Tax Guru – Ker$tetter Letter

Helping real people win the tax game.

Archive for December, 2002

Posted by taxguru on December 22, 2002

QuickBooks Transfer Utilities

As QuickBooks becomes ever more pervasive as the de facto standard for bookkeeping in this country, more and more programs are being developed to interface with it and magnify its usefulness. I am constantly on the lookout for such programs that can make using QuickBooks more efficient for both lay people and us accounting pros.

I’ve just learned about another useful set of utilities to allow transfers between QuickBooks files and to combine data from several different QuickBooks files into one that have been developed by a CPA in Texas, Karl E Irvin, based on Microsoft Access. The Transfer program only works with QuickBooks 2002 and 2003, while the Combiner program works with any version of QuickBooks and can even combine data from different versions. You can download demo versions of each program from Karl’s website and test them before you decide whether or not to pay the $45 to buy each of the full power versions.

KMK

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Posted by taxguru on December 22, 2002

Tax Burden Distribution Debate

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Posted by taxguru on December 22, 2002

Tax-Paying Parents’ Wish List

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Posted by taxguru on December 22, 2002


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Posted by taxguru on December 21, 2002

Party Of the Evil Rich

Much has been said about the liberal bias permeating he mainstream media. Bias is actually too mild a term. True bias would entail presenting the actual news with a liberal slant. What the media have been doing is outright fraud; lying about the facts. There are so many examples.

The current campaign by the liberals and their sycophantic mainstream press lackeys to portray the media as biased in favor of conservatives is typical of their game plan. They want everyone to believe that Fox News, which does have a slightly conservative slant, is more influential than all of the other networks combined, which are all one-sided propaganda arms for the liberals and the Democrat Party. It’s great that we finally have an alternative to the left wing ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, and PBS. However, it’s ludicrous to say that Fox News, which is only available via cable and satellite, can reach any more than a tiny fraction of the audience that receives the broadcast networks.

Another media fabrication that has long bugged me is their portrayal of George W. Bush as a dunce and Al Gore as a genius. The truth is 180 degrees apart. I have long been a keen student of intelligence (some call me an intellectual snob) and Gore, who barely squeaked through college and has less personality than the Disney animatronic figures, is an absolute moron. Bush, who earned an MBA degree, while frequently mangling words, is one of the smartest presidents we have had.

The false media template that triggered this rant has to do with how they portray the two major political parties. For generations, they have claimed that the Republicans are all a bunch of evil rich country club fat cats, while the Democrats are all a bunch of poor working stiffs. That’s why I found this piece on donors to the parties very interesting. It seems that the big million dollar donations are predominately from Democrats, while the bulk of GOP donations are small amounts. It makes sense when you consider how most Hollywood stars are supporters of the leftist Party of the JackAss.

There is a similar disconnect between the media template and the truth in regard to the two parties’ stance on racial matters; but that has already been beaten to death with the hysteria over Trent Lott.

KMK

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Posted by taxguru on December 21, 2002

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Posted by taxguru on December 19, 2002

I guess I’m not the only one who thinks the Star Registry is the stupidest idea out there.

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Posted by taxguru on December 19, 2002

Heavy Vehicles

The Wall Street Journal has a good piece today on how much more lucrative the tax deductions are for business vehicles that weigh over 6,000 pounds. I have been advising on this tax break since it was first enacted by our rulers in 1984 and am always amazed when I hear of a tax pro who is unaware of it. In fact, after each of my seminars on tax tips for Realtors, I would receive several inquiries from other tax pros asking me when special rules were enacted for vehicles over 6,000 pounds, assuming they were brand new.

What’s also been surprising is how little the car companies are doing to publicize the extra tax benefits of buying one of their heavier vehicles. I can still remember receiving a letter from American Motors in 1984 comparing the lucrative tax breaks (including the now defunct investment tax credit) from buying one of their Jeep Grand Wagoneers that weighed 6,100 pounds instead of a lighter weight vehicle from another manufacturer. Over the years, many of the formerly heavy vehicles, such as the Grand Wagoneer, have gone on diets and no longer qualify for the special rules. However, there are still plenty of other SUVs and trucks that do have gross vehicle weights over 6,000 pounds. As I have always advised, it’s not a good idea to buy a heavy vehicle just for the tax breaks. However, if you are debating between a vehicle that weighs over 6,000 pounds and one that doesn’t, the additional tax deductions may be the deciding point.

This is also a good opportunity to remind of how using a C corporation instead of an S can double the Section 179 expensing deduction. An individual could buy a big SUV for his personally owned business and deduct $24,000 of the cost in the first year. His C corp could also buy a heavy vehicle and claim its own $24,000 deduction. The combined deduction of $48,000 is double what would be available with an S corp, where all limits pass through to the shareholders.

KMK

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Posted by taxguru on December 18, 2002

Choosing A Corporate Name

A big mistakes people make when setting up a new corporation is simply adding an Inc., Ltd., or Corp after their name when choosing a name for the new corporation.

Besides the very lucrative tax savings opportunities available in a corporation, it can increase your privacy and lessen the potential for frivolous lawsuits.

It is no secret that people will sue anyone for anything if they think they can get some money out of it. Ambulance chasing attorneys, when deciding whether or not to take on a case don’t care one iota whether or not the case is justified. What they are concerned with is how deep your pockets are. They will do a search to see what assets you own. If your name is the same as your corporation’s, it will be impossible to prevent the vultures from identifying everything owned by you personally and through the corp. If the names are different, there is less likelihood that a search will link ownership of assets. If there doesn’t appear to be a lot of attachable assets, the normal ambulance chaser will pass on accepting the case.

The best corporate names are those that give away no hint of who owns them. There is no requirement that the name of a corporation identify the owner or even what it does. I’m a big fan of using as generic and vague a name as possible, such as initials or a made up name. Several clients have fabricated great corporate names from parts of their kids’ or grandkids’ names.

Besides protecting against nuisance lawsuits, using a vague corporate name allows a level of privacy that would not otherwise be available. Not everyone wants all of their transactions published in the paper for the whole world to see.

KMK

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Posted by taxguru on December 18, 2002

SUVs Are Not Evil

I couldn’t agree more with this commentary that all the nosy busy-bodies who want to ban SUVs and condemn those who choose to own them should just shut the hell up and mind their own business. It’s the typical liberal attitude of telling everyone else how to run their lives, while exempting themselves.

KMK

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