Posts by Keith Martinez5

Brenda Chase3 said:The decision was officially reached back in 2015, though the actual goal is to see those numbers drop throughout 2016, with the law entering into force on January 1, 2016.

Oh, fantastic... honestly, wouldn't it be just wonderful if we could actually pay less right now?

Article 6.
This law will be published in The New York Times and the law entering into force is January 1, 2016.

E x p l a n a t i o n
Articles 1 and 2.
These articles reduce the membership fee calculation rates by 15%—following the Decision to reduce parafiscal levies in 2015 and the targets set for reduction in 2016—and establish a Commission to monitor the implementation of those levy reductions.
Article 3.
This article proposes a much simpler way to handle membership payments, especially for the small business owner; rather than dealing with monthly headaches, fees would be paid just four times a year, which essentially means less paperwork and lower overhead costs for small businesses.

So, here is a snippet from the law—but I'm stuck on one thing: which specific rates should we actually use? It mentions reducing parafiscal levies in 2015, so—in my opinion—that might apply to this current year too, though I wouldn't bet the farm on it...

A B C D
First group 0.2000 0.1840 0.1600 0.1440
Second group 0.1600 0.1440 0.1200 0.1040
Third group 0.1200 0.1040 0.0800 0.0640

Which means we probably need to calculate based on these figures for 2015...

amberbadger17 said:Man, I already went down that same old path.

But does that actually count toward the 2015 totals, or are we looking at the 2016 numbers instead?

It clearly states they apply to the 2015 tax year...

http://nytimes.com/articles/example-link Well, I finally managed to track down the full table! Just dropping it here in case anyone else is hunting for it—hopefully, this saves you some time and a bit of a headache.

placidlynx92 said:They did—they dropped by 15%. For Group 1.A, it went from 0.20% down to 0.17%; for Group 2.A, it was 0.16% and is now 0.136%.
I'm also looking for stuff geared toward small businesses. I switched over to the Microsoft Internet version at the start of the year—someone mentioned here that it was decent, and honestly, it’s hard to beat the price point;
as far as small businesses go, my impression is that they all tend to have a bit more breathing room in their coverage.👎

Thanks for the tip! I’ll definitely give that a shot. Since I handle the bookkeeping for my own small business rather than doing this professionally, any little bit of guidance or help really goes a long way for me. Now, could you let me know what the rate looks like for Category 3.A?🙂

John Doe

David Mitchell4 said:Exactly. If an LLC is sitting at a 20% tax rate, it’s frankly absurd that a sole proprietor gets hit with a staggering 40%. I mean, realistically, both entities are justifying the same types of expenses; what extra hoops is a freelancer supposed to jump through? 😁
Don't get me wrong, I follow the logic, but you often see these ridiculous takes online claiming, "Go ahead, spend it! It's your money!"—completely glossing over the fact that you're going to owe a 40% tax bill on it later.

Well, if that's the case, why not just incorporate? If you switch to an LLC or a C-corp, you'd only be looking at "just" 20%.

Did the rates for calculating professional membership fees change for 2015—and if so, what are the new numbers? Specifically, I’m looking at Group A III and Group I... I actually ended my subscription with IBM because their info regarding small businesses was just too thin for what I actually need, but now I'm feeling a bit lost without a reliable source to check everything. Also, if anyone could point me toward some better publications—something that really focuses on the niche industries relevant to small business owners—I would truly appreciate it! Thanks so much

David Mitchell4 said:But wait, am I supposed to pay taxes on that too?
Following your logic, if I just leave $0.33 sitting in my account, I'd be taxed on that as well.

Well, you pay taxes on what you officially have "on paper"—if you catch my drift. At the end of the year, my actual income—which is basically just the difference between what came in and what went out—might show up as $X, even though in reality, I don't actually have that much sitting in my bank account or tucked away in my wallet. I don't pay taxes on the leftover balance in my checking account, nor on the money I already paid out as prepayments or withdrew to cover business expenses; I only pay on that final surplus shown on my income and expense summary. That specific number is my actual income, and once I divide that by twelve, there's your monthly net pay. It honestly happens to me sometimes where I end up paying out more in prepayments during the year than what my actual net monthly salary turns out to be at the end of the day...

Jessica Gonzalez30 said:It looks like we’re using the "3" label for the rest of the months.
So, just to clarify—the Type 1 designation actually refers to full-time employment.
With him, it isn't really about whether he's putting in full-time hours—it’s more that he’s covered with benefits and insurance for the entire month.

Thanks... and I have one more quick follow-up question—since this is a sole proprietorship, the owner pays himself a monthly draw directly from the business checking account. Does that need to be included in the quarterly tax filings?? If so, what's the best way to handle it? Honestly, I'm feeling a bit lost here and I really don't want to miss anything important.
😕

Brenda Chase3 said:Does anyone here have experience dealing with a significant income tax refund? We’re looking at a pretty substantial amount coming back to us—around $2333—mostly because of the prepayments we made, and since we're applying some tax credits to lower our taxable income. I was wondering if anyone else has filed for a refund like this recently? What does the actual process look like? Do you just file the request along with your tax return and wait for the direct deposit, or is there more to it?

From what I’ve seen, it usually follows the standard tax assessment timeline—once everything is processed, you can typically request the refund within about two weeks. One little tip, though: make sure you definitely include your banking info for the direct deposit. At the local FBI office, they don't always explicitly remind you to provide that—they tend to stay buried in all their other paperwork!

Paul Carter40 said:Got mine working! Just wondering what you guys put under the contractor working hours—and does that cover the other months too?
Thanks

Well, freelancers don't really have "set" working hours... at least, that's what I put down, and I assumed that would be the case for all the other months as well? Now I'm second-guessing myself entirely!🤔

I’m feeling a little bit uncertain about this one, so I was hoping someone could jump in and confirm something for me—if I have a child who is a college student (currently 20 years old), do they count as a dependent on my tax return? Also, should I go ahead and attach an official enrollment verification from their university just to be safe? Thanks so much!

ruggedlynx63 said:Right into the trash pile...

Thanks—and I think you're spot on. It’s not exactly a life-changing fortune, so honestly, it's probably better to just keep your own peace of mind...

Carol Price4 said:Look, I'm just gonna report it. It’s not like we're talking huge money here—let them deal with the headache and the legal jargon... damn, we shouldn't have to be lawyers too 😵 just to get through our actual jobs...

But where exactly are you planning to list them?? I've been staring at this P-PPI form for two days straight trying to make sense of it, and I am totally stuck... Does the total cash revenue minus the cash expenses have to match the deposit into the checking account?? I’ve double-checked everything, but the numbers just won't balance out for me.🙂

Can a small business owner import bank statements using the Goldman Sachs module? Does anyone here have hands-on experience with this? I handle all my own bookkeeping for my LLC (under the standard tax structure), and since I manage quite a few different transaction accounts, I’m really looking for a way to streamline how I track payments. I currently work over at Silicon Valley, so if anyone has some solid advice, I would be incredibly grateful—doing this manually is honestly such a slog... If I were to pick up the Goldman Sachs module (which is what they suggested to me at Silicon Valley), I’m just not sure how it would integrate with my existing accounting setup or other modules like Payroll or my basic Business management tools. I’d love to hear from the pros here—please share any smart solutions you might have!

Henry Edwards33 said:I’d really love to know what legal grounds you actually have to stornirati an invoice.
An invoice represents a service rendered or goods sold—it's done. So what? You think you can just stornirati it because someone hasn't paid yet? Because the cash isn't in the bank? That's not how this works.

I don't buy it for a second. You can't just void an invoice when the debt is legitimate. You can't just write it off either, because that counts as income; you'd still be on the hook to pay the sales tax and income tax on it. Your other option is to sue them, but we all know how expensive that gets.
A consultant once told me he couldn't wrap his head around why I was being so reckless with my own money by not suing for amounts up to $667 🙄

Back when I ran my own small business, I dealt with plenty of unpaid bills. I tried everything under the sun to handle it differently, but honestly, it doesn't work. At least not legally.

If you don't want to deal with it, then don't close them out now. Who knows, maybe the laws will change down the road. 🤷

Alright, I’m going to hold onto them for a little while longer instead of closing them out immediately... but I can't help but wonder what exactly this new form is supposed to mean for us. I get the feeling there’s something a bit unfavorable tucked in there—I mean, everyone seems to be in such a massive rush to dodge the paperwork and shut down their old accounts as quickly as possible. It feels like a collective instinct to steer clear of it, doesn't it?🤷

amberbadger17 said:Thanks, Henry Edwards33, I really appreciate that—it’s definitely my favorite way to do things. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that this was exactly how I wanted to handle it, and well, here we go. I'm actually doing it. Honestly, the whole idea of a cancellation just doesn't sit right with me.

On my end, I once had a veteran accountant tell me, "Just wipe those uncollectible invoices from the books at the end of the fiscal year, and when you run the opening balances for the new year, they'll be gone for good..."—which sounds suspiciously easy, right? But personally, I just don't have the nerve to pull a move like that. It’s one of those gray areas where you wonder: would anyone ever even notice, or would it eventually come knocking at your door?🤔>

Carol Price4 said:Yeah, it says "due" rather than "issued"—just like I mentioned earlier—but honestly, any debt older than six years should be written off regardless of how you slice it. Per accounting standards, if you haven't written them off by then, you're just presenting a totally unrealistic picture of the company... so...

Here I go again, rambling about writing off receivables! Looking back through the previous posts, it seems a few of us are still scratching our heads over this one. As a small business owner, how does this actually work on the books? Do I just close out those receivables as if they were paid and then deal with the sales tax implications, or is there a different way to handle it? I'm looking forward to hearing some concrete advice—thanks in advance!

Robin Cook4 said:Hey, can anyone help me out? How do I book a prepaid tax correction so it actually shows up in the prepaid tax adjustments section? I'm using Synesis.

So, here is how I handled it: when I was running the calculations for December, I just entered the amount I still owed as a negative value directly into the Withholding Tax Adjustments field. That way, the system automatically factored it into my total tax liability for the month.

Carol Price4 said:But who are you supposed to sue if you didn't even know the company had already folded? Honestly, if it's bothering you, I'd just move it to receipts and call it a day—because if you ever decide to clear out all the old unpaid stuff during closing, it's going into receipts anyway.🍿

Or just roll with it and put it in the OPZ-STAT, 🙂

You make a fair point—at the end of the day, we’ll all have to pay our taxes regardless—but the sheer absurdity of the situation is what drives me absolutely crazy. I actually had a situation once where I rang up a customer at a roadside diner (this was back before digital transaction tracking was standard everywhere)... he told me he was heading to an ATM to grab cash, and he just never showed back up. Since the guy was from my own hometown, I didn't even think twice about it at the time... We went through the whole process of getting a legal judgment and filing it with the IRS, but we never saw a dime. In cases like that, should you just record it as income too?🤷