Deducting Your Travel Expenses

If you are commuting or traveling for business, the IRS will normally allow you to list travel expenses in your itemizations. Whether the expense was incurred locally or globally, you can still deduct a portion. Nonetheless, knowing when deductions are allowed and how much to deduct can prove difficult.

If your employer is reimbursing your expenses, you are not allowed to deduct them. Employers are also allowed to pay “per diem” rates per month. You cannot deduct more than the per diem rate per day from your taxes. This rate fluctuates based on the city. Current rates are $172 per day for any low-cost locality and $259 for any high cost locality. This includes the cost of lodging, meals and incremental expenses. Instead of reimbursing employees for actual business expenses, employers can choose to reimburse employees for these amounts. The first and last day of the trip are reimbursed at 75% … Read More

Accounting Gone Wrong: How to Avoid Ponzi and Pyramid Schemes

Ever wondered how to keep yourself safe from fraudulent business practices such as Ponzi and Pyramid Schemes?

This post and infographic are courtesy of Udemy, an education company “Helping Anyone Learn Anything!”
Check them out at https://www.udemy.com/.
Original article is found here.  Used with permission.

In the world of large-scale capitalism, corporate accountants shoulder huge responsibilities: They must monitor, analyze, and report the financial health of their organizations to both owners and stakeholders alike.

These reports, when positive, can be the catalyst for investments. For investors, supplying capital or purchasing stock in a business involves careful assessment of risk and benefit, of loss and gain. This insecurity is something that can be measured and analyzed.

But when a corporation provides false information – manipulated earnings, inaccurate invoices, or other misleading financial statements – investors have no idea what they’re getting into. And sometimes, with so much on the line, … Read More

The Viagra College Fund Phenomenon

Mary Beth Franklin (contributing editor for investmentnews.com) published an interesting piece recently. In it, she describes a Social Security benefit strategy which she titles The Viagra College Fund.

This college fund strategy applies to retirement age fathers with children who are still minors. These children can be your natural children, adopted children or dependent stepchildren.

The first step of the strategy is for you to reach the official retirement age. Once you hit full retirement age, your earnings cap is removed and you can continue to work without lowering your benefits. You are also allowed to postpone filing, electing to suspend your Social Security benefits instead.

If you have a child who is a minor, your suspension will automatically trigger a monthly payment for your dependent. This payment is worth 50% of the full retirement benefit you would receive.

To further improve the situation, the payments received by your dependent do … Read More