Ken Berry, Esq., is a nationally-known writer and editor specializing in tax and financial planning matters. During a career of more than 35 years, he has served as managing editor of a publisher of content-based marketing tools and vice president of an online continuing education company in the financial services industry. As a freelance writer, Ken has authored thousands of articles for a wide variety of newsletters, magazines and other periodicals, emphasizing a sense of wit and clarity.
December 7, 2017
The new tax reform bills that passed the House and Senate were built on the “need for speed.” Both versions were rushed along in the hopes of a final measure arriving on the president’s desk before Christmas. But haste makes waste and, in this case, ...
December 3, 2017
An amendment to the Senate version of the sweeping new tax reform bill hinders the ability of older Americans to build up their retirement funds on a pre-tax basis.
December 2, 2017
In a 51-49 vote following party lines, the Senate approved its version of the tax reform bill during a marathon session, with only one Republican, Tennessee Senator Bob Corker, voting against the measure. But it took some late additions – in barely ...
November 28, 2017
Currently, a taxpayer may claim one of two education credits – the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) or the Lifetime Learning Credit (LLC) — for qualified expenses. However, as a new case shows, expenses must be paid to an eligible education institution. The parents in the new case claimed a credit for costs of their...…
November 28, 2017
Under sweeping tax reform proposals being discussed in Congress, millions of taxpayers may no longer be itemizing tax deductions in 2018. This creates an added incentive to bolster 2017 donations.
November 17, 2017
Tax reform cleared its first major hurdle in Congress on November 16 when the House passed its version of the bill by a 227-to-205 vote mainly along party lines. (No Democrats voted for it.) But the legislation, which would generally be effective for ...
November 15, 2017
The chances of a tax protestor prevailing in court are slim to nil. Typically, taxpayers will argue that payment of tax is strictly voluntary or unconstitutional or they don’t have to pay taxes on religious or moral grounds, to no avail. But they keep ...
November 2, 2017
The current graduated seven-bracket structure would be reduced to four rates of 12%, 25%, 35% and 39.6%. The previous plan was based on only three brackets with a top rate of 35% and didn’t specify income amounts. Thus, this new plans preserves the ...
September 27, 2017
The new tax plan doesn’t provide much detail on how the tax cuts will be paid for and who exactly will benefit. It also throws some important decisions back into Congress’ lap.
September 14, 2017
Undoubtedly, many of your clients will want to help out victims of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, in the aftermath of those devastating storms. But there’s more to claiming a charitable deduction than just mailing in a check or posting a donation online.
September 14, 2017
Your small business clients who suffer inventory shrinkage – whether it’s from a natural disaster like Hurricane Harvey or Irma, or theft or simple mismanagement – must account for the event on their financial books. Generally, a firm can enter a ...
