http://askcpasam.com/blog Making Payroll, Tax, Finance, Accounting Understandable Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:52:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://askcpasam.com/blog/2011/01/21/2011-paycheck-changes/ http://askcpasam.com/blog/2011/01/21/2011-paycheck-changes/#comments Fri, 21 Jan 2011 13:37:24 +0000 CPA Sam http://askcpasam.com/blog/?p=620 By now, most employees in the United States have received their first paycheck of 2011.  About the same time the first check is received, payroll departments across the country were deluged with questions about the changes on employee checks.  This edition of the blog should help to clear up some of the confusion regarding a [...]

]]> http://askcpasam.com/blog/2011/01/21/2011-paycheck-changes/feed/ 0 http://askcpasam.com/blog/2010/10/20/congressional-indecision/ http://askcpasam.com/blog/2010/10/20/congressional-indecision/#comments Wed, 20 Oct 2010 13:19:02 +0000 CPA Sam http://askcpasam.com/blog/?p=591 Working in the payroll software industry during the day has certainly opened my eyes to problems created by our federal elected officials.  Under normal circumstances, Congress decides on a budget for the next year with significant lead time for the president to sign the legislation and the Treasury department (IRS) to issue tax tables based [...]

]]> http://askcpasam.com/blog/2010/10/20/congressional-indecision/feed/ 0 http://askcpasam.com/blog/2010/09/03/self-employed-on-unemployment/ http://askcpasam.com/blog/2010/09/03/self-employed-on-unemployment/#comments Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:47:53 +0000 CPA Sam http://askcpasam.com/blog/?p=572 Q. I am a OTR driver and am the only person working for this company. Now he’s shutting down the company. He classified me as self employed. Can I draw unemployment? I do not have a home, but license is North Carolina. Employer was in Nebraska. A. The arrangement between you and the company providing [...]

]]> http://askcpasam.com/blog/2010/09/03/self-employed-on-unemployment/feed/ 0 http://askcpasam.com/blog/2010/08/04/social-security-started-over/ http://askcpasam.com/blog/2010/08/04/social-security-started-over/#comments Wed, 04 Aug 2010 13:38:22 +0000 CPA Sam http://askcpasam.com/blog/?p=551 Q. I have a unique variation of your “Social Security Tax on Everything” post… My wife’s small company decided to change their paycheck provider in July. The provider “reset” all employees yearly total earnings to zero and are therefore collecting the Social security tax from scratch. The provider claims they have to do this by IRS [...]

]]> http://askcpasam.com/blog/2010/08/04/social-security-started-over/feed/ 0 http://askcpasam.com/blog/2010/07/14/social-security-tax-on-everything/ http://askcpasam.com/blog/2010/07/14/social-security-tax-on-everything/#comments Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:57:06 +0000 CPA Sam http://askcpasam.com/blog/?p=522 Q.  I have a full-time and a part-time job with different companies.  My employers are both taking out Social Security tax.  Is this correct? A. Good Question! There are several common misconceptions about Social Security withholding from a paycheck. This is probably one of the biggest. The answer is….a resounding YES!!! Each employer of record [...]

]]> http://askcpasam.com/blog/2010/07/14/social-security-tax-on-everything/feed/ 1 http://askcpasam.com/blog/2010/06/25/teacher-gifts-from-students/ http://askcpasam.com/blog/2010/06/25/teacher-gifts-from-students/#comments Fri, 25 Jun 2010 14:38:45 +0000 CPA Sam http://askcpasam.com/blog/?p=523 Q. My question is: I work for a school. Sometimes parents gift money or gift cards at holiday time or for an appreciation event. Are these taxable. How about gift cards from a school committee (holiday drawing etc.) Even a child will offer a dollar in a card. If they are I am really upset. [...]

]]> http://askcpasam.com/blog/2010/06/25/teacher-gifts-from-students/feed/ 0 http://askcpasam.com/blog/2010/06/18/sole-proprietor-on-payroll/ http://askcpasam.com/blog/2010/06/18/sole-proprietor-on-payroll/#comments Fri, 18 Jun 2010 14:01:21 +0000 CPA Sam http://askcpasam.com/blog/?p=512 A good question today for discussion: “My husband is self-employed with no other employees.  I generate his paychecks.  This year, he has been doing a few jobs outside of our county; therefore, the local tax amounts vary from county to county.  The payroll program I use is a very basic program so there are not a lot of [...]

]]> http://askcpasam.com/blog/2010/06/18/sole-proprietor-on-payroll/feed/ 0 http://askcpasam.com/blog/2010/05/14/arizona_new_a4/ http://askcpasam.com/blog/2010/05/14/arizona_new_a4/#comments Fri, 14 May 2010 17:28:44 +0000 CPA Sam http://askcpasam.com/blog/?p=494 Arizona has done it again.  Currently, anyone who is being paid in Arizona must select from several percentages on the A-4.  Arizona withholding is based on a percentage of federal withholding.  The percentage you pick will be multiplied times the federal withholding number on your paycheck to arrive at Arizona withholding.  If you selected 24.5%, [...]

]]> http://askcpasam.com/blog/2010/05/14/arizona_new_a4/feed/ 0 http://askcpasam.com/blog/2010/03/05/yikes-a-big-tax-bill/ http://askcpasam.com/blog/2010/03/05/yikes-a-big-tax-bill/#comments Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:03:45 +0000 CPA Sam http://askcpasam.com/blog/?p=476 Q. My husband works for a large company, and I receive disability and do not work.  We just had our taxes done this week and got quite a shock!  We had a federal income tax refund of over $4000, but owed state tax of $1000 and local taxes of $600.  We are in PA.  How [...]

]]> http://askcpasam.com/blog/2010/03/05/yikes-a-big-tax-bill/feed/ 0 http://askcpasam.com/blog/2010/02/05/a-huge-tax-bill/ http://askcpasam.com/blog/2010/02/05/a-huge-tax-bill/#comments Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:32:21 +0000 CPA Sam http://askcpasam.com/blog/?p=462 Q. I utilize the withholding calculator on the IRS website to ensure my W-4 amounts are correct. This has gotten me very close to the amounts figured on my 1040 for the past 5-6 years since I’d begun utilizing the calculator.  I do a final check with the calculator after the last pay date in [...]

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