Reminder: Maryland’s new Family & Medical Leave (FAMLI) requirement goes into effect Jan 1, 2027 –>
Register for this small biz webinar from the Comptroller’s Office to learn:
What FAMLI is and who it serves
Employer responsibilities and contributions
Benefits available to eligible Maryland workers
Key dates and implementation updates
Resources to help your business prepare
Additional details also available via MD’s FAMLI website.
UPDATE on FinCEN Beneficial Ownership (BOI) Reporting kerfuffle from last year ->
As of Aug 11, the Beneficial Ownership Information reporting is officially no longer required for domestic companies – And related information previously submitted will be deleted
For additional info, see the official Dept. of Treasury Press Release and the JofA analysis
Xero Bank Feeds are simplifying ->
A big impact: Credit cards whose transactions came in separately under Parent and Child credit card feeds, will now be ONE feed – yay! 🎉
To accomplish, you’ll need to:
Re-activate affected existing feeds, and
Turn off old “child” credit card feeds to avoid transaction duplication
Read more about the change on Xero Central
Xero just released more granular User Permissions->
For example: If you want a team member just to create Invoices, or run Sales Report, or not see bank balances, or not see company financials – You can do that very easily!
Added to the fact that Xero comes with unlimited users at no cost, this is a powerful tool!
Check out more details, and of course just reach out to our Design Team if you’d like to see how this can be put to work for your company!
IRS announces expanded Business Tax Account (BTA) features –>
Growing from the Individual Tax Accounts that were launched around the COVID era, BTAs have now been around a couple years and are starting to get quite useful, such as to:
Make IRS payments & view payment history
Request a ‘tax compliance check’
Download transcripts of income, payroll, & excise tax returns on file
View certain IRS notices received
And more being added
For additional details, check out the related IRS Press Release and the IRS BTA info page.
Happy 250th Birthday America!!! 🎉🎆🥳
We’ll be closed today (Friday) in honor of our nation’s semiquincentennial, then back on Monday to continue helping power the creativity of the entrepreneurs we collaborate with! ⚡ > 🔌 > 🎨 > 🖼
Maryland Comptroller is doing a major upgrade launch for Individual Taxpayers this August ->
As a result, essentially no individual tax filings or payments will be accepted via the old website in August and no business returns will be accepted from Aug 21-31
The Individual Tax functions of the Maryland Tax Connect website are expected to go live on Sep 1
Additional details available on this MTC Individual Info page
UPDATE: Paying your business bills in Xero via ACH is now FREE!
Hot on the heels of the innovative release by Xero of bill payments right within your online accounting platform, the ability to pay via ACH is now FREE
We’ve got customers using & loving this ability already – You can read more in Xero’s release announcement & also reach out to our Finance Design Team to see how to activate for your business too!
From recent release by Xero:
I’m thrilled to announce that Xero and Anthropic are entering a multi-year partnership that will bring Claude’s AI directly into Xero — and Xero’s financial data and tools directly into Claude.ai …
JAX, powered by Claude’s advanced reasoning, will perform essential tasks like proactively analysing your revenue and profit performance, tracking real-time cash flow, and identifying unpaid invoices, then recommending the actions you should take …
And if you’re working inside Claude.ai, you’ll be able to bring your Xero financial data with you.
Looking forward to AI helping small business owners get their arms around their finances and inform decisions for next changes! More in this Xero blog post.
Maryland releases guidance around “Penny Rounding” for in-person cash transactions ->
Penny Shortage and Rounding Cash Transactions
Additional information about this and other Maryland tax changes be found on Maryland’s Tax Updates page
Been wanting to get started on the Xero online accounting platform but need a jump start?
Act now and get 80% off the first 3 months!
Just let our team know and we’re happy to get you started! 🖥️ 📲 ⚡
Maryland business owners will recognize the state’s new tax portal as of a year ago: Maryland Tax Connect
For many, there’s been challenges getting ‘fluent’ in how to use the platform – If this is you, we heartily recommend signing up for the state’s webinar on Mar 24 providing hands-on walkthroughs
From the webinar description: “Learn how to register, file returns, make payments, and manage your business tax account more efficiently. “
More details and a sign-up link available here!
Wouldn’t be easier to just pay your company’s bills direct in your accounting software?
With Xero bill payments powered by Melio, you can do just that –
And for a very reasonable price: $0.50 per ACH and $1.50 per mailed check – you can barely get a stamp for that nowadays! (much less check stock and envelopes)
To learn more just reach out to our Design Team!
UPDATE on DC tax law snafu: The President signed the Congressional Joint Resolution overturning DC Council’s de-coupling from certain provisions of the OBBBA
What’s next? – DC hasn’t released a response since the signing, but indications are that we’re looking at least months for DC’s tax forms and systems to be re-written. In a letter written by the DC CFO prior to the Congressional vote, he indicated the DC tax filing season could even find itself extended into the fall.
We’ll continue to monitor updates as they’re available, but it seems pretty safe to say that DC returns will not be following a normal April 15 filing pattern this year.
A number of customers have asked about Trump Accounts during Tax Interviews so far this year –>
Couple tips:
They become available starting July 5 this year
You can proactively ‘opt in’ by using Form 4547 when you file your 2025 taxes
Check out the new official Trump Accounts website for new info and to sign-up for updates as they become available
DC Tax Law Update: Last week the U.S. Congress rejected the DC Council’s 2025 law de-coupling from many key provisions of the OBBBA tax law passed by Congress last year.
As of today, the provision is awaiting the President’s signature, but it does promise to complicate DC franchise/ income tax filings this tax season.
Have you heard the IRS is phasing out paper checks, both for refunds and for payments?
The transition isn’t complete yet, but the IRS just issued an updated FAQ on the hows and whens – Such as:
" For now, checks and money orders will still be accepted. However, the IRS strongly encourages taxpayers to make payments using existing electronic options."
“For all taxpayers with missing [refund bank account] information, the IRS will send letters to individuals using their last-known address on record, Once the taxpayer provides the direct deposit information or exception, the refund will be immediately released via direct deposit or paper check. If there is no response to the notice and there are no other issues with the tax return, the refund will be released as a paper check after six weeks.”
We’ve encouraged customers to consider online options for a number of years – For example, you can find links to pay your quarterly estimated taxes in our related Insights Blog post.
And just reach out to our Design Team if any questions!
❄️Office Snow/Ice Update❄️: Our offices were fully functional by the end of last week and happy to report all systems normal.
Tax Interviews begin this week and our tax filing season is off & running! 🏃♂️➡️ – Be sure to look for your Tax Interview appointments and other resource materials in your email and regular mail & just let our team know if any questions! 😀📧📬
Starting a small business in DC?
DC’s Department of Licensing & Consumer Protection (DLCP) has released a new 4-step guide to make sure you get off the ground smoothly – Check out the graphic below, and let our team know if any questions!
❄️Office Snow/Ice Update❄️ – Like many in the region right now, we’re working our way back to 100% but aren’t there yet.
The physical office is open as of today, but it’s icy and we wouldn’t recommend a visit. Our office internet also appears affected currently.
We’ve been working remote at reduced capacity while our team also puts effort into digging out of their homes.
Phones are working but email is probably best: because of the reduced capacity, look for a little more lag time.
Please do let us know if you have urgent situations as we have the ability to focus resources to accomplish.
Thanks, hope everyone is staying safe & warm, and expecting things should be normalized by end of week/ Monday!
