Sad news for anyone whose favorite part of the day is their business meeting on the green:
The new tax bill eliminated your opportunity to deduct a golf game as a business expense.
As writer Josh Sens shares in a Golf.com article, buried in the tax reform “is a provision that eliminates a 50% deduction for business-related
entertainment expenses. It applies to a range of activities, including concerts, sporting events, and, yes, rounds of golf.” While dinner at the end of the course can still count, the rounds of golf do not.

What’s a golf-loving business owner to do?

Make the most of the other ways you can optimize your taxes.
GET REIMBURSED FOR YOUR BUSINESS EXPENSES
This is one of the best ways you can maximize your deductions and keep more of what’s yours. Even without golf getting deducted, there are many other expenses you can list. If you have paid for any business expenses personally (this includes your own business) and have not been reimbursed, it’s time to submit that expense report and get paid.
HOLD YOUR ANNUAL MEETING
Meeting minutes are an ideal place to document the activity in your tax strategy. All the items on this list should make their way into your annual meeting. Make the minutes of your annual meeting part of your year-end planning.

Eager for more ways to maximize your deductions? Jeff ’s tax-strategy book, “Keep What’s Yours” helps you do exactly what the title of the book implies: hold onto more of your earnings. Discover how proactive tax-strategy planning will help you keep more of what’s yours. From there,
you’ll get to use what you were paying in taxes to reach your financial goals.

Get your copy of Jeff ’s tax-strategy book here: TheNewTaxLawAdvantageBook.com/offer-page25326725.

Trying to find a great way to celebrate? Well, you’re in luck. I’ve created a handy dandy list of 22 ways to goof off today, whether you’re in the office or free to roam about.

1. Take the day off everything: work, school, whatever.
2. Go somewhere unexpected.
3. Play tourist in St. Louis
4. Try a new food (introduce your kids to something new)
5. Breakfast for dinner – need we say more?
6. Catch up on Netflix
7. Do something you would love to do if you had nothing on your To-Do list
8. Have a dance party- Dance like no one is watching!
9. Go Outside – it has been a long Winter – Take a day to bask in the sun.
10. Play a board game
11. Take a Nap
12. Have a coffee date with your spouse, the kids, your friends or with a good book.
13. Read a new book
14. Play Golf
15. Take a hike
16. Have a picnic in the park
17. Wake up late
18. Watch old comedies
19. Go for a drive
20. UNPLUG Try to be out of touch for the entire day
21. If stuck at the office – have a nerf gun fight with your coworkers
22. Just Be Silly, pig out and have as much fun as you can!

1. Upgrade Office Furniture – Providing your staff with ergonomic office furniture is a great way to ward off possible back problems and improve productivity.

2. Housecleaning – Arrange for a bulk discount at a local housecleaning agency, and give all employees coupons for a single session at their homes

3. Gift Cards – Everyone loves the luxury of getting to shop for free. Choose gift cards according to each workers’ preferences

4. Non-Work Lunch With the Boss – Take your team members out to lunch, either individually or in small groups. Keep the conversation away from work topics; instead, spend the time getting to know each person better.

5. Handwritten Notes – Yes, we mean just sit down with a pen and a stack of paper. Think about what each person has accomplished this year, and thank them for their specific efforts and achievements.

While appreciating your employees today remember that we all like to be thanked and even though this day is scheduled once a year, appreciating your employees several times throughout the year will leave the team feeling valued and you may well see an increase in productivity.

Since many common business documents must be retained in accordance with federal law, here is a list of how long common documents must be kept.

2 Years

• General Correspondence
• Bank Reconciliations

3 Years

• Employee Applications
• Purchase orders
• Requisitions
• Sales Contracts
• Sales Invoices

4 Years

• Expired Policies (All types)
• Settled Insurance Claims
• Export Declarations
• Freight Bills
• Manifests
• Waybills
• Bills of Lading

5 Years

• Benefits
• Safety Reports

6 Years

• Internal Audit Reports
• Accident Reports
• File Inspection Reports
• Insurance Polices

7 Years

• AP/AR Ledger
• Expense Reports
• Petty Cash Records
• Accident Reports (HR)
• Attendance
• Personal Files – After Termination
• Time Reports
• Routine Correspondence

8 Years

• Salary Hours
• Group Disability Reports
• Safety Reports

10 years

• Payroll records after termination
• Claims – After Settlement

Permanently

• Cash Disbursements / Receipts
• Chart od Accounts
• Depreciations Schedule
• Financial Statements
• General Ledger
• Inventory Records
• Journal Entries
• Tax Returns
• Personal Files- Current Employees
• Articles of Incorporation
• Audit Reports – External
• Contracts
• Copyrights, Trademarks, Patents
• Correspondence – Legal/Tax
• Mortgages, Licenses, Deeds
• Organizational Charts
• Partnership Agreements

This list is not a full listing of everything. If you are unsure about how long to keep a document. Ask your tax advisor.

If you do not have a tax advisor. Capital Advisory Group, Inc. is here to answer your questions.

Need to know what to keep personally- see our How Long Do I keep That?

Saturday, April 18, 2020 10 am – 12:30

Location: 119 Old State Road
Ellisville, MO 63021

Sensitive Material That can be Destroyed

• Purchase Orders
• Supplier Records
• Supplier Confidential Information
• Corporate Records
• Requisitions
• Sales Contracts
• Sales Invoices
• Customer Lists and Contacts
• Strategies
• Advertising
• Activity Sheets
• Training Information
• Contracts
• Budgets
• Strategic Reports
• Legal Contracts
• Correspondence
• Payroll information
• Performance appraisals
• Applications
• Disciplinary reports and promotions
• Medical Records
• Treatment Programs
• Manuals
• Training Information
• Activity Sheets
• General Service Information
• Health and Safety Issues
• Appraisals, Product Testing, Etc
• Hanging Folders
• Product Samples
• Plastic Credit and ID Cards
• CD-ROMS/CD-RS/DVDs
• Computer Backups
• Videotapes/Cassette Tapes
• All Types of Paper
• Staples, Paper clips, Binder Clips

The guide below will help you determine how long each document should be kept. This is not a complete list, if you have questions on a certain document, consult your tax advisor.

Documents to Keep ‘Til the End of Time

• Birth and death certificates
• Social security cards
• Pension plan documents
• ID cards and passports
• Marriage license
• Business license
• Military discharge papers
• Any insurance policy
• Wills, living wills, and powers of attorney
• Vehicle titles
• Loan documents
• House deeds and mortgage documents
• House records: cancelled checks for major home improvements and maintenance (for the length of home ownership)
• Medical records
• Photos or video tapes of valuables
• Tax return copies and worksheets
• Income tax payment checks
• Annual IRA or other investment contribution statements, pension/profit-sharing informational returns

Keep physical copies of these documents in a safe place, such as a safe deposit box or a fire-proof safe—one single location that’s easy to grab in case you need to evacuate—and also make digital copies for off-site backup.

Documents to Toss As New Ones Arrive

The paper parade is endless. The good news is with every new investment statement, renewed insurance policy, or many other regularly recurring documents, you can keep just the latest version. Specifically, you can shred these documents when you get the new one:

• Monthly or quarterly investment statements (for annual statements, see the next section)
• Social security statements
• Annually renewed insurance policies

Documents to Keep Until a Specific Time or Event

• Credit card receipts: After you’ve reconciled them with your monthly statement—unless it’s needed for a warranty or tax filing. In those cases, keep the receipts with the product manual until the warranty expires or with your tax papers.
• Bank deposit or withdrawal slips: After you reconcile with your monthly statement
• Credit card and bank statements: 7 years if you need them for tax support, otherwise one year.
• Annual investment statements: Until you sell the investments, then hold them for 7 years after you sell with your tax papers.
• Paycheck stubs: After reconciling with your W-2 form and have paid your taxes
• Health explanation of benefits (EOB): 1 year
• Utility records: At least 3 years
• Taxes and supporting records (e.g., tax-related medical bills, donations, etc): The common recommendation is 7 years, because that’s how far back the IRS usually goes if you’re audited.

This list is not a full listing of everything. If you are unsure about how long to keep a document. Ask your tax advisor.

If you do not have a tax advisor. Capital Advisory Group, Inc. is here to answer your questions.

If you have a business click here to read about what you should keep for your business.

Business Get New Tax Credit for Employees Family or Medical Leave

For businesses who provide paid family or medical leave to employees, a new credit is available under the new Tax and Jobs Act.

The new credit is generally equal to 12.5% of the amount of wages paid during the time of leave but could be more for employers who pay employees over half their normal wages while on leave.

There are, of course, a number of rules and limitations.

As an example, the rules require a written policy that gives full-time workers at least 2 weeks of paid family or medical leave each year, prorated for part-time workers.

The credit only applies to employees whose total wages don’t exceed $72,000 in 2017.

Changes to the tax code under new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will impact virtually every aspect of tax filing,

Including all sorts of formerly allowable deductions.

As your tax professional, Capital Advisory Group Inc. is up to date on all these changes so that you can be assured the best possible tax strategy advice and preparation whether they’re filing as an individual, a sole proprietor, or corporation.

Call us today at (636) 394-5524  and let us help guide you through the complexities of these new rules.

The TCJA added a significant deduction for millions of taxpayers who operate a pass-through business like a sole proprietorship, S corporation, or partnership. The new provision, under IRC 199A, provides up to a 20% deduction for Qualified Business Income.  However, depending on the type of business, if it is a “Specified Service” business, as defined in Code § 1202(e)(3)(A). A specified service business includes:

any trade or business involving the performance of services in the fields of health, law, accounting, actuarial science, performing arts, consulting, athletics, financial services, brokerage services, or any trade or business where the principal asset of such trade or business is the reputation or skill of 1 or more of its employees [TCJA removed architecture & engineering ]

If you are in a specified service business, the deduction will start to phase out for single filers at $157,500 of taxable income and be completely gone after $207,500. For married-filing jointly, the deduction begins to phase out at $315,000 and is fully gone at $415,000.

For all other non-specified service pass through entities, the deduction does not phase out after $157,500 for individuals and $315,000 for married filing jointly. Instead, the deduction is limited to the 1) lesser of 20% of Qualified Business Income (QBI), or 2) the greater of 50% of W-2 wages or the sum of 25% of W-2 wages plus 2.5% of unadjusted basis in qualified property.

Taxpayers operating a specified service business who earn over the phase out ranges will lose the 20 percent deduction.  As such, it will be helpful for them to bring their income down below the thresholds in order to qualify for the deduction.

One way to bring the income down is by setting up a tax-advantaged employer sponsored retirement plan, like a SEP, SIMPLE, 401(k), or a defined benefit plan. This allows business owners to defer compensation into the retirement plan, grow the savings, and bring down their income to qualify for the 199A deduction.

Here at Capital Advisory Group Inc., we specialize in tax strategies like defined benefit and cash balance plans for high income pass-through entities. Since so many deductions have been eliminated in 2018, our retirement plan strategies offer one of the few remaining large deductions for reducing the business owner’s Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) which can help them qualify for the 20 percent deduction and in many cases, move them into lower tax brackets.  It is also important to note that a retirement plan could be valuable for a non-specified service business to help bring income back down below the ranges because the deduction can be limited above the ranges. These plans also work for individuals with side-incomes that might push their total income above the new thresholds.

For example, let’s say John is a single individual, who runs an S Corporation as a health care provider. Let’s say his qualified business income from that business is $225,000, which is all of his income for the year. As such, he is over the threshold amount and isn’t able to take the 20% deduction of the $225,000 of QBI. However, John could set up a 401(k), SEP, or profit sharing plan and defer $55,000 into the plan for his retirement, bringing his income down $55,000 (2018 contribution limit for under age 50 in 2018), under the threshold, and thereby allowing him to at least take part of the 20% QBI 199A deduction. Using this strategy, John is able to lower his tax liability and save for retirement.

While most small employers tend to lean towards SEPs, SIMPLEs, and 401(k)s, in some cases, a defined benefit plan might be even more beneficial. A defined benefit plan is not subject to the $55,000 annual contribution limit for 2018 for someone under age 50. Instead, a defined benefit plan could shelter $100,000 in the right situation for a small business owner. So if John, from our example above, instead made $265,000 a year, the 401(k) or SEP deduction wouldn’t be enough to get her the 20 percent deduction. But, if he set up a defined benefit plan, he could get a deduction large enough to bring his income down below the threshold and take the full 20% QBI deduction. This larger potential deduction with defined benefit plans will be able to help a lot of people save for retirement and maximize their tax deductions under the new tax law.

Tax-advantaged retirement plans have always been a valuable and efficient way to save for retirement. However, many small business owners have stayed away due to the perceived complexity and cost. Under the new tax laws, it could be more expensive to not have a retirement plan in place. As such, any small business owner with significant income should sit down with his or her tax strategy advisor to discuss the benefits of setting up a tax-advantaged retirement plan. Even if the plan is not required to help you qualify for the new 20% QBI 199A deduction, it can still be a great way to lower your taxable income, get tax-deferred investment growth, save for retirement, and protect assets from creditors.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 represents the most significant changes in tax law in over 30 years! Don’t pay more in taxes than you’re required.  Give us a call today at 636-394-5524 and let us help guide you through the complexities of these new rules.