Welcome to the latest issue of RBF News - our summary of the important tax, business and financial news and opinion you need to see the bigger picture, and make more informed decisions.

5 reasons business owners will appreciate this year's tax season - if you own a business, it's never fun closing out the books, putting together the files and waiting to find out what you'll ultimately owe. But Inc. columnist Gene Marks shares a few reasons why this tax season may be your best ever.

(Note: Some business owners may be a bit less sanguine, however, as new rules governing the capitalization of tangible property take effect for the 2014 tax year. Here's our summary of the new regulations.) 

IRS offers publication explaining Obamacare - The Internal Revenue Service has issued a new publication to help you better understand how the Affordable Care Act affects your taxes. The publication breaks down what's new for the 2014 federal tax return you will be filing in 2015.

Watch out for fraud during filing season - The Treasury Inspector General for Taxpayer Administration (TIGTA) has issued a reminder to taxpayers to beware of scammers making calls claiming to represent the IRS, especially during the current tax season. The reminder includes steps to take if you've been targeted. 

Bid to lower corporate tax rate stirs backlash...from business - in a stab at federal tax reform, legislators are floating a plan to reduce the 35% corporate tax rate and curbing business tax breaks to help pay for it. But millions of U.S. businesses don't pay taxes through the corporate system. Instead, income and tax breaks appear on the individual returns of those businesses' owners, writes Richard Rubin on Bloomberg.com.  

IRS raises standard mileage rates - The Internal Revenue Service has issued the 2015 standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes. For business use of a car, van, pickup or panel truck  the rate will be 57.5 cents per mile driven, up from 56 cents in 2014.

12 signs your company has a great workplace culture -

there is nothing better than waking up every day and looking forward to getting back to work with people you enjoy being around. Here, according to author and leadership expert Tim Stevens, are twelve signs that a great culture exists in your organization or company.

   

7 ways successful people build exceptional relationships - It may appear that successful people are more confident or sophisticated than others, but they actually are following a simple model of behavior that leads to lasting and loyal professional relationships, writes author Rhett Power. Here are his suggestions.