Accounting Personalized Inc

Thank you to all that voted for us. It is an honor to take the award for Our Town Favorites - Favorite Local Tax Preparer for the fourth year in a row!

Meet JC. Jan Carlos (JC) joined the team in the fall of 2023. JC describes himself as being highly competitive, a compassionate father, and a loyal husband. Originally from Puerto Rico, JC prides himself on taking on client challenges and developing skills to effectively overcome obstacles posed from accounting issues.

New Filing Requirement for Business Owners – BOI Filing

Access to the new FinCin reporting portal for the Beneficial Owners Information became available on January 1st, 2024. This is a new requirement for businesses to stay in compliance with the US government as an active business entity. If you are an existing business entity (prior to January 1st, 2024) you have until the end of the year to complete this filing. If you are a new entity, you must complete this filing within 90 days of formation.

Penalty for failing to complete this filing is as follows:

As specified in the Corporate Transparency Act, a person who willfully violates the BOI reporting requirements may be subject to civil penalties of up to $500 for each day that the violation continues. That person may also be subject to criminal penalties of up to two years imprisonment and a fine of up to $10,000. Potential violations include willfully failing to file a beneficial ownership information report, willfully filing false beneficial ownership information, or willfully failing to correct or update previously reported beneficial ownership information.

This is a free reporting to complete via:

Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting | FinCEN.gov Many companies are required to report information to FinCEN about the individuals who ultimately own or control them. FinCEN began accepting reports on January 1, 2024. Learn more about reporting deadlines.

Dealing with the IRS may get better.

If you have ever dealt with the IRS, you may know that it historically has not been the best experience. There is a change that has been set forth by congress called the Taxpayer First Act. This act requires the IRS to develop a thorough strategy for customer service. The pillars that the IRS is set to propose changes to are:

1. Expanded Digital Services
2. Seamless Experience (Solution and Situation Results)
3. Proactive Outreach and Education
4. Community of Partners
5. Focused Strategies for Reaching Underserved Communities
6. Enterprise Data Management and Advanced Analytics

Current IRS Scams

Per the IRS, the following are the top scams effecting the taxpayer:
• New scam mailing related to unclaimed refunds: This is a scam claiming you are due a refund, when you are not, including promising a refund without any prior knowledge of your situation.
• Employee Retention Credit scams: This is a scam from aggressive advertising on who qualifies to receive the credit.
• Filing season scams involving fake Form W-2 wages: This is a scam where you are encouraged to use wage information to file a false return to get a bigger refund.
• Pandemic-related email scams: These are phishing scams attempting to get information from you in exchange for a credit or refund.
• Charity fraud awareness; This is a scam of “criminals soliciting donations and falsely posing as legitimate charities”
• Beware of OIC mills – avoid costly promoters advertising settlement with the IRS for “pennies-on-the-dollar”
• Scam targets educational institutions, including students and staff: This is an IRS impersonation scam to get information from educational institutions, including students and staff who have ".edu" email address.
• Identity theft and unemployment benefits: This scam is criminals seeking to steal taxpayer identities to file fraudulent claims for unemployment compensation.
• IRS: Don’t be victim to a "ghost" tax return preparer: A ghost preparer is someone who doesn't sign tax returns they prepare.
• IRS impersonation telephone scams

Tax Highlights Individuals

The 2023 filing deadline is April 15th of 2024 (if no extension).

If you have taken advantage of the high CD, money market, or bond interest you may have a higher tax liability due to that new income.

Net investment income tax (an additional 3.8% tax) has new brackets for 2023:
o Single: $200,000
o Married Filing Jointly: $250,000

Standard deduction for 2023:
o Single: $13,850
o Head of Household: $20,800
o Married Filing Jointly: $27,700
o Additional $1,850 if over the age of 65

Gift tax exclusion in 2023 is $17,000 per person.

Tax Highlights for Businesses

If you have or own a Partnership, S-Corp, or C-Corp the due date for those returns is March 15th (if no extension). The penalty for failing to file (or filing a valid extension) by this deadline is $220 per shareholder/partner per month.

There is a new federal regulation called the BOI or Beneficial Ownership Information filing. This new regulation is a filing to FinCen about who ultimately owns a company.
o Companies in existence prior to 2024 will have until 2025 to file.
o Companies created in 2024 will have 90 days to file.

Meal deduction is back to 50% from 100% for sit down restaurants.

Happy first day of IRS electronic filing!

Congradulations to the City of Alachua on the growth that you have been able to achieve in the past few years, and we are excited to watch as the plans for the future unfold. As your now past president, Mitch Glaeser, has stated: impressive things can be done when we all do it together. Which is easily demonstrated by 5% of Alachua's population showing up to the annual dinner. Thank you to LogoKick.com for getting us tickets to be a part of the event and experience Brad Williams turn Legacy Park to laughter.

Make plans to join us as we hear from Michael Solomon, Owner of Accounting Personalized, Chamber Diplomat of the Year for 2022, and motorcycle aficionado as he shares his story! Thank you to our series sponsor, PNC Bank, and our host, The Hippodrome!

Welcome Celeste to our team! Celeste joined Accounting Personalized in the Summer of 2023. She brings expertise from her prior roles in management as well as completing her accounting degree in the fall of 2023. She takes pride in her ability to complete tasks under pressure as well as being a caring wife and mother of three. She describes herself as family oriented, a “beach girl”, and a foodie.

Thank you to all that voted for us. We are ecstatic to win this award for the third year in a row!

Money with Michael Money with Michael IRS Energy Credit

20 more days this tax season. Do you still need to file or an extension?

Preowned Vehicle Tax Credit

Thinking of buying a used car but need a little incentive. The IRS is providing just that if you are interested in an Electric Vehicle (EV). If you buy a used electric car from a dealer for $25,000 or less, you may be eligible for a used clean vehicle tax credit. The credit the IRS is offering is 30% of the sale price with a maximum credit of $4,000.
In order for you to qualify you have to pass all of the following conditions:
• Be an individual who bought the vehicle for use and not for resale
• Not be the original owner
• Not be claimed as a dependent on another person’s tax return
• Not have claimed another used clean vehicle credit in the 3 years before the purchase date
• In addition, your modified adjusted gross income (AGI) may not exceed:
o $150,000 for married filing jointly or a surviving spouse
o $112,500 for heads of households
o $75,000 for all other filers
For the vehicle to qualify it must pass all of the following conditions:
• Have a sale price of $25,000 or less
• Have a model year at least 2 years earlier than the calendar year when you buy it.
• Not have already been transferred after August 16, 2022, to a qualified buyer.
• Have a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 14,000 pounds
• Be an eligible FCV or plug-in EV with a battery capacity of least 7 kilowatt hours
• Be for use primarily in the United States
The IRS recommends that when you purchase a used electric car from a dealer that you get the following information:
• Dealer's name and taxpayer ID number
• Buyer's name and taxpayer ID number
• Sale date and sale price
• Maximum credit allowable under IRC 25E
• Vehicle identification number (VIN),
• Battery capacity

Please note that purchases made before 2023 don't qualify.

Contact our owner Michael Solomon by calling us at 352-224-9530 or emailing him at [email protected] if you have questions or desire a more detailed discussion about this subject.

Annual Gift Tax Exclusion

For the 2022 tax year you can receive or give a gift of $16,000 per person “no questions asked” per the IRS per year. If you went over that limit the gift-er would then be required to file a gift tax return with the IRS. This filing does not necessarily mean that the IRS is going to tax your gift although there is a reporting requirement. For the 2023 tax year this amount is upped to $17,000.

Contact our owner Michael Solomon by calling us at 352-224-9530 or emailing him at [email protected] if you have questions or desire a more detailed discussion about this subject.

Educator Expense Deduction

Do you qualify for an educator expense deduction? First you need to determine if you are considered an educator by the IRS. To do so you need to have a minimum of 900 hours for the tax year you are filing as kindergarten through grade 12 teacher, instructor, counselor, principal or aide. If you can pass that test you may be eligible to deduct up to $300 of qualified expenses from your 2022 income. Qualified expenses per the IRS guidance is
• Books and classroom supplies.
• Technology and computer software used in the classroom during the process of teaching students.

Contact our owner Michael Solomon by calling us at 352-224-9530 or emailing him at [email protected] if you have questions or desire a more detailed discussion about this subject.

2022 Capital Gains and The Corresponding Tax Rates

What is a capital gain? A capital gain happens when you sell or exchange a capital asset for a higher price than its basis. The “basis” is what you paid for the asset, plus commissions and the cost of improvements, minus depreciation. It’s considered to be realized when the asset is sold. Once sold, proceeds are considered taxable income.

Now having some insight on what capital gains are, many tend to ask themselves how much income they can bring in without having to pay income tax on those gains. The length of time an asset is owned plays a major role in determining the amount owed. Long-term capital gains taxes are paid when you’ve held an asset for more than one year, and short-term capital gains apply to profits from an asset you’ve held for one year or less. Note that by holding on to an asset longer, you can then qualify for the long-term capital gains tax rate, which is significantly lower than the short-term capital gains rate for most assets.

Contact our Tax Associate, Fabiana Suskin by calling us at 352-224-9530 or emailing her at [email protected] if you have questions or desire a more detailed discussion about this subject.

Energy Credit – What Qualifies

Per the IRS an energy credit is a nonrefundable “credit” that can be applied for with the filing of your individual/business tax filing. As of the close of the 2022 tax year there is a 30-percent credit for certain qualified expenditures made by a taxpayer for residential energy efficient property. The two main categories we see normally see are:
Residential energy property – This is limited to the lower of 30% of the item or $600 per item
• central air conditioners;
• natural gas, propane, or oil water heaters;
• natural gas, propane, or oil furnaces and hot water boilers; and
• improvements to or replacements of panelboards, sub-panelboards, branch circuits, or feeders that are installed along with building envelope components
Residential Clean Energy Property - 30% of cost (no limit)
• solar electric property expenditures (solar panels);
• solar water heating property expenditures (solar water heaters);
• fuel cell property expenditures.
• small wind energy property expenditures (wind turbines);
• geothermal heat pump property expenditures; and
• battery storage technology expenditures.

Contact our owner Michael Solomon by calling us at 352-224-9530 or emailing him at [email protected] if you have questions or desire a more detailed discussion about this subject.

We are not Charlie's Angels but we do answer your call. If you find yourself in need of accounting help, we are here for you.

(Photography by Water Bear Photography)

Adoption Credit

The Federal Adoption Credit is a non-refundable tax credit that helps families offset the costs of qualifying adoption expenses. For adoptions finalized in 2022, there is a tax credit of up to $14,890 per child, for children under the age of 18 with a modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) phaseout threshold of $223,410 - $263,410. Taxpayers are only able to use the credit if they have federal income tax liability. The adoption credit applies one time for each adopted child and should be claimed when filing 2022 taxes.
According to the Internal Revenue Service, qualified adoption expenses can include items such as:
 Reasonable and necessary adoption fees
 Court costs and attorney fees
 Traveling expenses related to adoption
 Other expenses that are directly related to and for the principal purpose of the legal adoption of an eligible child
When claiming the adoption tax credit, you will want to have the following documents ready:
 The final adoption decree
 A placement agreement from an authorized agency
 Court documents
 A state’s determination for special needs children (if applicable)
Many ask why the adoption tax credit amount changes from year to year. This is typically due to inflation. The eligibility restrictions upon the taxpayers’ MAGI are also adjusted yearly for inflation. There has been an increase each year in the maximum amount a family can receive. The maximum adoption tax credit per year is shown below.

Key Information:
Future: 2023 Adoption Tax Credit – If you adopt a child in 2023, the credit maximum amount will be $15,950 with an AGI phaseout threshold of $239,230 to $279,230.

Present: 2022 Adoption Tax Credit – If you adopt a child in 2022, the credit maximum amount will be $14,890 with an AGI phaseout threshold of $223,410 to $263,410.

Past: 2021 Adoption Tax Credit – for the past tax year 2021, the maximum adoption credit was $14,440 per child with a phaseout range of $216,660 – $256,660.

Contact our Tax Associate, Fabiana Suskin by calling us at 352-224-9530 or emailing her at [email protected] if you have questions or desire a more detailed discussion about this subject.

Thank you Theresa Glaeser with LogoKick.com: Custom Designer Apparel, for inviting us. As well, congratulations to the Alachua Chamber of Commerce for a great event and the successful implementation of your vision this past year. This years theme of success derived through passion and teamwork, was excellently delivered by Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Theismann .

Important Tax Dates to Know to Start Your Year!

First Day of Electronic Filing 2022 Federal Tax Returns-1/23

Subcontractor 1099's and Employer Payroll Form Due Date - 1/31

S-Corp, Partnership, and C-Corp Filing Deadline - 3/15

Tangible Tax Return Filing for Florida Businesses- 4/1

Federal Individual Tax Filing - 4/18

First Quarter Tax Payment - 4/18

Florida Sunbiz Annual Report Deadline- 5/1

Thank you Gainesville-Alachua County Association of REALTORS® for having us out for your annual tax seminar.

Welcome to the team Mary Morgan, Staff Accountant.

Mary joined Accounting Personalized in the fall of 2022 as a Staff Accountant. With a background in manufacturing as well as apparel. She has many passions including animals, do it yourself projects and being an avid “Swiftie”.

Are you concerned about the growing fraudulent filing rate at the IRS and the protection of your social security number? An IRS IP PIN is a 6-digit number assigned to a taxpayer in order to cut down on ineligible filings. This six-digit pin is a new number that is generated by the IRS each year. The way this pin assists in protecting your tax history with the IRS is that if your IP PIN isn't entered or entered incorrectly. your return automatically gets rejected. To get this pin you can follow the instructions through the following link:

https://www.irs.gov/identity-theft-fraud-scams/get-an-identity-protection-pin

Contact our owner, Michael Solomon, by calling us at 352-224-9530 or emailing him at [email protected] if you have questions or desire a more detailed discussion about this subject.

Taxes... What Now? Taxes... What Now? With So Much Change Occurring In This Industry, It Is Important To Stay Up To Date

Check out our most recent publication in Gainesville City Lifestyle .

Taxes... What Now? Taxes... What Now? With So Much Change Occurring In This Industry, It Is Important To Stay Up To Date