Summer is a good time for some tax planning that could lower your 2024 tax bill. Since the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which increased the standard deduction, fewer people benefit from itemizing deductions. You can use this IRS Interactive Tax Assistant to find your 2024 standard deduction.
How to Deduct Business Travel
Before traveling for business, it’s important to know what’s tax deductible. Through 2025, employees aren’t permitted to deduct unreimbursed business expenses, including travel expenses, but self-employed people may deduct business travel expenses on Schedule C. Businesses may deduct employees’ travel expenses if they provide advances or reimbursements to employees or pay the expenses directly.
Hiring Your Child to Work at Your Business This Summer
With school out, you might be hiring your child to work at your company. In addition to giving your son or daughter some business knowledge, you and your child could reap some tax advantages.
Why ESG Should Be in Your Strategic Business Plan
When business owners and their leadership teams meet to discuss strategic planning, the primary question on the table is usually something along the lines of, “How can we safely grow our company to reach the next level of success?”
Why Businesses Should Rethink Income and Deductions
Businesses usually want to delay recognition of taxable income into future years and accelerate deductions into the current year. But when is it wise to do the opposite? And why would you want to?
Sending the Kids to Day Camp May Bring a Tax Break
Among the many challenges of parenthood is childcare for kids when school lets out. Babysitters are one option, or you might consider sending them to a day camp. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but if you do choose a day camp, you could be eligible for a tax break. (Unfortunately, overnight camps don’t qualify.)
What Expenses Can’t Be Written Off by Your Business?
If you check the Internal Revenue Code, you may be surprised to find that most business deductions aren’t specifically listed there. For example, the tax law doesn’t explicitly state that you can deduct office supplies and certain other expenses. Some expenses are detailed in the tax code, but the general rule is contained in the first sentence of Section 162 (PDF), which states you can write off “all the ordinary and necessary expenses paid or incurred during the taxable year in carrying on any trade or business.”
Maximize the QBI Deduction Before It’s Gone
The qualified business income (QBI) deduction is available to eligible businesses through 2025. After that, it’s scheduled to disappear. So if you’re eligible, you want to make the most of the deduction while it’s still on the books because it can potentially be a big tax saver.
2024 Depreciation Limits for Business Vehicles
IRS guidance provides the 2024 depreciation limits for “luxury” business vehicles. For vehicles placed in service in 2024, depreciation limits (including first-year bonus depreciation) are $20,400 for year one, $19,800 for year two, $11,900 for year three, and $7,160 for each year after that. This includes passenger cars and SUVs, trucks, and vans if their gross vehicle weight (GVW) is 6,000 pounds or less. The IRS also announced lease inclusion amounts for lessees of passenger vehicles first leased in 2024. Read Rev. Proc. 2024-13 on irs.gov for more details (PDF).
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.