THE BEST BUSINESS TRANSFER INFORMATION ON THE WEB WHETHER YOU ARE BUYING A BUSINESS OR SELLING A BUSINESS IN FLORIDA
Showing posts with label What is my business worth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label What is my business worth. Show all posts
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
2011 Taxes and Your Business
On December 17, 2010, The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 was signed into law, providing a temporary extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for 2011 and 2012. As highlighted below, the 2010 Tax Relief Act provides many tax saving opportunities for individuals and employers.
Changes for individuals: The individual income tax brackets remains unchanged for 2011 and 2012, keeping the current structure ranging from 10-35%. The capital gains tax rates also remains as is for the next two years.
Changes for employers: Payroll taxes are reduced by 2 percentage points. The Social Security wage base remains at $106,800 for 2011. Social Security tax rate for the employee-portion will be reduced temporarily to 4.2% for 2011 only while the employer-portion will remain at 6.2%. The Social Security wage base remains at $106,800 for 2011. Medicare tax rates remain unchanged.
Changes for self-employed: The self-employment tax rate is temporarily reduced 2 percentage points to 13.3% for 2011 only.
The Act extended many personal tax credits through 2012. These credits were either scheduled to expire or reverted back to previous levels in 2011.
■Child Tax Credit
■Earned Income Credit
The 2011 Estate Tax exempts the first $5.0 million of the estate and then imposes a 35% tax rate on the remainder. This is a significant change from the 2009 level of $3.5 million exemption and 45% tax rate. Further, without this provision, the estate exemption level would have reverted back to $1.0 million.
For higher-end taxpayers, there is a two year extension to the elimination of the itemized deduction limitation and the personal exemption phaseout. Both of the temporary repeals have been extended until the end of 2012.
Retention of marriage relief penalty for certain tax brackets.
Deductions for educator expenses, student loan interest, qualified tuition and state sales tax have all been extended for one or two years.
The CPAs at Phillips Tax and Wealth can help you better understand the significance of these changes on your personal and business tax planning. If you have questions about this year’s return, or want to get a head start on planning effectively for next year, contact us for consultation or tax preparation.
GUEST COLUMNIST Steven Phillips, CPA
Phillips Tax & Wealth Group
Fort Myers, Florida
Phone: 239.603.6829
info@phillips-fs.com What you need to know about changes to this year’s tax law Income Tax Rate Changes Extension of Tax Credits Other Deductions ■Dependent and Child Care Credit
■Adoption Tax Credit
■American Opportunities Credit
■Estate Tax
Can Owning a Business Ever Be a Passive Investment? I frequently receive calls from prospective business buyers who ask, "I would like to buy a business that provides passive income." My sarcastic side wants to reply by asking, "if I could find a business providing passive income don't you think instead of working my tail off to match buyers and sellers I would have purchased it for myself?" Since sarcasm seldom provides a solid foundation for a business relationship, how do I handle such inquiries? Most of the time I steer these buyers toward car washes, laundromats and other easy to run businesses. And, although these businesses may be easy to run, even car washes and laundromats require daily handling of money and frequent maintanance.
So, can owning a business ever be a passive investment? Let me know when you find one so I can buy it first! According to over 70% of business brokers surveyed by BizBuySell, 2011 is shaping up to be a great year to sell your business. Many believe 2011 wll be a better selling environment than the last few years for at least four reasons.
• Debt lending is warming up.
• Private equity groups have considerable cash on hand.
• Extended cpaital gains tax savings.
• In most sectors good businesses are becoming harder to find.
So is it time for you to sell? When do you want to retire? Is your health intact? Are you ready to try something new in your personal or work life? Do you have a exit plan? Are you worried about the prolonged soft economy or the threat of new regulation worrying you?
Just holding on is never the right answer. You may want to consider a couple questions:
• Is your business revenue and owner benefit still strong and/or growing?
• Is your plan to sell your business within the next 5 years?
If you answered yes to these two questions, then 2011 is definitely the year to start your plan to exit. Many business owners choose to wait on selling their business only to find that the business has become less attractive to buyers or the market has passed them by. Let me help you decide if 2011 is the right year to sell. Is 2011 a Good Year to Sell Your Business? Seller News
by Eric J. Gall
Buyer News
Contact Me to Sell Your Business
Visit My Website
Visit the Florida Business Exchange Website
Changes for individuals: The individual income tax brackets remains unchanged for 2011 and 2012, keeping the current structure ranging from 10-35%. The capital gains tax rates also remains as is for the next two years.
Changes for employers: Payroll taxes are reduced by 2 percentage points. The Social Security wage base remains at $106,800 for 2011. Social Security tax rate for the employee-portion will be reduced temporarily to 4.2% for 2011 only while the employer-portion will remain at 6.2%. The Social Security wage base remains at $106,800 for 2011. Medicare tax rates remain unchanged.
Changes for self-employed: The self-employment tax rate is temporarily reduced 2 percentage points to 13.3% for 2011 only.
The Act extended many personal tax credits through 2012. These credits were either scheduled to expire or reverted back to previous levels in 2011.
■Child Tax Credit
■Earned Income Credit
The 2011 Estate Tax exempts the first $5.0 million of the estate and then imposes a 35% tax rate on the remainder. This is a significant change from the 2009 level of $3.5 million exemption and 45% tax rate. Further, without this provision, the estate exemption level would have reverted back to $1.0 million.
For higher-end taxpayers, there is a two year extension to the elimination of the itemized deduction limitation and the personal exemption phaseout. Both of the temporary repeals have been extended until the end of 2012.
Retention of marriage relief penalty for certain tax brackets.
Deductions for educator expenses, student loan interest, qualified tuition and state sales tax have all been extended for one or two years.
The CPAs at Phillips Tax and Wealth can help you better understand the significance of these changes on your personal and business tax planning. If you have questions about this year’s return, or want to get a head start on planning effectively for next year, contact us for consultation or tax preparation.
GUEST COLUMNIST Steven Phillips, CPA
Phillips Tax & Wealth Group
Fort Myers, Florida
Phone: 239.603.6829
info@phillips-fs.com What you need to know about changes to this year’s tax law Income Tax Rate Changes Extension of Tax Credits Other Deductions ■Dependent and Child Care Credit
■Adoption Tax Credit
■American Opportunities Credit
■Estate Tax
Can Owning a Business Ever Be a Passive Investment? I frequently receive calls from prospective business buyers who ask, "I would like to buy a business that provides passive income." My sarcastic side wants to reply by asking, "if I could find a business providing passive income don't you think instead of working my tail off to match buyers and sellers I would have purchased it for myself?" Since sarcasm seldom provides a solid foundation for a business relationship, how do I handle such inquiries? Most of the time I steer these buyers toward car washes, laundromats and other easy to run businesses. And, although these businesses may be easy to run, even car washes and laundromats require daily handling of money and frequent maintanance.
So, can owning a business ever be a passive investment? Let me know when you find one so I can buy it first! According to over 70% of business brokers surveyed by BizBuySell, 2011 is shaping up to be a great year to sell your business. Many believe 2011 wll be a better selling environment than the last few years for at least four reasons.
• Debt lending is warming up.
• Private equity groups have considerable cash on hand.
• Extended cpaital gains tax savings.
• In most sectors good businesses are becoming harder to find.
So is it time for you to sell? When do you want to retire? Is your health intact? Are you ready to try something new in your personal or work life? Do you have a exit plan? Are you worried about the prolonged soft economy or the threat of new regulation worrying you?
Just holding on is never the right answer. You may want to consider a couple questions:
• Is your business revenue and owner benefit still strong and/or growing?
• Is your plan to sell your business within the next 5 years?
If you answered yes to these two questions, then 2011 is definitely the year to start your plan to exit. Many business owners choose to wait on selling their business only to find that the business has become less attractive to buyers or the market has passed them by. Let me help you decide if 2011 is the right year to sell. Is 2011 a Good Year to Sell Your Business? Seller News
by Eric J. Gall
Buyer News
Contact Me to Sell Your Business
Visit My Website
Visit the Florida Business Exchange Website
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Avoiding Business Broker Pitfalls
Eight common mistakes made by business agents and how to avoid them.
Business brokers come to the profession from different walks of life – real estate, accounting, small business or large business. Their background usually determines what sort of business broker they will be.
As with most professions, the more experienced you are, the more you realize you don’t know. Here are some common mistakes.
1. Not analyzing the figures well enough. Most business brokers are salesmen, so there is a tendency to take the last year’s profit and loss, and base the profit on that. You should look at earlier years’ profit, not to do an averaging exercise but to fully understand where the business has been and where it might be going. You should also find out how the business is trading now and present the current picture to a buyer, especially in a market as dynamic as this one.
2. Focusing too much on the figures. Once you have analyzed the figures enough to gain a picture of the business from a financial point of view, it is time to step back and concentrate on the non-financial aspects. See the business from an internal and external perspective: What impact does the current economy have? How is it placed within its own industry? What is the future of this business? How important is the current owner to the business and what systems are in operation? The key to the sale of a business is transferability. The valuable broker understands this and spends a good part of his or her time investigating transferability on behalf of potential buyers.
3. Not spending enough time to understand the buyer. Brokers act for the seller and hence we are preoccupied with the vendor and their problems. Spending time with a buyer, however, may unlock important information that will help you clinch this deal or find them something else to suit. Understanding buyer personality and motivation is crucial for the accomplished business broker.
4. Not staying in touch with the seller when inquiry drops off. It is easy to talk to a seller when you are getting plenty of inquiry. But when inquiry dies down, that is when it is tough to make the call. What most brokers don’t realize is that the vendor is often as embarrassed as the broker that the business hasn’t sold. During this ‘grind’ period, the broker must maintain regular contact and seek suggestions from the seller on how to best offer the opportunity.
5. Not selling yourself. A business broker has the skills, abilities, contacts and toughness to get a business sold. Combining the knowledge that a salesman, lawyer, accountant, finance broker, adviser, mentor and marketing expert must have, the broker (in an ideal scenario) achieves a result that makes a buyer and seller happy. We as brokers don’t spell this out enough to buyers.
6. Not appreciating the value of their database. The cheapest client to get is an old one. We spend so much time chasing new clients but fail to realize that there are so many people we have spoken to that could probably become a client if we make further contact. The database is gold!
7. Not having sales targets. It’s OK to have listing targets, but business brokers get paid on sales. A broker should have a sales and commission target set for each year, broken up into quarters. A listing shouldn’t be taken unless the broker actually believes there is a good to very good chance of sale.
8. Not spending enough time on the preparation. Get all the documents you need in advance of the business going on the market. Compile all the information, create a good selling document and ask the business owner to pay for this. A dollar spent before the sale will mean two or more dollars to the business owner upon sale.
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