The individual Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) is unfortunately retained by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). However, here’s the silver lining: The AMT rules now reduce the odds that you’ll owe the AMT for 2018 through 2025. Plus, even if you’re still in the AMT zone, you’ll probably owe less AMT than you did  Continue Reading »

On January 22, a short-term government funding bill was signed into law by President Trump. It ended the brief government shutdown by funding the federal government through February 8. It also suspends the following Affordable Care Act (ACA) taxes, which were designed to help fund health care coverage provided under the ACA. 1. Cadillac Tax For  Continue Reading »

Some parts of the tax code that relate to personal tax returns have been significantly changed by the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). In addition to lowering most of the tax rates and increasing the standard deduction, the TCJA repeals, suspends or modifies some valuable tax deductions. As a result, millions of Americans  Continue Reading »

Question: Our company is an applicable large employer (ALE), and we sponsor a fully insured group health plan. We have to file Forms 1094-C and 1095-C for the 2017 calendar year. When are these forms due this year? Answer: Applicable large employers must: 1. Report to the IRS whether they offered their full-time employees and these employees’ dependents  Continue Reading »

You may have heard about the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) provides businesses with lower income tax rates, but there’s more to it than that. Here’s an overview of some lesser-known, business-friendly changes under the new law, along with a few changes that could affect some businesses adversely. The Good News Starting in 2018,  Continue Reading »

Starting with the 2018 tax year, most businesses in Maine and the U.S. will receive a big tax cut, thanks to the new law that was enacted on December 22. However, some industries (such as banking, hospitality and retail) generally expect to reap more benefits than others (such as certain professional practices). The provisions in  Continue Reading »

It’s true—the tax rules for pass-through entities, including S corporations, limited liability companies (LLCs), partnerships and sole proprietorships, have generally become more beneficial. However, they have also become more confusing under the new law. So deciding on which type of entity is best for your business will depend on several factors, which are explained in  Continue Reading »

For individual taxpayers, the new tax law — commonly known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) — includes many expected changes, some unexpected ones and some that didn’t make the final cut. Here are the most important things that individual taxpayers need to know about the TCJA, which was signed into law on December 22,  Continue Reading »

If your Maine business is scrambling to get up-to-date on changes to the federal tax rules under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, note that there also will be major changes to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Here’s an overview of the major accounting rules that will change over the next few years. Likely, these  Continue Reading »

For Maine employers, the most immediate concrete change the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) will bring about is new payroll tax withholding rates. Here’s the latest from the IRS: “We anticipate issuing the initial withholding guidance in January reflecting the new legislation, which would allow taxpayers to begin seeing the benefits of the change as  Continue Reading »