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Private Health Insurance Exchanges for Business Owners

The public health insurance exchanges created under the Affordable Care Act have been well publicized. Another, not so well known option exists: private health insurance exchanges. The private entries are still relatively small; in late 2014, the Kaiser Family Foundation put total enrollment at 2.5 million people, including 700,000 retirees in Medicare plans. Yet, some observers see the private market... Read More

Are Tax Refunds Good or Bad?

Few people pay exactly the correct amount of income tax during the year. When you file your return for 2014, you probably will find that you paid too little (and owe more tax) or paid too much (and can request a refund). Typically, refunds are due to employees who have too much tax withheld from their paychecks. Example 1: Arlene King is paid twice a month. From each paycheck, her employer withholds $1,000... Read More

HLB International Appoints New Member in Djibouti

HLB International, one of the leading global accountancy networks with presence in 130 countries, has recently signed a new member in Djibouti: Alephe Consulting. Alephe Consulting provides audit, tax and corporate finance services and in addition to Djibouti covers Somalia and Somaliland. The firm has special expertise in transit and transport services, which is particularly relevant with the on-going... Read More

Above-the-line Tax Deductions

At this time of the year, chances are that you’re getting together information for preparing your 2014 income tax return or reviewing a return that’s already prepared. When you are doing so, it can pay to take a close look at the adjustments to income you can take on the bottom of page 1 of your Form 1040 or Form 1040A. These adjustments, which reduce the taxable income you’ll declare, are known as... Read More

Turn Relatives into Employees to Reduce Taxes

High-income business owners may be realizing the impact of new tax laws as they prepare their 2014 tax returns. Those laws can be especially painful if your company is structured as an S corporation or a limited liability company (LLC), with all income reported on your personal return. Besides the recently added 39.6% top income tax bracket, your income may be subject to the 3.8% Medicare surtax as well as... Read More

What is your RIA/Broker Dealer Business Really Worth?

A very rough rule of thumb often quoted for the business value of an RIA/Broker Dealer is two times revenues. However, rules of thumb can be tricky and are commonly misused. For instance consider this scenario: RIA “A” and RIA “B” both have $5 million in annual revenue, when looking at most recent TTM (Twelve Trailing Months). However, the average age of the clients in RIA “A” is 70, and... Read More

IRS Makes it Easier for Small Businesses to Apply Repair Regulations to 2014 and Future Years

The Internal Revenue Service today made it easier for small business owners to comply with the final tangible property regulations. Requested by many small businesses and tax professionals, the simplified procedure is available beginning with the 2014 return taxpayers are filling out this tax season. The new procedure allows small businesses to change a method of accounting under the final tangible property... Read More

HLB International Adds New Member in Italy

HLB International, one of the leading global accountancy networks with presence in 130 countries, has recently signed a new member in Italy. Established in 1992, HLB Italy is based in Milan and offers tax, corporate finance and general consulting services to clients of all sectors, with special expertise in the fashion, oil & gas, energy, automotive, TV & media, IT and retail industries. The... Read More

HLB Appoints New Member in India

HLB International, one of the leading global accountancy networks with presence in 130 countries, has recently signed a new member in India: Roy Varghese & Co, located in Trivandrum and Cochin, Kerala State. Established in 1993, Roy Varghese & Co provides audit, tax, corporate finance and business advisory services to a wide range of companies including listed and public companies, with special... Read More