Welcome to First State CPAs & Associates

Full-Service Accounting, Tax Preparation, Tax Planning and Bookkeeping for Individuals and Businesses Nationwide

At First State CPAs, we make YOUR life less taxing!

First State CPAs & Associates specializes in providing first-rate business accounting, tax preparation, and advisory services. Our team of dedicated professionals has the experience, insight, and business acumen to identify the best accounting solutions and tax strategies for maximizing deductions and credits, as well as improving overall business performance.


First State CPAs, Dover DEWe specialize in bookkeeping, payroll, income tax return preparation, and retirement planning, and serve a nationwide clientele consisting of individuals and businesses of all types and sizes (LLC, partnerships, C & S Corporations), as well as trusts and estates. As financial problem solvers, we provide practical advice and proactive solutions with personalized service. We are affordable, experienced, and friendly, and we tirelessly study and research the ever-changing world of tax law and regulation so that we can help every client realize the greatest possible savings and return on investments. Our office is conveniently located in Dover, Delaware. Please contact us today to find out more about how we can make YOUR life less taxing!

Tax
Services

First State CPAs, Dover DE - Tax Services
A comprehensive approach to both business and personal taxes that leverages veteran expertise with a passion for client satisfaction.

Accounting
Services

First State CPAs, Dover DE - Accounting Services
An uncompromising commitment to the most reliable accounting techniques and practices for both individuals and businesses.

Software
Services

First State CPAs, Dover DE - Software Services
Installation, setup and training for all versions of Quickbooks from in-house Advanced Certified Quickbooks ProAdvisors.

Retirement
Planning

First State CPAs, Dover DE - Retirement Planning
Invaluable guidance from in-house Certified Retirement Counselors with investments, risk management, estate planning and more.

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๐—œ๐—ณ ๐—œ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐˜† ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ $๐Ÿฑ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜‚๐˜€, ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—œ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐—น๐—น $๐Ÿฑ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ฟ ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐˜๐˜€?

You can make sure your employees take home the full $500 by running a grossed-up bonus through payroll.

If you run a standard $500 bonus, your employees will receive less than that after payroll withholdings.

With a grossed-up bonus, you increase the total payment to cover those withholdings so your employee still takes home $500.

But that also means your business will spend more than $500 per employee.

Before promising a specific take-home amount, calculate the full cost of the bonus, including the required withholdings. Then you can budget for what you'll actually spend.
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๐—œ๐—ณ ๐—œ ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐˜† ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ $๐Ÿฑ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ ๐—ต๐—ผ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜† ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜‚๐˜€, ๐—ต๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—œ ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐˜‚๐—น๐—น $๐Ÿฑ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฌ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น๐˜† ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ฟ ๐—ฏ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ธ ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐˜๐˜€?

You can make sure your employees take home the full $500 by running a grossed-up bonus through payroll.

If you run a standard $500 bonus, your employees will receive less than that after payroll withholdings.

With a grossed-up bonus, you increase the total payment to cover those withholdings so your employee still takes home $500.

But that also means your business will spend more than $500 per employee.

Before promising a specific take-home amount, calculate the full cost of the bonus, including the required withholdings. Then you can budget for what youll actually spend.

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ธ ๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜๐—ผ ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿฌ๐Ÿฎ๐Ÿณ? ๐—”๐—ป๐˜†๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚'๐—ฑ ๐—ฎ๐—ฑ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜?

A) Keeping up with rising everyday expenses
B) Job security and steady income
C) Building up emergency savings
D) Paying down debt and catching up on bills
E) Saving enough for retirement
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๐—–๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—œ ๐˜€๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜…๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐˜† ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—บ๐˜† ๐—›๐—ฆ๐—”?

If you're eligible to contribute to an HSA, adding money before the end of the year can reduce your taxable income. You have two options:
1. ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ต ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฟ'๐˜€ ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—น๐—น.
When contributions qualify for the payroll tax exclusion, you save on federal income taxes and the 7.65% Social Security and Medicare taxes. Make sure to adjust your contributions before your employer's final December payroll cutoff.
2. ๐——๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—น๐˜† ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—›๐—ฆ๐—”.
You have until the April 15 tax filing deadline to make a contribution for 2026. You can still claim an income tax deduction, even if you don't itemize, but you won't get the payroll tax savings.
(๐˜๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ 2026, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜น๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ฎ ๐˜๐˜š๐˜ˆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ง-๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ด $4,400.)

Make sure to account for anything your employer has already contributed before adding more money. Going over your limit can trigger a 6% excess contribution penalty.

Comment ๐—›๐—ฆ๐—” below if you want help determining your 2026 contributions.
... See MoreSee Less

๐—–๐—ฎ๐—ป ๐—œ ๐˜€๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜…๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐˜† ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—บ๐˜† ๐—›๐—ฆ๐—”?

If youre eligible to contribute to an HSA, adding money before the end of the year can reduce your taxable income. You have two options:
1. ๐—–๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ด๐—ต ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ผ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐—ฝ๐—ฎ๐˜†๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—น๐—น.
When contributions qualify for the payroll tax exclusion, you save on federal income taxes and the 7.65% Social Security and Medicare taxes. Make sure to adjust your contributions before your employers final December payroll cutoff.
2. ๐——๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜† ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—น๐˜† ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—›๐—ฆ๐—”.
You have until the April 15 tax filing deadline to make a contribution for 2026. You can still claim an income tax deduction, even if you dont itemize, but you wont get the payroll tax savings.
(๐˜๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ 2026, ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฎ๐˜ข๐˜น๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ถ๐˜ฎ ๐˜๐˜š๐˜ˆ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ต๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ง๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ด๐˜ฆ๐˜ญ๐˜ง-๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ๐˜ญ๐˜บ ๐˜ค๐˜ฐ๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ช๐˜ด $4,400.)

Make sure to account for anything your employer has already contributed before adding more money. Going over your limit can trigger a 6% excess contribution penalty.

Comment ๐—›๐—ฆ๐—” below if you want help determining your 2026 contributions.
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First State CPAs
& Associates
18 S. State St,
Dover, DE 19901
 (302) 736-6657
Business Hours
 
January 1st January 31st
Mondayโ€“Friday:8amโ€“5pm
Saturday & Sunday:closed
 
February 1st April 15th
Mondayโ€“Thursday:8amโ€“6pm
Friday:8amโ€“5pm
Saturday:By appointment
Sunday:closed
 
April 16th December 31st
Mondayโ€“Thursday:8amโ€“5pm
Friday, Saturday & Sunday:closed