Accounting services New Jersey firm and tax tips: What are my obligations as an employer? Upon being notified of a wage garnishment court order, an employer should immediately alert the employee to the situation in writing. Depending on the garnishment, there may be a form provided for this (i.e., Form 668 for a federal levy). An employer can also draft a letter detailing the specifics of the wage garnishment order, the amount to be taken from each payment, and the length of time the wages will be garnished. Concurrently, an employer should notify their HR and/or payroll departments so they can start the wage garnishment process and ensure that payments are sent to the appropriate agency or creditor (whether the employee wishes to comply or not). Taking these actions protects the business from any legal repercussions for failing to respond to the order.

Make a last-minute estimated tax payment! If you didn’t pay enough to the IRS during the year, you may have a big tax bill staring you in the face. Plus, you might owe significant interest and penalties, too. According to IRS rules, you must pay 100% of last year’s tax liability or 90% of this year’s tax or you will owe an underpayment penalty. If your adjusted gross income for 2018 was more than $150,000, you have to pay more than 110% of your 2018 tax liability to be protected from a tax year 2019 underpayment penalty. If you make an estimated payment by January 15, you can erase any penalty for the fourth quarter, but you still will owe a penalty for earlier quarters if you did not send in any estimated payments back then. But, if your income windfall arrived after August 31, 2019, you can file Form 2210: Underpayment of Estimated Tax to annualize your estimated tax liability, and possibly reduce any extra charges. A note of caution: Try not to pay too much. It’s better to owe the government a little rather than to expect a refund. Remember, the IRS doesn’t give you a dime of interest when it borrows your money.

Bunch Your Charitable Contributions: In 2019, married couples filing jointly have a standard deduction of $24,400. For single taxpayers, the standard deduction is $12,200. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which nearly doubled the standard deduction, also eliminated miscellaneous deductions, capped state and local tax deductions at $10,000 and limited mortgage interest deductions to loans of up to $750,000. These changes can make it difficult to itemize deductions unless someone has significant charitable donations. Powell suggests people bunch two years of contributions into a single year, which would allow them to claim an itemized deduction every other year. For those with the financial means, setting up a donor-advised fund may be ideal. “You get the deduction in the year you move the money (into the fund),” Powell says. However, charitable gifts from the fund can be spread out over time.

In the months or years since you first became a business owner, how many times have you been told you need bookkeeping services? If you’re like most business owners, the answer is probably, “A lot.” From the time you first opened your doors and collected your very first dollar, advisors, partners, and other well-meaning associates have undoubtedly weighed in and suggested a bookkeeping service to help keep your company’s books and finances on track. See extra info on Bookkeeping services New Jersey.

In addition, you can outsource more advanced management accounting and controller functions to receive a complete “virtual accounting department”, which will certainly add to your monthly fees but could be what you need at this stage in your growth cycle. If your business is moving into a growth stage, you need to consider graduating to full accrual based accounting, with financial and management reports that help you scale. Typically you will need this level of financial management not only for yourself but for your key stake holders including banks, investors and advisors.

Caring for your accounting and bookkeeping shouldn’t come at the expense of running your business. If you’re a small business owner who’s overwhelmed or just need Professional help in managing your finances, consider outsourced accounting and bookkeeping services from Merge Bookkeeping. We share your burdens : We take the load of preparing your company books and other related necessary yet menial tasks off your shoulders. You can keep working towards making your profile bigger and better. See additional details on mergebookkeeping.com.