Topel Forman Blog

There still may be time to cut your tax bill with an IRA

If you’re getting ready to file your 2021 tax return, and your tax bill is more than you’d like, there might still be a way to lower it. If you’re eligible, you can make a deductible contribution to a traditional IRA right up until the April 18, 2022 filing date, and...

Making withdrawals from your closely held corporation that aren’t taxed as dividends

Do you want to withdraw cash from your closely held corporation at a minimum tax cost? The simplest way is to distribute cash as a dividend. However, a dividend distribution isn’t tax-efficient since it’s taxable to you to the extent of your corporation’s “earnings and profits.” It’s also not deductible by the corporation. Fortunately, there are several alternative methods that may allow you to withdraw cash from a corporation while avoiding dividend treatment. Here are five areas where you may want to take action:

Protecting Your Company From Cryptocurrency Fraud

According to blockchain data company Chainalysis, cryptocurrency transactions associated with illegal activity topped $14 billion in 2021. That’s almost double 2020 numbers — and the momentum shows no signs of slowing. In addition to outright cryptocurrency theft,...

Smooth sailing: Tips to speed processing and avoid hassles this tax season

The IRS began accepting 2021 individual tax returns on January 24. If you haven’t prepared yet for tax season, here are three quick tips to help speed processing and avoid hassles.

Educate your children on wealth management? (January 25, 2022)

There’s no one right way to teach your children about money. The best way depends on your circumstances, personality, and your comfort level.

If your kids are old enough, consider sending them to a money management class. For younger children, you might start by simply giving them an allowance in exchange for doing household chores. This helps teach them the value of work. And, after they spend the money all in one place a few times and don’t have anything left for something they really want, they (hopefully) will learn the value of saving. Opening a savings account or a CD, or buying bonds, can help teach kids about investing and the power of compounding.

How will revised tax limits affect your 2022 taxes? (January 20, 2022)

While Congress didn’t pass the Build Back Better Act in 2021, there are still tax changes that may affect your tax situation for this year. That’s because some tax figures are adjusted annually for inflation.

If you’re like most people, you’re probably more concerned about your 2021 tax bill right now than you are about your 2022 tax situation. That’s understandable because your 2021 individual tax return is generally due to be filed by April 18 (unless you file an extension).

What factors into the cost of capital? (January 6, 2022)

Valuation experts often use discounted cash flow (DCF) techniques to determine the value of a business or estimate economic losses. A critical input in a DCF model is the cost of capital. This is the rate that’s used to discount future earnings into today’s dollars. Small changes in this rate can have a major impact on the expert’s conclusion, so it’s important to get it right.

Topel Forman Promotes Two Partners

Daniel J. Sloan and Steven A. Hueffner have been promoted to Partner effective January 1, 2022, both based in Topel Forman’s Chicago office. Daniel Sloan provides a full range of tax planning and audit services for investment companies, broker-dealers, and high net worth individuals. He has over fifteen years of experience with audits of investment companies, employee benefit audits, corporate and partnership taxation. Steven Hueffner has extensive experience in wealth planning and income tax services for high-net-worth families specializing in gift taxation, estate, and generational taxation, trust compliance, and charitable planning. Steven is experienced in client advisory services and adept at succession planning.

With year-end approaching, 3 ideas that may help cut your tax bill (December 20, 2021)

If you’re starting to worry about your 2021 tax bill, there’s good news — you may still have time to reduce your liability

60 Years At Topel Forman

Topel Forman celebrates 60 years in business. In speaking to retired members and current employees who have been here for over twenty years it was abundantly clear that Topel Forman has continued to operate with core values at the forefront of our business. We are grateful for our clients both longstanding and new as well as our dedicated employees who operate with flexibility, integrity, excellence, and respect.