December 4, 2017

Dear Client,

We are amazed at how quickly another year has passed and hope that you and your family have had a healthy and prosperous 2017. This time of year reminds us once again of the upcoming tax season. Congress continues to discuss significant changes to the income tax code, but as of the date of this letter nothing has gone to the President’s desk for signature. Be assured we will stay abreast of latest changes as they occur!

We are once again making our tax organizers available, for free, to anyone who requests one. If you have not used one in the past, please call the office to request one for 2017, as it is our attempt to be as thorough as possible in the preparation of your return. The tax organizer may not be enough however, and we wanted to bring some special items to your attention below.

Affordable Care Act Update

In order to complete your 2017 return we must once again have all copies of Form 1095. If you did not receive a 1095, but had health insurance, you will need to wait to file until you get this form. These forms provide us with the necessary information to report your health insurance coverage and calculate any credit and/or penalty that may apply. The requirement to obtain health insurance applies to you individually as well as to anyone you claim as a dependent on your return.

For those of you who have received an advance payment of the Health Care credit by purchasing insurance through the Exchange we also need to warn you in advance that if you received a greater credit than allowed you will be forced to repay a portion of the excess with this year’s return.

We also encourage you to visit www.Healthcare.gov when you have a chance just to see what is available to you in the form of insurance, and what premiums will really cost for your family so that you have a clear idea of the facts without a political or media based bias.

Health Care Deductions
The 2013 tax bill reduced your deduction for medical costs, including health insurance for 2017. We will see very few deductions available for medical costs now unless you have substantial bills. The amount of your medical expenses in most cases must now be more than 10% of your adjusted gross income before we can deduct anything, so weigh carefully whether to go to the trouble of summarizing these costs. If you are self-employed, we still need to know how much you paid for health insurance.

Foreign Accounts

The IRS continues to look closely for offshore under-reporting. If you have any signing authority or interest over a foreign financial account with a value greater than $10,000 or more in aggregate during the year, or a foreign business ownership (not through mutual fund), please let us know as some special rules will apply to you and you may need to file FinCen 114 by April 15 this year. There are substantial penalties for failure to disclose these items.

Business Related

·  2017 Section 179 Expensing = $510,000

·  NEW! – Forms W-3 and 1096 must be signed and submitted by January 31 – we no longer have until February 28. In order to meet the 1099/W-2 due date of January 31, 2018, please have your information to our office no later than January 15th. Complete name, address, FEIN/SSN, and amounts must accompany this information. Also, to be compliant, make sure you have on file:

-  Signed and completed W-4 and I-9 for all employees (let us know if you need either form).

-  Signed and completed W-9 in file for all 1099 reporting - amounts paid for services or rents over $600 (let us know if you need form W-9). Reminder! Payments to all Veterinary Clinics in excess of $600 must now also receive a 1099.

·  State law requires all employers to report newly hired employees to the Dept. of Human Services in Bismarck no later than the 15th day after the employee is hired. This must be done and can best be achieved by dropping off the employee’s W-4 to our office so that we may submit electronically on your behalf. If you do not do so, we’ll assume that you have taken care of this yourself. New! If your annual business gross revenue exceeds $500k, you must provide all new hires with a written notice about the Affordable Care Act’s Health Insurance Marketplace within 14 days of the employee’s start date. You can request this notice from our office.

Reminder! Incredibly complex “Repair Regulations” now require you to keep much better records for repairs, maintenance, capital purchases and supplies beginning 1/1/14. We will now need copies of ALL invoices for repairs, supplies and capital purchases at your future tax appointments.

Website Information

We continue to direct your attention to our web presence at www.strandcpa.com. Our website is a hub of valuable information as well as a way for us to stay connected to you all year. Our website gives you access to:

1.  Pay your invoice using PayPal.

2.  Register for our Monthly Newsletter.

3.  View and Print valuable tax worksheets (Schedule F & C Forms) and informational letters.

If you would like an electronic copy of your completed tax return, please let us know so that we can securely email these records to you.

Record Retention

As required by law, we will provide you with a copy of your completed tax return along with any of your original source documents. It is your responsibility to retain copies of your tax information. We recommend the following guidelines:

·  Tax Returns – keep indefinitely

·  Supporting documentation – keep for 7 years

·  Records supporting basis in personal, investment and business assets and gifts – keep indefinitely.

(Note: Chad R. Strand PC retains copies of tax returns and work-papers for a period of five years.)

Prescheduled Tax Appointments

If you are a Schedule C or F filer, we will once again be pre-scheduling your appointment with a notice sent to you in early January. If there is a conflict with your appointment time, please contact us immediately to make alternative arrangements as spots are very limited. If you do not receive a pre-scheduled tax appointment, please call our office to schedule your tax appointment. Also, we would encourage you to make arrangements to drop off your tax return information if you are ill or cannot make your scheduled appointment.

There are literally hundreds of other changes, extensions and deletions that we will consider this year while preparing your return. Please rest assured that the same familiar faces in this office will utilize our best resources to once again provide you with timely, complete, confidential and accurate service while keeping your tax burden as low as possible. Merry Christmas and we look forward to seeing you soon!

Sincerely,

Staff of Chad R. Strand, P.C.

Chad, Reno, Stacy, Adrienne, Jennifer, Kenady