Ways Your Can Stop Tracking Links

As posted to the Naomi Brockwell YouTube Channel on 5/21/22 (Run Time: 9 min, 17 sec) In this informative video, Naomi Brockwell provides a primer on how tracking links work, and offers suggestions for identifying/bypassing them, and using a browser that does the best job at circumventing them. The author's outline of the clip on YouTube is as follows: Tracking links are a way for sites to track you across the web. They usually look like super long strings of random numbers attached to the end of normal URLs, and companies use them to build up dossiers on people based on their browsing habits. And they can reveal VERY sensitive information about you! What is Naomi's recommendation for an optimal privacy preserving browser?  Brave. (This is Blog Post #1229) Naomi Brockwell is...

IRS Releases Updated Cost Segregation Audit Techniques Guide

On 6/1/22, the IRS made available an update to the "Cost Segregation Audit Techniques Guide" (Publication 5653).  Originally issued in 2004, the purpose of the Audit Techniques Guide (ATG) was to offer guidance to IRS auditors auditing cost segregation studies.  Because the ATG is an interpretation of the law, as opposed to the law itself, it cannot be cited as precedent.  It does however provide an inside look at how the IRS views this subject. The IRS maintains a library of Audit Techniques Guides (ATGs) intended to help IRS examiners during audits by providing insight into issues and accounting methods unique to specific industries. While ATGs are designed to provide guidance for IRS employees, they’re also useful to small business owners and tax professionals who prepare...

Is it a Good Time for a Roth Conversion?

The downturn in the stock market may have caused the value of your retirement account to decrease. But if you have a traditional IRA, this decline may provide a valuable opportunity: It may allow you to convert your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA at a lower tax cost. Traditional vs. Roth Here’s what makes a traditional IRA different from a Roth IRA: Traditional IRA. Contributions to a traditional IRA may be deductible, depending on your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) and whether you (or your spouse) participate in a qualified retirement plan, such as a 401(k). Funds in the account can grow tax deferred. On the downside, you generally must pay income tax on withdrawals. In addition, you’ll face a penalty if you withdraw funds before age 59½ —...

Valuing Synergies

In mergers and acquisitions (M&As), there are some buyers who are willing to pay a premium above the fair market value of the business on a controlling basis. This premium typically is the result of cost-saving or revenue-building synergies that a specific buyer can potentially gain by acquiring the seller’s business. When selling a business, it makes sense to find a buyer who’s willing to pay the highest possible price. Here’s some guidance to help identify synergistic buyers and establish a reasonable asking price. What is synergistic value? According to the International Valuation Glossary — Business Valuation, synergistic value is “the result of a combination of two or more assets or interests where the combined value is more than the sum of the separate values.” This often results...

The Ins and Outs of Series EE Savings Bond Taxation

Many people own Series E and Series EE bonds that were bought many years ago. They may rarely look at them or think about them except on occasional trips to a file cabinet or safe deposit box. One of the main reasons for buying U.S. savings bonds (such as Series EE bonds) is the fact that interest can build up without the need to currently report or pay tax on it. The accrued interest is added to the redemption value of the bond and is paid when the bond is eventually cashed in. Unfortunately, the law doesn’t allow for this tax-free buildup to continue indefinitely. The difference between the bond’s purchase price and its redemption value is taxable interest. Series EE bonds, which have a maturity period...

6 Tips for Foiling Fake Suppliers in Online Marketplaces

Supply chain issues continue to hurt many U.S. businesses — possibly in more ways than you think. Not only do supply shortages and delays make it difficult for companies to ramp up business and recover from the pandemic slowdown, but they also make some fraud schemes easier to perpetrate. For example, criminals might advertise hard-to-get goods, then ship defective products — or no products at all — to unsuspecting buyers. Here are six tips to help your company avoid losses from such scams: 1. Evaluate marketplace safety. Many online marketplaces invest heavily in preventing fraud and are willing to reimburse funds stolen from customers. But not all of them are proactive. Before using an online platform to buy goods, review its fraud policy. And if you’re defrauded,...

Partners May Have to Report More Income on Tax Returns Than They Receive in Cash

Are you a partner in a business? You may have come across a situation that’s puzzling. In a given year, you may be taxed on more partnership income than was distributed to you from the partnership in which you’re a partner. Why does this happen? It’s due to the way partnerships and partners are taxed. Unlike C corporations, partnerships aren’t subject to income tax. Instead, each partner is taxed on the partnership’s earnings — whether or not they’re distributed. Similarly, if a partnership has a loss, the loss is passed through to the partners. (However, various rules may prevent a partner from currently using his or her share of a partnership’s loss to offset other income.) Pass through your share While a partnership isn’t subject to income tax,...

IRA Charitable Donations as an Alternative to Taxable Required Distributions

Are you a charitably minded individual who is also taking distributions from a traditional IRA? You may want to consider the tax advantages of making a cash donation to an IRS-approved charity out of your IRA. When distributions are taken directly out of traditional IRAs, federal income tax of up to 37% in 2022 will have to be paid. State income taxes may also be owed. Qualified charitable distributions One popular way to transfer IRA assets to charity is via a tax provision that allows IRA owners who are age 70½ or older to direct up to $100,000 per year of their IRA distributions to charity. These distributions are known as qualified charitable distributions (QCDs). The money given to charity counts toward your required minimum distributions (RMDs) but...

3 Approaches to Valuing a Business

Valuing a private business is a complex endeavor. But, when all is said and done, valuation analyses boil down to three general approaches. 1. Market approach Under this approach, valuators derive pricing multiples from public or private comparable transactions. These pricing multiples are then applied to the subject company to derive its value. For example, an expert might calculate a median price-to-earnings multiple of 4.5 based on a sample of six comparable transactions. Then the valuator would multiply the subject company’s earnings by 4.5 to arrive at its value. The expert also must consider whether adjustments are warranted to account for the differences between the subject company and comparable firms. Two popular methods fall under the market approach. First, the guideline public company method uses the prices paid for...