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CLIENT SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

Real Estate, IRAs & Clients

What clients want to know.

By Barry J. Friedman, CPA
IndustryNewsletters

Real estate can be a great investment, and many people don’t know they can also put property into their IRAs. However, they have to be careful: One small mistake and an IRA’s tax advantages disappear.

MORE: Tariffs: What Clients Need to Know Now | How to Talk to Clients about ‘Basis’ | Basis: Turning a Common Client Question into New Business | The W-4 Time-Bomb and What To Do About It
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So what do you tell clients about the rules to follow to have a qualified real estate purchase?
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CLIENT SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

Tariffs: What Clients Need to Know Now

Talking about politics and controversy.

By Barry J. Friedman, CPA
IndustryNewsletters

Tariffs have been in the news recently. What exactly are they?

MORE: How to Talk to Clients about ‘Basis’ | Percentage-Withholding for Clients | Bitcoin: What Clients Need to Know | Supreme Court Wayfair Ruling Sows Confusion – And Opportunity
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Tariffs are import taxes the government imposes, like a sales tax, on goods.
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CLIENT SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

How to Talk to Clients about ‘Basis’

Woman and Man Working with Calculator“Step-ups” ease the burden of capital gains.

By Barry J. Friedman, CPA
IndustryNewsletters

Basis seems like a simple concept, but as with so many tax issues, it can become complicated quickly when you try to explain it to clients.

MORE: Percentage-Withholding for Clients | New SALT Deduction Limit: What Clients Need to Know | Passwords: How to Beat the Hackers | Supreme Court Wayfair Ruling Sows Confusion – And Opportunity
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This is especially true after the TCJA. READ MORE →

FEATURED

New SALT Deduction Limit: What Clients Need to Know

TCJA caps deduction at $10,000.

By Barry J. Friedman, CPA
IndustryNewsletters

The IRS is taking a look at the deductibility of state and local tax payments for federal income tax purposes in the wake of tax reform. So what’s happening with this complicated issue?

MORE: Basis: Turning a Common Client Question into New Business | Bitcoin: What Clients Need to Know | Supreme Court Wayfair Ruling Sows Confusion – And Opportunity
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

The IRS will be addressing the deductibility of state and local tax payments for federal income tax purposes. It’s a reminder that federal law controls payments for federal income tax purposes no matter how state law wants to view things.
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PRO Member Exclusive

Basis: Turning a Common Client Question into New Business

How a simple conversation opens the door to a host of new opportunity.

By Barry J. Friedman, CPA
IndustryNewsletters

Basis seems like a simple concept, but as with so many tax issues, it can become complicated quickly. This is especially true after recent tax reform.

More Hot-Button Topics for Clients: Supreme Court’s Wayfair Ruling on Sales Tax Sows More Confusion  |  Making Passwords Hack-Proof  |  Check Your Clients’ Withholding Now  |  What Clients Need to Know about Bitcoin

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First, let’s start with what “basis” means. Clients need to understand that basis is usually what you paid for an asset. According to the IRS, a capital gain or loss is the difference between your basis and the amount you get when you sell an asset. So, if you sell an asset that is worth more than you paid for it, you will have to pay taxes on the gain.

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CLIENT SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

Bitcoin: What Clients Need to Know

To the IRS, Bitcoin is real. And so’s the tax bite.

By Barry J. Friedman, CPA
IndustryNewsletters

With so many recent tax changes, two-income families and people who work multiple jobs should check their withholding amount.

More Hot-Button Topics for Clients: Supreme Court’s Wayfair Ruling on Sales Tax Sows More Confusion  |  Making Passwords Hack-Proof  |  Check Your Clients’ Withholding Now

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Bitcoin, the digital currency, has been in the news a lot recently. What’s it all about and how does it work? Is it something you or your clients should invest in?

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CHECKLIST

Passwords: How to Beat the hackers

Nine new rules for hack-proof security.

By Barry J. Friedman, CPA
IndustryNewsletters

Consider all the passwords you use, in your personal and business lives. Passwords secure all the resources on your computer and phone — your email and important online accounts.

More Hot-Button Topics for Clients: Supreme Court’s Wayfair Ruling on Sales Tax Sows More Confusion

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Why work on making your passwords stronger?

Hackers will attack the low-hanging fruit first.

What attackers will do is steal the storage of passwords on a vulnerable screen. These passwords are encrypted, but with tools like Pwdump, Airodump-Ng and the Meterpreter, hackers can take as much time as they need to crack your password.

The best way to make your password less appetizing is to choose a random set of characters in the maximum length your account or system will accept: READ MORE →

CLIENT SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

The W-4 Time-Bomb and What To Do About It

You don’t want clients to blame you for any unhappy surprises.

By Barry J. Friedman, CPA
IndustryNewsletters

With so many recent tax changes, two-income families and people who work multiple jobs should check their withholding amount.

More Hot-Button Topics for Clients: Supreme Court’s Wayfair Ruling on Sales Tax Sows More Confusion  |  Making Passwords Hack-Proof |

GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

The IRS is urging two-income families and folks who work multiple jobs to complete a paycheck checkup to verify that they’re withholding the right amount of tax from their paychecks.

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CLIENT SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

Supreme Court Wayfair Ruling Sows Confusion – And Opportunity

The cost of compliance could be enormous.

By Barry J. Friedman, CPA
IndustryNewsletters

The Supreme Court has ruled that a company does not need to have a physical presence in a state to be subject to its sales tax.

It has long been the rule that a state cannot collect sales tax from a vendor that is selling products in that state, unless that vendor has a physical presence, called a nexus. However, on June 21, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court swept away the nexus rule in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., saying states could collect sales tax even if there is no physical presence.

The brick-and-mortar stores are happy with the ruling, because it levels the sales tax playing field. The states are ecstatic because they can collect more sales tax. But there are complexities, and no one is entirely sure how it will play out in the long run.

Who is affected?

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