How do you determine if an individual who is hired to do household work is considered a household employee or an independent contractor? Per the IRS guidelines, an individual who works around your home is considered a household employee if you can control the type of work they do and how they do it. This applies to babysitters, cooks, maids, nannies, caregivers, gardeners, etc. unless the worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade or business.
Once you’re able to identify you have a household employee, the employee will need to fill out Forms W-4 and I-9 so the correct taxes can be deducted from their paychecks. Keep in mind a household employee can elect out of having income taxes withheld from their pay. These two forms do not need to be submitted to the IRS. They are kept for the employer’s records.
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Employee parking expenses – how much can your business deduct? 
I was giving a talk a few years ago to a group preparing to retire and they told me about a tax I had never heard of; the New Jersey “Exit Tax”.
There are reports all over the news that some taxpayers are disappointed with the size of their federal tax refunds. Since we have a pay as you go tax system, each year we estimate the taxes we are going to owe on our income and either pay estimated taxes or have withheld the appropriate amount of taxes so that when we file our returns, we’ve come close to the tax liability. If we overestimate what will be owed, we get a refund; if we underestimate we get a bill for the remaining taxes due and possibly interest and penalty on the deficiency. 
Every year some of our clients go through a mad rush getting the information needed to file 1099s timely and correctly. How does one stop this madness? A Form W-9 should be obtained from the vendor BEFORE any payments are issued. W-9s can be more easily obtained while the vendor is awaiting approval, when the vendor has more incentive to cooperate than after payment has been made. 
Get Ready for Taxes!
The best Christmas present for your accountant is organized records. Follow these simple steps and you’ll feel the love all the way through 2019. Use Quickbooks to help: 
Nonprofit organizations are subject to numerous federal and state tax filing requirements, including annual tax returns. Most nonprofit organizations are required to file an annual federal tax return (Form 990, 990-EZ, 990-PF, or 990-N); however, state filing requirements are different and vary from state to state. The State of New Jersey (NJ) requires a nonprofit organization to file an annual tax return (initial registration and renewal registration) if it has 501(c)3 tax exempt status, is domiciled in NJ, or solicits NJ residents for a charitable cause. 
The 2018 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act added something new to the tax code called Opportunity Zones. An Opportunity Zone is an economically-distressed community where new investments, under certain conditions, may be eligible for preferential tax treatment. Localities qualify as Opportunity Zones if they have been nominated for that designation by the state and that nomination has been certified by the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury through their authority to the IRS. Opportunity Zones have now been designated covering parts of all 50 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories. 