2020 Last-Minute Year-End Tax Strategies for Marriage, Kids, and Family
If you have children under the age of 18 and you file your business tax return as a proprietorship or partnership, you can find big savings in the work your children do for your business. And if you operate as a corporation, don’t neglect to hire your children; there are good savings for you there, […]
2020 Last-Minute Year-End General Business Income Tax Deductions
The purpose of this article is to get the IRS to owe you money. Of course, the IRS is not likely to cut you a check for this money (although in the right circumstances, that will happen), but you’ll realize the cash when you pay less in taxes. This article gives you seven powerful business […]
Best Choice: De Minimis or 179 Expensing—or Bonus Depreciation?
How do you avoid losing money by making the wrong choice? Here’s one way to see the issue: Say you have seven employees who now work at least two days a week from home because of COVID-19. To facilitate this working at both the office and the home, you purchased seven laptop computers at a […]
How to Deduct the Costs of Thinking about Starting a New Business
Are you thinking about starting a new business? If so, congratulations. We know it can, and probably will, be an exciting ride. But like many other exciting rides starting or buying your own business can be fraught with dangers, not the least of which are potential tax pitfalls. In one recent case, a decorated ex–Air […]
What Is the Unpardonable Sin in an IRS Audit?
Suppose you just received that lovely letter from the IRS telling you that you are the subject of an IRS audit. What one record receives special attention? What one record can create a nightmare for you? What one record makes the IRS suspect that you are the keeper of lousy records? Think of the record […]
How Many Whole or Partial Rooms Can You Use for Your Home Office?
With the COVID-19 pandemic still going on, you may be spending more time working from your home office. You may have taken some extra rooms for your business use. Is that okay? Section 280A(c) states that you may claim a home office based on the portion of the dwelling that you use exclusively and regularly […]
TCJA: Don’t Lose Out When Corp. Vehicle Is in Your Personal Name
Do you operate your business as an S or a C corporation?
Do you drive a vehicle titled in your personal name for corporate business?
Beware. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) changed the rules for tax years 2018-2025.
Before the TCJA, you had to pay attention to the use of your personal vehicle for corporate business in order to avoid losing deductions to the 2 percent miscellaneous itemized deduction rule and the alternative minimum tax.
No PPP Loans Today, But You Can Still Get $150,000 from the SBA
Cash is king, especially during the worst recession since the 1930s. The hugely popular federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) that paid forgivable loans to millions of businesses ended on August 8. PPP loans could return in revamped form if Congress passes a new stimulus bill. But another source of relatively cheap money is available right […]
Four Insights into the PPP Loan and Its Forgiveness
Good Faith at the Time Question: What are your thoughts on the repercussions for business owners who acted in good faith based on the information available at the time and are now left to do things that may be more questionable to earn Payroll Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness? Answer: First, with good faith, there’s no fraud […]
Government to Landlords
Government to Landlords: Drop Dead! During this COVID-19 pandemic, landlords have two big possible problems: Tenants who can’t pay the rent. Tax losses that they can’t deduct. The Federal Moratorium on Residential Evictions The CDC order is effective September 4, 2020, through December 31, 2020. The CDC order bars residential landlords from evicting tenants for […]
COVID-19 Strategy: Hire Family Members To Create Tax Benefits
Dear Client: The COVID-19 pandemic may create tax benefit opportunities for you and your family members. For example, you could hire your under-age-18 children, pay them, say, $10,000 each, and they could pay zero federal income taxes. And you or your corporation, the employer, would deduct the $10,000 you paid to each of the children. […]