Investors with offshore accounts must be familiar with the filing requirements of the FBAR and IRS Form 8938.

FBAR

Any U.S person with offshore accounts that had more than $10,000 in them any time during the year must file Form TD F 90-22.1, the so-called FBAR (Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Account).  A U.S. person includes individuals, partnerships, corporations and estates and trusts.  This form must be received (not postmarked) by the U.S. Treasury Department by June 30, 2012.  There is no extension of time to file this report.  Unlike individual income tax returns, this form can’t be filed electronically.  It must be mailed in.  Failure to file this report on time may result in penalties being assessed. Civil penalties start at $10,000 and go up from there. more…

Business owners can maintain their corporation as a regular or "C" Corporation. Alternatively, if they are eligible, they may want to make a Subchapter S Election. Both are treated as separate legal entities. Here are the differences however:

C Corporation

While a C Corporation is a separate legal entity, it is also a separate taxable entity. The corporation will pay income taxes on any taxable income reported. more…

Did you know that CT provides tax incentives to hire new employees in small businesses?

The Qualified Small Business Job Creation Tax Credit Program provides incentives to Connecticut’s small businesses to hire new full-time employees. Under this program Connecticut-based businesses with less than fifty employees are eligible for a $200 per month tax credit for each new full-time employee they hire. Below are the guidelines for the program, a link to the application and the contact. more…

January 31st is the deadline to furnish Form 1099- Misc. to recipients.

The 1099-MISC form is used to report more than two dozen types of payments that must be claimed as income by the recipient. This category includes payments made by businesses as fees to attorneys, service providers and freelancers. Other types of payments covered by the 1099-MISC include reimbursement for auto expenses, awards and bonuses, commissions, prizes and vacation allowances for non-employees. more…

The primary reason to make the Subchapter S filing status election is to have a single federal income tax when the business is eventually sold. 

If the corporation is not an S corporation and the company assets are sold, there will be a double tax on sale.  The first tax will be at the corporation level.  A regular or C corporation will pay a tax on the gain on the sale of its assets.  The second tax will be when net proceeds are paid to the shareholders.

more…