A Network Of Accountants Tax Lawyers & Enrolled Agents Licensed To Practice Before The I.R.S.
Wealth Management Investment Solutions
Financial Planning Estate Planning Corporate Formations
Film & Television Accounting & Royalties
Certified Cannibis Accountants
1115 Broadway Penthouse New York City
"Good Advice Doesn't Cost...IT PAYS"
Lead With Levity
Managing Partner
VALevity LLC is network of Tax Attorneys CPAs & Enrolled Agents Licensed to practice before the Internal Revenue Service representing taxpayers in all 50 states. We prepare all Federal & State Tax Returns.
We begin by understanding your goals and work with you to develop and implement strategies to achieve them while minimizing liabilities. We consistently monitor your tax plan so you can rest assured that as your needs change, so will our approach.
Working with our team means you’ll stay in compliance while powering your future and preserving your legacy.
Services
Most People Don't Plan To Fail They Fail To Plan
Find something in life that you love doing. If you make a lot of money, that’s a bonus, & if you don’t, you still won’t hate going to work. ~Jeff Foxworthy~ Any Individual or Business can benefit from having their financial strategy aligned with their tax plan. This is helpful for Individuals or Business owners, people with significant investments, those with inheritance or an estate plan, & have a degree of assets. In each situation, we’re dealing with complex tax needs & a detailed financial plan. If you’re paying taxes & earning returns, whether you’re a young business owner or new to investing, tax sheltering & financial planning go hand in hand. Wealth advising helps you increase your assets & save your money in the right places, while tax advising helps you keep more of what you earn. We also research specific solutions and make recommendations on solving tax issues you may be facing now or in the future.
We See Our Clients Once A Month~Money Never Sleeps
"In my experience, there's only one thing that will always steer you toward success: That's to have a vision & to stick with it Once I have a vision for a new venture, I'm going to ride that vision until the wheels come off" ~Russell Simmons~ There are a number of ways you can go about tax planning, but it primarily involves three basic methods: reducing your overall income, increasing your number of tax deductions throughout the year, and taking advantage of certain tax credits. Top Tax Planning Strategies Be strategic with your income. Review your entities. Review your accounting method. Practice good bookkeeping. Keep documentation current. Evaluate personal loans and expenses related to your business. Don't miss out on deductions. Review your giving. Understand how property purchases and sales impact your taxes.
Good Advice From Valevity Doesn't Cost...It Pays
"I'm not a big believer in a thing called luck. I believe it has a lot to do with fate & just really having a vision of the way you would see your life" Marla Maples: Our network staff professionals assist taxpayers who are seeking help in resolving tax problems. We work specifically with individuals & small businesses to resolve their IRS tax problems with vast experience in dealing with the IRS. In an uncertain economic scenario, many taxpayers are finding themselves unable to fulfill their tax obligations to the IRS. The same economic conditions are causing the IRS to crack the whip on defaulters & adopt every possible means to enforce collections. The enforcement budget has increased under "Crazy & Foolish Biden" to the tune of 100,000 new IRS agents & intends to add more staff for greater effectiveness of coming to your kitchen table for a greater chance of Audit. An Offer-in-Compromise may solve your Tax Burden Worries. In the majority of cases once you come to our office & we review your file we should be able to stop any additional interest & penalties until your case is resolved.
Private Money Lenders
We are proud to announce our direct lending association with Patch of Land a Los Angeles-based private money lender for real estate investors. We are anxious to supply our investors with great rates & terms. We are one of the first digital platforms designed for ordinary Americans who want to invest in real estate. Our originators offer a wide variety of loans, including fix & flip, single-family bridge loans, multifamily bridge loans, long-term rental loans, & ground-up construction loans.
Certified Cannabis Accountants
Managing a cannabis company is overwhelming when it comes to finances & compliance. Different regulations unique to the industry, new owners often struggle with ensuring that their company is functioning to the highest potential. But Is It? We have the experience & knowledge to help overcome these challenges. We navigate the complexities involved in the cannabis industry while allowing owners to focus on their business itself. Our expertise performing all aspects so we can help your company reach its fullest potential. Own a dispensary or a cannabis manufacturing company? If so we’re ready to help better maintain your company’s financial functions.
Valentino Bio
Christopher Valentino
Managing Partner
I am the managing partner for the Accounting & Financial Consulting Firm Valevity LLC, located in the Beautiful Flatiron~Chelsea District of Manhattan. Known to my friends & clients as "Val" I've been in the Entertainment Business specializing in Copyright Infringement Cases & Contractual Music Film & Television Royalties for over 25 years. I have overseen & prepared Record Royalty Contracts for Madonna, Beyonce, Rihanna, & Blondie among many other prominent Artists. My educational journey started at UC Berkeley where I received my A.A.~Liberal Arts Degree & B.S. in Business Law at Pepperdine Graziadio Business School. Later a Bachelor of Laws (L.L.B.) at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles. After University. I started in the Music Royalty Accounting Department at Capital Records in Hollywood. I had the privilege to work on The Beatles recording royalties & John Lennon's solo records. After Capital I was hired by Donald T. Sterling, Esq. Owner of The Clippers Professional Basketball Team to head up his Accounting Department. Sterling just acquired the team for 12.5 Million. I advised Mr. Sterling on a daily basis of all phases of his Real Estate Properties. I was in charge of all accounting details for Sterling's Real Estate Holdings, 42 apartment buildings in Beverly Hills, Santa Monica & Malibu, Wanting to advance my career in Film & T.V. Sterling gave me an excellent recommendation at American Broadcasting Company. I landed a position as a Production Auditor in the Film & TV Division Hollywood, CA. Some of the most memorable accounts being: 'Three's Company 'Dynasty' 'T.J. Hooker' 'That's Incredible' & 'The Love Boat'. Responsibilities included overseeing & approving budgets as well as being the liaison between the Business Affairs Team & Network. After ABC I returned to NYC & joined the Entertainment Law Firm Sargoy, Stein & Hanft As part of their Production Audit team we traveled around the country & abroad recouping monies owed to the eight major motion picture studios The Firm represented. After much negotiations I moved to Orlando, FL & became the Business Administrator of the Marketing Department of the then New Disney-MGM Studio. Four years of that weird Mouse was enough for me. I returned to NYC I was hired by music industry icon Bert Padell as Sr. Music Royalty Supervisor. Bert a noted business manager, CPA & entertainment lawyer whose client list ranged from Joe DiMaggio, Luther Vandross, Faye Dunaway, Madonna, Notorious B.I.G., Run-D.M.C., Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige, Britney Spears, Blondie, Talking Heads, The Kinks & Pink Floyd. Recently this year I was nominated by The National Society of Accountants as Member of the Month for my exemplary participation in the Society’s programs and interaction with headquarters staff have distinguished myself as an ideal member of the Society. Entertainment Accounting sounds like fun & exciting & many aspects this is true but similar accounting principals apply when you are involved in deal memos, budgeting, cost reporting, cash flow, tax credits, contracts, business affairs, financing as well as the overall project's operation. Aside from my association with my Accounting practice my other enjoyment is Acting. When you envision your Accountant you probably don’t imagine someone reading scripts, making appearances on TV & Feature Films or shaking hands with celebs, artists, directors, & producers. I have appeared on The Irishman, Billions, City on A Hill, Succession, The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel to name a few. My philosophy has always been, "Do what you Love & Love what you Do & you'll never work a day in your life..."
F.A.Q
Know Your Rights as an American Taxpayer
The Right to Quality Service
The Right to Pay No More than the Correct Amount of Tax
The Right to Challenge the IRS’s Position and Be Heard
The Right to Appeal an IRS Decision in an Independent Forum
The Right to Finality
The Right to Privacy
The Right to Confidentiality
The Right to Retain Representation
The Right to a Fair and Just Tax System
The IRS is after me - what do I do?
What you can expect:
- Certain notices must include the amount (if any) of the tax, interest, and certain penalties you owe. It must explain why you owe these amounts.
- When the IRS fully or partially disallows your claim for a refund, it must explain the specific reasons why.
- If the IRS proposes to assess tax against you, it must explain the process – from examination (audit) through collection – in its first letter.
- If you enter a payment plan, known as an installment agreement, the IRS must send you an annual statement. This gives you a record of balances and payments.
Taxpayers have the right to raise objections and provide additional documentation in response to formal IRS actions or proposed actions, to expect that the IRS will consider their timely objections and documentation promptly and fairly, and to receive a response if the IRS does not agree with their position.
What you can expect:
- If the IRS notifies you that your tax return has a math or clerical error, you have 60 days to tell the IRS that you disagree. You should provide photocopies of any records that may help correct the error. In addition, you may call the number listed on your notice or bill for help. If the IRS agrees with your position, we will make the necessary adjustment to your account and send you a corrected notice.
- If the IRS does not adopt your position, it will send a notice proposing a tax adjustment (known as a statutory notice of deficiency). The statutory notice of deficiency gives you the right to challenge the proposed adjustment in the United States Tax Court before paying it. To do this, you need to file a petition within 90 days of the date of the notice (150 days if the notice is addressed to you outside the United States).
- If you submit documentation or raise objections during a return examination (or audit), and the IRS does not agree with your position, it will issue you a statutory notice of deficiency. This notice will explain why the IRS is increasing your tax, which gives you the right to petition the U.S. Tax Court prior to paying the tax.
- When the IRS notifies you of plans to levy your bank account or other property, you’ll generally have an opportunity to request a hearing before the Office of Appeals. Also, you’ll generally have an opportunity to appeal the proposed or actual filing of a notice of federal tax lien.
Want your clients to learn about your business?
going up?
Inflation Adjustments to Your 2023 Taxes
The IRS has raised the limits for gifting, retirement contributions, and other areas of critical importance to you. Here’s what you need to know. The IRS recently released its inflation adjustments for 2023 related to personal income tax, retirement contributions, and estate taxes. While those won’t affect the tax return you’ll be filing in a couple of months, they will be helpful as you start your planning for the 2023 tax year.
Personal Income Tax
The standard deductions are increasing in 2023, which means a bigger tax break for you, as more of your income is automatically exempt from tax. The flipside, though, is that it’s going to be harder to itemize your deductions in 2023, which means your tax payments, mortgage interest and charitable contributions are less likely to provide you a tax benefit next year. As a result, you may want to consider a bunching strategy, where you accelerate as many deductible expenses into 2022 where it might be easier to get a tax benefit for them.
The new standard deductions for 2023:
Married filing jointly: $27,700, up $1,800 from 2022
Single taxpayers and married individuals filing separately: $13,850, up $900
Heads of households: $20,800, up $1,400
Marginal tax rates, though, are unchanged, with the top tax rate remaining 37% for individual single taxpayers with incomes greater than $578,125 ($693,750 for married couples filing jointly).
The inflation adjustments allow more income to be taxed at the lower rates than in 2022, however, offering a form of tax cut. For example, for 2022 that 37% rate applies to couples with income over $647,850. As a result, nearly $46,000 of income that would have been be taxed at 37% this year will be taxed at 35% in 2023. That’s a savings of over $900.
Retirement Savings Contributions
The 401(k) contribution limit is rising by $2,000, to $22,500. That’s a big jump, considering we haven’t seen an increase of more than $1,000 since the current 401(k) rules came into place in the mid-1980s. Combined with a $1,000 increase in the catch-up contribution amount for those age 50 or older, this means employees can defer up to an additional $3,000 into their retirement accounts next year.
The overall savings limit, referred to as the 415 limit, is also going up $5,000 to $66,000. This includes your own savings plus any matching or profit-sharing contributions from your employer. Employees making after-tax contributions to a traditional 401(k) may be able to make larger contributions to those accounts next year as well.
Traditional and Roth IRA contribution limits will increase $500 to $6,500 - the first increase in that limit since 2019.
Those who can qualify for a Roth contribution have also changed significantly: Married couples with income below $218,000 will be able to make a full Roth contribution next year, as will singles below $138,000. Those are up from $204,000 and $129,000, respectively, in 2022. The size of the phaseout ranges stayed the same, so couples with income over $228,000 (and singles over $153,000) will not be eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA next year. Barring any legislative or other changes, the Backdoor Roth IRA strategy remains an option for those over the applicable income levels.
Estate Taxes and Gifting
The gift tax annual exclusion is increasing from $16,000 to $17,000 for 2023. This is the first time the gift limit has increased in consecutive years. A taxpayer can gift this amount to any number of individuals each year without incurring gift tax or using any of the taxpayer’s lifetime exemption. Married couples can gift-split, allowing them to gift up to $34,000 annually to each recipient beginning in 2023.In addition, the lifetime exemption amount increased by nearly $900,000, up to $12.92 million per individual.
Those individuals who used their full exemption in recent years will now be able to make an additional tax-free gift to family members or others. Estates of decedents who die during 2023 have a basic exclusion amount of $12.92 million, up from $12.06 million for estates of decedents who died in 2022.
With the increased lifetime exemption amount, each taxpayer will be able to transfer an additional $860,000 ($1.72 million for married couples) without tax liability, beginning in 2023. (Note that the exemption is still set to sunset back by about 50% at the beginning of 2026.) If you had already maxed out your lifetime gift tax exemption, you can gift an additional amount in 2023 to help further reduce your estate.You won’t see the full effect of these changes until you file your 2023 taxes in the spring of 2024, but they can be of tremendous help in your tax planning over the course of the year.
To get out in front of your taxes next year, reach out to your VALevity advisor this year!
