Gordon's Tips for Financial Planning

INCOME TAX DEDUCTION CHECKLIST Here is a list of tax deductions to help you maximize your 2020 tax return: INTEREST... 1- Home Mortgage Interest, 2 nd Mortgage/Home Equity loan Interest 2- Points paid at Closing 3- Co-op - % of Maintenance 4- Investment Interest TAXES 1- Real Estate Taxes- Primary Residence, Vacation Home and Time Share 2- Income Tax- State and Local Taxes Withheld 3- Personal Property Tax- Vehicles and Auto Registration EDUCATION EXPENSES 1- Tuition, Fees and books 2- Student Loan Interest Casualty and Theft 1- Accident, Fire, Theft and Natural Disasters CONTRIBUTIONS 1- Tithes and other church contributions 2- Value of Furniture or Clothing donated to an non-profit Organization 3- Volunteer Work Expenses Church, Scouts, School etc., i.e. Auto Miles Driven. 4- Fine Art Contributions SELF-EMPLOYED AND OTHER BUSINESS EXPENSES 1- Home Office Portion of Rent or Mort, Home Phone, Cable, Gas, Electric 2- Dues and Subscriptions, Insurance, Postage and Delivery, Outside Contractors 3- Rental or lease of Equipment, Repairs and Maintenance 4- Cell Phones, Office Supplies, Advertising, Taxes and Licenses 5- Business Travel including Mileage, Local Transportation (including Uber, Lyft & MTA) 6- Storage, Gifts to Clients, Gym Membership, Meals, Entertainment 7- Studio Cost, Promotion, Materials use for your products. 8- Janitorial Expenses, Laundry, Cleaning and Dry Cleaning 9- Education/Training Courses 10- Website fees, Hosting, Research & Development 11- Bank Charges, Security, Credit Card Expense 12- Equipment and Software, Small Tools Gordon Jackson Unified Financial Group, Inc. [email protected]

February 9th, 2021 Tax Season and the Effect of Covid-19 Friday February 12th is the first day the IRS will be accepting 2020 tax returns. The late start is... due to getting out the second round of stimulus checks and updating their system. Most taxpayers received their second stimulus deposits or paper checks by January 29th. If you did not receive your stimulus check you can claim it on your upcoming tax return with the Recovery Rebate Credit. The IRS is still wading through a backlog of 2019 tax returns, amended tax returns and previous year's tax returns that were filed in 2020. As of January 26th, there were still nearly 5 million unprocessed individual returns from 2019. The IRS said most taxpayers due a refund for the 2020 tax year will get them within three weeks if they file electronically and have the money deposited into their bank account. By now you should have received all your 2020 documents needed to file your tax returns and claim your refund. Here are a few things to look for if you have not received certain documents and/or have issues related to your refund. Missing W2’s, 1099’s, 1098’s & 1095A’s 1- W2's contact your employer and make sure they have your correct address. 2- Independent Contractor (form 1099Nec), contact the person or company you worked for 3- Mortgage and Tax statement (1098 form), contact your financial institution. 4- Pension or IRA withdrawals (1099R), contact your financial institution. 5- Sold stocks (1099B) contact your financial institution. 6- If you or your dependent attended a College, or a University & paid tuition (1098T) contact that institution. 7- Settled a debt for a lesser amount i.e., credit card debt, you might receive a Cancellation of Debt form 1099-C; that amount must be reported on your tax return. 8- If you purchased health insurance through the Healthcare Market Place aka (Affordable Care Act), aka (Obama Care), you are required to add the information (form 1095A) on your return. 9- If you collected Unemployment form 1099G, contact the state agency 10- If you received Social Security Benefits & did not receive a statement, contact them. TAX REFUNDS Most taxpayers will receive a refund this year, outside of delays in processing here are a few instances that will prevent you from getting a refund. 1- You or your spouse defaulted on a student loan 2- You owe child support. 3- You owe an IRS or a state debt. 4- Someone stole your identity. 5- You had a substantial increase in income and/or your tax situation changed i.e., marital status, loss of dependents, less contributions, less business expenses, just to name a few. If you have questions on any of the above information or any other tax related issues, please feel free to contact me. Emails: [email protected], [email protected] or 917-454-8690

Tax Season - Stimulus Payments- Disaster Relief - Unemployment The Internal Revenue Service announced that the 2021 Tax Season will start Friday February 12th, 2021. The late start is due to the 2nd round of Stimulus checks that were issued from December 31st, 2020 to January 15th, 2021. No check, you can go to the IRS website under the Economic Impact Payments to... check on the status of these payments. If you did not received your first or second stimulus checks by the time you file your 2020 income tax return, you may be eligible to claim the payments on your tax return through the Recovery Rebate Credit. Businesses and other payers have to February 1st to issue W-2's and 1099’s. If you received $600 or more from any business or payer, you should expect a 1099 form. Financial Institutions who issue 1099R’s and 1098 forms also have that February 1st deadline. Disaster Loans SBA is currently accepting the second round of PPP loan applications. If you had a previous PPP loan and satisfied the requirements of that loan, you are eligible to apply for the second loan. You must go through a qualified lender. There are approximately 5,000 institutions, including community banks, credit unions, larger banks and other financial institutions to accept your application. First-time PPP applicants can also apply. A borrower is generally eligible for a Second Draw PPP loan if the borrower has no more than 300 employees and demonstrate at least a 25% reduction in gross receipts between comparable quarters in 2019 & 2020. You can apply for the PPP loan until March 31st, 2021 or whenever the money runs out, whichever comes first. A borrower can apply for loan forgiveness any time up to the maturity date of the loan. Contact your lender and complete the form. The EIDL Loans can be applied through the SBA directly. As of this date they are only issuing loans and not grants. The deadline to apply has not been determined, but its also on a first come bases. Unemployment The Consolidated Appropriations Act also extended state unemployment benefits. Check with your state for exact details. The extra $300 federal money is extended through the middle of March 2021. The new administration is taking office in the next day or two. There is a lot of information floating around regarding more stimulus money to combat the coronavirus. This includes, but limited to extending the moratorium on evictions, saving homeowners from future foreclosures, extending Student loan payments & implementing a Federal $15 per hour minimum wage. The impact of the coronavirus and many other eye-opening events of 2020 are still being felt today. The future is uncertain. Moving forward we must become Mentally, Physically Financially & Spiritually Stronger!!!