If you start a business, one key to success is to know about your federal tax obligations. You may need to know not only about income taxes but also about payroll taxes. Here are five key tax tips for new businesses that can help get off to a good start: Business Structure. As you start out, you’ll need to … Read More
How to Prevent Income Tax Refund Fraud
How do you know if someone has filed a tax return using your Social Security number to commit income tax refund fraud? And what do you do then? This is happening all the time—the latest General Accounting Office (GAO) report says that IRS paid out over $5.8 billion in fraudulent returns in 2013. The IRS does have security measures in … Read More
3 Common Entrepreneur Mistakes
When it comes to starting a new business, most people focus on how they will win and achieve the American dream. But success isn’t something most new businesses experience. It’s important to be aware of entrepreneur mistakes. “The painful truth is that the majority of first-time entrepreneurs who launch a business fail early and often,” says Rod Robertson, an international … Read More
2016 Tax Changes: A Checklist
Welcome, 2016! As the New Year rolls around, it’s always a sure bet that there will be changes to current tax law and 2016 is no different. From health savings accounts to retirement contributions and standard deductions, here’s a checklist of tax changes to help you plan the year ahead. Individuals For 2016, more than 50 tax provisions are affected … Read More
3 Best Ways to Work with Millennials
The next-generation worker, aka the Millennial, is a big part of the business landscape and a huge part of the future. In fact, by 2020, Millennials will represent 50% of the workforce and an astounding 75% of the workforce by 2025. It’s important that your company caters to this next generation of worker in order to have long-lasting success, but … Read More
How Workplace Conflict Can Improve a Business
Managed correctly, workplace conflict can be a positive source of innovation and creativity. Here are five myths about workplace conflict (plus tips on how to harness its power): 1. Conflict is always negative and should be avoided at work. Quite the contrary. When problems are hidden or masked, they aren’t solved. They fester and grow into bigger problems. Conflict has … Read More
5 Benefits of Office Mindfulness
Office mindfulness is an increasingly popular notion, with companies such as Apple, Yahoo, Starbucks, and Google using it to their benefit. Google, for example, offers employees a 19-hour course on office mindfulness , which is so popular that thousands of Googlers take it each year. So what exactly is mindfulness? Mindfulness is a simple yet effective form of meditation that enables … Read More
Six New 2015 Tax Breaks
The Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 is a long-awaited legislation which offers a slate of personal and business tax breaks that had expired at the end of 2014. Here’s a quick summary of how the resurrected breaks can affect your 2015 federal income tax return (Form 1040). Option to deduct state and local sales taxes instead of … Read More
2015 Tax Provisions for Individuals
From tax credits and educational expenses to the AMT, many of the tax provisions affecting individuals for 2015 were related to the signing of the American Taxpayer Relief Act (ATRA) in 2012… …tax provisions that were modified, made permanent, or extended. With that in mind, here’s what individuals and families need to know about tax provisions for 2015. Personal Exemptions … Read More
5 Tips for Motivating Team Members
Great managers are made by how well they motivate their team members. Here are five proven ways for motivating people on your staff. 1. They take responsibility for the store’s success and failure. Exceptional managers always have a “the buck starts and stops here” mentality. They never blame weather, competitors, unaligned stars, or anything else if they fall short of … Read More