SIDNEY — The year 2017 came to an end for McCrate, DeLaet & Co. with a flurry of year-end tax planning in reaction to the new tax legislation that was signed into law.
“This new tax law primarily takes effect for tax years starting on Jan. 1, 2018, or later,” said Mark H. Hoge, CPA, CVA, who is a partner at the firm.
His report continues:
Some of the significant changes for individual taxpayers are as follows:
• More taxpayer friendly individual income tax rates and brackets
• Significant increases in the standard deduction
• Suspension of the personal exemptions
• Increases to the AMT exemptions
• Repeal of the Affordable Care Act individual health insurance mandate
• Limits the deduction for state and local income taxes and property taxes paid to $10,000
• Increases in the base estate and gift tax exemption from $5 million to $10 million per person (indexed for inflation)
Perhaps the most significant changes in the tax law are geared towards businesses. Some of the highlights that will affect area businesses are as follows:
• Corporate income tax rate lowered from 34-35 percent to 21 percent
• A new deduction established for pass-through entities which could reduce taxable pass-through income by 20 percent (certain limitations apply depending on taxable income, W-2 wages paid, and cost of business property). Service oriented businesses have stricter rules that will limit the deduction for taxpayers above the threshold amount ($157,500 of taxable income for single filers and $315,000 of taxable income for married filers).
• More liberal expensing provisions on the purchase of property and equipment
• Other changes that will affect area taxpayers are the elimination of income deferral on most like-kind exchanges, the repeal of the domestic production deduction, and limitations on the deduction of interest for business taxpayers with more than $25 million in revenue.
With any new tax law comes opportunity for tax planning, and the professionals at McCrate have been actively researching the new law and the planning opportunities that it presents.
In addition to tax services, McCrate has specialists in the areas of audit & attestation, business valuations, cyber security, forensic accounting, payroll, financial services*, and bookkeeping (including Quickbooks & Sage Peachtree).
Our audit team primarily focuses on non-profit organizations as well as employee benefit plans. One area of growth for the firm has been in business valuations; with the recent uptick in mergers and acquisitions there has been a corresponding increase in the need for business valuations. Perhaps the single hottest topic for 2017 was cyber security, and McCrate reacted by having an experienced manager obtain the Certified Information Technology Professional (CITP) designation to consult with and advise our business clients on protecting their sensitive information. Another area of growth for the firm was in financial services*. We had success and growth in the areas of retirement plan design and advisory, as well as personal investment and wealth planning.
On the staff side McCrate retained all its’ staff year over year, and also added two new staff. Diane Jutte, CPA, joined the firm in the fall. Diane resides in Minster and brings significant experience in both public and industry accounting. Troy Green also joined the firm as an individual income tax specialist. Troy resides in St. Marys and brings 17 years of tax experience to the firm.
McCrate, DeLaet & Co. has specialists in taxation (corporate and individual), accounting, auditing, business advisory services, financial services*, and business valuations. Please contact us at 937-492-3161 or visit our website at www.mccrate.com and we will be glad to assist you with any of your accounting, audit, or tax needs.
*Securities offered through 1st Global Capital Corp. Member FINRA, SIPC
Investment advisory services offered through 1st Global Advisors, Inc.
