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Navigating through todays tax environment takes the experience and expertise of top-notch tax professionals, who can help you, not only comply with increasingly complex regulations, but also help minimize their impact on your business. At Robert Rimberg & Associates, our tax experts have been serving clients in this way for more than 20 years. Constantly changing rules and procedures means having a team who knows you, your business and the tax implications that affect it.

Our seasoned professionals will tailor their approach to meet your specific needs, helping you to manage tax risk, control costs and reap maximum tax benefits. At Robert Rimberg & Associates we look at the ‘big picture’ so that you have the right strategies in place now…and for the future.

State and Local Taxes:
Nearly all business decisions made by companies with multi-state operations have state and local tax consequences. Most companies that answer yes to any of the following questions below need a state and local tax advisor.

• Does your company operate in multiple states?
• Is your company entering into new states or new markets?
• Is your company purchasing assets or an entire business?
• Are the owners looking to sell a portion or all of their business?

With over 5,000 taxing jurisdictions, state and local taxes can become burdensome to even the simplest business organization. Although there are many bedrock principles to state and location taxation (e.g., nexus), most jurisdictions operate under their own set of guiding principles and constantly changing legislative mandates. Consequently, your tax advisor needs to be experienced and knowledgeable about the unique nature of state and local taxation.

Robert Rimberg recognizes the increasing burden of state and local taxes on our clients as most jurisdictions struggle to close budget deficits. Our State and Local Tax (“SALT”) Group specifically addresses the challenges of state and local taxes and can provide assistance with the following:

Nexus studies, which determine those jurisdictions where the company must file tax returns — whether income, franchise, sales and use, or other types of taxes

Net income and franchise tax apportionment issues, such as determining the proper manner in which to source sales, payroll and property to the various taxing jurisdictions

Sales and use taxes, such as providing taxability matrixes of sales and/or purchase transactions

Sales/use tax and property tax compliance and process review and improvement analysis

State income tax credits, such as credits for investing in certain equipment and/or increasing head count

Transactional advisory services, such as advising of the state tax consequences of purchasing or selling a business

Voluntary disclosure agreements, which is a means of settling past state and/or local tax exposures, with the most advantageous terms

Are you sure your tax adviser is providing the “State and Local Taxes” services you need? Can you afford not to be sure?

We’d love to add you to our list, where we send out bookkeeping and tax saving ideas as well as good business building practices. Just click here to sign up today.

Hey everyone, the summer is over and it’s time to redouble our efforts to make our businesses a huge success. I was with a potential client this week who owns a restaurant. He wanted to know if it’s ok to treat the busboys as independent contractors. The short answer- absolutely not!

IRS Summertime Tax Tip 2009-20
If you are a small business owner, whether you hire people as independent contractors or as employees will impact how much taxes you pay and the amount of taxes you withhold from their paychecks. Further, it will affect how much additional cost your business must bear, what documents and information they must provide to you, and what tax documents you must give to them.

Here are the top ten things every business owner should know about hiring people as independent contractors versus hiring them as employees.

1. Three characteristics are used by the IRS to determine the relationship between businesses and workers: Behavioral Control, Financial Control, and the Type of Relationship.

2. Behavioral Control covers facts that show whether the business has a right to direct or control how the work is done through instructions, training or other means.

3. Financial Control covers facts that show whether the business has a right to direct or control the financial and business aspects of the worker’s job.

4. The Type of Relationship factor relates to how the workers and the business owner perceive their relationship.

5. If you have the right to control or direct not only what is to be done, but also how it is to be done, then your workers are most likely employees.

6. If you can direct or control only the result of the work done – and not the means and methods of accomplishing the result – then your workers are probably independent contractors.

7. Employers who misclassify workers as independent contractors can end up with substantial tax bills. Additionally, they can face penalties for failing to pay employment taxes and for failing to file required tax forms.

8. Workers can avoid higher tax bills and lost benefits if they know their proper status.

9. Both employers and workers can ask the IRS to make a determination on whether a specific individual is an independent contractor or an employee by filing a Form SS-8 – Determination of Worker Status for Purposes of Federal Employment Taxes and Income Tax Withholding – with the IRS.

10. You can learn more about the critical determination of a worker’s status as an Independent Contractor or Employee at IRS.gov by selecting the Small Business link. Additional resources include IRS Publication 15-A, Employer’s Supplemental Tax Guide, Publication 1779, Independent Contractor or Employee, and Publication 1976.

Do You Qualify for Relief under Section 530? These publications and Form SS-8 are available on the IRS Web site or by calling the IRS at 800-829-3676 (800-TAX-FORM).

We’d love to add you to our list, where we send out bookkeeping and tax saving ideas as well as good business building practices. Just click here to sign up today.

Midlife crises can be expensive. A Porsche? A girlfriend?

Move over Gates and Jobs! This spirit-lifting article from CNNMoney.com just goes to show that anybody can accomplish the American Dream!

You don’t have to be some whiz kid to accomplish the success of the American entrepreneur. According to a new study by the Kauffman Foundation, that stereotypical image of entrepreneurship is a complete myth. Typical founders are middle-aged when launching their first company. Seventy percent of first-time founders are married, and nearly 60 percent have a least one kid! You don’t have to be rich or a college graduate either. Over half the entrepreneurs studied came from blue-collar families and didn’t hold advanced degrees.

The common held belief that entrepreneurs are young, genius college kids is wrong; middle age really spurs on the entrepreneurial spirit! So, if you think it’s too late for your great idea, think again! There’s hope for all of us and now may be just be the perfect time to embrace it.

We’d love to add you to our list, where we send out bookkeeping and tax saving ideas as well as good business building practices. Just click here to sign up today.

Are you making the mistake of just working your business to break even? Listen to this short video as Rob talks about understanding profit and loss statements, and gives his two cents about why you want to shoot higher in your business.

We’d love to add you to our list, where we send out bookkeeping and tax saving ideas as well as good business building practices. Just click here to sign up today.

Hi – Rob Rimberg here. Let me share with you in this quick video (3:34) a story of a business in which the owner is really mismanaging his time and losing tons of money. See if you are making some of the same mistakes he has and listen for my suggestions on how to turn that around.

Unfortunately, the unemployment rate is approaching 10% across the country. Some areas like Michigan got hit much harder. Here is a great potential tax tip if you’re currently job searching.

IRS Summertime Tax Tip 2009-01
Many taxpayers spend time during the summer months polishing their résumé and attending career fairs. If you are searching for a job this summer, you may be able to deduct some of your expenses on your tax return.
Here are the top six things the IRS wants you to know about deducting costs related to your job search.
1. In order to deduct job search costs, the expenses must be spent on a job search in your current occupation. You may not deduct expenses incurred while looking for a job in a new occupation.
2. You can deduct employment and outplacement agency fees you pay while looking for a job in your present occupation. If your employer pays you back in a later year for employment agency fees, you must include the amount you receive in your gross income up to the amount of your tax benefit in the earlier year.
3. You can deduct amounts you spend for preparing and mailing copies of a résumé to prospective employers as long as you are looking for a new job in your present occupation.
4. If you travel to an area to look for a new job in your present occupation, you may be able to deduct travel expenses to and from the area. You can only deduct the travel expenses if the trip is primarily to look for a new job. The amount of time you spend on personal activity compared to the amount of time you spend looking for work is important in determining whether the trip is primarily personal or is primarily to look for a new job.
5. You cannot deduct job search expenses if there was a substantial break between the end of your last job and the time you begin looking for a new one.
6. You cannot deduct job search expenses if you are looking for a job for the first time.

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