Businesses shut down for many reasons. Examples include an owner’s retirement, a lease expiration, staffing shortages, partner conflicts, and increased supply costs. If you’ve decided to close your business, you might need assistance with some steps in the process, including handling various tax obligations.
4 Ways C Corporations Ensure “Reasonable” Compensation
If you own a C corporation, you know there’s a tax advantage to taking money out as compensation rather than as dividends. The reason: A corporation can deduct the salaries and bonuses that it pays executives, but it can’t deduct dividend payments. Therefore, if funds are paid as dividends, they’re taxed twice, once to the corporation and once to the recipient. Money paid out as compensation is taxed only once to the recipient employee.
Payable-on-Death Accounts: Beneficial Tools if Used Correctly
Payable-on-death (POD) accounts can be a quick, simple, and inexpensive way to transfer assets outside of probate. They can be used for bank or credit union accounts, certificates of deposit, and even brokerage accounts. Setting up such an account is as easy as providing the financial institution with a signed POD beneficiary designation form. Upon your death, your beneficiaries need to present identification to the bank, with a certified copy of a death certificate, and the money or securities will be theirs.
Is Bartering a Taxable Transaction Even if No Cash Is Exchanged?
If your small business is strapped for cash (or likes to save money), you may find it beneficial to barter or trade for goods and services. Bartering isn’t new — it’s the oldest form of trade — but the internet has made it easier to engage with other businesses.
Retirement Saving Options for Your Small Business
Consider some options if you’re looking for a retirement plan for yourself and your employees but are worried about the financial commitment and administrative burdens involved. One possibility is a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP).
This plan, which comes with relative ease of administration and the discretion to make or not make annual contributions, is especially attractive for small businesses.
A Strategy to Raise Your Medical Expense Deduction
With a bit of planning, you may be able to boost your itemized medical expense deduction when you file your 2024 tax return next year. Only eligible expenses exceeding 7.5% of your adjusted gross income are deductible.
It’s not an easy hurdle to clear short of a major medical disaster, which, of course, you want to avoid. But you can use a strategy called “bunching” medical expenses to exceed the 7.5% threshold.
Have You Recently Reviewed Your Life Insurance Needs?
At one time, life insurance played a much more significant part in an estate plan than it does now. Why? Families would often use life insurance payouts to pay estate taxes. But with the federal gift and estate tax exemption at $13.61 million for 2024, far fewer families currently are affected by the estate tax.
Returning an Erroneous Refund
Mistakes happen. What if you receive a refund from the IRS that you’re not entitled to? Or what if you receive one that’s more than you’re entitled to?
Five Facts about the Additional Medicare Tax
Some taxpayers may be required to pay an Additional Medicare Tax if their income exceeds certain limits. Here are some things that you should know about this tax:
Report Name Changes before Filing Taxes
All names on a taxpayer’s tax return must match Social Security Administration records because a name mismatch can delay a tax refund. Here’s what you should do if anyone listed on their tax return has changed their name: