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Some of you may have seen in the news recently the announcement of the Equifax Breach Settlement, which has its own website, https://www.equifaxbreachsettlement.com/ The website allows you to check whether your information was exposed and if it was to file a claim. It is important that everyone check because the Equifax site which was set up back in the fall of 2017 did not work well and was very inaccurate. I have checked my family members so far and I plan to check all of my long established clients. So far my wife and my information was not exposed. However all 3 of my daughter's and one of my son in law's information was exposed. At the very least you should send an email to all of your clients urging them to go to this website and check, because if your clients are like mine, many of them are not as security conscious as they should be !

In the spring I had three clients call me shocked at receiving the penalty for not making estimated payments. After I hound them for years to make payments, and nothing happens when they don't, as soon as I ease off, this is a priority for IRS. "Oh well, I'll make the estimated payments; I didn't know." Uh, yes. Yes, you did know. Sorry, that's not helpful; I just wanted to say it.

One more reason to have that little security lock. A hacker can put malware on an unprotected website. https://www.globalsign.com/en/blog/how-to-find-malware/

Yes, this is correct that it can be deductible on Schedule E. The default is that this borrowing would be considered "home equity debt" but may be uncoupled from that definition by "electing" to use the interest tracing rules. That election is made by reporting it on Schedule E. I would strongly advise to NOT comingle the loan proceeds with other personal funds so to have a clear and unambiguous trail of use. Reference is §1.163-10T(o)

Yes you can use a HELOC as a business loan and it happens ALL THE TIME. When you do the first tax return with the debt, put a declaration in the interest paid showing exactly what you've done and make sure it is a loan on the books of the company. Tell the client to not mix the HELOC with personal funds. Also make sure the client realizes (I'm sure they do) that the loan is their personal responsibility in the end regardless of how they document it. Corporate bankruptcy doesn't get rid of the loan. Many people (like me) use a cash out mortgage on their primary home to buy a rental property and then have the business pay off the mortgage. This has been talked about several times on this board over the years. The interest is then deducted on the Schedule E.

Good point! In which case, you might want a direct-to-the-portal link. Mine has this link on the upper right hand of the home page. Makes it easier for people to log in.

As much as I love your professional-looking website, I do have two thoughts: I view things like this on tabs on half of a horizontal monitor, saving the other half for my own email, and saving my two vertical monitors for tax preparation. In this configuration, all I see is your beautiful picture, your contact numbers above and "Welcome" and two lines of print below. That's great if I just need to find your phone number. But, it might not be great if I'm a potential client checking you out for the first time. I also tried your site on my iPhone via Safari. Although this is now vertical, my phone screen shows only about as much as my specific monitor configuration described above. However, there are no numbers after "Phone:" and "Fax:" -- just blank. The color? The update I did last night? I don't know. If this is a marketing tool, visit some friends and family to view your site under different conditions. If this is for the portal, you are fine! (Mine is for the portal.)

I admit to being out of it enough that I had to go look up the Sokovia Accords. That done, very good and very funny, Gail!