Who Should Read This?  Everyone!

 Individual Taxes:  What You Need To Know

Beginning on January 8th, you will be able to log onto your TaxCaddy account to complete the questionnaire, engagement letter, and begin uploading documents to your Document Request List (DRL). The DRL lists all the tax documents you submitted for your 2022 tax return. Please go through the DRL and upload the 2023 version in the same place. For instance, if your DRL lists a W-2 from ABC Company, please upload your 2023 W-2 there (or click the box to indicate that it does not apply.)

We are continuing to offer a 5% discount to clients who upload their tax documents to TaxCaddy! But this year we expect you to use the Document Request List (DRL) to qualify for the discount!  

We are still accepting paper tax documents for 2023 taxes. We will scan them and upload them to your TaxCaddy account for you. Even if you give us paper docs, you’ll still need to log into TaxCaddy to complete the engagement agreement, questionnaire, and DRL.

We need 4 things to get you in the queue: 

1. Your completed questionnaire in TaxCaddy

2. A signed engagement agreement in TaxCaddy

3. Your completed DRL (Document Request List) in TaxCaddy

4. Your tax docs. You must click “Done Uploading” when you have finished uploading 85-90% of your tax docs. When you do that, we get notified to add you to the queue. (Or drop off or mail us paper docs.)

Once we receive all four of these items, we will let you know that you are in the queue. If you don’t receive an acknowledgment from us, please let us know!

This year all written communication about your tax return will go through TaxCaddy instead of email.  TaxCaddy is secure (whereas email is not) and TaxCaddy allows us to easily make the conversation part of your permanent tax file.

 Business Taxes:  What You Need To Know

This year we will be using our new Canopy portals for business tax docs, like loan statements, inventory reports, etc. Don’t worry if you haven’t received an invite yet. We’ll ask about it on the questionnaire and make sure you get an invite promptly if needed.

We are continuing to use SafeSend to deliver business returns. This year, if you have multiple businesses, you’ll be able to see all the returns with one link.

We need 2 things to get you in the queue: 

1. Your business questionnaire. The business tax questionnaire is posted on the home page of our website (right below the dog). Please do not complete the questionnaire until you have reconciled all bank and credit card accounts.

2. Access to your QuickBooks Online*

*If you use QB Desktop – please read!

We are no longer supporting QuickBooks Desktop.  (Intuit is going to stop selling it in 2024.)  If you use QB Desktop, please click here to see what reports we will need you to submit.  

*If you use spreadsheets – please read!

If you are submitting your business tax return info in spreadsheet form, we will be charging an hourly fee of $300 per hour to convert them into financial statements for tax preparation.

 Individual Taxes:  What You Need To Know

Beginning on January 10^th, you will be able to log onto your TaxCaddy account to complete the questionnaire, engagement letter, and begin uploading documents to your Document Request List (DRL).  The DRL lists all the tax documents you submitted for your 2023 tax return.  Please go through the DRL and upload the 2024 version in the same place.  For instance, if your DRL lists a W-2 from ABC Company, please upload your 2024 W-2 there (or click the box to indicate that it does not apply.)

We are continuing to offer a 5% discount to clients who upload their tax documents to TaxCaddy and correctly utilize the Document Request List (DRL).

We are still accepting paper tax documents for 2024 taxes.  We will scan them and upload them to your TaxCaddy account for you.  Even if you give us paper documents, you’ll still need to log into TaxCaddy to complete the engagement agreement, questionnaire, and DRL.  If necessary, special arrangements can be made with the admin team to complete a PDF version of the engagement letter and questionnaire.

We need 4 things to get you in the queue:

1. Your completed questionnaire (in TaxCaddy)
2. A signed engagement agreement (in TaxCaddy)
3. Your completed DRL (Document Request List in TaxCaddy)
4. Your tax docs.  You must click “Done Uploading” when you have finished uploading 85-90% of your tax docs.  When you do that, we get notified to add you to the queue.  (Or drop off or mail us paper docs.)

Once we receive all four of these items, we will let you know that you are in the queue.  If you don’t receive an acknowledgement from us, please let us know!

We try to use TaxCaddy for all written communication about your tax instead of email.  TaxCaddy is secure (whereas email is not) and TaxCaddy allows us to easily make the conversation part of your permanent tax file. Do NOT send any tax documents over email.

 Extensions For All! 

We extend all tax returns, regardless of when we complete them.  There are a few reasons for this.  The first is that the late filing penalty is ten times higher than the late paying penalty, so we like to take that off the table.  The second is that employer retirement plan contributions are due with the tax return due date, including extensions.  So, this gives our small business clients an additional 6 months to make employer 401-K or SEP contributions.  And the third is that we know we can only complete about 50% of the tax returns we prepare by April 15^th.  It’s easier for us to extend on the front end and remove some of the drama.

If we completed your return last year, we will automatically extend it this year.  If you are a new client, or if you have to file in a new state, please contact us to confirm that we have all the information we need to file the new extensions. Generally speaking, businesses need to file in all states where they have an employee physically working, a physical office, or inventory stored there.

Please remember, 2024 S-Corp and partnership taxes are due March 15^th.  C-Corp and individual returns are due April 15^th.  The extensions give us more time to file, not more time to pay!  If you don’t pay your taxes in full by March 15^th or April 15^th, either with the extension or with the return, you will be charged interest and a late payment penalty. (A valid extension means you won’t be charged the late-filing penalty.)

As always, our best advice is to submit your information in early! We hope to meet our goal of completing all returns that we receive at least 45 days in advance of the deadline.  The deeper we get into the tax season, the number of tax documents submitted by our clients grows exponentially.  We want to give each return the care and attention it deserves, and it normally involves a lot of back-and-forth communication.  We are not able to estimate extension payments for returns that come in less than 45 days in advance.

 2025 Estimates

When we complete your 2024 tax return, we will automatically prepare 2025 estimates based on the safe harbor of 110% of your 2024 tax (if needed).  We’ll be asking you in the questionnaires if you have other information that we should consider instead of using the safe harbor. We will provide up to 30 minutes of tax planning during the preparation of your return. Any additional tax planning will be billed hourly at $300 per hour.

 1099s due January 31, 2025

If you would like us to prepare any 1099s for you, please fill out this form

Cyber Security

Unfortunately, again this year we have had some clients with cyber security breaches.  We strongly recommend that you have cyber insurance!  Contact your insurance provider to learn what policies are available and make sense for you.  The number one thing you can do to keep your email and data safe is to use multi-factor authentication on everything, especially email.  It’s a pain, but not nearly as painful as getting hacked.

 Corporate Transparency Act   (aka Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI)

NEW DEVELOPMENT: on December 3rd, a Federal court in Texas blocked enforcement of the BOI reporting, finding that it is likely unconstitutional. If you have not already filed, we recommend that you do not file (unless/until there’s a new ruling).  If you have already filed, there’s nothing you can do

 MarylandSaves  You Can Save $300 Every Year

Small businesses with employees that have been in existence for more than 2 years need to register with MarylandSaves or offer a retirement plan for their employees.  If your business already offers a retirement plan, register as exempt with MarylandSaves so you won’t have to pay the $300 filing with your annual report/personal property tax return.  You have to do this every year!  Program Details – MarylandSaves

 Virtual Currency

The IRS has been trying very hard to get their share of tax revenue on virtual currency transactions. That could change with the new administration, but we still recommend that you keep pristine records. If you sold any virtual currency or used it for a purchase of any kind, it needs to be reported on your tax return. Likewise, if your business had any virtual currency transactions, they also need to be reported. 

 Maryland Pass Through Entity Tax (PTE) Can Be Paid Online

This is for pass-through entities only (i.e. S-Corps and partnerships).  Maryland has finally updated their website to accommodate PTE tax payments.  The payments are deductible in the year that you make them.  The 4^th quarter MD PTE estimated tax payments are due 12/15/2024.  But as long as you make the payment by the end of the year, we can deduct it on your 2024 tax return.  Here’s the link: Login

 2025 401-K Contribution Limits

Beginning in 2025, workers aged 60, 61, 62, and 63 get special treatment, thanks to the Secure 2.0 Act.  Here are the 2025 limits based on your age as of 12/31/25:

Age 49 and younger:  $23,500

Ages 50-59: $31,000

Ages 60-63:  $34,750

Ages 64 and older:  $31,000

 Form 1099-Ks

New for tax year 2024, companies like PayPal and Venmo are required to report payments totaling $5K or more on Form 1099-K.  If you receive a Form 1099-K, we need it for your taxes!

 Key Numbers

To see the new mileage rates, FICA limit, HSA limits and retirement limits, click below: https://www.thehardinggroup.biz/info-and-resources/key-numbers/