If you have minor children, perhaps the most important element of your estate plan doesn’t involve your assets. Rather, it involves who will be your children’s guardian. Questions to Consider When evaluating potential guardians, ask these questions: • Do they want to serve as guardians? • Does your estate [...]
When it comes to deducting charitable gifts, all donations are not created equal. As you file your 2015 return and plan your charitable giving for 2016, it’s important to keep in mind the available deduction: Cash. This includes not just actual cash but gifts made by check, credit card [...]
It’s tax-filing season, and the April deadline to file a 2015 gift tax return is fast approaching. But do you need to file a return? The rules surrounding gift tax returns can be confusing, so let’s review some general guidelines. A federal gift tax return (Form 709) is required [...]
A common estate planning mistake is to designate a minor as beneficiary — or contingent beneficiary — of a life insurance policy or retirement plan. Insurance companies and financial institutions won’t pay large sums of money directly to a minor. Instead, they’ll require costly court proceedings to appoint a [...]
FrieslandCampina Domo and US-based Glycosyn are combining their expertise into a global partnership to develop new infant nutrition ingredients. The parties signed a technology and partnership agreement. Glycosyn has developed a patented technology for the production of oligosaccharides from lactose. FrieslandCampina Domo will produce and introduce these new ingredients [...]
Today it’s becoming more common to work from home. But just because you have a home office space doesn’t mean you can deduct expenses associated with it. Eligibility requirements If you’re an employee, your use of your home office must be for your employer’s convenience, not just your own. [...]
A helping hand: Addressing your parents in your estate plan The “sandwich generation” is a large segment of the population. These are people who find themselves caring for both their children and their parents at the same time. As a result, estate planning — which traditionally focuses on providing [...]
Bonus depreciation allows businesses to recover the costs of depreciable property more quickly by claiming additional first-year depreciation for qualified assets. The Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (the PATH Act) extended 50% bonus depreciation through 2017. The break had expired December 31, 2014, for most assets. [...]
If you’re like many Americans, you may not start thinking about filing your tax return until the April 15 deadline is just a few weeks — or perhaps even just a few days — away. But there’s another date you should keep in mind: January 19. That’s the date [...]
Follow IRS Rules to Avoid Losing Some of Your 2015 Charitable Donation Deductions Sharing your estate with charity by making donations during your life not only benefits your favorite organizations and reduces your taxable estate, but also can reduce your income tax bill. However, if you don’t meet IRS [...]
