●  July 2010 Tax Alert   - Mixing Business Trips with Pleasure  With summer now in full swing many of us start to think about vacations. Often business trips, conventions, and continuing education seminars are planned to incorporate exotic locations and leisure time. With proper planning, these trips can yield great personal pleasure while generating legitimate deductions. Although the basic rules are relatively simple, there are a number of factors to consider........      (Read full article)

●  June 2010 Tax Alert   - HIRE Act: Incentives to Hire and Retain the Unemployed  In an effort to confront high unemployment, the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment (HIRE) Act provides incentives for hiring and retaining unemployed workers.  Under the HIRE Act, a qualified employer's 6.2 percent share of OASDI Social Security tax liability is forgiven for new hires, and a general business credit is allowed for each retained worker that satisfies a minimum employment period........      (Read full article)

●  May 2010 Tax Alert   - Convention Expenses – Self-Employed Individuals
The Tax Code allows you to deduct the cost of attending work-related conventions, conferences and seminars, but your attendance at these functions must be related to your business and they must benefit your business activities.......      (Read full article)

●  April 2010 Tax Alert   - Establishing Profit Motive  If you are thinking about turning your hobby into a business you should be aware that the IRS has rules
that generally limit the deductibility of expenses and losses from a hobby or activity not engaged in for profit.  If the IRS determines that an activity is not profit-driven, deductions from the activity are limited to the amount of income the activity generates. Losses from such activities cannot be used to offset other income, such as salary or investments........      (Read full article)

●  March 2010 Tax Alert   - 2009 4th Quarter Developments  The start of 2010, and tax planning for the rest of 2010, has been shaped in several important ways by recent developments that took place just as 2009 drew to a close.  Those fourth quarter 2009 tax developments should not be overlooked both in implementing 2009 return preparation strategies and in developing ways to immediately start lowering your 2010 tax bill.......      (Read full article)

●  February 2010 Tax Alert   - Proving Tax Deductions Without Canceled Checks
The Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act (Check 21) became effective several years ago. Check 21 allowed your bank to truncate each of your checks and create a new electronic negotiable instrument called a substitute check. After doing this, your bank destroys your original check.......      (Read full article)

●  January 2010 Tax Alert   - Employee Expense Rules  As you know, business meals, lodging, and incidental expenses incurred while traveling away from home are deductible if properly substantiated. Although taxpayers have the option of keeping the actual records of travel expenses, IRS-provided per diem allowances can be used instead to substantiate the business travel expenses......      (Read full article)

●  October 2009 Tax Alert   - Reviewing Last Year's Tax Return for 2009 Tax Savings  Now is a good time for you to take proactive steps by examining your 2008 return to determine what you might do differently this year to change the outcome of your 2009 return to realize greater tax savings......     (Read full article)

●  September 2009 Tax Alert   -  Business and Nonbusiness Bad Debts  It is virtually inevitable that all of us will at one time or another incur financial losses in our business and personal lives. One frequently occurring type of loss is a bad debt......     (Read full article)

●  August 2009 Tax Alert  - 2009 Planning: Casualty Losses  If your home or other property is damaged as a result of a fire, earthquake, flood, hurricane, vandalism or similar event, you may be able to take a deduction for the loss......     (Read full article)

2009 Recovery Act: American Opportunity Education Credit  The American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009 (2009 Recovery Act), which provides billions of dollars of tax relief, includes a tax credit for individuals seeking a college education. This provision may benefit you as a parent of a child working toward a college degree......     (Read full article)