum deductibles on an
individual and family basis, as well as limits on maximum annual
out-of-pocket expenses. The rationale for having such a plan was
twofold. First, by using a high deductible plan, employers would pay
less in premiums. Insurance companies would no longer be responsible
for the first dollar of health care costs.
For the full story click here.
SBDC News is published by the Northland Pioneer College SBDC as a service to clients and small businesses.
