Tips & Blips

We know that taxes aren’t the most exciting thing to think about – unless you get a refund. Otherwise, filing taxes go on the dreaded must-do list. It doesn’t have to be that way with Adams & Associates. We make taxes bearable – and affordable!

Whether you need help with individual tax preparation or assistance in preparing a tax return for your business, you can count on Adams & Associates. We work with small businesses for sole proprietorship tax assistance, partnerships, corporations, and trust and estate tax preparation.

We’ll represent you and resolve the problem if you get audited. Our team stays up to date on the newest tax rules to make sure your tax returns are accurate. We provide tax planning advice to help maximize your deductions and plan for your business expenses to reduce your taxes for the following year. We can’t promise to make filing taxes fun, but we can promise to make it less confusing. Contact us to schedule an appointment for our tax service.

• NEW this year -2024 Total Advance Child Tax Credit Payments-Letter 6419
• NEW for this year –Amount of Third Stimulus received (Notice 1444)
• Copies of last year’s Federal, State, and Local Tax Returns, if new clients.
• Form 1095 A Health Insurance from the Market Place
• 2021 Final Local Return Forms. (Contact your local government for these returns)
• 2021 W-2s, 1099s, or K-1s. For a Sale of Stock you must obtain your cost basis from your broker, or there will additional fees.
• Amount of any estimated tax payments made to the Federal, State, or Local governments for Tax Year 2024.
• Social Security Numbers and birthdays for all taxpayers and dependents.
• The closing/settlement sheets for any home purchased, sold, or refinanced.
• Amount of any education expenses. The educational institution that you attended must supply you with a Form 1098-T. Required to complete return
• Any interest paid on a mortgage, home equity loan, second mortgage, and student loans. Your lender should provide this information by February 1, 2025. If you do not receive this information, contact the lender and request it!
• Property Taxes paid on all property you owned in 2024 or prepaid for 2025.
• Amounts paid for employee business expenses such as books, publications, licensing fees, uniforms, union dues, etc.
• Medical expenses such as long-term care insurance, health insurance, doctors’ fees, prescriptions, hospitalization fees, mileage, and parking. Remember, these expenses have to exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income in order to be deducted.
• For our clients that are in Sales or Construction, Self-employed, and/or own Rental Property, please call to find out what possible deductions apply since the list is rather extensive.

There always seems to be a number of items that the IRS is focusing on.

Foreign assets. The IRS has been focused on the reporting of foreign assets for some time now and the penalties for not reporting can be severe. There are enhanced reporting requirements if you have any type of foreign asset, be it a foreign bank account, pension plan, rental property, ownership of a foreign company, etc. The income derived from these assets is includable on your U.S. tax return and the value of each of these assets might need to be reported, either with your tax return and/or separately to the IRS or Treasury Department.

Cryptocurrency transactions. Cryptocurrency (i.e. Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.) is becoming more and more common. Transactions involving cryptocurrency have tax implications. The IRS requires anyone filing a tax return to answer the following question. “At any time during 2021, did you receive, sell, exchange, or other acquire any financial interest in any virtual currency?”

Unreported income. If you are making extra money by doing side jobs, be it driving for a ridesharing company such as Uber or Lyft, selling crafts on Etsy, delivering meals with Grubhub or DoorDash, renting out a room in your house via Airbnb, or any other way, it needs to be included on your tax return. Unless specifically excluded under the Internal Revenue Code, all income is taxable. This includes income that is not reported to you on one of the various Forms 1099, foreign income, and barter income.

Federal and state differences. When it comes to taxes, most of what you read and hear from the media has to do with federal tax law. Remember that each state has its own tax law and just because something is not allowed for federal taxes (or you do not qualify) does not mean that you are not able to include it on your state tax return.