Joseph L. Rosenberg CPA

05/19/2026

Today, May 19 is National Accounting Day in the United States. It celebrates the roles accountants and bookkeepers play in the business lives of our institutions.
My career spans over 50 years in the profession, from summer jobs at local businesses to accounting as a college major at New York University’s School of Commerce in 1971. (Now the New York University Stern School of Business). I became a Certified Public Accountant in New Jersey in 1974 after passing a rigorous multi part exam and met experience and other requirements of the day. After a dozen years of working in small, medium and large accounting firms, I started my own accounting and tax practice in 1983, which I have mantained for over forty years. In 1996 I was honored by the US Small Business Administration as its Accountant Advocate of the year for New Jersey, then also for its region II which included New York, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. This resulted from my work with the New Jersey Small Business Development Centers and other quasi government agencies in New Jersey helping small business owners with a variety of consulting opportunities and educational training courses on small business topics. I became a member of both the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New Jersey Society of CPAs, and obtained a license from New York State as well. I have taken continuing education classes to improve my skills with over a few thousand hours over my career. I used to act as a moderator for the New Jersey State Society for classes both offsite and at their office which include taking attendance, trading evaluation forms completed at the end of class for attendance certificates, and performing other duties including making sure the class ran smoothly.
Here on facebook I write articles on taxation and accounting for small business owners and individuals. I also regularly remind my network when it is time to make quarterly estimated taxes.
I gave my time to a variety of non profit and business organizations for which I played leadership roles. My professional background made it possible to give back in a number of ways.
Careers in accounting continue to expand into new directions. Accounting is still the language of business and taking classes in accounting will help you prepare for a career in business regardless of your direction you take.
It has been a great run and I look forward to continuing to serve as an accountant and trusted advisor for years to come.

04/22/2026

I learned 56 years ago from Alvin Toffler in his work "Future Shock'" that we just can't keep up anymore. Too Much. Too fast. Yet still I tried. The early mainframe computers. The worldwide web. The dawn of social media. We nurtured our families and kept growing. We didn't live in a Linkedin cocoon but knew that Google would pick up our ideas. Doesn't it seem though, with artificial intelligence this time it's really different? Voracious readers still try to read as much as they can, to learn about the new age, while doers just run ahead, be first but not best. Just keep creating new things.
But if everyone is trying to be a creator, then why are we still interacting with content as if it's even more important than creating? Can the algorithm have evolved over time to be so sophisticated that it locates your audience for you? Must we return to formal classes to get clarity on the current and the future, in addition to learning on the fly? We see tens of thousands of jobs disappear
and its only the beginning. Who is working on the consequences of rapid change today? If we cannot see how the future will look, how can we prepare for it? Is it different today then in past generations?
Take a shot. Write your business plan based on your assumptions. Take it out one, three and five years. Keep updating it as the world changes. Make sure you have access to capital, to a well trained workforce, an experienced management team. It's still possible that best is yet to come. I'll see you there.

03/07/2026

New Jersey Budget Presentation kicks off debate toward ratification.
Projections of a possible 3 billion dollar deficit in New Jersey’s next fiscal year have the spotlight on Governor Mikie Sherill’s proposed budget being unveiled next week. The Governor has announced her approach to solving the shortfall is to cut spending rather than raise taxes. The state legislature last year increased property tax relief to New Jersey seniors whose income can be up to $500,000 with up to $6,500 in real estate tax relief in a new program called Stay NJ, providing the new budget covers payments of the second half of the year’s amount. This follows federal tax relief with an increase in the state and local tax deduction on the federal income tax return to up to $40,000 from $10,000 for a few years.
Congressional elections in November midway through the current presidential term of office usually gives the opposing party an opportunity to take control of the House of Representatives and perhaps the Senate as well. What role will this year’s state budget debate have on the outcome of local races for Congress in November? Stay tuned for the opening salvo next week with the Governor’s budget proposal and the reaction to it around the state.

01/28/2026

Trump IRA accounts for children are now available
Today President Trump had an event to promote the new Trump IRA accounts, one day after income tax filing season began for individuals. IRS Form 4547 can be filed with your federal tax return to initiate the process of obtaining an account.
There is a maximum of $5,000 per year that can be contributed to an account. Many corporations have announced their intention to match the initial pilot contribution made by the US government for those accounts set up for individuals born from 2025 to 2028. Also there will be notices during the next few months as additional companies roll out matching contributions to their employees. While contributions can’t be made until July 4, you can set up the accounts and if eligible request the initial $1,000 pilot contribution from the federal government. Check with your employer if they intend to have some sort of matching contribution so that you don’t contribute on your own up to the $,5000 annual maximum contribution and not take advantage of a company match that you didn’t know about. The $1,000 pilot contribution does not count against the $5,000 maximum contribution.
Make sure you discuss with your financial advisor the benefits of these accounts compared to section 529 accounts that are used for education, and the impact on either account on financial aid, based on current regulations. The Trump accounts are new and regulations are being proposed and have not been finalized. Also consider the types of investments that are allowed in either account.

01/14/2026

Get Ready for Trump Accounts for children.
I took a look at the new Trump Accounts while getting ready for tax season, and it will be one more area to review this tax season. Expect regulations to come out during the year.
The eligible participants to a Trump account are individuals who were under age 18 at the end of the year that the election is made. So if you make an election in 2026 the child must have been born after December 31, 2008. A parent or guardian or other authorized individual can open an account for the child.
Trump accounts can allow for up to a $5,000 annual contribution to the account, which is a special type of individual retirement account that converts to an IRA at age 18. Currently regular IRAs require that the taxpayer’s contribution is limited to their earned income or that of their spouse via election. The Trump account has no such requirement. As a comparison section 529 plan funds are expected to be used for education, while retirement plans are not expected to be used until retirement.
Applications to apply to open a Trump Account can be included with your 2025 federal income tax return which can be filed starting January 26, 2026. That would be form 4547. There will also be an online application which is not available yet on a dedicated website for these accounts.
The federal government is poised to make a $1,000 contribution as a pilot program kickoff for children born between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2028. The actual contributions will be made no earlier than July 4, 2026.
The application should be reviewed before seeing your tax professional to make sure you have all of the information necessary for the application to be accepted. The rules are slightly different for accounts electing to receive the $1,000 government contribution. There is an expectation that the child will be the dependent of the filer if the $1,000 contribution is applied for. Otherwise the authorized individual is a legal guardian, parent, adult sibling or grandparent of the child, in that order of priority, and the lesser priority individuals represent that there was neither a legal guardian nor parent of the child available to make the election.
The investments are limited to index funds and etfs that will be identified prior to the funding of the program. Let’s wait for more details on how the government will administer these accounts.
Once you apply for the account, the government will verify the information, and provide further details to the authorized individual. I expect a direct deposit will be made to the accounts, and you may need to supply the banking info after the initial application is accepted and before the funds are distributed.
I expect there will be a large demand in the runup to the July 4 funding date, so it might be a good idea to plan to file this early to make sure you can get the funds deposited as early as possible for maximum benefit.

01/13/2026

2025 Federal business returns are now being accepted by the Internal Revenue Service starting today, January 13, 2026.
These are partnership returns and corporations, both S corporations and regular C corporations.
Partnership and S corporation returns are due March 16, and C corporation returns are due April 15. Since March 15 is the normal due date and it falls on a Sunday this year, the deadline is rolled back to the first weekday following the due date.
Business who are sole proprietors include their business return with their personal return on Form 1040, Schedule C. Those returns will not be accepted until January 26.
If you are not ready to file yet, get your books in order so that the filing will go smoothly when you are ready. Make sure you are ready to pay C corporation balances due or make advance payments via estimated tax before filing.
Filing of information returns forms 1099 will be due at the end of January. The business returns will ask if you made any payments that will require issuance of a 1099 form. If so, you will also be asked if you have or will be filing them.
State returns can usually be filed with the federal returns, although sometimes not all forms are ready to be used. Developers need to submit their software to the filing authorities and get approval for them before their returns can be issued.
If you haven’t filed prior year business returns yet, you should be able to efile them now. There was a period when the Internal Revenue Service shuts down e filing to get ready for the next filing season. Generally you can file the most recent three years returns electronically.

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01/12/2026

New USA tax bill provides for exclusion of overtime from income tax.
Employers who pay overtime have not previously been required to highlight on a w-2, 1099-NEC or other form that information, since there was no provision in the tax code for doing anything special with that. Now employees and self employed individuals can take a tax deduction for receiving overtime. This new tax deduction for both employees and self employed individuals covers the years 2025 through 2028. Additional requirements are being imposed on employers to properly report the overtime on a w-2 or other similar form. Any income eligible for income tax deduction under this provision will still be subject to both social security and medicare tax as before.
Married individuals who qualify for the deduction must file married filing jointly, not separately.
How much is the tax deduction? Up to $12,500 in income for individuals, and up to $25,000 for married couples filing a joint return. What is the income limit for which a taxpayer qualifies? Single individuals must have modified adjusted gross income of not more than $150,000, while married individuals filing jointly cannot have modified adjusted gross income of more than $300,000, before the deduction phases out. Reasonable approximations of eligible overtime will be allowed in 2025, with tighter rules kicking in for 2026. Generally, the Fair Labor Standards Act calculation of “time and a half’, where the half constitutes the overtime pay, is a reasonable approximation. The IRS is providing guidance under a variety of circumstances to determine the correct amount.
This deduction will appear on the federal tax return as a deduction from gross income and before either taking itemized deductions or a standard deduction. It may make sense to do a draft of your tax return to see if you will benefit from this overtime deduction and if so how much. Sometimes trying to get your income before the modified adjusted gross income limitation can be done by reducing your income before year end, or contributing to a retirement plan if you have the ability to make contributions before April 15 of 2026 to count against 2025 income.

01/11/2026

Current Issues in Student loans

The costs to attend undergraduate and graduate college programs continue to increase. However, the US Department of Education is reducing the overall limit of federal student borrowing for many professions. Many professions believe this will limit the ability of students to afford school and that the pipeline of students will be curtailed. The Department of Education is changing its definition of professional degree programs to exclude programs in accounting, architecture, engineering, some nursing programs, social work and public health, as some of the professions affected, which will result in lower loan ceilings. Programs that are not affected include law and medicine.

The Department of Education, while removing these fields from the preferred loan category of professions, is facing a backlash from these groups suggesting that the public perception of these professions is impaired by not calling them professions for loan purposes. Perhaps a term, such as specialized professions would retain their professional status while setting them apart from the preferred professionals for borrowing purposes.

Existing borrowers should take note of streamlining categories of existing loan repayment plans over the next few years that may affect your ability to have the loan plan you desire still available to you in the future. With a significantly reduced staff at the Department of Education, it is incumbent for you to make sure you are in good standing and that you are aware of any potential changes in your plan. Forgiveness of certain loans that were not subject to tax on the forgiveness, may now be subject to tax in 2026. If you did not have to make payments during covid nor accrue interest charges and now you do, make sure you are aware of what you need to do to remain in compliance.

01/10/2026

Dividends and Long Capital Gain Income are Low Tax Strategies to Consider
Which tax bracket would you like your income to be taxed at?
Your choices may be 15%, 22%, 24%, 32% or higher. Most people would say the lower the better.
Singles reach the 22% bracket in 2026 at just over $50,000 in taxable income and 32% at just over $200,000. Married couples reach the 22% bracket at just over $100,000 and 32% at just over $400,000.
And then there is the 15% bracket for both groups of taxpayers. Companies pay dividends to their shareholders usually on a quarterly basis and if you hold the stock for 60 days then the dividend is taxed at 15%. If you sold stock that you held for more than a year, then the tax on the gains is also at 15%. Singles and married couples below the 22% regular tax rate pay no tax on either qualified (or reduced rate) dividends or long term capital gains. For higher incomes those long capital gain rates may go to 20%, (income for singles over around $533,000, and over around $600,000 for married couples) still much less than other income.
Some growth stocks don’t pay a dividend preferring to use the money to reinvest in the company. Other companies may pay a small dividend or even more to induce shareholders to invest in their stock. Dividends are usually a secure source of money. Each year most companies that are profitable continue to pay dividends and increase their dividend rates. Take a solid blue chip company like Johnson & Johnson. Thirty years ago you could have acquired the stock at $25 per share and it’s currently selling at just over $200 per share. Its dividend as a percentage of its stock price is currently about 2.5% per year, but since the stock has grown in value 8 times in 30 years, the effective rate of the dividend on your original investment is 20%. Where can you get a 20% dividend in from a one year investment? Not easily, so take the long view.
Long term capital gains can be offset by short and long term losses and the net long term capital gain will be taxed at 15% in most cases. You can deduct up to $3,000 in net losses a year and carry the balance forward to the next year. Watch out for state rules. Some states follow the federal rules, while others like New Jersey do not carry losses forward.
Some mutual funds with interest income instead of dividend income will be taxed at regular rates, not at 15%. Your year end 1099 form will show ordinary dividends and qualified dividends. Your funds might also have some tax free bond income . Look to exclude the government bond income on the federal and/or state tax returns, depending on who issues the bonds. Even the capital gains on the sale of tax free bonds may not be subject to tax in your state depending on the rules in your state. Your financial advisor should be able to steer you in the right direction to own quality dividend paying stocks, and funds with government income not subject to federal or state tax, or both.

01/07/2026

Interest expense on the purchase of a personal vehicle may now be deductible

As an incentive to purchase and finance vehicles whose final assembly is in America, the tax code now allows for a deduction of up to $10,000 for each year 2025 through 2028. The deduction will count whether you itemize your deductions or take a standard deduction.

What kind of vehicle is allowed? A car, minivan, SUV, pick-up truck or motorcycle with a gross vehicle weight rating of less than 14,000 pounds,and having undergone final assembly in the United States. Gross vehicle weight rating includes not only the weight of the vehicle, but also its passengers, cargo, and accessories, which is set by the manufacturer as the maximum weight that the vehicle can be safely operated The location of final assembly comes from printed materials furnished by the manufacturer or looking it up at a VIN Decoder administrated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration..

Firms that receive interest of $600 or more from a purchaser must file a 1099 form stating the interest and other pertinent information, except that for 2025 there are transition rules that are acceptable as described earlier for reporting information about the vehicle. Interest expenses can be provided at a firm online portal, a regular monthly or annual statement or other similar means.

The vehicle must be purchased new and for personal use. Interest expense on leased vehicles are not purchased vehicles so do not qualify for this deduction.

Certain of these provisions are transitional for 2025 only and others are in proposed regulations for which the public has an opportunity to write in their support for the rules or can make proposals to recommend changes. This process is well established and I’m informing a general audience to know about it if there are recommendations they wish to make to influence the final regulations. Watch after the early February 2026 due date for comments if there will be further changes to these regulations.

This deduction phases out for taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income over $100,000, or over $200,000 for married couples filing a joint return. The new schedule 1-A of form 1040 is the place to deduct the car loan interest. You will need to include the vehicle identification number (VIN) on your tax return. As an illustration, say you purchased a new car for $30,000 and the interest rate was 5 percent. The total interest that year might be less than $1,500. And your tax savings at 22% would be around $330. If you pay all cash for the vehicle, there would be no interest and no deduction for vehicle loan interest.

01/05/2026

Fourth quarter estimated taxes in the USA are due January 15, 2026. If you had a good year in the stock market, have business profits, or have retirement plan income including social security you may need to make these payments unless you are withholding enough from the retirement income or a bit extra from salaries. You may need to make payments for both federal and state income taxes.