News & Resources

LMGW Seeks Interns for Winter 2017

Advancement and opportunity await at LMGW Certified Public Accountants! LMGW is seeking interns to join our team of growing professionals during this exciting growth phase in our company. Potential candidates must be interested in a rewarding and successful long-term career in public accounting and be focused on personal and professional growth. Interns will have an opportunity to see how a successful accounting firm operates and will participate in projects such as tax returns, audits, reviews, compilations, litigation support, bookkeeping, and trust accounting.

Applicants will:

• Have a strong interest in public accounting
• Possess a strong sense of confidence in one’s own abilities and a drive to learn
• Understand it takes hard work and discipline to succeed, and look forward to proving oneself
• Recognize the opportunity to be part of the growth and transition of a firm moving to the next level
• Keep the “big picture” view in mind at all times

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Tax Records: Which Ones to Toss and When

Now is a great time to clean out that growing mountain of financial papers and tax documents that clutter your home and office. Here’s what you need to keep and what you can throw out.

Let’s start with your “safety zone,” the IRS statute of limitations. This limits the number of years during which the IRS can audit your tax returns. Once that period has expired, the IRS is legally prohibited from even asking you questions about those returns.

The concept behind it is that after a period of years, records are lost or misplaced, and memory isn’t as accurate as we would hope. There’s a need for finality. Once the statute of limitations has expired, the IRS can’t go after you for additional taxes, but you can’t go after the IRS for additional refunds, either. Read more

Bitcoins Treated as Property for Tax Purposes

Many retailers and online businesses now accept virtual currency for sales transactions. Despite IRS issuing a set of FAQs last year regarding virtual currency, the U.S. federal tax implications remain relatively unknown to many retailers. If you’re a retailer who accepts virtual currency such as bitcoins for transactions, here’s what you need to know.

Sometimes, virtual currency such as bitcoins operate like “real” currency, i.e. the coin and paper money of the United States or of any other country that is designated as legal tender, circulates, and is customarily used and accepted as a medium of exchange in the country of issuance. Read more

Understanding the Gift Tax

If you gave money or property to someone as a gift, you may wonder about the federal gift tax. Many gifts are not subject to the gift tax. Here are seven tax tips about gifts and the gift tax.

1. Nontaxable Gifts. The general rule is that any gift is a taxable gift. However, there are exceptions to this rule. The following are not taxable gifts:

• Gifts that do not exceed the annual exclusion for the calendar year,
• Tuition or medical expenses you paid directly to a medical or educational institution for someone,
• Gifts to your spouse (for federal tax purposes, the term “spouse” includes individuals of the same sex who are lawfully married),
• Gifts to a political organization for its use, and
• Gifts to charities.

2. Annual Exclusion. Most gifts are not subject to the gift tax. For example, there is usually no tax if you make a gift to your spouse or to a charity. If you give a gift to someone else, the gift tax usually does not apply until the value of the gift exceeds the annual exclusion for the year. For 2016, the annual exclusion is $14,000 (same as 2015). Read more

Renting Out Your Vacation Home

Renting out a vacation property to others can be profitable. If you do this, you must normally report the rental income on your tax return. You may not have to report the rent, however, if the rental period is short and you also use the property as your home. If you’re thinking about renting out your home, here are seven things to keep in mind:

1. Vacation Home. A vacation home can be a house, apartment, condominium, mobile home, boat or similar property.

2. Schedule E. You usually report rental income and rental expenses on Schedule E, Supplemental Income and Loss. Your rental income may also be subject to Net Investment Income Tax.

3. Used as a Home. If the property is “used as a home,” your rental expense deduction is limited. This means your deduction for rental expenses can’t be more than the rent you received. For more information about these rules, please call. Read more