Bruce Starks, CPA, CFP® – Page 35

IRS Discount “Coupons” – Flexible Spending Arrangements

Good to Know If your doctor emailed a 35% discount coupon to your inbox, would you take the free money? Your clients that are under-utilizing Flexible Spending Arrangements to pay medical and child-care costs may be throwing away free money. How? Contributions to the Flexible Spending Arrangements discussed herein are not subject to income, Social…

No Additional Cost Services Exclusion

Course: Income Tax PlanningLesson 6: Employer-Sponsored Total Income Exclusions Student Question: For “No Additional Cost Services” provided by an employer, which are excluded from employee income, there is the requirement that no significant costs are incurred. How is “significant” cost determined? Significant sounds subjective. Is there a general rule for determining what is considered significant?…

The Jackie Robinson of Financial Planning

CFP® Certificants in the News In a recent CFP Board press release, Board Chair Kevin Keller announced that, “As we celebrate Black History Month, I want to recognize LeCount Davis, CFP® for his contributions to the financial planning profession. LeCount was the first African American to earn the CFP® certification, and I am not alone in considering…

ALERT – IRS Audit Red Flags

Good to Know The “red flag” expression comes to us courtesy of its first use in 1602 to signal the preparation for war. An IRS audit, while not a declaration of war against a taxpayer, can certainly put an unprepared client in the cross hairs of an unpleasant tax conflict. Before unfurling the red flags,…

Accounting for Inflation

Course: Fundamentals of Financial PlanningLesson 5: Using the Calculator Student Question: Good afternoon. Can you explain why we didn’t take inflation into consideration for the second calculation in the first problem? Dawn wants to have $25,000 in today’s dollars for a round-the-world cruise when she retires 11 years from now. She assumes she can earn…

Calculating Late Filing/Paying Penalties

Course: Income Tax PlanningLesson 1: Introduction to Taxation Student Question: For this question, could you send me the math behind finding the answer? I want a better understanding of how the penalty was assessed. Review Exercise: Jerry’s taxes were due April 15th. He filed his return in October of the same year and paid his…

The Qualified Business Income Deduction – Part I

Good to Know The Section 199A deduction, popularly referred to as the 20% Qualified Business Income deduction, was enacted to reduce the disparity in income tax rates between C Corporations and “pass-through businesses.” There is no entity level income tax in pass-through businesses – business gains and losses “pass through” to the business owner’s personal…

2021 FINANCIAL PLANNING FORECAST

CFP® Certificants in the News According to a January 11, 2021, report by CFP Board, “…nearly 1 in 5 CFP® professionals reported that clients leaned on them as a financial therapist first and a financial planner second [in 2020]…”. Other key trends were reported by CFP Board, including: The rise of virtual financial planning “Advice…

ALERT – Tax Gift for 2020 PPP Borrowers

Good to Know In the cosmic order of U.S. tax law, expenses associated with tax-free income are frequently not deductible. In the case of Payroll Protection Program loans, the IRS went one step further to rule that expenses paid with the proceeds of PPP loan debt were not deductible if the loan was merely expected…

CFP BOARD ACHIEVES RECORD GROWTH of CFP PROFESSIONALS

CFP® Certificants in the News Despite the specter of the pandemic, the number of CFP® Professionals grew in 2020 to 87,726. We will rely upon selected excerpts from CFP Board Reports Impressive 2020 Growth to summarize the growth and increasing diversification of CFP® Professionals. Increasing Diversity According to CFP Board CEO Kevin Keller, “The increase in…