Need help organizing your financial documents?

If you don’t have a clear idea of how long you need to keep your various financial documents, you’re not alone. Many us of end up keeping everything, and the piles just keeping growing – sometimes at an alarming rate. Here is some guidance to help determine how long to keep your records.

Keep less than a year

  • Retain ATM, bank deposit and credit cards receipts until you reconcile them with your monthly statements. (Then you can shred them unless you need them to support your tax return.)
  • Insurance policies and investments statements should be retained until you receive updated documents.

Keep for a year or longer

  • Retain loan documents until the loan is paid off.
  • Car titles should be retained until you sell the vehicle.
  • For stocks, bonds and mutual funds, keep purchase confirmations so you can establish your cost basis and holding period.

Keep for seven years

  • Keep all
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NOL (Net Operating Loss) Rules Changes

The CARES Act made three changes to Net Operating Losses (NOLs) to improve cash flow for struggling businesses:

  • Provided a five-year carryback for losses earned in 2018, 2019, or 2020, which allows firms to modify tax returns up to five years prior to offset taxable income from those tax years.
  • Suspended the NOL limit of 80 percent of taxable income. This means that firms may deduct their NOLs to eliminate all of their taxable income in a given year, instead of having to carry forward any NOL beyond 80 percent of taxable income.
  • Pass-through business owners may use NOLs to offset their non-business income above the previous limit of $250,000 (single) or $500,000 (married filing jointly) for 2018, 2019, and 2020.

The IRS has also granted a six-month extension of time to file Form 1045 or Form 1139, as applicable, with respect to the carryback of an NOL that arose in … Read More

Economic Injury Disaster Loans

Economic Injury Disaster Loans

Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the federal government has adjusted eligibility guidelines to better serve businesses affected by the pandemic. Sole proprietors, freelancers and independent contractors are among the newly eligible groups for Small Business Association (SBA) Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs). Similar to a PPP loan, EIDL loans provide funds for industries struggling to stay afloat in the wake of the coronavirus or any other qualifying disaster. An EIDL loan can be used to cover payroll and inventory, pay debt, cover increased costs due to supply chain interruption, to pay obligations that cannot be met due to revenue loss and for other uses. The interest rate on these loans is 3.75% for small businesses and 2.75% for nonprofits with up to 30 years to repay the loan, and the first payment is deferred for one year.

To qualify for an EIDL under the CARES … Read More