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Ken Berry, JD

CPA Practice Advisor Tax Correspondent

Ken Berry, Esq., is a nationally-known writer and editor specializing in tax and financial planning matters. During a career of more than 35 years, he has served as managing editor of a publisher of content-based marketing tools and vice president of an online continuing education company in the financial services industry. As a freelance writer, Ken has authored thousands of articles for a wide variety of newsletters, magazines and other periodicals, emphasizing a sense of wit and clarity.

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business meal

Tax Court Denies Stockbroker's Questionable Meal and Cell Phone Expenses

Your clients might need to be reminded about the stringent rules about travel and expense deductions. Check in with small business clients to ensure that they are sticking to the letter of the law.

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Sales Tax

Amazon to Collect Sales Taxes Nationwide Starting April 1st

The final nail in the coffin was a long time coming. Initially, Amazon contested governmental regulations requiring it to collect states sales taxes, arguing that it should not be have to meet this responsibility in states where it didn’t have a ...

business meal

Tax Court Cracks Down on Business Meal Expenses

The IRS is notoriously stingy when it comes to deducting business meal expenses. Usually, if you can’t meet the substantiation rules under the strict letter of the tax law, it will disallow the deduction. Of course, you can take your chances in Tax ...

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Payroll

Judge Overturns New Overtime Pay Law - What Comes Next?

Under the final overtime rule, certain salary thresholds would have increased, resulting in millions of more Americans becoming eligible for overtime pay. For now, the status quo applies. The DOL is expected to appeal the decision, but President-elect ...

education fringe benefits

Benefits

Education Fringe Benefits Get an A+

If some of your employees are looking to go back to school, or to enroll in college courses for the first time, you might decide to lend a helping hand. An employer can set up a program that effectively pays for all or most of the costs on a ...

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Benefits

Dependent Care Assistance Plans: A Fringe Benefit With Tax Benefits

To help ease the burden of hard-working parents, employers may institute a dependent care assistance plan for employees. Under such a plan, payments made to third parties like babysitters and day care centers are excluded from income if the costs ...

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Accounting

Sales Tax Record Keeping Requirements for Retailers

Clients who don’t adhere to state record keeping requirements run the risk of being penalized by auditors. The exact rules and penalties vary from state to state, but it is definitely in your clients’ best interests to stick to the letter of the law.

Sales Tax

How to Maintain Internal Controls for Sales and Use Taxes

Many of your small business clients, especially those in retail operations, have struggled with responsibilities for collecting and remitting sales and use taxes to the appropriate jurisdictions. This includes issues relating to sales transactions and ...

Donald Trump Income Taxes

Income Tax

New Study Pokes Holes in Trump’s Tax Plan

Calls for federal income tax cuts are a time-honored tradition by presidential candidates of all stripes, but the Tax Policy Center study says that Trump’s plan dwarfs the proposals made by other GOP contenders.

Income Tax

Congress to Tax Debtors: Let Me See Your Passport

Are your federal income taxes overdue? You could lose your passport if you try to leave the country – even if you’re just taking a vacation or business trip abroad.

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Security

IRS Proposal Puts Social Security Numbers of Donors at Risk

A new proposed regulation that would result in some nonprofit organizations reporting the Social Security numbers of donors to the IRS is drawing fire from the conservative sector.

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Financial Reporting

Year-End Insights for State and Local Taxes

The deduction for taxes claimed on Schedule A includes amounts paid for state and local income taxes such as the taxes withheld from your paychecks and any estimated taxes paid during the year. It also includes property taxes if you’re a homeowner.