It’s almost 2014, and at this time of year, it’s natural for us to pause and reflect on where we’ve been and where we want to go. For business owners, it’s especially important to raise our minds above the daily fires for a moment, take in some fresh air, and elevate our perspective. Creating an annual theme is an easy and fun vehicle to do just that. Deciding on a theme for the year will give you a focus and a new perspective on your work and your routines. It can be highly rejuvenating to look at things through the lens of your new theme. Ideas for themes are limited only by your imagination. Some possible themes include: Organizing, detoxing, or cleansing. Consider cleaning out your garage (or your office), upgrading your systems, re-designing your filing system, or going on a cleanse or a vacation or a retreat that will leave you feeling clutter- and worry-free. Growth. You might want to consider a growth-related theme, such as productivity or profitability. You might also want to develop a new skill such as learning a new language, developing your computer skills, or taking a philosophy class at your local junior college. Abstract [...]
Tax Musings of a Burbank CPA: New Stealth Taxes You May Already Be Paying
If you have more than $200,000 in income this year, BEWARE! This is the year we have started paying for Obamacare in the following ways: 1. A New .9% Medicare Tax Withheld From Payroll or Paid as Self Employment Tax On Your Tax Return. 2. A New 3.8% Medicare Tax On Investment Income Paid On Your Tax Return. The first medicare tax is actually withheld from your wages or is paid as self employment tax. It is based on wages and self employed income ($200,000 for filing single, head of household and qualifying widows and widowers, $250,000 for filing married joint and $125,000 for filing married separately), so you really have no idea how much you owe until you file your taxes. If married, you get to combine your wages and self employed income with your spouse, then calculate your medicare tax on form 8959 on your personal tax return and reduce it by the taxes withheld to see what you owe. Even more fun, if you have wages, the withholding starts when you have $200,000 in wages by your employer, so if you and your spouse each earn $150,000, you will owe an additional $450.00 in medicare tax ($300,000 wages less $250,000 = $50,000 times .9% = [...]
Musings of a Burbank CPA: Fico makes credits scores free — for almost no one
Now Fico is supposedly making a big deal of its “open access” program to get your Fico score for free, but less than 2% of people can actually get it without paying for it. See this post in MarketWatch by AnnaMaria Androitis for more details: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fico-makes-credits-scores-free-for-almost-no-one-2013-11-14 So do they want us to get it for free or not? They better figure this out because if they are marketing this to only the 2% they might as well not bother. For financial, accounting and tax musings, You can count on us to count for you! Email: bstonercpa@sbcglobal.net Phone: 818-317-6035 Website: www.briantstonercpa.com https://twitter.com/bstonercpa