Tax & Accounting Insights for Irvine, CA. Expert Guidance from Bharmal CPAs
Mortgage Interest Deductions Under the New Tax Law
The recent tax reform contains two big changes to how much you can deduct in mortgage interest for tax years 2018 through 2025: During this seven-year period, you may not deduct any interest on prior or current home equity debt, with certain exceptions. Also during this seven-year period, the maximum amount you may treat as acquisition debt for homes purchased [...]
Is Canceled Debt Taxable?
What exactly is canceled debt and how does canceled debt affect taxes? Let’s first answer what canceled debt is and then we will delve into how canceled debt can affect your tax situation. In brief, canceled debt is debt that has been forgiven or discharged by a creditor. A common example of canceled debt is a credit card charge-off. Now [...]
Break Free of Boredom to Unleash Creativity
You can’t be creative if you’re bored out of your skull. We all feel jaded and restless from time to time, but if you’re suffering from a complete lack of stimulation, try these tricks for snapping out of it: Read something new. Pick a book by an author you’ve never read, or one that covers a subject you know nothing [...]
New Laws for Transportation Benefits
The recent tax reform destroyed what was a win-win tax benefit for both the employer and the employee. Transportation fringe benefits came into being in 1992 under the Energy Policy of 1992 (Pub. Law. 102-486). One difficulty was that the benefits expired often and worked their way into the group of tax provisions called extenders. No problem; lawmakers extended the [...]
Increase Your Online Security
Now most of us know not to access suspicious links embedded in emails from known and unknown sources, and we’re aware of the threats posed by public Wi-Fi networks. However, according to Eric Cole, a cybersecurity expert and author of Online Danger: How to Protect Yourself and Your Loved Ones From the Evil Side of the Internet (Morgan James Publishing), [...]
New Rules for Luxury Cars
Good news, taxpayers! Lawmakers finally increased the luxury auto depreciation limits on business cars. The old luxury limits were unrealistic, punitive, unfair, and discriminatory against any car that cost more than $15,800. The new limits don’t create parity in all respects, but they are a big improvement. If you bought a car in 2017 and paid more than $15,800, you [...]