March 2019 – Ballast Advisors

There’s Still Time to Contribute to an IRA for 2018

Making a last-minute contribution to an IRA may help you reduce your 2018 tax bill. If you qualify, your traditional IRA contribution may be tax deductible. And if you had low to moderate income and meet eligibility requirements, you may also be able to claim the Savers Credit for 2018 based on your contributions to a traditional or Roth IRA. Claiming this nonrefundable tax credit may help you reduce your tax bill and give you an incentive to save for retirement. For more information, visit irs.gov.

Even though tax filing season is well under way, there’s still time to make a regular IRA contribution for 2018. You have until your tax return due date (not including extensions) to contribute up to $5,500 for 2018 ($6,500 if you were age 50 or older on December 31, 2018). For most taxpayers, the contribution deadline for 2018 is April 15, 2019 (April 17 for taxpayers who live in Maine or Massachusetts).

You can contribute to a traditional IRA, a Roth IRA, or both, as long as your total contributions don’t exceed the annual limit (or, if less, 100% of your earned income). You may also be able to contribute to an IRA for your spouse for 2018, even if your spouse didn’t have any 2018 income.

Traditional IRA

You can contribute to a traditional IRA for 2018 if you had taxable compensation and you were not age 70½ by December 31, 2018. However, if you or your spouse was covered by an employer-sponsored retirement plan in 2018, then your ability to deduct your contributions may be limited or eliminated, depending on your filing status and modified adjusted gross income (MAGI). (See table below.) Even if you can’t make a deductible contribution to a traditional IRA, you can always make a nondeductible (after-tax) contribution, regardless of your income level. However, if you’re eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA, in most cases you’ll be better off making nondeductible contributions to a Roth, rather than making them to a traditional IRA.

2018 income phaseout ranges for determining deductibility of traditional IRA contributions:
1. Covered by an employer-sponsored plan and filing as:	Your IRA deduction is reduced if your MAGI is:	Your IRA deduction is eliminated if your MAGI is:
Single/Head of household	$63,000 to $73,000	$73,000 or more
Married filing jointly	$101,000 to $121,000	$121,000 or more
Married filing separately	$0 to $10,000	$10,000 or more
2. Not covered by an employer-sponsored retirement plan, but filing joint return with a spouse who is covered by a plan	$189,000 to $199,000	$199,000 or more

Roth IRA

You can contribute to a Roth IRA even after reaching 70½ if your MAGI is within certain limits. For 2018, if you file your federal tax return as single or head of household, you can make a full Roth contribution if your income is $120,000 or less. Your maximum contribution is phased out if your income is between $120,000 and $135,000, and you can’t contribute at all if your income is $135,000 or more. Similarly, if you’re married and file a joint federal tax return, you can make a full Roth contribution if your income is $189,000 or less. Your contribution is phased out if your income is between $189,000 and $199,000, and you can’t contribute at all if your income is $199,000 or more. And if you’re married filing separately, your contribution phases out with any income over $0, and you can’t contribute at all if your income is $10,000 or more.

2018 income phaseout ranges for determining eligibility to contribute to a Roth IRA:
	Your ability to contribute to a Roth IRA is reduced if your MAGI is:	Your ability to contribute to a Roth IRA is eliminated if your MAGI is:
Single/Head of household	$120,000 to $135,000	$135,000 or more
Married filing jointly	$189,000 to $199,000	$199,000 or more
Married filing separately	$0 to $10,000	$10,000 or more

Even if you can’t make an annual contribution to a Roth IRA because of the income limits, there’s an easy workaround. If you haven’t yet reached age 70½, you can make a nondeductible contribution to a traditional IRA and then immediately convert that traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. Keep in mind, however, that you’ll need to aggregate all traditional IRAs and SEP/SIMPLE IRAs you own — other than IRAs you’ve inherited — when you calculate the taxable portion of your conversion. (This is sometimes called a “back-door” Roth IRA.)

Finally, if you make a contribution — no matter how small — to a Roth IRA for 2018 by your tax return due date and it is your first Roth IRA contribution, your five-year holding period for identifying qualified distributions from all your Roth IRAs (other than inherited accounts) will start on January 1, 2018.

Prepared by Broadridge Investor Communication Solutions, Inc. Copyright 2019

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES Broadridge Investor Communication Solutions, Inc. does not provide investment, tax, legal, or retirement advice or recommendations. The information presented here is not specific to any individual’s personal circumstances. To the extent that this material concerns tax matters, it is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, by a taxpayer for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed by law. Each taxpayer should seek independent advice from a tax professional based on his or her individual circumstances. These materials are provided for general information and educational purposes based upon publicly available information from sources believed to be reliable — we cannot assure the accuracy or completeness of these materials. The information in these materials may change at any time and without notice.

How to Protect Yourself Against Identity Theft

Massive computer hacks and data breaches are now common occurrences — an unfortunate consequence of living in a digital world. Once identity thieves have your information, they can use it to gain access to your bank and credit card accounts, make unauthorized transactions in your name, and subsequently ruin your credit.

Now more than ever, it’s important to safeguard yourself against identity theft. Here are some steps you can take to protect your personal and financial information.

Check yourself out

It’s important to review your credit report at least once a year and make sure that all the information in it is correct. Every consumer is entitled to a free credit report every 12 months from each of the three reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Besides the annual report, you may be entitled to an additional free report under certain circumstances. Visit annualcreditreport.com for more information.

If you find an error in your credit report, contact the appropriate credit reporting agency to let it know that you are disputing information on your report. The agency usually must investigate the dispute within 30 days of receiving it. Once the investigation is complete, the agency must provide you with a written result of its investigation and remove/correct any errors. You can generally file your dispute with the agency either online or by mail. However, it may be more helpful to dispute the error in writing with supportive documents, preferably by certified mail. That way you’ll have a paper trail to rely on if the investigation does not resolve the disputed error. If you believe that the error is the result of identity theft, you can also file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at identitytheft.gov.

In addition to checking out your credit report, you should regularly review your bank and debit/credit card accounts for suspicious charges or account activity. If you discover signs of unauthorized transactions, contact the appropriate financial institution as soon as possible — early notification not only can stop the identity thief but may limit your financial liability.

As you monitor your credit report and financial accounts, keep an eye out for the following possible signs of identity theft:

• Incorrect personal and account information on your credit report, including suspicious credit inquiries

• Money that is missing from your bank account, no matter how small the amount

• Missing bills or other mail from financial institutions and credit card companies

Consider a fraud alert and/or security freeze if necessary

If you discover that your personal and/or financial information has been exposed to identity theft, you should consider placing a fraud alert and/or security freeze on your credit report.

A fraud alert requires creditors to take extra steps to verify your identity before extending any existing credit or issuing new credit in your name. To request a fraud alert, you only have to contact one of the three major credit reporting agencies, and the information will be passed along to the other two.

A security freeze prevents new credit and accounts from being opened in your name. Once you obtain a security freeze, creditors won’t be allowed to access your credit report and therefore cannot offer new credit. This helps prevent identity thieves from applying for credit or opening fraudulent accounts in your name. Keep in mind that if you want to apply for credit with a new financial institution in the future, open a new bank account, and even apply for a job or rent an apartment, you will need to “unlock” or “thaw” the security freeze. In addition, you must contact each credit reporting agency separately to place a security freeze on your credit report.

Maintain strong passwords

Most of us have a large amount of personal and financial information that’s readily accessible through the Internet, in most cases protected by nothing more than a username and password.

A strong password should be at least eight characters long, using a combination of lower-case letters, upper-case letters, numbers, and symbols or a random phrase. Avoid dictionary words and personal information such as your name and address. Also create a separate and unique password for each account or website you use, and try to change passwords frequently.

If you have trouble keeping track of all your password information or you want an extra level of password protection, consider using password management software. Password manager programs generate strong, unique passwords that you control through a single master password.

Stay one step ahead

The best way to avoid becoming the victim of identity theft is to stay one step ahead of the identity thieves. Here are some extra precautions you can take to help protect your sensitive data:

Consider using two-step authentication. Two-step authentication, which involves using a text or email code along with your password, provides another layer of protection for your information.

Think twice before clicking. Beware of emails containing links or asking for personal information. Never click on a link in an email or text unless you know the sender and have a clear idea where the link will take you.

Search with purpose. Typing one word into a search engine to reach a particular website is easy, but it sometimes isn’t enough to reach the site you are actually looking for. Scam websites may look nearly identical to the one you are searching for. Pay attention to the URL, which will be intentionally misspelled or shortened to trick you.

Be careful when you shop. When shopping online, look for the secure lock symbol in the address bar and the letters https: (as opposed to http: ) in the URL. Avoid using public Wi-Fi networks for shopping, as they lack secure connections.

Beware of robocalls. Criminals often use robocalls to collect consumers’ personal information and/or conduct various scams. Newer “spoofing” technology displays fake numbers to make it look as though calls are local, rather than coming from overseas. Don’t answer calls when you don’t recognize the phone number. If you mistakenly pick up an unwanted robocall, just hang up.

Be on the lookout for tax-related identity theft. Tax-related identity theft occurs when someone uses your Social Security number to claim a fraudulent tax refund. You may not even realize you’ve been the victim of identity theft until you file your tax return and discover that a return has already been filed using your Social Security number, or the IRS sends you a letter indicating it has identified a suspicious return using your Social Security number. If you believe that you are the victim of tax-related identity theft, contact the Internal Revenue Service at irs.gov.

Because of the amount of paperwork and steps involved, fixing a credit report error can be a time-consuming and emotionally draining process. If at any time you believe your credit reporting rights have been violated, you can file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) at consumerfinance.gov.

Remember that the IRS will never contact you by email to request personal or financial information. This includes any type of electronic communication, such as text messages and social media. If you get an email claiming to be from the IRS, don’t respond or click any links; instead, forward it to [email protected].

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES Broadridge Investor Communication Solutions, Inc. does not provide investment, tax, legal, or retirement advice or recommendations. The information presented here is not specific to any individual’s personal circumstances. To the extent that this material concerns tax matters, it is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, by a taxpayer for the purpose of avoiding penalties that may be imposed by law. Each taxpayer should seek independent advice from a tax professional based on his or her individual circumstances. These materials are provided for general information and educational purposes based upon publicly available information from sources believed to be reliable — we cannot assure the accuracy or completeness of these materials. The information in these materials may change at any time and without notice.

Kanne CPA is now Ballast Tax and Business Services

(March 5, 2019 — Woodbury, MN) For over 30 years Kanne CPA, LLC has been providing superior accounting services for tax and businesses in the Twin Cities. Kanne CPA announces a brand change, now operating as Ballast Tax and Business Services — signaling the continued growth and exciting momentum for the future of the business.

Kanne CPA, which has operated alongside financial advisory firm Ballast Advisors for the last six years, will continue to offer the same accounting and business services in Woodbury and Eden Prairie and Florida locations.

“We believe rebranding the accounting practice will make it easier for all our clients to understand the wholistic financial planning services we offer at Ballast,” says owner Paul Parnell. “We want clients to understand this comprehensive approach is something that sets us apart from other financial advisors and accounting practices.”

Ballast Tax & Business Services strategies are designed to help small businesses meet both long and short-term goals. The services include: tax planning and preparation, IRS representation and financial reporting and payroll.

The transition will be seamless for clients for the 2019 tax season, with founder, Gary Kanne continuing as Senior CPA and manager.

”With tax season upon us, we hope this brand change helps our tax accounting clients feel better connected to the other important aspects of business accounting services that happen year round,” says founder, Gary Kanne. “Our team of dedicated accounting professionals is working hard every day to help our clients succeed. We are still accepting new clients.”

The filing deadline to submit 2018 tax returns is Monday, April 15, 2019 for most taxpayers. For a complimentary consultation, contact 651.735.4488.

Please note our new website URL, http://ballasttaxservices.com.