Tax Tip

Weekly tax tip from www.kentwmeyerlaw.com

While most business expenses are typically deductible as
deductions for Adjusted Gross Income, employee
business expenses are deductible as miscellaneous itemized deductions,
Expenses that qualify include those that are appropriate and helpful for the
employee’s work such as the cost of professional dues, uniforms (unless
suitable as normal attire) and subscriptions to publications related to
employment (i.e., Wall Street Journal, Medical Magazines, Investor’s Business
Daily), cost of job hunting qualify if the job is in the employee’s current
trade or business, the cost of education if it serves to maintain or improve
the employee’s skill in the business.

Did New Rules Worsen Pay Situation?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703945904575645151525536026.html?mod=WSJ_business_whatsNews

A study prepared for an influential shareholder group says rule changes meant to revamp Wall Street's pay culture have been negative, concluding that pay practices at six U.S. banks and securities firms have "worsened" since the financial crisis.
The report, set to be released Tuesday and commissioned by the Council of Institutional Investors, which represents about 130 pension funds, contends that financial firms still tie too much of their compensation to short-term results and have increased salaries to offset the impact of recent regulatory curbs on pay.
"Very little of any real import has changed" since financial stocks began tumbling ...

GOP Set for Big Gains as Voters Voice Anger .

Republicans are positioned for large gains Tuesday, likely retaking the House
and picking up seats in the Senate, amid strong voter frustration with President
Barack Obama and the Democratic-run Congress, according to a new Wall Street
Journal/NBC News poll.
Republicans held a six-point edge, 49% to 43%, when likely voters were asked
which party they hoped would be in charge.

Nearly half of voters who favored GOP control of Congress said their feelings
reflected a vote of protest against the Democrats—an unusually high proportion
that pollsters said reflected deep frustration among many voters.