Affordable bookkeeping services Coral Springs, Florida: There’s no question that a bookkeeping service saves your business both time and money, but the processes and consistency introduced by one can increase the longevity and efficiency of your business, making you more profitable for decades to come. Hiring a bookkeeping service is about more than just finding someone who can use a calculator and understand QuickBooks. You want a full-fledged team that has the professional background, training and experience to really benefit your business. People whose expertise you can rely on. Ideally, you want to focus on those who have QuickBooks Pro Advisors certification, additional professional certifications in specific accounting software or and those that employ AIPB Certified bookkeepers.

File Early: There are three good reasons to complete your filing as early as possible: Information Is Readily Available. Employers, vendors, and financial institutions are legally obligated to mail the required W-2s and 1099-Rs by Jan. 31. Complete your taxes as soon as you have all the necessary information to prevent confusion, tension, and misplacing documents. Filing Is Inevitable. Filing your taxes is something you must do every year, so why procrastinate? Getting it behind you gives you time to focus on other things. You Can Invest Your Refund as Soon as Possible. Your money won’t earn interest in the government’s till. File your return now and invest the refund to get the most out of your money. The one reason to delay filing until April 15 is because you owe taxes. If you have tax liabilities, the best approach is to complete the calculations and fill out all of the required forms but delay the actual filing until April 15. You won’t be charged any penalty or interest if you file and remit any unpaid balance at that time.

Invest in Qualified Opportunity Funds: Taxpayers can defer paying capital gains by reinvesting their money into Qualified Opportunity Funds. The funds, which were created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, are intended to spur economic development and job creation in distressed communities. If money is held in a Qualified Opportunity Fund for seven years, 15% of the capital gains tax on the investment is eliminated. “It’s a wonderful tax incentive,” Zollars says. However, like other provisions of the tax reform law, the funds and their tax-savings benefits are scheduled to end in 2026. That means to have your money held in a fund for seven years, you’ll need to make an investment before Dec. 31, 2019.

Keep track of your charitable contributions: When you do good for others, you deserve to get some tax benefits. While you can include charitable contributions to qualified organizations in your itemized deductions, doing so may require a little extra documentation. For example, you can’t deduct a contribution of more than $250 unless you have a written acknowledgment from the organization. Also, noncash contributions may require different records, such as a description of what you donated and its fair market value. Be sure to get the full tax benefit of your generosity by keeping good records of all your charitable contributions to qualified organizations throughout the year. See even more information at Parkland Bookkeepers.

The maximum amount of wages garnished varies depending on the garnishment, but they range from 15 percent of disposable earnings for student loans to as much as 65 percent of disposable earnings for child support (if the employee is at least 12 weeks in arrears). In states that have enacted laws differing from federal wage garnishment requirements, employers must comply with state laws demanding a lesser garnishment. And because state laws differ (North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas generally prohibit wage garnishment for consumer debts altogether), employers should ascertain what’s required of them by state law before proceeding with garnishment. No matter how high the debt, employees will always be allowed to keep a certain percentage of their paycheck for general living expenses.

Reinvested dividends: This isn’t really a tax deduction, but it is a subtraction that can save you a lot of money. And it’s one that many taxpayers miss. If, like most investors, you have mutual fund dividends automatically invested in extra shares, remember that each reinvestment increases your “tax basis” in the stock or mutual fund. That, in turn, reduces the amount of taxable capital gain (or increases the tax-saving loss) when you sell your shares. Forgetting to include the reinvested dividends in your cost basis—which you subtract from the proceeds of sale to determine your gain—means overpaying your taxes. TurboTax Premier and Home & Business tax preparation solutions include a very cool tool—Cost Basis Lookup—that will figure your basis for you and make sure you get credit for every dime of reinvested dividends.

We are located in Coral Springs, Florida. Our Accounting and Bookkeeping Company is comprised of accountants who provide bookkeeping, accounting, tax, and business management services to individuals, S corporations, and businesses of all sizes. We provide superior personal service and show you how specific tax laws and deductions will affect you and your company. Our goal is to help you understand the tax laws, provide you with tax and accounting resources, and maximize your tax savings by taking every legal tax deduction that you deserve. Find even more information at Bookkeeping South Florida.