Taxes and COVID-19 Archives

Preparing for Your Complimentary Annual Mid-Year Meeting

By Office Staff|2020-06-03T14:32:59-07:00June 3, 2020|Categories: Financial Planning|Tags: COVID-19, Mid-Year Meeting, Taxes and COVID-19|0 Comments

Here at Stees, Walker & Company, LLP, we make it our responsibility to help our clients navigate the complexities of personal and business finances and maximize their tax savings, so they have more money to enjoy their lives and invest toward their financial futures. To fulfill this deeply rooted responsibility, every year at about this time, we offer our clients a complementary mid-year planning meeting. During each one-hour session, we discuss the client’s goals and any changes to their personal and/or business lives, identify ways to help them save money on taxes, answer any questions they have, and ensure that we are all working together toward the same financial goals.

Whether you’re a client of ours or another financial planning firm, you should engage in a midyear tax and financial planning session because the financial decisions and actions you take over the coming months can have a significant impact on your finances for years to come. However, very few people engage in such planning or they do so without professional guidance. As a result, we suspect that many people miss out on opportunities to reduce their taxes and have more money to invest toward their financial futures.

This year, we have a sense that more people might neglect their finances due to COVID-19. With the spring filing deadline postponed to July 15, many people are still focused on filing their 2019 tax returns. However, early preparation is key to taking advantage of future tax-saving opportunities, so we encourage you to meet with a qualified tax advisor or financial planner to explore opportunities to improve your finances.

In this post, we cover some of the recent changes in tax legislation and present a list of tax moves that you and your advisor may want to discuss.

Recent and Future Changes Likely to Impact Your Taxes

Several changes in tax legislation occurred near the end of 2019 and early in 2020 that are likely to provide tax-saving opportunities: Continue reading… Continue reading… Continue reading…

Coronavirus and Taxes Frequently Asked Questions

By Office Staff|2020-03-25T16:03:41-07:00March 17, 2020|Categories: Taxes|Tags: Coronavirus, COVID-19, Taxes and COVID-19|3 Comments

Updated: March 25, 2020 at 4:00 p.m. PT

In an effort to provide relief to individuals and businesses affected by coronavirus (COVID-19), the White House recently announced changes to the traditional 2020 tax filing season. Additionally, California’s state government recently announced similar relief.

With that in mind, below are answers to frequently asked questions about coronavirus and taxes, focusing both federal and California tax filings, as well as our role here at Stees, Walker & Company, LLP.

Q. What’s is Stees, Walker & Company, LLP’s role during this time?

A. Accounting firms such as ours employ personnel who have been designated by the State of California (according to Executive Order N-33-20) as part of the “essential” workforce that is needed right now. Not only are we assisting with current tax season issues for individuals and business entities, but we consider ourselves to be part of the financial front line — ready and able to assist businesses take steps now to successfully get back to work as usual when the State’s stay at home order is lifted.

Q. What is the IRS’ role in the National Emergency Concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak?

A. Under the Stafford Act, the IRS Disaster Assistance and Emergency Relief Program provides administrative tax relief to taxpayers and tax practitioners affected by a federally declared disaster in areas FEMA identifies for its Individual Assistance to Households and Families Program.

Authorized tax relief and other assistance the IRS is authorized to provide includes:

Extending tax return filing deadlines
Extending tax payment deadlines
Waiving penalty and interest charges normally applied to late filing and payment
Providing free copies of tax return transcripts
- Tax return records are often needed to claim benefits, file insurance claims, replace lost financial records, etc.
Expediting amended tax returns claiming a casualty loss and refund resulting from the disaster.

Q. What accommodations has the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) made to help individual and business taxpayers during the National Emergency Concerning the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbreak?

A. In addition to the IRS establishing a special section focused on steps to help taxpayers, businesses, and others affected by COVID-19 — on Friday, March 20, 2020, the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury announced that the current federal tax filing deadline has been extended from April 15, 2020 to Continue reading… Continue reading… Continue reading…