Your employer offers a great 401(k) plan and if you are not participating – reconsider! Consistently contributing to a 401(k) throughout your working years can help create a secure retirement. It’s not as difficult as you think: Let’s say you’re starting now at age 25 and your annual salary is $50,000. If you contribute ten...Read More

President Donald Trump on Sunday night signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, the $900 billion COVID-19 relief bill passed Dec. 21 by Congress. This legislation comes with important provisions that will affect you and/or your business. Key provisions for individuals include: Provides economic impact payments of $600 for individuals (with certain income limitations), and...Read More

People who have been impacted by COVID-19 may take distributions of up to $100,000 in 2020 from their IRAs or company retirement accounts. The definition of being impacted by coronavirus is quite broad and includes yourself or a close family member being diagnosed with the virus, or experiencing financial difficulty due to the virus as...Read More

Anyone with an RMD (required minimum distributions) due in 2020 from a company plan – like your 401(k) or 403(b) plan, or an IRA – qualifies for the new rules under the waiver, including beneficiaries, and including those who turned 70 1/2 in 2019 and had to take their first RMD by April 1, 2020....Read More

The coronavirus pandemic has affected student loan borrowers, who are worried about their student loans and who have questions about options for financial relief. Excerpts from an article by Mark Kantrowitz, published on Forbes.com March 29, 2020, answer questions about the student loan payment pause and interest waiver, the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on...Read More

The CARES Act allows unemployment benefits to be paid to self-employed, 1099-independent contractors, gig, and low-wage workers who can no longer work because of temporary business closures to slow the spread of COVID-19. The benefits will be funded by the $2 trillion federal CARES Act signed into law on March 27, 2020. The act also...Read More

We’re coming up on year’s end for 2019, and it’s been an exciting time here at WSS CPAs, as our company – previously known as Williams & Parsons – became Williams, Schiller & Styer, PC, with new partners and a new office in Fargo, North Dakota, joining our office in Sandpoint, Idaho. We’re doing business...Read More

New Tax Laws for Tax Cuts and Jobs Act It’s certainly an interesting time to be a CPA.  The provisions of the Trump tax act bring added complexity to areas of the law that were not simple, to begin with. Tax planning opportunities President Trump signed the most sweeping new tax legislation that the US...Read More