Trusted Northwest Indiana CPA Accounting Firm
Behind every successful business is a solid financial support team. Swartz Retson is the oldest and largest accounting firm in Northwest Indiana, serving both businesses and individuals throughout Northwest Indiana and Chicagoland.As a full service CPA firm, we offer an array of tax, accounting and assurance services. Swartz Retson has helped clients through various changing economies and business environments over the last 80 years.
With a staff of more than 25, we specialize in many areas, including audits, reviews, compilations, ERISA and employee benefits, human resource and information technology consulting, as well as Single Audits under OMB Circular A-133.
Our clients include construction, manufacturing, health care/medical and automotive industries as well as nonprofit organizations.
Contact us to learn how your business will benefit by retaining our experts.
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SWARTZ RETSON & CO
Vehicle deductions for 2012
The IRS has published depreciation limits for business vehicles first placed in service this year. Because 50% bonus depreciation is allowed only for new vehicles, these limits are different for new and used vehicles.
For new business cars, the first-year limit is $11,160; for used cars, it’s $3,160. After year one, the limits are the same for both new and used cars: $5,100 in year two, $3,050 in year three, and $1,875 in all following years.
The 2012 first-year depreciation limit for trucks and vans is $11,360 for new vehicles and $3,360 for used vehicles. Limits for both new and used vehicles in year two are $5,300, in year three $3,150, and in each succeeding year $1,875.
For details relating to your 2012 business vehicle purchases, contact our office.
Tax freedom on April 17
According to the Tax Foundation, April 17, 2012, was not only the day 2011 tax returns were due, it also was Tax Freedom Day for 2012. That means Americans worked 107 days, from January 1 to April 17, to earn enough money to pay their federal, state, and local taxes for 2012.
If the federal government collected enough taxes to meet 2012 federal spending, Tax Freedom Day would have come 27 days later – on May 14, 2012. And unless Congress acts to prevent tax increases scheduled for 2013, next year’s Tax Freedom Day will be eleven days later than in 2012, and the average American household will pay $3,800 more in taxes.
Contact us at (219) 769-3616 or e-mail your questions to tlynch@swartz-retson.com.
SWARTZ, RETSON & CO., P.C.
IRS expands spouse relief
If you file a joint income tax return with your spouse, you are considered “jointly and severally” liable for the payment of all taxes owed. The IRS can come after either you or your spouse for the entire amount of tax due, plus any penalties and interest due.
The law has “innocent spouse” rules that may limit an individual’s responsibility for unpaid taxes resulting from filing a joint return. If the “innocent spouse” can establish that he or she did not know, or have reason to know, that there was an understatement of tax when signing the joint return, relief can be requested. Under previous rules, this relief had to be requested within two years after collection proceedings were initiated by the IRS.
In a new 2011 ruling, the IRS has decided to eliminate the two-year time limit for requesting innocent spouse status under the “equitable relief” provision in the law.
New classification program
Companies that have had worker classification issues are being offered a settlement program by the IRS. The program, labeled the “Voluntary Worker Classification Settlement Program,” will let employers who previously misclassified employees as independent contractors make a minimal payment to settle the tax dispute.
The program will give eligible employers substantial relief from federal payroll taxes they may have owed for past periods. Employers must agree to pay just over 1% of wages paid to reclassified workers for the past year and to treat these workers as employees going forward.
Contact us at (219) 769-3616 or e-mail your questions to tlynch@swartz-retson.com.
SWARTZ, RETSON & CO., P.C.
