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CPAs, unlike providers of personal financial services, who are required by law to inform their clients of their policies regarding privacy of client information, have been and continue to be bound by professional standards of confidentiality that are even more stringent than those required by law. At Smoker, Smith & Associates, we have always protected our client’s right to privacy and will continue to use our best efforts to do so in the future. We have adopted a privacy notice similar to that as required by financial services to inform you of our practices with regard to your personal financial information.

Types of Nonpublic Personal Information We Collect

We collect non-public personal information about you that is directly provided to us by you or obtained by us only following your direct written authorization. No other or additional non-public personal information will be collected by Smoker, Smith & Associates absent your written direction or approval.

Parties to Whom we Disclose Information.

For a current and former client we do not disclose non-public personal information obtained in the course of our services for you except as may be required and permitted by law without your written direction. Thus, we may disclose confidential information made in response to a valid Order of Court or authorized agency of the government and always work to establish a legal means to limit such disclosure to only that segment of personal financial information which must be legally required to be disclosed.

We also may disclose information to our employees and in very limited situations and to unrelated third parties who need to know the information for the purpose of assisting us in providing professional services to you. To the extent reasonably possible, we will notify you in advance and disclose to you any non-public personal information provided to any third parties for such purposes. In all such situations, and at all times, we stress the confidential nature of the information being shared to both employees and third parties.

All disclosure of information to persons other than employees or consultants to Smoker, Smith & Associates is performed by the method of transmission as requested by the client. If facsimile is requested, such is sent only after the fax number is verified to be correct and the fax machine is in secure information with appropriate disclosures regarding IRS Circular 230. If transmission is by mail, normally certified mail or nationally recognized delivery service will be utilized requiring a signature from the receiving party. If information is desired to be transmitted electronically, various and appropriate security devices and practice to prevent improper obtainment or interception of information.

Protecting the Confidentiality and Security of Current and Former Clients’ Information

We retain records relating to professional services that we provide so that we are better able to assist you with your professional needs and, in some cases, to comply with professional guidelines. Such records are retained, however, for so long as necessary to fulfill the stated purposes of our engagement and thereafter either destroyed or returned to the client as directed. In order to guard your nonpublic personal information, we maintain physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that comply with our professional standards.


WE DO NOT DISCLOSE ANY NONPUBLIC PERSONAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU TO ANYONE FOR ANY PURPOSE THAT IS NOT SPECIFICALLY PERMITTED BY LAW OR SPECIFICALLY DIRECTED BY YOU. 



Smoker, Smith & Associates retains the right and obligation to update this privacy policy at any time without advance notice. If you have any questions regarding this privacy policy, our professional ethics and/or the ability to provide you with quality financial services, please contact us immediately. 

Reminders & Updates

2024 Standard Mileage Rates

Purpose Rates per Mile
   Business 67 cents
   Medical/Moving 21 cents
   Charitable 14 cents

 

2023 Standard Mileage Rates

Purpose Rates per Mile
   Business 65.5 cents
   Medical/Moving 22 cents
   Charitable 14 cents

 

Check It Out!

Check out the article in PICPA CPA Now by Greg Kashella, published November 2021, Enhanced Financial Statement Disclosures for Small Businesses.

https://www.picpa.org/articles/cpa-now-blog/cpa-now/2021/11/19/financial-statement-disclosure-enhancements-for-small-businesses 

Check out the article in the Central Penn Business Journal, Women Who Lead, March 2019 article featuring our partner Jori Culp

Tax-Related Identity Theft

The IRS combats tax-related identity theft with aggressive strategies of prevention, detection and victim assistance. To find out more about tax-related identity theft call our office or visit https://www.irs.gov/identity-theft-fraud-scams/identity-protection for information and guidance.

Remember that the IRS will never contact you by electronic means. This includes emails, phone calls, text messages, or social media channels. If you are ever in doubt whether contact by someone claiming to be from the IRS is legitimate, call our office first for verification.

 

 

Drive down your business taxes with local transportation cost deductions

Understanding how to deduct transportation costs could significantly reduce the tax burden on your small business. You and your employees likely incur various local transportation expenses each year, and they have tax implications.

Let’s start by defining “local transportation.” It refers to travel when you aren’t away from your tax home long enough to require sleep or rest. Your tax home is the city or general area in which your main place of business is located. Different rules apply if you’re away from your tax home for significantly more than an ordinary workday and you need sleep or rest to do your work.

Your work location

The most important feature of the local transportation rules is that your commuting costs aren’t deductible. In other words, the fare you pay or the miles you drive to get to work and home again are personal and not for business purposes. Therefore, no deduction is available. This is the case even if you work during the commute (for example, via a cell phone or laptop, performing business-related tasks on the subway).

An exception applies for commuting to a temporary work location outside of the metropolitan area where you live and normally work. “Temporary,” for this purpose, means a location where your work is realistically expected to last (and does, in fact, last) for no more than a year.

Work location to other sites

On the other hand, once you get to your work location, the cost of any local trips you take for business purposes is a deductible business expense. So, for example, the cost of travel from your office to visit a customer or pick up supplies is deductible. Similarly, if you have two business locations, the cost of traveling between them is deductible.

Recordkeeping

If your deductible trip is by taxi or public transportation, save a receipt or note the expense in a logbook. Record the date, amount spent, destination and business purpose. If you use your own car, note the miles driven instead of the amount spent. Also, note any tolls paid or parking fees, and keep receipts.

You must allocate your automobile expenses between business and personal use based on miles driven during the year. Proper recordkeeping is crucial in the event the IRS challenges you.

Your deduction can be computed using:

  1. The standard mileage rate (for 2024, 67 cents per business mile) plus tolls and parking, or
  2. Actual expenses (including depreciation, subject to limitations) for the portion of car use allocable to the business. For this method, you’ll need to keep track of all costs for gas, repairs and maintenance, insurance, interest on a car loan, and any other car-related costs.

Employees vs. self-employed

From 2018–2025, under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, employees can’t deduct unreimbursed local transportation costs. That’s because “miscellaneous itemized deductions” — including employee business expenses — are suspended (not allowed) for these years. (Self-employed taxpayers can deduct the expenses discussed in this article.) But beginning in 2026, business expenses (including unreimbursed employee auto expenses) of employees are scheduled to be deductible again, as long as the employee’s total miscellaneous itemized deductions exceed 2% of adjusted gross income. However, with Republican control in Washington, this unfavorable provision may be extended by Congress, and miscellaneous itemized deductions won’t be allowed.

Contact us with any questions or to discuss these issues further.

© 2024

 

 

 

134 Sipe Avenue Hummelstown, PA 17036