Newburg New Home and Look

We are excited to announce that we will be moving our office to our new home at 95 Sawyer Rd., Suite 120, Waltham, MA 02453, effective December 21, 2020. The new office space provides an enhanced workplace experience for our staff and features state-of-the art technology to facilitate internal and external collaboration, while providing additional room for growth. The office is just one mile from the Mass Pike and I-95. Please be sure to make a note of our new address.

As you can see, we have also updated our name and logo for a fresh new look! Newburg CPA has also launched our new website at www.newburg.com to not only showcase our new brand but also offer new features, functionality and secure access to your client portal. Please be sure to visit us online as we continue to provide you the latest news and insights.

As a reminder, 4th quarter estimates are due January 15^th, 2021. If your 2019 tax return has been filed, we have included the 2020 quarterly estimates on your portal, if applicable. You will need to print the estimated tax vouchers from your portal and mail the payments with a postmark no later than January 15th.

If you own a pass-through business or are self-employed and have faced industry challenges which have resulted in a drop in overall income it may be best to revisit the approach to how the expected tax is tracking and whether any adjustments to remaining estimated taxes may be necessary. In addition, businesses that enrolled in Paycheck Protection Program loans and received funding may have special tax considerations to review. The new CARES Act entails various changes such as the suspension of Required Minimum Distributions (with possible related withholdings) and net operating loss carryback matters which could impact your overall taxable income for the current year. In addition, unemployment compensation may have been received this year with no taxes withheld or investment activity may vary considerably when compared to 2019 given the 2020 market declines and volatility. These are just some of the special items that may impact the quarterly estimates for 2020.

Do not hesitate to contact our office should you have any questions regarding your 2020 estimated tax obligations.

Below, we have included some helpful information relative to your estimated tax responsibilities and avoiding underpayment penalties.

The IRS assesses penalties for underpayment of income tax. If you did not pay enough tax throughout the year, either through withholding or by making estimated tax payments, you may have to pay a penalty for underpayment of estimated tax.

The required annual payment for most individuals is the LOWER of 90% of the tax shown on the current year’s return or 100% of the tax shown on the return for the previous year. Certain high-income individuals must meet a more rigorous requirement. If the adjusted gross income on your previous year’s return is over $150,000 (over $75,000 if you are married filing separately), you must pay the lower of 90% of the tax shown on the current year’s return or 110% of the tax shown on the return for the previous year.

For example, if your total tax paid on the 2019 tax return was $10,000 and you are anticipating significantly higher income for 2020, the IRS is content as long as you pay $10,000 via withholding or through even quarterly payments. Any additional balances due on the 2020 tax return will need to be paid with the 2020 tax filing by April 15, 2021.

Should your income decrease significantly in the subsequent year (2020), you would default to the 90% of tax shown on the current year return. By way of example, if you paid in $100,000 in tax for 2019, and you expect your income tax to be 50% less than it was in 2019, you would need to pay 90% of $50,000 or $45,000 to avoid penalty. In this situation, we often recommend considering a tax projection to make sure you are adequately paid in.

This will require that you switch to quarterly estimate tax payments and adhere to the 90% current year tax or 100% of prior year tax rule as stated above.

You would be subject to penalties if you do not update your W-4 kept on file by your employer. We recommend that you review and update your W-4 form. The W-4 form provides you the option to claim an additional set withholding amount over and above what they are taking. It is not uncommon to be filing Married 0 exemptions and still be short on your required payments due to other income circumstances, lack of deductions, etc. Your other alternative would be to pay in the difference via quarterly estimated tax payments.

Most individuals make estimated tax payments in four installments. In other words, we determine the required annual payment, then divide that number by four and make four equal payments by the due dates. But you may be able to make smaller payments under the annualized income method. This method is useful to people whose income flow is not uniform over the year, perhaps because of a seasonal business. For example, if your income comes exclusively from a business that you operate in a resort area during June, July, and Aug., no estimated payment is required before Sept. 15. You may also want to use the annualized income method if a significant portion of your income comes from capital gains on the sale of securities which you sell at various times during the year.

The underpayment penalty doesn’t apply to you:

No. An extension of time to file a tax return is NOT an extension of time to pay the tax due under the return. You must pay in 90% of the anticipated tax with your extension to avoid penalties.

The addition to tax is one-half of 1% of the tax not paid, for each month (or part of the month) it remains unpaid, up to a maximum of 25%. The penalty increases to 1% per month beginning with either the 10th day after notice of levy is given or the day on which notice and demand is made. Interest on underpayments of tax is imposed at the federal short-term rate plus three percentage points. These rates are adjusted quarterly.

In addition, the IRS may waive the penalty if the failure was due to casualty, disaster, or other unusual circumstances and it would be inequitable or against good conscience to impose the penalty. The penalty can also be waived for reasonable cause during the first two years after you retire (after reaching age 62) or become disabled.

For more information regarding our services, visit us at www.newburg.com.

Please contact us should you have any questions.