Summer Is Passing Quickly

Winter this year seemed to hold on extra hard, then we had a month of torrential rain, and just as the weather is getting nice, it’s already time for the State Fair.

This also means that corporate, partnership, trust and estate tax returns that are on extension are due in a mere three weeks. If you’ve not gotten started putting that information together, now is the time to start.

As fall approaches, this is also a good time to consider tax planning for the year. With more than half the year passed, projections now can provide great insight both into how your taxes will look come next April, as well as reveal tax saving possibilities with time to get them implemented.

Lastly, if you have kids going off to college this fall, know that there can be some great tax breaks to dull the pain of college expenses. Keep your receipts for required books and fees, and those, along with a 1098-T that the college will send in January, will allow your CPA to get the most out of education tax savings.

About the author

Brady is the owner of Ramsay & Associates. He specializes in financial statement preparation and personal, fiduciary and corporate tax and accounting.

His professional experience includes seven years' experience for local and national CPA firms before joining Ramsay & Associates in 2006.

He has a Bachelor of Accounting degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth. He is a Certified Public Accountant, a member of the Minnesota Society of CPA's, an Eagle Scout, as well as an active volunteer in the community.

Happy Holidays From Ramsay & Associates!

As we enter the last week of the year, we’re busy working on year end tax projections and wrapping up other projects before the New Year dawns and brings with it the 2014 tax season.

We wanted to take a moment and thank all of our clients and the great communities of Mahtomedi and White Bear Lake for their support and patronage during 2013.  We’ve had a front row seat for the ups and downs of the economy over the last five or so years, and it’s great to see that things seem to be, at last, turning for the better.

There have been a bunch of changes around here over the last year; we spruced up the building, made a slight change to our name and a big change to our website, which is now found at ramsaycpa.com.  We have a couple new team members, and are poised to make 2014 even better than 2013, which was pretty great already.

From all of us at Ramsay & Associates, have a great holiday and a prosperous New Year.

About the author

Brady is the owner of Ramsay & Associates. He specializes in financial statement preparation and personal, fiduciary and corporate tax and accounting.

His professional experience includes seven years' experience for local and national CPA firms before joining Ramsay & Associates in 2006.

He has a Bachelor of Accounting degree from the University of Minnesota Duluth. He is a Certified Public Accountant, a member of the Minnesota Society of CPA's, an Eagle Scout, as well as an active volunteer in the community.

Tips for Business Founders Who Can’t Delegate

For those people who choose to strike out on their own and build a business from the ground up, the business can become a part of who they are and how they define themselves as a person.  This has the great advantage of brining their passion and all their energy to the business, but has the unfortunate tendency to result in them micro-managing everything that happens in an ordinary day.

For those with the vision to start and build their own business, allowing someone else to manage part, or all, of the daily operations can be exceptionally hard.  This article from Inc. Magazine has some great words of wisdom for those looking to lead their business, rather than manage it.

Deadlines and Shutdowns

Extended individual tax returns are due a week from tomorrow, so if you are one of the few that we’ve not seen yet, we look forward to seeing you soon.

The effects of the Federal government shutdown are broad reaching, but as they relate to taxes the answer is a little murky.  The IRS is technically closed, so phones are not staffed, IRS offices are closed and any audits in progress are suspended until the government reopens.

That said, all filing and payment deadlines remain in effect, so all taxes need to be filed and paid as if the government was up and running.  All paper tax returns and payments made by check will be considered on time if postmarked by the due date.

The IRS will not, however, be issuing refund checks of any kind during the shutdown.

The system that sends out automated notices will also continue to run during the shutdown, so people may be put in the odd place of getting a notice but not being able to call the IRS and figure out how to resolve it.

We’ll keep track of what’s happening in Washington and bring you the tax related news as it becomes available.

Tax Breaks for School Expenses

As summer begins to draw to a close, students of all ages are preparing to head back to school, and parents are shelling out money for everything from school supplies to tuition and fees.  This presents a great opportunity to summarize the various education-related tax benefits that are in place for these and other expenses.  Even though this benefit won’t be seen until tax time, it’s nice to know all this spending may result in some tax breaks.

Minnesota K-12 Expenses

Minnesota offers two different benefits for K-12 expenses; a subtraction (deduction) from income, and a credit against tax.

The subtraction allows for up to $1,625 of K-6 expenses and $2,500 of 7-12 expenses per child to be deducted from income before calculating Minnesota tax.  Some of the items allowed for the subtraction are listed below, though this is not a complete list.

  • Private school tuition
  • Fees for all-day Kindergarten
  • Music lessons
  • Tuition for summer camps which are primarily academic in focus, such as fine arts or language

For some, claiming a credit against tax would provide a greater benefit.  The credit is allowed for those with incomes between $37,500 and $43,500, depending on the number of children in the household.  In this case, the same expenses above that qualify for the subtraction qualify for the credit, with the exception of private school tuition.

As always, we’re here to help with areas like this, as we have been for nearly 40 years.