Critical Microsoft Patch for December 2011

Microsoft has released an emergency out-of-band (meaning done on a day other than Patch Tuesday, because of how important it is) on Thursday, December 29th.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/security/bulletin/ms11-100

Please deploy.

Tax Savings with Selected Year End Purchases

Small businesses only have a limited number of days left in 2011 to realize significant tax savings on purchases of “eligible property” under Section 179 of the US Tax Code. Section 179 allows you to accelerate deprecation yielding substantial taxes savings for 2011. Of importance for the technology sector - special provisions for 2011 include certain software purchases!

What should I do? Buy and deploy your AccessEnforcer before January 1, 2012 and you may be eligible for huge tax savings this year. Ask us how to purchase a multi-year subscription plan and save even more.

Does this apply to me? To be certain, consult with your tax advisor and review the controlling guidance from the IRS. In general, you may be eligible for tax savings if your business meets the following criteria:

 Profitable operations in 2011
 Purchase “eligible property for business use” in 2011
 Acquired the eligible equipment by purchase
 Placed the equipment in service in 2011

The Basics of Section 179. For 2011 the IRS increased the amount allowed for Section 179 accelerated depreciation deduction to $ 500,000 and also included purchases on software. This means that your business could deduct the total cost of certain purchases on equipment one time rather than having to depreciate it over time. This can have huge tax advantages that could significantly reduce your tax obligation for 2011. Please note, this tax planning strategy may not be available to you in 2012 as the amount and composition of eligible purchases changes every year. In the past, Section 179 was referred to as the "SUV Tax Loophole" or the "Hummer Deduction" because many businesses have used this tax code to write-off the purchase of qualifying vehicles at the time (like SUV's and Hummers) - but that particular benefit of Section 179 has been severely reduced in recent years.

What is “eligible property”? To qualify for the section 179 deduction, your property must be one of the specified types of depreciable property approved by the IRS which includes tangible personal property and off-the-shelf computer software.

How Much Can You Deduct? Your section 179 deduction is generally the cost of the qualifying property. However, the total amount you can elect to deduct under section 179 is subject to a dollar limit and a business income limit. These limits apply to each taxpayer, not to each business. If you deduct only part of the cost of qualifying property as a section 179 deduction, you can generally depreciate the cost you do not deduct.

Where can I get more information? The IRS will publish guidance in early 2012. Until then, consult with your tax advisor and you can also review IRS guidance from 2010 and information from www.Section179.org.