Amir Morani CPA CMA CFM CTP MBA

A. Morani CPA adds new office location

2012-01-22T10:34:00.001-08:00

Our CPA practice has now opened up an office location in Carrollton at 2340 E. Trinity Mills Rd., Carrollton, TX-75006

The services offering have expanded to complete portfolio of CPA service along with complete Insurance services and Mergers & Acquisitions in collaboration with our business affiliates Performance USA Inc.

Texas and 9 other states are community property states - do you know what that means?

2012-01-19T21:06:00.001-08:00

In a community property state, the earnings of a married couple are joint earnings - each person owns one-half of the other person's earnings. Thus, at death, each person is allowed to transfer only his or her half of the total property to the person of his or her choice. While alive and married, one spouse cannot dispose off a community property without the consent of the other spouse.

If you acquire or earn assets in a community property state and then move to a non-community property state, the property acquired in community property state remains as community property.

This simple fact has many estate planning implications for you to keep in mind.

The ten states with community property laws are Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.

If a partner in a business passes away, how does the family of the deceased partner benefit from the ownership in business

2012-01-16T17:09:00.000-08:00

Partners come together to do business because they have an understanding with each other and have, hopefully, a chemistry between them to run a successful business. The partnership is between the individuals who come together to work with each other - and it is not, often, a partnership between families.

So, if a partner passes away then there has to be a way for the family of the deceased partner to be paid the value of the partnership (equity) interest of the deceased partner and released from the ownership in the company.

One of the easiest, yet most ignored, way to manage such transition is a Buy-Sell Agreement. This agreement provides for a way for the family of the deceased to be paid a fair value of the share of the deceased partner. This agreement needs to be funded, which means that the company must have funds available to pay the value to the family which such unfortunate event happens.

If you are in a business in partnership with others, you must take care of this important aspect of any business venture where there are more than one owners.

Enter into a buy-sell agreement with your partners and arrange for funding such agreement adequately, and you would have taken care of one of the most crucial aspect of business with multiple owners. Such arrangements help an excellent transition and life forward for the surviving business and the surviving family.

Do you have possession of your accounting records?

2012-01-05T07:41:00.000-08:00

Many small businesses get their financial prepared by bookkeeping and accounting services. Some of them are happy to just see their monthly financial statements from their accountant. The accountant's office enters the data into an accounting system, often Quickbooks, and then provides the output to the client.

Who do you think the data belongs to? If a company is audited by IRS they are required to provide complete details of the various items reported on the financials. If the Quickbooks file is with the accountant, you would need to obtain that or the accountant will have to furnish it to the IRS.

That is true. IRS now has implemented new rules where the auditors will require the accounting records in electronic format - the Quickbooks file that has all your data can be requested by IRS and you have to furnish.

Do you have possession of your accounting records? Do you have a back up of your accounting records in electronic format with you?

Don't just get happy with your monthly financial statements, ask for the electronic backup of your data each month from your CPA or accountant.

It's time a small business owner becomes a demanding client for CPAs.

Four-in-five not ready for retirement | BenefitsPro

2011-12-24T21:46:00.000-08:00

Four out of five Americans are still not adequately prepared to meet their needs in retirement, according to new analysis from HR consulting firm Aon Hewitt.
According to Aon Hewitt’s projections based on 2.1 million U.S. employees, the average worker will need 11 times their final pay in retirement (after accounting for social security) in order to meet their retirement needs.
However, as of the beginning of 2011, the average full-career employee, who is actively contributing to their defined contribution (DC) plan, is projected to have a shortfall of 2.2 times pay at retirement age. Fully half of full-career workers are expected to have a gap of greater than two times pay at retirement.

Four-in-five not ready for retirement BenefitsPro

Amir Morani's comments:

Well, if the retirement is planned properly and appropriate provisions of the tax code are used there is a strong possibility for individuals to have a safe retirement with a properly funded and conservatively invested retirement fund.

We have many clients who have taken care of their retirement in this way - they have saved and have secured their retirement with no worries about the market volatilities.

It is possible to have a well-funded retirement.

If you own a business and would like to put together a retirement plan that can be funded quickly and safely, please let us know and may be we can help you do it.

If you have questions on taxes visit www.OnlineTaxConsultant.com

If you like us to help with your taxes, retirement planning and business succession planning visit www.AMoraniCPA.com

If you own a business - don't take the next 6 days lightly

2011-12-24T07:58:00.001-08:00

There are some very attractive tax planning opportunities available for business owners but they require some action from you before December 31, 2011.

There is no harm (except a few minutes of your time investment) in taking one look at what are some of the things you can do.

Of course, if none of them apply to you all that you did was spent a few minutes to learn a few things that may come in handy sometime in future.

However, if you do find somethings applicable to you they could result in savings of $1,000s in taxes.

Take a look at my blog http://www.taxpainkiller.com/ and click on the link for the "16 Ideas..." on the right hand side to get the ebook complimentary from us.

Enjoy the holidays - but take care of the taxes too.

If you have tax questions get them answered at www.OnlineTaxConsultant.com

If you would like us to help you with your taxes, retirement planning and business succession planning visit www.AMoraniCPA.com

How about tax-free retirement income - is it possible

2011-12-23T20:08:00.001-08:00

There are limits on what you can contribute to a 401(k), SEP IRAs and other plans of retirement.

The elective deferrals by employees cannot exceed $16,500 for 2011 and $17,000 for 2012.

For 2011, the maximum annual addition that may be made to a participant's account in a defined contribution plan may not exceed the lesser of $49,000 or 100% of the participant's compensation.

At this speed, when will you have your retirement funded.

Besides, all of these retirement funds are taxable at the time of withdrawal. The withdrawal must start at the age of 70.5 otherwise there is a 50% excise tax on it.

Some of our clients are now working on a retirement plan where they are able to contribute a lot more to their retirement with tax deductible funds. Some of them are also working on retirement plans where there will be no tax on the money they withdraw for their retirement.

There are many options available to plan your retirement in a very tax savvy way - for now and for later (when you are old) - if you are willing to look beyond the obvious and look at the many other options available in the tax code.

IRS is willing to help you if you are willing to take the help.

Let me know if you would like to know about these options

As 2011 winds down, there are still ways to cut your tax bill - latimes.com

2011-12-23T20:03:00.000-08:00

Many investors won't be sorry to see 2011 come to a close. Heart-stopping market gyrations have left many distraught over their shrinking nest eggs.

As 2011 winds down, there are still ways to cut your tax bill - latimes.com

What happens to your business if you or your partner leave this world?

2011-12-19T20:53:00.000-08:00

When you are in a partnership business (whether it is a corporation or partnership) you have the talent of two or more people that drives the business.

The success of a business enterprise takes the expertise of all.

The lesson in mortality is that, as Steve Job said, "Death is life's greatest invention."

If one of the partners in a business passes away there has to be a way for the ownership of this partner to pass on to the existing partners and for the family of the deceased partner taken care of fairly.

All business people who are in partnership with others must address this very critical issue with the help of a Buy-Sell Agreement.

A buy-sell agreement helps resolve this matter in a remarkable way by making sure that the business has adequate cash available to manage such situation, whenever it arises.

We are glad that many of our clients have taken this matter seriously and have taken care of this detail in their partnership.

We are working with some others who are actively working on putting together an arrangement for partners to take over the shares of the deceased partner with adequate compensation to the family of the deceased.

If you have tax questions visit www.OnlineTaxConsultant.com

If you would like us to help you with your taxes, retirement planning and business succession planning visit www.AMoraniCPA.com

Your one possible regret for 2011

2011-12-16T21:36:00.000-08:00

There are so many tax planning opportunities available for 2011 including some that are expiring on December 31, 2011. In the next 10 days all of these opportunities to plan your taxes will be lost - though they are not lost yet.

We have some clients who are aggressively looking at the options and taking action and there is a lot of activity going on with them.

Check out all that is possible for 2011 - or you would be left with one regret for 2011 for sure - you didn't take advantage of some of the most amazing tax planning opportunities that were avaialble to you for 2011.

If you have tax questions visit www.OnlineTaxConsultant.com

If you would like us to help you with your taxes, retirement planning and business succession planning visit www.AMoraniCPA.com

College education - completely free in America

2011-12-09T05:23:00.001-08:00

One of the big worries in financial planning is to plan for college education of your children. So it would be nice to find out if it is possible to get free college education in America. One college that offers free education is Berea. College in KY. Check them out at www.Berea.edu - it is for real.

Retirement income with no taxes

2011-12-07T09:56:00.000-08:00

Most retirement plans require you to put money into a pre-tax plan such as IRA, 401(k), SEP etc.. These contributions are limited in amount and you are able to deduct them from your taxable income so you don't have to pay taxes on them in the year of the contribution.

Later in your life you have to start using those funds. At that time you pay taxes on all of your withdrawals. You would be paying taxes on them at the rate prevailing at that time. The trend of the tax rates is anybody's guess at this time.

If you contribute to these plans you must, in most cases, start taking distributions from these plans when you reach 70.5. If you don't take distributions you have penalties. If you take distributions before 59.5 you have penalties. Sometimes these penalties are quite hefty and eat away a big chunk of your principal. Thus you end up losing a lot if you want to take money out sooner than you reach 59.5.

There is another way of planning your retirement that we advice our clients to think about. This way helps plan your retirement in a way that you don't pay any taxes when you withdraw funds at retirement, you don't have to withdraw if you don't need it and you can pass on a good amount of your wealth on to your successors.

Plan your retirement wisely - plan it in a tax-smart way.

If you accept credit cards from your customers - BE READY FOR NEW PAPERWORK FOR 2011

2011-12-06T10:30:00.001-08:00

If you accept credit cards from your customers in your business - this is important information for you.

Starting from this year - 2011 - IRS requires all credit card processing companies - that is the merchant institution - such as banks or other institutions - to issue 1099 K to their customers.

This new form 1099 K will report to the customer and to IRS the amount of money that the business received as payment from customers during the year.

This is a major change. The revenue reported by you on your Tax Return should reconcile - NOT necessary match - but reconcile with the amount reported by the credit card company.

So, if the credit card processing company reports to IRS that you received $100,000 from your customers through credit card and if you report $120,000 as your total annual revenue - you better have good records to prove that you received only $20,000 in other forms of payment (cash or check).

Another radical example would be when you report on your tax return that your revenue was $80,000 - you should have good reconciliation in your records to prove that of the $100,000 received from credit cards only a part was revenue and the remaining was for something else.

So, be careful with your financial statements and tax returns for 2011 - particularly if you are accepting credit cards from your customers - new reporting - requires - new care.

1099 K is real for 2011. Check it out.

Small Business Financing Services

2011-12-02T22:23:00.000-08:00

With over 10 years of successful experience in small business financing, A. Morani CPA in Dallas, TX is pleased to announce that we are now ready to help small and medium sized businesses in obtaining financing for their business.

We will help you evaluate your funding requirements, identify best possible alternatives for you and capture your accomplishments and projections for a compelling presentation for the lenders.

We have now established network with lenders who are interested in looking at challenging business propositions for financing.

We look forward to working you to help you finance your business just like we have done with many many businesses over a period of 10 years

If you have tax questions visit www.OnlineTaxConsultant.com

If you would like us to help you with your taxes, retirement planning and business succession planning visit www.AMoraniCPA.com

Mileage Deduction Rates for 2011 - Business, Charity, Medical

2011-11-15T08:27:00.000-08:00

For your 2011 tax returns you can deduct automobile mileage (for use of your car) as follows:

January 1 - June 30, 2011 -
Business: $0.51 per mile
Charity: $0.14 per mile
Medical: $0.19 per mile

July 1, - December 31, 2011
Business: $0.555 (that's right 55.5cents) per mile
Charity: $0.14 per mile
Medical: $0.235 per mile

If you have any tax questions visit www.OnlineTaxConsultant.com

If you would like us to help you with your taxes, retirement planning and business succession planning visit www.AMoraniCPA.com

If you believe you are paying too much income tax

2011-07-14T12:18:00.000-07:00

If you believe you are paying a lot of income tax, you probably are. There are many deductions and credits that go unused by most taxpayers thus resulting in overpayment of taxes by them.

There are some very attractive tax breaks available for those taxpayers who would like to save towards their retirement. Significant amounts can be deducted in the current tax year (with a major reduction in your taxes) and provide for your long-term retirement benefit.

If you are in your own business you can put away as much as $195,000 or more to your retirement plan in a year and deduct it all in your taxes.

We would be glad to show you some of these options.

Tax Deductions for 2011 - you need to take action on these right away

2011-06-15T14:33:00.000-07:00

There are two very special tax incentives for business people in 2011. These two incentives are expiring on December 31, 2011. In order to take advantage of these incentives action is needed immediately on the part of those who would like to benefit from it.

Take a look a the details of these deductions at http://www.taxpainkiller.com/

If you have tax questions visit www.OnlineTaxConsultant.com

If you would like us to help you with your taxes, retirement planning and business succession planning visit www.AMoraniCPA.com

$250,000 Tax Deduction you missed in 2008 2009 or 2010

2011-05-25T08:56:00.000-07:00

If you have a business, whether operated as a sole proprietor, partnership or corporation, you were eligible to deduct up to $250,000 ($500,000 in 2010 and 2011) for the cost of section 179 property that you may have purchased during those years.

Take a look at the details at http://www.taxpainkiller.com/ for details of this excellent deduction.

If you have tax questions visit www.OnlineTaxConsultant.com

If you would like us to help you with your taxes, retirement planning and business succession planning www.AMoraniCPA.com

US Businesses Must Look for Opportunities Overseas

2011-05-11T12:22:00.000-07:00

There is a tremendous change in the business environment in the USA. We are facing some very unusual challenges in the domestic market. However, there are excellent business opportunities overseas. There is growth happening in most of the developing world at very high rates. The population there is getting exposed to new purchasing power and they would definitely love to have access to some of the products and services that we have been so used to in the USA.

There are also great US tax advantages for companies growing abroad. Stay tuned and we will discuss them here.

USA Exports Newsletter: EXPORT - not to grow but to survive in your home m...

2011-04-21T08:34:00.000-07:00

USA Exports Newsletter: EXPORT - not to grow but to survive in your home m...: Whatever you make in your business, if you make them enough you become better at it. The quality of your product improves as you make more a...

USA Exports Newsletter: Apple reports 59% sales outside USA in quarter end...

2011-04-20T08:34:00.000-07:00

USA Exports Newsletter: Apple reports 59% sales outside USA in quarter end...: Here is another testimony to potential of consumers outside USA. Apple just reported its second fiscal quarter results for the quarter ende...

USA Exports Newsletter: Health care industry in the Middle East offers opp...

2011-02-11T08:36:00.000-08:00

USA Exports Newsletter: Health care industry in the Middle East offers opp...: There has been a serious underinvestment in the health care industry in the Middle East over the last 2 decades. This trend is now reversing...

USA Exports Newsletter: Roads, hospitals and education to get a bulk of $7...

2011-02-11T08:35:00.000-08:00

USA Exports Newsletter: Roads, hospitals and education to get a bulk of $7...: Oman, a beautiful country and a next door neighbor to UAE. A short drive from Dubai for those companies that are based at Dubai Airport Free...

USA Exports Newsletter: USA exports to Arab world could exceed $1 Trillion...

2011-02-10T08:37:00.000-08:00

USA Exports Newsletter: USA exports to Arab world could exceed $1 Trillion...: The economies of the Arab world are growing. The governments there are spending on building bridges, metros, highways and roads. The consume...

USA Exports Newsletter: Growth in Middle East and Asia seen by CEO

2011-02-09T08:36:00.000-08:00

USA Exports Newsletter: Growth in Middle East and Asia seen by CEO: A recent survey by PriceWaterhouseCoopers reveals that about 90% of the CEOs of the world see major growth in Asia and over 70% of them see ...