Post-election Tax Concerns & Planning

With the presidential election over and the potential expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts, tax planning for 2012 and beyond will become more important than ever! Some of the more important issues that you may need to consider or discuss with us are as follows:

• This may not be the same as 2010, when the Bush-era tax cuts were extended for all taxpayers.  Both the climate and Congress are different, so the end result may be different as well.  If not extended, qualified dividends could increase from 15% to 39.6%, or higher.
•  The employee social security rate is set to increase from 4.2% to 6.2% on January 1, 2013.
•  Depending upon your capital gain/loss situation, you may want to consider harvesting capital gains in 2012, in order to take advantage of the 15% or lower tax rate, which may increase to 20% in 2013.
• Determine whether gifts should be made now, as the gift exemption of $5.12 million for 2012 may revert to $1 million in 2013.  In addition, the highest tax rate on gifts may increase from 35% to 55%.
• Be prepared to accelerate income and defer deductions, if possible, in order to take advantage of favorable tax rates in 2012, with tax rates expected to increase in 2013, including the new 3.8% Medicare surtax on investment income and the 0.9% increase in Medicare tax.  Types of income that will be subject to the surtax include:  taxable interest, dividends, annuity income, passive royalties, and rents.
• However, itemized deductions may again be limited in 2013.  Therefore, if your situation warrants, you may want to consider accelerating these deductions into 2012.

If you have any questions, or would like to further discuss your personal or business tax situation, please do not hesitate to contact us.  We appreciate your business, and look forward to working with you!

RNC comes to town!

The Republican National Convention took place just a few short blocks from our office! Unlike many other downtown offices, we decided to brave the potential conditions and go with “business as usual”. A ton of security personnel, lots of road closures and a few detours were the noticeable differences.

Patty Hamilton, our senior audit manager, volunteered as a hotel greeter for the Tampa Host Committee along with Brandon Faulkner, an associate in litigation at Holland & Knight. 

Giving back to the community and fostering our professional relationship with Holland & Knight was time well spent!

looking for professional help??

Have any accounting projects you just don’t have the resources to tackle? Get a notice from the IRS? Is a sales tax audit on your horizon? Feeling like your internal controls could use some tightening? Has your employee benefit plan just jumped up over 100 participants? Thinking of buying another company or considering selling yours? Has your tax situation recently changed?

LET DOWELL & PEREZ HELP YOU WITH THESE THINGS NOW!

This time of year is a great time to reach out and ask us for help. We’re here to service more than just your audit and end of year tax needs (and at reasonable summer season rates.) Whether it’s setting your mind at ease with tax planning, assisting on an accounting project or helping you respond to a compliance notice – we’re a phone call away!

tax dad & his soccer champion!

Mike Perez is one proud dad!! On Friday, February 17, Mike’s son, Henry, played in the Class 1A Soccer State Championship. His team, Tampa Prep, beat Evangelical Christian of Ft. Myers 3-0 for the school’s 6th State title since 2005!

Tampa Prep went into the Regional tournament as underdogs after finishing runner-up in their District. At Regionals, they beat Saint Stephens (ranked third overall in Florida) 3-2 in penalty kicks and then avenged their District loss by defeating Indian Rocks Christian 3-1. In the last three tournament games leading to the State title game, Tampa Prep outscored their opponents 13-1!

Congratulations to Tampa Prep and especially to Henry (and his dad too)!!

work hard … play hard

 

Gasparilla has been a Tampa tradition since 1904 and includes among other festivities, a pirate invasion followed by a parade.  This year was no exception and the invasion and parade took place just steps away from our office on a beautiful Tampa Saturday.

While we pride ourselves on working hard, we also like to play! Dan hosted a few pirates for the festivities and our newest employee, Christy, attended a roof-top party with Patty for her inaugural Gasparilla parade.  As a part of the City of Tampa and the downtown community, D&P did their part to participate in the revelry!

Back to work …

Fourth Annual Pajama Drive

Our fourth annual PAJAMA DRIVE to benefit The Spring of Tampa Bay is underway! Children arriving at the domestic violence shelter often come with only the clothes they are wearing. Please make their first night at the shelter more comfortable by donating a new pair of pajamas so they don’t spend their first night in a strange place in the clothes they wore all day.

You can help by bringing a new pair of pajamas (infant, toddler, child or teenager) to one of these locations:

Dowell & Perez, P.A. | 201 E. Kennedy Blvd, Suite 1950, Downtown Tampa

Fifth Third Bank Lobby | 201 E. Kennedy Blvd, Downtown Tampa

Tax deductible checks will also be accepted. Please make them payable to “The Spring of Tampa Bay” and add ‘pajama drive’ to the memo portion of your check. Donations will be accepted through January, 2012.

Thank you for your generosity to children facing a tough situation through no fault of their own.

New Year, New Tax Calendar!

Happy New Year! Please take a moment to review the 2012 Tax Calendar, take note of important dates and let us know if you have any questions. You may want to bookmark this page so that you can refer to it throughout the year.

If you have not scheduled your tax appointment yet, we encourage you to do so! Do not be concerned about having all your information available before making the appointment. If you do not have all your information, we will simply make a list of the missing items that you can forward to us as you receive them. To make your appointent before time slots start to fill up, please call our office at 813.221.2411.

We look forward to seeing you!