Time to Lower Your Tax Bill

It's easy to push tax planning to the sidelines when tax laws are ever-changing and hard to understand. Here are some common (but often unfounded) reasons for avoiding tax situations, plus tips to help get past them and start paying less tax this year:

• It doesn't make a difference. This point of view is especially problematic in years with unique situations.  Even in uneventful years, external forces like new tax laws can be managed if planned for in advance.
• Selling a house? You can avoid taxes if primary residence requirements are met.
• Starting a business? Choosing the correct entity can save you a bunch of taxes.
• Getting ready to retire? Properly balancing the different revenue streams (part-time wages, Social Security benefits, IRA distributions and more) has a huge impact on your tax liability.
• It's out of your control. Timing is important when it comes to minimizing taxes, and the timing is often in your control. Bundling multiple years of donations into one to get a deduction, holding investments over one year to get a lower tax rate, and making efficient retirement withdrawals are just some examples of prudent tax strategies that you control.
• There's not enough money. There are tax strategies to be implemented at all income levels, not just those at the top of the tax bracket. Tax deductions are available for student loan interest, IRA contributions and others even if you claim the standard deduction. Certain tax credits (called refundable credits) will increase your refund even if you don't owe taxes. Missing any of these tax breaks can unnecessarily increase your taxes.
• I only need help at tax time. When the standard deduction doubled in 2018, many people assumed they could kick their feet up and wait for a big refund. That assumption proved to be false for a large number of taxpayers when their refunds came in lower than expected or turned into a tax bill. Don't let this happen to you! Every year has its own set of changes and challenges that you should plan for well before tax time rolls around.
• It's too overwhelming. Tax planning is often as simple as looking for ways to reduce taxable income, delay a tax bill, increase tax deductions, and take advantage of all available tax credits. The best place to start is to bolster your level of tax knowledge by picking up the phone and asking for assistance.

Thankfully, it's not too late to get on track for 2019. If you haven't scheduled a tax-planning meeting, now is a great time to do so.

If you have questions, call us at (219) 769-3616 or email them to tlynch@swartz-retson.com.

Insurance Tips to Protect Your Assets and Your Bank Account

Have you conducted a business insurance review lately? Changes in your business equipment, real estate holdings, the amount of inventory, and the number of employees are all good reasons to review your insurance. Here are a few policy review tips to consider:

• Keep in regular contact with your insurance company. Keep your insurance agent apprised of what you are doing in your business. Try to meet with your agent throughout the year, and conduct a detailed annual review of your insurance needs.
• Understand how business changes affect your policy. Figure out how your policy covers common changes, as well as other changes you know are happening soon. This involves understanding the limits and terms of your policy. You can start by asking if you're properly insured for property damage, liability coverage, health and disability, and life insurance.
• Conduct a competitive review. Periodically conduct a competitive review of your insurance needs. Bring in at least two other insurance providers, as well as your current provider. The frequency of the review will be driven by changes in your business, the stability of your current insurance provider, and the need to understand the evolving landscape of business liabilities. A review will keep your premiums competitive, as well as help you learn about coverage holes in your current policy.
• Identify evolving coverage risks. As the business climate evolves, so should your insurance coverage. Think about what's on the horizon. Who would have anticipated the need to cover cyber attacks and identity theft 10 years ago?
• Review safety plans and company policies. This goes hand-in-hand with a business insurance review. Make sure your team is adhering to established employment and operations policies. Getting an insurance claim approved and maintaining reasonable premiums often depend on specific factors you can reinforce through these policies.

Finding the right level of coverage for the right price is possible, but it takes some preparation and planning. Invest some time now to review your insurance policies to save a lot of potential pain and money down the road.

If you have questions, call us at (219) 769-3616 or email them to gward@swartz-retson.com.

Elements of Good Business Partnership

Like a bundle of sticks, good business partners support each other and are less likely to crack under strain together than on their own. In fact, companies with multiple owners have a stronger chance of surviving their first five years than sole proprietorships, according to U.S. Small Business Administration data.
Yet sole proprietorships are more common than partnerships, making up more than 70 percent of all businesses. That's because while good partnerships are strong, they can be hard to make. Here are some elements that good business partnerships require:

• A shared vision
  Business partnerships need a shared vision. If there are differences in vision, make an honest effort to find compromise. If you want to start a restaurant and your partner envisions a fine dining experience with French cuisine, while you want an American bistro, you are going to be disagreeing over everything from pricing and marketing to hiring and decor.
• Compatible strengths
  Different people bring different skills and personalities to a business. There is no stronger glue to hold a business partnership together than when partners need and rely on each other's abilities. Suppose one person is great at accounting and inventory management, and another is a natural at sales and marketing. Each is free to focus on what they are good at and can appreciate that their partner will pick up the slack in the areas where they are weak.
• Defined roles and limitations
  Before going into business, outline who will have what responsibilities. Agree which things need consensus and which do not. Having this understanding up front will help resolve future disagreements. Outlining the limits of each person's role not only avoids conflict, it also identifies where you need to hire outside expertise to fulfill a skill gap in your partnership.
• A conflict resolution strategy
  Conflict is bound to arise even if the fundamentals of your partnership are strong. Set up a routine for resolving conflicts. Start with a schedule for frequent communication between partners. Allow each person to discuss issues without judgment. If compromise is still difficult after discussion, it helps to have someone who can be a neutral arbiter, such as a trusted employee or consultant.
• A goal-setting system
  Create a system to set individual goals as well as business goals. Regularly meet together and set your goals, the steps needed to achieve them, who needs to take the next action, and the expected date of completion.
• An exit strategy
  It's often easier to get into business with a partner than to exit when it isn't working out. Create a buy-sell agreement at the start of your business relationship. This should outline how you exit the business and create a fair valuation system to pay the exiting owner. Neither the selling partner nor the buying partner want to feel taken advantage of during an ownership transition.

If you have questions, call us at (219) 769-3616 or email them to gward@swartz-retson.com.

Time to Consider If It Is Worth Amending Your Return

Whether it makes sense to amend your return depends on which of these situations you're in:

If you owe the IRS
If you discover an omission on your tax return that results in you owing additional tax, you need to correct it with an amendment and provide the tax due.
Don't delay if this is your situation. If the IRS discovers the omission before you do, they may add interest and penalties to your bill.

If you are due a refund
If you find a mistake that should result in getting a larger refund check, you can claim it by filing an amended return. But there are several reasons it may not be worth it.

• It may open a can of worms. In many cases, amending your federal return means also amending your state returns. Multiply the hassle if the error spans across two or more years.
• It puts a spotlight on you. While your original return may have passed through the IRS's automated system without a hitch, now that it's amended you can virtually guarantee it will get a closer look. If you have anything else in your return that can trigger an audit, like business deductions, charitable donations, or other credits, this can be a concern.
• It may take a long time to get a refund. The IRS tries to process your original return within three weeks. No such luck for an amended return. It can take several months to get an amended return processed and see that extra refund, even as long as 1½ years in rare cases.
• It stretches out the audit window. The IRS generally has a three-year window to audit returns and request changes. When you file an amendment, you extend the audit time frame.
• It may be too late. Depending on when you notice an error and how far it goes back, it may be too late. The deadline to file an amendment is generally the later of three years after the original return was filed, or two years after the tax for that year was paid.

Ultimately you have to weigh the extra money you could get from amending against the potential problems it could cause. If it's worth it, get an amendment filed.

Call to get help with an amendment or if you have other tax questions.

If you have questions, call us at (219) 769-3616 or email them to tlynch@swartz-retson.com