Cost Segregation: A Great Strategy When?

Cost Segregation Strategy

One significant tax benefit of owning residential rental property or non-residential commercial or investment property is depreciation—a deduction you get without spending any additional money. But regular depreciation for real property is slow. Residential rental property is depreciated over 27.5 years and non-residential property over 39 years, providing a relatively small deduction each year. Fortunately, […]

Did You Overfund a Section 529 Plan? Consider a Roth IRA Rollover

Did You Overfund a Section 529 Plan

Have you established, or are you considering, a Section 529 savings plan for a child, grandchild, or other family member? Such plans are a great way to help pay for a person’s college education. Contributions are not federally tax deductible, but they grow tax-free, and you can withdraw them tax-free to pay higher education expenses. […]

Q&A: No Business Income, No Office Deduction: Wrong

Q&A No Business Income No Office Deduction - Copy

You may have heard you cannot claim a home-office deduction without business income. That’s not accurate, as I explain below. Points to Consider Claim business deductions with no business income. Even if your business did not generate income this year, you should claim all business deductions. Such deductions might create a net operating loss (NOL), […]

Tax Reform Doubles Down on S Corporation Reasonable Compensation

Tax Reform Doubles Down on S Corporation Reasonable Compensation

From 2018 to 2025, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is offering a 20 percent deduction on pass-through business income, with specific eligibility criteria. This deduction impacts the choice of entity. For instance, should you operate as a sole proprietorship or an S corporation? The Importance of Reasonable Compensation When operating your business as an […]

Businesses and Rentals Existing on Jan. 1 Trigger FinCEN Filings

BOI Reporting

For existing businesses, the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) has come into force as of January 1, 2024, and imposes a brand-new federal filing requirement on most corporations, limited liability companies, and limited partnerships and on certain other business entities.  No later than December 31, 2024, all non-exempt business entities must file a beneficial owner information […]

Create Tax-Free Fringe Benefit Deductions for your Smartphone

Create Tax-Free Fringe Benefit Deductions for your Smartphone

I hope you can benefit from this fringe benefit opportunity related to business smartphones.  The IRS allows businesses to provide smartphones and tablets such as iPads as a tax-free fringe benefit, simplifying tax implications and eliminating the need for detailed usage records. Eligibility. This benefit applies to corporations, partnerships, and other entities, and it can […]

Q&A: Deducting a loss from an Airbnb Bedroom Rental

Q&A Deducting a loss from an Airbnb Bedroom Rental

When you rent a bedroom in your home and that rental unit creates a tax loss, can you deduct the loss? Yes, if you meet the four technical requirements listed below: You used the bedroom as a hotel unit because it was regularly available on a vacation rental site like Airbnb for occupancy by paying […]

Ouch! The Estimate Tax Penalty Is at a 16-Year High

Ouch! The Estimate Tax Penalty Is at a 16-Year High

The United States has a “pay as you go” tax system in which payments for income tax (and, where applicable, Social Security and Medicare taxes) must be made to the IRS throughout the year as income is earned, whether through withholding, by making estimated tax payments, or both. You suffer an estimated tax penalty if […]

Working Overtime? Take advantage of Tax-Free Super Money

Working Overtime? Take advantage of Tax-Free Super Money

Tax law often discriminates against company owners, granting them no or fewer fringe benefits. But you, the owner, are not discriminated against when it comes to supper money. It works like this: The supper money fringe benefit is for defined employees. The IRS supper money rule states that the term “employee” for this purpose means […]

The IRS Dirty Dozen List: More Than Just a Gimmick

The IRS Dirty Dozen List: More Than Just a Gimmick

Have you heard about the enormous tax savings you can reap by investing in a Maltese individual retirement arrangement or utilizing Puerto Rican captive insurance for your business? Before you invest your hard-earned money in these or other highly promoted tax schemes, you should check the IRS Dirty Dozen list. For over 20 years, the […]

Options for Overfunded 529 College Savings Accounts

529 college savings plan

You can accumulate federal income-tax-free earnings with a Section 529 college savings plan account.  Then, you can take federal-income-tax-free withdrawals to cover qualified education expenses, usually for college.  Great! But what if your designated account beneficiary decides not to attend college? What are your options, and what are the federal income tax consequences for those […]