Category: Article

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) rightfully focus on the promise of growth, access to new markets, talent acquisition, competitive advantage, and many other upsides. However, ignoring the target’s information technology (IT) systems or cybersecurity maturity during due diligence will often lead to regret and could limit growth opportunities. Risks can be costly, and IT risks are more prevalent than ever. With proper due diligence, IT risks can be identified and remediated or integrated into the value of the transaction.

Importance of IT due diligence

IT due diligence involves a comprehensive assessment of a target company’s IT infrastructure, systems, and cybersecurity measures to help avoid costly surprises such as security risks, compliance issues, data integrity problems, and integration challenges. It is a crucial step enabling the acquiring company to make informed decisions about the target company’s IT assets.

Keys to effective IT due diligence

Thoroughly evaluating a target company’s IT assets and processes and understanding risk includes:

• Evaluate IT infrastructure: Assess the hardware, software, and network infrastructure to understand their current state and future needs.
• Analyze contracts: Review existing IT contracts to identify potential liabilities or obligations.
• Assess data management practices: Ensure data is managed securely and complies with relevant regulations.
• Evaluate cybersecurity measures: Examine a target company’s cybersecurity protocols to identify vulnerabilities.
• Determine IT strategy alignment: Ensure a target company’s IT strategy aligns with your own.
• Consider legacy systems and technical debt: Identify outdated systems and potential technical debt that could impact integration.
• Identify key systems: Determine which systems are critical to a target company’s operations.
• Assess IT staffing and skills: Evaluate the skills and capabilities of a target company’s IT staff.

Collaborating with IT experts and advisors

Collaborating with IT experts and advisors during the due diligence process is crucial for a smooth and successful transition. Experienced IT auditors and advisors can quickly identify issues or gaps and provide insight into the associated impact recommendations for correction. These experts can assist with comprehensive risk assessments, compliance audits, vulnerability assessments, and strategic guidance to uncover hidden pitfalls, assess the scalability of current IT infrastructure, and develop a roadmap for secure and efficient integration.

Selecting the right IT advisor

Engaging a qualified advisor, such as KraftCPAs, to conduct thorough IT due diligence allows acquirers to gain insight into a target company’s technology landscape, assess potential risks and opportunities, and develop a strategic IT integration plan that supports overall success.

Summer is approaching, and you might consider hiring young people at your small business. If your children are looking to earn extra money, why not add them to the payroll? It could produce tax credits on your personal income and business payroll taxes.

Here are the three biggest benefits.

1. You can transfer business earnings

Turn some of your high-taxed income into tax-free or low-taxed income by shifting business earnings to a child as wages for services performed. For your business to deduct the wages as a business expense, the work done by the child must be legitimate. In addition, the child’s salary must be reasonable. Keep detailed records to substantiate the hours worked and the duties performed.

For example, suppose you’re a sole proprietor in the 37% tax bracket. You hire your 17-year-old daughter to help with office work full-time in the summer and part-time in the fall. She earns $10,000 during the year and doesn’t have other earnings. You can save $3,700 (37% of $10,000) in income taxes at no tax cost to your daughter, who can use her $15,000 standard deduction for 2025 (for single filers) to shelter her earnings.

Family taxes are cut even if your daughter’s earnings exceed her standard deduction. That’s because the unsheltered earnings will be taxed to her beginning at a 10% rate, instead of being taxed at your higher rate.

2. You may be able to save Social Security tax

If your business isn’t incorporated, you can also save on Social Security tax by shifting some of your earnings to your child. That’s because services performed by a child under age 18 while employed by a parent aren’t considered employment for FICA tax purposes.

A similar but more liberal exemption applies for FUTA (unemployment) tax, which exempts earnings paid to a child under age 21 employed by a parent. The FICA and FUTA exemptions also apply if a child is employed by a partnership consisting only of his or her parents.

There is no FICA or FUTA exemption for employing a child if your business is incorporated or is a partnership that includes non-parent partners. However, there’s no extra cost to your business if you’re paying a child for work that you’d pay someone else to do.

3. Your child can save in a retirement account

Your business also may be able to provide your child with retirement savings, depending on your plan and how it defines qualifying employees. For example, if you have a SEP plan, a contribution can be made for up to 25% of your child’s earnings (not to exceed $70,000 for 2025).

Your child can also contribute some or all of his or her wages to a traditional or Roth IRA. For the 2025 tax year, your child can contribute the lesser of his or her earned income or $7,000.

Keep in mind that traditional IRA withdrawals taken before age 59½ may be hit with a 10% early withdrawal penalty tax unless an exception applies. Several exceptions exist, including to pay for qualified higher-education expenses and up to $10,000 in qualified first-time homebuyer costs.

Tax benefits and more

In addition to the tax breaks from hiring your child, there are nontax benefits. Your son or daughter will better understand your business, earn extra spending money, and learn responsibility. Keep in mind that some of the rules about employing children may change from year to year and may require your income-shifting strategies to change, too.

© 2025 KraftCPAs PLLC

Some tax sins are worse than others. An example is failing to pay federal income and employment taxes that have been withheld from employees’ paychecks. In this situation, the IRS can assess the trust fund recovery penalty, also called the 100% penalty, against any responsible person.

It’s called the 100% penalty because the entire unpaid federal income and payroll tax amounts can be assessed personally as a penalty against a responsible person, or several responsible persons.

Determining responsible person status

Since the 100% penalty can only be assessed against a so-called responsible person, who does that include? It could be a shareholder, director, officer, or employee of a corporation; a partner or employee of a partnership; or a member (owner) or employee of an LLC. To be hit with the penalty, the individual must:

• Be responsible for collecting, accounting for, and paying over withheld federal income and payroll taxes, and
• Willfully fail to pay those taxes

Willful means intentional, deliberate, voluntary, and knowing. The mere authority to sign checks when directed to do so by a person who is higher-up in a company doesn’t by itself establish responsible person status. There must also be knowledge of and control over the finances of the business. However, responsible person status can’t be deflected simply by assigning signature authority over bank accounts to another person to avoid exposure to the 100% penalty. As a practical matter, the IRS will look first and hard at individuals who have check-signing authority.

What courts examine

The courts have examined several factors beyond check-signing authority to determine responsible person status. These factors include whether the individual:

1. Is an officer or director
2. Owns shares or possesses an entrepreneurial stake in the company
3. Is active in the management of day-to-day affairs of the company
4. Can hire and fire employees
5. Makes decisions regarding which, when and in what order outstanding debts or taxes will be paid
6. Exercises daily control over bank accounts and disbursement records

Real-life cases

The individuals who have been targets of the 100% penalty are sometimes surprising. Here are three real-life situations:

Case 1: The operators of an inn failed to pay over withheld taxes. The inn was an asset of an estate. The executor of the estate was found to be a responsible person.

Case 2: A volunteer member of a charitable organization’s board of trustees had knowledge of the organization’s tax delinquency. The individual also had authority to decide whether to pay the taxes. The IRS determined that the volunteer was a responsible person.

Case 3: A corporation’s newly hired CFO became aware that the company was several years behind in paying withheld federal income and payroll taxes. The CFO notified the company’s CEO of the situation. Then, the new CFO and the CEO informed the company’s board of directors of the problem. Although the company apparently had sufficient funds to pay the taxes in question, no payments were made. After the CFO and CEO were both fired, the IRS assessed the 100% penalty against both for withheld but unpaid taxes that accrued during their tenures. A federal appeals court upheld an earlier district court ruling that the two officers were responsible persons who acted willfully by paying other expenses instead of the withheld federal taxes. Therefore, they were both personally liable for the 100% penalty.

Don’t be tagged

If you participate in running a business or any entity that hasn’t paid federal taxes that were withheld from employee paychecks, you run the risk of the IRS tagging you as a responsible person and assessing the 100% penalty. If this happens, you may ultimately be able to prove that you weren’t a responsible person. But that can be an expensive process.

© 2025 KraftCPAs PLLC

Customers may be the lifeblood of your business, but they wouldn’t exist without the products and services you sell. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a mineral specimen dealer who does one-off sales, a reseller who sells items you make or buy wholesale in large lots, or a provider of services. You must always know what you have available to offer buyers – goods, designing websites, or offering lawn care services in your community, for example.

QuickBooks Online can keep you in the know about what you have available to sell, and it can manage the forms and transactions you need to do business with your buying audience. If you were doing your accounting and customer management manually, you might be using index cards and large wall calendars and file folders stuffed with product lists and schedules.

You’d spend a lot of time digging through item drawers and closets, counting your inventory by hand, and shuffling paper invoices and sales receipts and payment documentation. Instead, what if all of that is automated, saving time, reducing errors, and increasing your chances of success? Here’s a quick look at some of the basics.

Are you ready?

We’ve written about product and service management a lot. So you should know that to get ready to sell, you have to have made sure QuickBooks Online is set up to handle any inventory you might have. Click the gear icon in the upper right corner and then click Account and settings under Your Company. Click Sales in the toolbar and scroll down to Products and services. Make sure the first, fourth, and fifth options are turned on (the other two are optional). If they’re not, click the pencil icon in the upper right corner and change them. Be sure to click Save when you’re finished, then Done in the lower right corner.

Have you created your product and service records? You can do this on the fly as you’re entering transactions, but it’s much better to do it ahead of time. That way, too, you’re not as likely to skip the details, which will be important later on when you’re running reports, for example. We’ve gone over the steps before. Click New in the upper left corner, then Add product/service under Other. A vertical panel slides out from the right, and you simply select from options and enter data. Be very precise when you’re dealing with inventory information. If you haven’t gone through this process before, it might be worth scheduling a session with us to go over this important step.

Using your records in transactions

Let’s go through the process of entering a sales receipt. Click New in the upper left corner, and then Sales receipt under Customers. Choose a Customer from the drop-down list and complete any other fields necessary in the upper section of the form. Select the Service Date in the first column by clicking the calendar, then select the Product/Service in the next column (or click+ Add new). The Description should fill in automatically.

The QTY (quantity) defaults to 1. If you mouse over or click in that field, a small window will pop up containing numbers for Qty. on hand and Reorder point, as pictured above. If you know that you have more in stock that is showing, you can cancel out of the transaction, find the item record in the list on the Products & services page, and click Edit at the end of the row. You’ll be able to adjust the quantity or the starting value.

Enter any additional items and/or services needed and save the transaction.

The products and services page

QuickBooks Online offers numerous reports related to products and services and inventory tracking (you’ll find them under Reports | Sales and customers), but you can learn a lot from the Product and Service page (Sales | Products and Services). At the top of the screen (where you can’t miss them) are two colored circles containing the number of items that are Low Stock or Out of Stock.

Click on either of these, and the list below will change to only display these items. You can get a lot of information about your products and services on this page, including Sales Price and Cost, Qty On Hand, and Reorder Point. You can also create new records or import databases of records in CSV, Excel, and Google Sheet format.

© 2025 KraftCPAs PLLC

Before the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) became law, businesses could claim a tax deduction for most business-related interest expense. The TCJA created Section 163(j), which generally limits deductions of business interest, with certain exceptions.

If your business has significant interest expense, it’s important to understand the impact of the deduction limit on your tax bill. The good news is there may be ways to soften the tax bite in 2025.

The nuts and bolts

Unless your company is exempt from Sec. 163(j), your maximum business interest deduction for the tax year equals the sum of:

• 30% of your company’s adjusted taxable income (ATI)
• Your company’s business interest income, if any, and
• Your company’s floor plan financing interest, if any

Assuming your company doesn’t have significant business interest income or floor plan financing interest expense, the deduction limitation is roughly equal to 30% of ATI.

Your company’s ATI is its taxable income, excluding:

• Nonbusiness income, gain, deduction, or loss
• Business interest income or expense
• Net operating loss deductions
• The 20% qualified business income deduction for pass-through entities

When Sec. 163(j) became law, ATI was computed without regard to depreciation, amortization or depletion. But for tax years beginning after 2021, those items are subtracted in calculating ATI, shrinking business interest deductions for companies with significant depreciable assets.

Deductions disallowed under Sec. 163(j) may be carried forward indefinitely and treated as business interest expense paid or accrued in future tax years. In subsequent tax years, the carryforward amount is applied as if it were incurred in that year, and the limitation for that year will determine how much of the disallowed interest can be deducted. There are special rules for applying the deduction limit to pass-through entities, such as partnerships, S corporations and limited liability companies that are treated as partnerships for tax purposes.

Small businesses are exempt from the business interest deduction limit. These are businesses whose average annual gross receipts for the preceding three tax years don’t exceed a certain threshold. (There’s an exception if the business is treated as a “tax shelter.”) To prevent larger businesses from splitting themselves into small entities to qualify for the exemption, certain related businesses must aggregate their gross receipts for purposes of the threshold.

Ways to avoid the limit

Some real estate and farming businesses can opt out of the business interest deduction limit and therefore avoid it — or at least reduce its impact. Real estate businesses include those that engage in real property development, redevelopment, construction, reconstruction, acquisition, conversion, rental, operation, management, leasing, or brokerage.

Remember that opting out of the interest deduction limit comes at a cost. If you do so, you must reduce depreciation deductions for certain business property by using longer recovery periods. To determine whether opting out will benefit your business, you’ll need to weigh the tax benefit of unlimited interest deductions against the tax cost of lower depreciation deductions.

Another tax-reduction strategy is capitalizing interest expense. Capitalized interest isn’t treated as interest for purposes of the Sec. 163(j) deduction limit. The tax code allows businesses to capitalize certain overhead costs, including interest, related to the acquisition or production of property.

Interest capitalized to equipment or other fixed assets can be recovered over time through depreciation, while interest capitalized to inventory can be deducted as part of the cost of goods sold. You also may be able to mitigate the impact of the deduction limit by reducing your interest expense. For example, you might rely more on equity than debt to finance your business or pay down debts when possible. Or you could generate interest income (for example, by extending credit to customers) to offset some interest expense.

Weigh your options

Unfortunately, the business interest deduction limitation isn’t one of the many provisions of the TCJA scheduled to expire at the end of 2025. But it’s possible Congress could act to repeal the limitation or alleviate its impact.

© 2025 KraftCPAs PLLC

If you’re an individual taxpayer coming off a year of substantial business losses, unfavorable federal income tax rules can potentially come into play and affect your tax filing. Here’s what you need to know as you assess your 2024 tax situation.

Disallowance rule

The tax rules can get complicated if your business or rental activity throws off a tax loss — and many do during the early years of business. First, the passive activity loss (PAL) rules may apply if you aren’t very involved in the business or if it’s a rental activity. The PAL rules generally only allow you to deduct passive losses to the extent you have passive income from other sources. However, you can deduct passive losses that have been disallowed in previous years (called suspended PALs) when you sell the activity or property that produced the suspended losses.

If you successfully clear the hurdles imposed by the PAL rules, then you face another hurdle: You can’t deduct an excess business loss in the current year. For 2024, an excess business loss is the excess of your aggregate business losses over $305,000 ($610,000 for married joint filers). For 2025, the thresholds are $313,000 and $626,000, respectively. An excess business loss is carried over to the following tax year and can be deducted under the rules for net operating loss (NOL) carryforwards explained below.

Deducting NOLs

You generally can’t use an NOL carryover, including one from an excess business loss, to shelter more than 80% of your taxable income in the carryover year. Also, NOLs generally can’t be carried back to an earlier tax year. They can only be carried forward and can be carried forward indefinitely. The requirement that an excess business loss must be carried forward as an NOL forces you to wait at least one year to get any tax-saving benefit from it.

Example 1: Taxpayer has a partial deductible business loss

David is unmarried. In 2024, he has an allowable loss of $400,000 from his start-up AI venture that he operates as a sole proprietorship.

Although David has no other income or losses from business activities, he has $500,000 of income from other sources (salary, interest, dividends, capital gains and so forth).

David has an excess business loss for the year of $95,000 (the excess of his $400,000 AI venture loss over the $305,000 excess business loss disallowance threshold for 2024 for an unmarried taxpayer). David can deduct the first $305,000 of his loss against his income from other sources. The $95,000 excess business loss is carried forward to his 2025 tax year and treated as part of an NOL carryover to that year.

Variation: If David’s 2024 business loss is $305,000 or less, he can deduct the entire loss against his income from other sources because he doesn’t have an excess business loss.

Example 2: Taxpayers aren’t affected by the disallowance rule

Nora and Ned are married and file tax returns jointly. In 2024, Nora has an allowable loss of $350,000 from rental real estate properties (after considering the PAL rules).

Ned runs a small business that’s still in the early phase of operations. He runs the business as a single-member LLC that’s treated as a sole proprietorship for tax purposes. For 2024, the business incurs a $150,000 tax loss.

Nora and Ned have no income or losses from other business or rental activities, but they have $600,000 of income from other sources.

They don’t have an excess business loss because their combined losses are $500,000. That amount is below the $610,000 excess business loss disallowance threshold for 2024 for married joint filers. So, they’re unaffected by the disallowance rule. They can use their $500,000 business loss to shelter income from other sources.

Partnerships, LLCs, and S corporations

The excess business loss disallowance rule is applied at the owner level for business losses from partnerships, S corporations, and LLCs treated as partnerships for tax purposes. Each owner’s allocable share of business income, gain, deduction, or loss from these pass-through entities is considered on the owner’s Form 1040 for the tax year that includes the end of the entity’s tax year.

© 2025 KraftCPAs PLLC

If you made significant gifts to your children, grandchildren, or other heirs last year, it’s important to determine whether you’re required to file a 2024 gift tax return. And in some cases, even if it’s not required to file one, you may want to do so anyway.

Requirements to file

The annual gift tax exclusion was $18,000 in 2024 (increased to $19,000 in 2025). Generally, you must file a gift tax return for 2024 if, during the tax year, you made gifts:

• that exceeded the $18,000-per-recipient gift tax annual exclusion for 2024 (other than to your U.S. citizen spouse)
• that you wish to split with your spouse to take advantage of your combined $36,000 annual exclusion for 2024
• that exceeded the $185,000 annual exclusion in 2024 for gifts to a noncitizen spouse
• to a Section 529 college savings plan and wish to accelerate up to five years’ worth of annual exclusions ($90,000) into 2024
• of future interests — such as remainder interests in a trust — regardless of the amounts
• of jointly held or community property

You’ll owe gift tax only if an exclusion doesn’t apply and you’ve used up your lifetime gift and estate tax exemption ($13.61 million in 2024). As you can see, some transfers require a return even if you don’t owe tax.

Filing if it’s not required

No gift tax return is required if your gifts for 2024 consisted solely of tax-free gifts because they qualify as any of the following:

• Annual exclusion gifts
• Present interest gifts to a U.S. citizen spouse
• Educational or medical expenses paid directly to a school or healthcare provider
• Political or charitable contributions

You should consider filing a gift tax return (even if not required) if you transferred hard-to-value property, such as collectibles, artwork, jewelry, or interests in a family-owned business. Adequate disclosure of the transfer in a return triggers the statute of limitations, generally preventing the IRS from challenging your valuation more than three years after you file.

The deadline is April 15

The gift tax return deadline is the same as the income tax filing deadline. For 2024 returns, it’s April 15, 2025. If you file for an extension, it’s October 15, 2025. But keep in mind that if you owe gift tax, the payment deadline is April 15, regardless of whether you file for an extension.

The U.S. Treasury Department says it will not enforce the Corporate Transparency Act scheduled to go into effect March 21, 2025.

The Treasury’s decision announced this week means that business owners who do not submit beneficial ownership information (BOI) as required by the CTA will not face penalties or fines. The Treasury said it will propose changes to narrow the scope of the rule to apply only to foreign reporting companies.

Businesses originally were required to file BOI corporate transparency reports in January, but multiple legal suits challenged the CTA’s constitutionality. Those ultimately failed, and the rules are still set to go into effect March 21.

The CTA was passed in 2021 with support from Republicans and Democrats in Congress.

© 2025 KraftCPAs PLLC

Revised March 18, 2025, with updated terminology.

Financial reporting is critical for making informed decisions and maintaining stakeholder transparency, but there’s not just one way to do it correctly.

While U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) provide a standardized framework, the rules can be complex and costly for small and medium-sized businesses to implement. An alternative approach — commonly known as Special Purpose Framework (SPF) — offers a simpler and often more cost-effective solution for certain entities that don’t need to achieve full GAAP compliance.

Here’s an overview of alternative accounting methods, including key benefits and drawbacks of SPF reporting.

Basics of SPF

SPFs are still sometimes referred to as Other Comprehensive Bases of Accounting (OCBOA), although the term is used less commonly. Both refer to financial statements prepared using an accounting framework other than GAAP or the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Examples include:

• Cash-basis accounting, which recognizes revenue and expenses only when cash is received or paid.
• Modified-cash-basis accounting, which blends elements of both cash and accrual accounting.
• Tax-basis accounting, which aligns financial reporting with IRS regulations for simplified tax compliance.
• Regulatory-basis accounting, which follows rules set by a specific government or industry regulatory agency.

These frameworks may be tailored to meet a company’s specific needs and can simplify financial reporting while maintaining clarity for stakeholders. Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS) permit the use of SPFs for compiled, reviewed, and audited financial statements when GAAP statements aren’t required.

Pros of SPF reporting

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires U.S. publicly traded companies to file GAAP financial statements. However, privately held businesses that aren’t subject to these requirements often find SPF to be a more practical option. SPF eliminates some of the complexities associated with GAAP, making financial statements easier to prepare and understand. Cost savings can be significant, as SPF statements typically require less time and fewer resources, leading to lower accounting fees.

Private companies also have the flexibility to choose an SPF that best suits their operational and stakeholder needs. For instance, cash-basis statements may be more relevant when management’s primary concern is cash flow. Likewise, tax-basis statements may streamline tax preparation by reducing discrepancies between financial statements and federal income tax filings.

Regulatory-basis statements may be appropriate for companies that operate in heavily regulated industries, such as financial institutions, insurance companies, healthcare providers, public utilities, governmental entities, and brokers and dealers. Regulatory guidelines align financial reporting with industry-specific rules and oversight requirements, often prioritizing solvency, rate-setting and compliance over general-purpose financial reporting under GAAP.

Downsides of SPF reporting

While SPFs offer advantages, there are also potential drawbacks. Some lenders and investors may prefer GAAP-compliant statements due to their consistency and comparability. Financial statements prepared under different SPFs can make it difficult to benchmark against industry peers. Stakeholders unfamiliar with SPFs may require additional explanation to understand the financial statements fully. However, some lenders and investors may accept SPF statements if they meet transparency and consistency requirements. Businesses considering SPFs should consult their financial institutions to confirm acceptability before switching accounting methods.

Choosing an alternative accounting method still requires diligence and resources. Although SPF statements require fewer disclosures than GAAP, they must still include sufficient information to ensure transparency and clarity. Additionally, SPF statements must provide footnotes explaining the accounting framework used and key differences from GAAP.

Choosing the right framework

Whether SPF or GAAP is the right choice for a private company depends on several factors, including management preferences, external stakeholder expectations, and regulatory guidelines. GAAP compliance may be necessary if your business is seeking investment or financing. However, SPFs could be a viable alternative if your primary goal is cost-effective and straightforward financial reporting.

© 2025 KraftCPAs PLLC

The construction industry has made great strides in pushing back the outdated perception that it’s rife with corruption. Even with that progress, contractors are still among the hardest hit by the effects of occupational fraud.

As defined by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), occupational fraud is “the use of one’s occupation for personal enrichment through the deliberate misuse or misapplication of the employing organization’s resources or assets.”

The ACFE’s Occupational Fraud 2024: A Report to the Nations ranked construction No. 4 in the list of median losses by industry. With its median loss of $250,000, construction fared slightly better than mining, wholesale, and manufacturing, which ranked first, second, and third, respectively. The fifth spot was a tie between real estate and government/public administration.

Overall, the report indicated that the average loss for businesses across all industries was $1.7 million per case.

As business owners in any industry know, it’s difficult to stop fraud unless you know where to look. According to the ACFE report, these were most common occupational fraud schemes in the construction industry:

• 52% of cases involved corruption, such as bribery or conflicts of interest.
• 38% involved billing schemes, in which an employee submits invoices for fictitious goods or services, inflated invoices, or invoices for personal purchases.
• 25% involved asset misappropriation, in which an employee steals or misuses noncash assets, such as inventory, equipment, or confidential customer information.
• 25% involved fraudulent expense reimbursements, such as submitting fake receipts or presenting documentation for the same expense more than once.
• 23% involved payroll schemes, in which an employee makes false claims for compensation, such as claiming overtime for hours not worked or adding ghost employees to the payroll.

Each of those scenarios pop up throughout every industry in any given year, so construction companies aren’t alone in the battle to minimize occupational fraud. As a business owner, consider each example and whether your existing antifraud measures would be strong enough to prevent a big financial loss.

Rely on internal controls

A strong internal control system is critical to preventing fraud. Common examples include background checks, segregation of duties, dual authorization of sizable payments, and management review of major processes. Per the ACFE report, nearly half of reported fraud cases occurred because of either a lack of internal controls (32%) or an override of existing controls (19%). Another 18% were attributable to a lack of management review.

Historically, the ACFE has recommended a variety of antifraud controls as particularly effective in detecting fraud early and minimizing losses. These include:

• Fraud hotlines (the most common detection method)
• Job rotation or mandatory vacations
• Unscheduled audits
• Proactive data monitoring and analysis
• Clear antifraud policies
• Formal fraud risk assessments
• Antifraud training
• Codes of conduct
• Dedicated fraud departments or functions

Interestingly, in the 2024 ACFE report, web-based reports were the common fraud-reporting mechanism, coming in at 40%. Email was next at 37%, and telephone hotlines came in last at 30%.

Don’t let your guard down

Every company’s risk of occupational fraud differs depending on its size, workforce, and other factors. However, one thing’s for sure: No business in construction, manufacturing, wholesale, or any other industry is immune. Staying vigilant to avoid a fraud situation is usually easier and less costly than dealing with one after it occurs.

© 2025 KraftCPAs PLLC

Beneficial ownership information requirements are back with a new deadline and – so far – nothing in the legal pipeline stands in their way.

After multiple court decisions changed the course of the BOI rules under the Corporate Transparency Act, the latest decision this week lifted a nationwide injunction and clears the way for the law to go into effect. On Wednesday, February 19, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced a March 21, 2025, deadline for companies to meet BOI requirements. FinCEN, the agency tasked with oversight of the law, announced the new deadline in Notice FIN-2025-CTA1 this week.

For the first time in several weeks, there are no legal challenges, active injunctions, or pending appeals that would appear to alter the course of the BOI rule and its new deadline. The U.S. House of Representatives recently approved a bipartisan bill to push the BOI deadline to January 1, 2026, but because the Senate hasn’t yet taken a vote, there’s no indication that it will become law in time to affect the March 21 deadline.

The latest twist in the BOI’s journey came on Monday when a federal district court lifted the final injunction that had put the entire Corporate Transparency Act on hold. The plaintiffs in that case are not expected to appeal.

With the rule again in effect, most companies that were created by filing paperwork with a state agency are required to provide certain information about each of the company’s beneficial owners, including a qualifying ID or driver’s license, legal name, birthdate, and residential address. Failing to do so can lead to a violation of up to $591 each day in addition to criminal penalties.

BOI filings can be submitted at no charge on the FinCEN website, which is updated with the most recent deadlines and changes. The site includes extensive resources to determine whether a business is required to provide the information.

© 2025 KraftCPAs PLLC

The Child Tax Credit (CTC) has been a financial boon for families with qualifying children for several years. But changes could be coming after this year.

As the expiration date approaches for certain provisions within the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), here’s what we might expect for this year and beyond.

Current state of the credit

Under the TCJA, which took effect in 2018, the CTC was increased from its previous level of $1,000 to $2,000 per qualifying child. The TCJA also made more taxpayers eligible for the credit by raising the income threshold at which the credit begins to phase out.

For both 2024 and 2025, the CTC is $2,000 per child under age 17. Phaseout thresholds in 2024 and 2025 will continue at the levels established by the TCJA:

• $200,000 for single filers
• $400,000 for married couples filing jointly

Refundable portion

The refundable portion of the credit for 2024 and 2025 is a maximum $1,700 per qualifying child. With a refundable tax credit, you can receive a tax refund even if you don’t owe any tax for the year.

Credit for other dependents

A nonrefundable credit of up to $500 is available for dependents other than those who qualify for the CTC. But certain tax tests for dependency must be met. The credit can be claimed for:

• Dependents of any age
• Dependent parents or other qualifying relatives supported by you
• Dependents living with you who aren’t related

Claiming the CTC

To claim the CTC, you must include the child’s SSN on your return. The number must have been issued before the due date for filing the return, including extensions. If a qualifying child doesn’t have an SSN, you may currently claim the $500 credit for other dependents for that child.

To claim the $500 credit for other dependents, you’ll need to provide a taxpayer identification number for each non-CTC-qualifying child or dependent, but it can be an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, Adoption Taxpayer Identification Number, or SSN.

What might happen after 2025

If Congress doesn’t act to extend or revise the current provisions of the TCJA this year, the CTC will revert to the pre-TCJA rules in 2026. That means:

• The maximum credit will drop down to $1,000 per qualifying child.
• The phaseout thresholds will drop to around $75,000 for single filers and $110,000 for married couples filing jointly (inflation indexing could alter these figures).

In other words, many taxpayers will see their CTC cut in half if the current law sunsets in 2026. Families also could experience a larger federal tax liability starting in 2026 if no new law is enacted.

Proposals in Washington

When it comes to the future of the CTC, there have been a few proposals in Washington. During the campaign, Vice President Vance signaled support for expanding the CTC. While specifics are unclear, there have been indications that President Trump favors extending the current $2,000 credit beyond 2025 or even increasing it.

Many Congressional Republicans have voiced support for maintaining the credit at the $2,000 level or making it permanent. However, in a 50-page menu of options prepared by Republicans on the House Budget Committee, there’s a proposal that would require parents and children to have Social Security numbers (SSNs) to claim the CTC. Currently, only a child needs a valid number. That would make fewer families eligible for the credit.

Because these proposals haven’t been – and might never be – passed into law, look for developments over the next few weeks that could impact your next tax bill.

© 2025 KraftCPAs PLLC