Category: Finance / Taxes

With April 15th coming up fast it might be a good time to look at some of the changes applicable to your 2019 federal tax return.  Compared to prior years, there are relatively few changes for individual taxpayers: Standard Deduction Increase.  For 2019 the standard… Continue reading →

A “non-recourse loan” is a loan where the bank’s right of recovery is generally limited to recovery against a particular piece of collateral, usually a mortgaged piece of real estate.  A standard loan includes documents such as a Note, a Mortgage, and a Guaranty.  The… Continue reading →

Here are the new tax bracket percentages applicable to your 2018 income for federal tax purposes; the previous (2017) brackets are shown for comparison:

One of the biggest changes coming out of the new Federal tax law involves the so-called “standard deduction” available to individual taxpayers. For years prior to 2018, middle and higher income taxpayers would almost always itemize deductions (such as mortgage interest, state and local taxes,… Continue reading →

If you loan money to someone, whether to an individual or to a business, you should try to obtain security (collateral) for your loan, in case the borrower defaults.  When you buy a car, if you finance the purchase, the lender puts a “lien” on… Continue reading →

A small percentage of estates are affected by the federal estate tax. Provided that an individual’s estate plus his lifetime taxable gifts (under the federal gift tax) are less than $11,200,000.00, no federal estate tax applies. However, for a married person with an estate exceeding… Continue reading →

Beginning January 1 of this year, the federal estate and gift tax thresholds have essentially doubled. Under the new law the exemption amounts for both estate and gift taxes jump to $11,200,000 per individual and $22,400,000 per married couple. For an unmarried individual, this means… Continue reading →

Tax sales are often touted as methods to get rich quick for new real estate investors.  However, it is vitally important that such an investor proceed with caution and learn the basics of the tax sale process in the jurisdiction in which he or she… Continue reading →

Note well that if you received a Notice of Assessment from the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue you now have only 60 days to appeal the assessment to the Board of Appeals rather than the former period of 90 days. The same is true of the… Continue reading →

In January 1, 2017, there will be a small increase in Philadelphia’s real estate transfer tax from 3% to 3.1%. When added to the Pennsylvania Realty Transfer Tax, this will increase the overall transfer tax to 4.1%. We believe that this will result in the… Continue reading →