Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) allow individuals and businesses to buy less expensive health insurance policies with high deductibles, and contributions to the accounts are made on a pre-tax basis. The money can accumulate year after year tax free, and be withdrawn tax free to pay for a variety of medical expenses such as doctor visits, prescriptions,  Continue Reading »

The IRS 2016 optional standard mileage rates are in. These rates are used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes. You can generally deduct actual expenses incurred from driving your vehicle for business. The expenses may cover gas, oil, tires, insurance, repairs, licenses, and registration fees. Also,  Continue Reading »

The new year brought some good news from the IRS for Maine Employers. They announced that the due dates for filing 2015 Affordable Care Act (ACA) information returns have been extended. This gives employers extra time to provide the forms to the recipients, and file the forms with the IRS. Under Internal Revenue Code Section  Continue Reading »

You may be able to deduct the costs of maintaining an office at home, if you’re self-employed in Maine as a sole proprietor, partner, or LLC member. But before you start jumping for joy, it’s important to note that in order to claim a business deduction for an office inside your home, you must use the  Continue Reading »

Overpayments of sales and use taxes may be caused by various situations. For example, retailers and suppliers have been aggressive about charging sales tax to avoid audit deficiencies because field auditors in many states, like Maine, have become more aggressive about assessing taxes, interest, and penalties. Sales tax may be charged in some cases even when a  Continue Reading »

This past holiday season, taxpayers received a “gift” from Washington, D.C. It’s the PATH Act, which stands for Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015. This act does more than just extend expired tax provisions for another year, the bipartisan deal also makes about one-third of these tax provisions permanent, and many others have been extended  Continue Reading »

The tax law passed by Congress and signed by President Obama on December 18th contains some payroll tax provisions that are of interest to Maine employers. Here are four changes in the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (PATH Act). 1. There will be an earlier deadline for filing information returns in 2017.This provision  Continue Reading »

A well-executed inventory count can provide valuable insight into improving operational efficiency for your Maine-based company, even if they seem time consuming and disruptive. Unfortunately, inventory counts are among the most dreaded chores for business owners and managers. Here’s how to run your count to maximize the benefits and minimize the hassle. Reviewing the Basics  Continue Reading »

If you are considering, or planning, to buy or sell business assets or an ownership interest (corporate stock or a partnership or LLC interest), beware of the tricky “related party” tax rules. The Internal Revenue Code contains a number of rules aimed at penalizing sales between individuals or entities that are considered closely connected and thus more likely  Continue Reading »

How It Works You can immediately write off up to $25,000 of the cost of a new or used heavy SUV, pickup or van thanks to the Section 179 deduction privilege. The vehicle must be placed in service by the end of your business tax year beginning in 2015 and used over 50% for business  Continue Reading »