Jean Scott, the proprietor of the website “Frugal Vegas” (she’s also known as the “Queen of Comps”) called me last year and asked if I would be willing to assist her with the fourth edition of her book, Tax Help for Gamblers. I agreed to do so, and if you’re a gambler looking for information on taxes I think you will be pleased with the effort. The book is due out shortly, and you can pre-order it on sale for $15 (including shipping) rather than the retail price of $24.95. The book is available from Huntington Press at this link.
Archive for the ‘Books’ Category
Tax Help for Gamblers
Saturday, February 23rd, 2019Shameless Self Promotion
Wednesday, February 6th, 2013I finally received my copies of my new book, Tax Strategies for the Small Business Owner. While Amazon has had the book for a month, my publisher, APress, now has it in stock.
What’s in Tax Strategies for the Small Business Owner? The book is a practical guide to taxes, emphasizing what a small business owner needs to know whether or not he or she prepares his own taxes. Here’s the description of the book:
Tax Strategies for the Small Business Owner: Reduce Your Taxes and Fatten Your Profits will help the small business owner increase profits while feeling more comfortable dealing with taxes. It begins by looking at the often overlooked critical decision small business owners face when they start a business: the choice of business entity. The book then examines all the deductions that a business owner can take legally to reduce taxes. It also provides advice business owners need to make good tax-related decisions: Should I lease or buy? Should I hire an employee or outsource the task? How much will buying a building reduce my taxes and for how long?
Many people freeze up when they are forced to prepare or even think about taxes. Some receive a notice from the IRS and put it aside: They’re too scared to open it! Yet taxes for the most part follow common sense rules. You just need to know what they are and how they affect your decisions. In this book, readers will learn about the different business entities, the different taxes you must deal with (primarily income taxes), documentation procedures, how to work with a tax professional, how to handle an audit, and, in general, how to use the U.S. Tax Code to your advantage. Among other things, readers learn to take full advantage of tax benefits and avoid potholes hidden in things like:
- Startup and ongoing expenses
- Cost of goods sold
- Depreciation
- Payroll
- Retirement plans
In short, Tax Strategies for the Small Business Owner will not only help you relax when you deal with your taxes—it’ll show you how to use tax law to your financial benefit.
What you’ll learn:
- How to choose a business entity that’s right for your business.
- The requirements for deducting expenses.
- What you can deduct (and what you can’t).
- How to fund your retirement with help from the business.
- Using depreciation rules to reduce taxable income.
- Having benefit plans (medical and retirement) while complying with tax laws.
- How to take the tax implications into account when making strategic business decisions.
- What to do when you hear from the IRS.
- How to determine whether you need a tax professional to assist you.
Who this book is for:
Taxes for the Small Business Owner is designed for owners of small to medium-sized businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs—millions of people in the U.S. This practical guide on taxation is designed for those who want to lower their tax bills by maximizing deductions. It will appeal to any owner or manager who wants to pay less tax—legally.
You can purchase the book directly from the publisher, APress at this link. You can also buy the book from Amazon.com and other outlets.
Shameless Self Promotion
Monday, November 26th, 2012When Tax Season is over, tax practitioners tend to go on vacation. That didn’t happen for me this year for a good reason:
What’s in Tax Strategies for the Small Business Owner? The book is a practical guide to taxes, emphasizing what a small business owner needs to know whether or not he or she prepares his own taxes. Here’s the description of the book:
Tax Strategies for the Small Business Owner: Reduce Your Taxes and Fatten Your Profits will help the small business owner increase profits while feeling more comfortable dealing with taxes. It begins by looking at the often overlooked critical decision small business owners face when they start a business: the choice of business entity. The book then examines all the deductions that a business owner can take legally to reduce taxes. It also provides advice business owners need to make good tax-related decisions: Should I lease or buy? Should I hire an employee or outsource the task? How much will buying a building reduce my taxes and for how long?
Many people freeze up when they are forced to prepare or even think about taxes. Some receive a notice from the IRS and put it aside: They’re too scared to open it! Yet taxes for the most part follow common sense rules. You just need to know what they are and how they affect your decisions. In this book, readers will learn about the different business entities, the different taxes you must deal with (primarily income taxes), documentation procedures, how to work with a tax professional, how to handle an audit, and, in general, how to use the U.S. Tax Code to your advantage. Among other things, readers learn to take full advantage of tax benefits and avoid potholes hidden in things like:
- Startup and ongoing expenses
- Cost of goods sold
- Depreciation
- Payroll
- Retirement plans
In short, Tax Strategies for the Small Business Owner will not only help you relax when you deal with your taxes—it’ll show you how to use tax law to your financial benefit.
What you’ll learn:
- How to choose a business entity that’s right for your business.
- The requirements for deducting expenses.
- What you can deduct (and what you can’t).
- How to fund your retirement with help from the business.
- Using depreciation rules to reduce taxable income.
- Having benefit plans (medical and retirement) while complying with tax laws.
- How to take the tax implications into account when making strategic business decisions.
- What to do when you hear from the IRS.
- How to determine whether you need a tax professional to assist you.
Who this book is for:
Taxes for the Small Business Owner is designed for owners of small to medium-sized businesses and aspiring entrepreneurs—millions of people in the U.S. This practical guide on taxation is designed for those who want to lower their tax bills by maximizing deductions. It will appeal to any owner or manager who wants to pay less tax—legally.
You can purchase the book directly from the publisher, APress at this link. You can also buy the book from Amazon.com and other outlets. The book is due out on December 26th.
PAIN: Why Your Productivity is Suffering
Monday, February 21st, 2011
When I was vacationing in the Bahamas earlier this year, I took three books on fitness and nutrition to read. As I sat around in the sun doing next to nothing, I decided when I got back home it would be a good idea to improve my overall wellness; thus, I decided to spend my vacation reading something productive.
The first book was sent to me by the author, Luke Sniewski: PAIN: Why Your Productivity is Suffering. The book is aimed toward accountants (Mr. Sniewski is also a CPA) looking to improve their overall health, and I think it does a pretty good job reaching that goal.
First, the biggest negative about the book is the title. As a tax accountant, I deal with all sorts of acronyms. But I don’t think I’d use PAIN as an acronym in a wellness book.
PAIN stands for Poor posture, Aimless fitness, Improper nutrition, and Neglecting brain function. The recommendations on each of these subjects are, excellent.
For example, in the chapter on (aimless) fitness, Mr. Sniewski argues for using dumbbells and free weights rather than machines, compound exercise movements rather than isolation exercises, and working out on your feet rather than sitting down. These all match what I’ve been told by friends who are fitness trainers.
The area that most accountants get wrong is nutrition. I suffer from a form of arthritis; my doctor suggested I eliminate all wheat from my diet. Robb Wolf in The Paleo Solution suggests that wheat and other grains may be a cause of various autoimmune disorders (I’ll be reviewing Wolf’s book in another post); Mr. Sniewski’s recommendations mirror Wolf’s: eat real food, avoid high fructose corn syrup, sugar, and grains, and drink lots of water. I stopped eating wheat and it has definitely helped me. That’s not scientific, of course, but I haven’t had an arthritis flare-up since I stopped eating wheat.
This book is not a lengthy treatise on wellness. It’s a relatively quick read (146 pages), and you can buy it on Amazon for $12.95. If you’re looking to improve your life, it’s well worth your time to pick up PAIN: Why Your Productivity is Suffering. If you follow the recommendations, you will likely improve your life.
Shameless Self Promotion
Thursday, February 28th, 2008
There’s nothing at all about tax in this post. You’re all forewarned.
Instead, this post focuses on my avocation—writing. My third book has just been released. Written with my good friend Nick Christenson, it’s called Winning Strategies in No-Limit Hold’em.
We consider in depth a few aspects of no-limit hold’em that have received little attention by other authors. We concentrate on betting in no-limit hold’em. We consider when bets and raises are in order, why we bet, and how circumstances change when we bet. As the centerpiece of the book we provide four chapters, one per betting round, discussing exactly how much to bet based upon many circumstances.
This book is aimed for the intermediate to advanced player. If you’ve been playing in the limited buy-in no-limit hold’em games and want to try deep-stacked no-limit hold’em, this is the book for you.
You can purchase this book today at Amazon.com. It should be available in book stores such as Barnes & Noble in about three weeks.
Shameless Self Promotion
Wednesday, August 2nd, 2006
There’s nothing at all about tax in this post. You’re all forewarned.
Instead, this post focuses on my avocation—writing. My second book has just been released. Written with my good friend Scott Harker, it’s called Why You Lose at Poker.
We take the sixteen most common errors in poker, show you how to recognize them, and then how to eliminate them from your game for good.
If you love to play poker but just can’t seem to win consistently, this is the book for you!
You can purchase this book today at Amazon.com. It should be available in book stores such as Barnes & Noble in about three weeks.
Chasing Daylight
Sunday, February 19th, 2006
“But in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” — Benjamin Franklin
As a tax accountant, I know that’s true. For Eugene O’Kelly, that was true in a very sad way. He was the head of KPMG in the US. In May 2005 he went to a neurologist. He was told he had just a few months to live.
Mr. O’Kelly (and his wife) wrote a superb book, Chasing Daylight
This is a wonderful book, even given the morbid subject nature. Mr. O’Kelly leads us on his journey, and shows us how he made the most of his very limited time on this world.
I could say a lot more about the book. As an author of a book
