This past year has been like no other. Obviously, the Covid crisis has been front and center in politics and the economy. The other complication is the tax code. Because of Covid and the fall out of the economy, there have been many tax law changes that took effect in 2020. In this newsletter, I […]

Is Tax Planning for You? For the majority of taxpayers tax planning is not a requirement. Most taxpayers have basic tax situations in which they are an employee and have a W-2, some investment income, and maybe a few deductions. In those cases tax planning is probably not warranted. However, there are some taxpayers that […]

Personal information What should I bring? Let’s start with the basics: Last year’s taxes, both your federal and — if applicable — state return. These aren’t strictly necessary, but they’re good refreshers of what you filed last year and the documents you used. Social Security numbers for yourself, your spouse and all dependents. Remember, in addition to children, […]

End of the Year Tax Tips As we head towards the end of the year I have a few tax tips that might save you a few bucks in taxes and also keep you out of trouble. Here you go. Business Deductions For business owners you may consider accelerating deduction at the end of the […]

Taking Time to Organize Your Books The pace of running a business is intense. There is always something coming at you, and the last thing you want to deal with is billing, payments, reconciling bank accounts, etc. Believe me, I completely understand. The problem is that I have seen businesses end up paying more in […]

2018 Tax Outlook: Big Changes in Place!     If you blinked, you might have missed it! Late last year, Washington passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 — the biggest tax overhaul in 31 years. It was so long ago that Ronald Reagan was still in the White House. Matlock, Alf, and […]

Tax Reform Act What It Means For You The recently passed tax legislation known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and was signed into law on December 22, 2017, is the most comprehensive change to the tax code in more than 30 years. It contains a large number of provisions that affect individual taxpayers […]

The Epidemic of Tax Cheating Nobody likes to pay taxes. I don’t. You probably don’t. But as the old axiom states, the two facts of life are death and taxes. Now we do have some control about our reaction to taxes. We can whine and complain about the amount of taxes that we pay. We […]

Congratulations! Our clients, David & Eva Garley, were the lucky winners of the Carlson Tax Consultants $100 gift card Tax Survey Drawing! Thanks to all of you who participated in our survey.  We received nearly 60 responses, and we greatly appreciate your feedback.  It is reassuring to see so many positive comments, and it inspires […]

  Tax Deadline Moves  With the tax deadline fast approaching there are still some last minute tax saving opportunities for many tax payers and some changes that you should be aware of. Here are a few that you might consider as the dreaded day draws near. Tax Deadline Date Change By act of congress the […]

 Tax Record Retention The most frequent tax question I get asked is: How long do I need to retain my tax records? The answer I give is it depends on the type of tax records that you have but there are some general rules of thumb that most taxpayer’s should adhere to. Three Year Rule […]