Signs of the Times - February 2012 - (Page 70)

Taxing Times Amnesty, audits and getting your finances together in 2012 By Robin Donovan If you’ve abeen hoping – or holding out – for high-volume business year, Terry Mackin doesn’t have good news for you. A managing director of Generational Equity, he’s the guy you call when you’re ready, or forced, to sell your company, which is to say, not a sign guy. So, why listen to him? First, because he spends all day evaluating companies, trying to match interested buyers and sellers. He knows what makes a company succeed and fail; most companies are at one of those two points when they call him, so he keeps up on the politics that impact what a company is worth. He also knows what make a company valuable beyond the owner’s personal sentiments Several factors, Mackin said, play into the slow growth businesses can expect in 2012. “Banks are still not doing much in the way of lending, or providing business owners with lines of credit. Whatever growth you anticipate over the next couple years is going to come solely from what you’re able to draw out in net profits over the next couple years,” he explained. In addition, Mackin said companies that have cut fat from their expenses may slowly expand, but they won’t replace their losses one-to-one. Some laid-off employees have already been replaced by new technology. Offices that once happily employed an accountant, office manager and an HR director now have a frazzled assistant and a copy of Quickbooks. This is good for Never Pay Taxes Again If we could consistently avoid all tax burdens, the government would be bankrupt. This means CPAs who promise to lower your taxes or find a way to avoid them entirely are probably planning to use unscrupulous means to do so. Preparers who “share” dependents (taking them from a client who already has the maximum Earned Income Tax Credit, and giving them to another), offer trusts for a fee, deduct a personal residence as a business expense, or tell you not to withhold taxes from employees’ wages should send you running. The IRS website is an excellent resource to double-check tax code, but slogging through the details is burdensome. Still, the agency promises, “If there are legal deductions that can reduce your taxes, the IRS wants you to know about them and use them.” If in doubt, ask your tax preparer about a second opinion. A well-intentioned CPA should be open to this suggestion. Finally, know that promises made upfront rarely take into consideration your finances, and are hot air at best. Regardless of who prepares your returns, you’re responsible for their content. 70 SIGNS OF THE TIMES / FEBRUARY 2012 / www.signweb.com bottom lines, but tough for those who crowd unemployment offices. Technology remains our silverlined cloud. It eliminates jobs, but saves money. It breaks and causes headaches, but simplifies processing and production. And every year, there’s more to master. “To be viable going forward, you have to understand what’s out there . . . if you’re not, at some point down the road, you’re going to be a non-factor in your own industry,” Mackin warned. Washington D.C. raises more questions than hope for small businesses. A recent, two-month extension on payroll tax cuts means lingering uncertainty about whether the Bush tax cuts will be allowed to expire, which would effectively raise taxes for employees and employers. However, as CPA Ryan Himmel, who runs BIDaWIZ.com, a taxadvice website, explained: “Congress did basically nothing [at the end of 2011]. Bonus depreciation reverted to 50%, and the Section 179 maximum deduction went from $500,000 to $139,000 [adjusted for inflation] for 2012. The only thing they did was extend the payroll tax cut of 4.2% through the next two months [February], although Congress ‘says’ it plans to extend it for the entire year.” A little back story: the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act increased bonus depreciation to 100%, which allowed companies to write off new-equipment purchases in one year, rather than deducting a portion (previously 50%) of the http://www.BIDaWIZ.com http://www.signweb.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Signs of the Times - February 2012

Signs of the Times - February 2012
Contents
ST Update
Technology Update
Software Update
Vinyl Apps
Strictly Electric
LED Update
Technology Review
Sign Museum News
New Products
Palisades Center Mall’s Retrofit
Sign Structure Safety
Picture Them Rolling
Sign the Vote
Taxing Times
The Value of Signs
See Ya Real Soon!
Industry News
Advertising Index
Editorially Speaking

Signs of the Times - February 2012