While similar to FSAs (Flexible Savings Plans) in that both allow pretax contributions, Health Savings Accounts or HSAs offer taxpayers several additional tax benefits. Let’s take a look:
Tax Planning: Facts About Credits and Deductions
Tax credits and deductions can mean more money in a taxpayer’s pocket. Here are a few facts about credits and deductions that help taxpayers with their year-round tax planning:
Which Educator Expenses Are Tax Deductible and Which are Not?
Teachers and other educators should remember that they can deduct certain unreimbursed expenses such as classroom supplies, training, and travel — even when schools switched to hybrid or remote learning models during the pandemic last spring. Deducting these expenses helps reduce the amount of tax owed when filing a tax return.
Deduct 100% of Your Employee Recreation and Parties
You take Bill, your best customer, to the local country club and treat him to 18 holes of golf. The golf produces a zero deduction.
Compare this.
You take your employees and their spouses and children to the local country club, where they play golf and tennis; swim; and enjoy lunch, dinner, and snacks.
The cost of the country club meals and activity produces a 100 percent tax deduction.1
In this article, you will learn the following:
- What it takes to qualify an employee party for the 100 percent deduction
- What types of employee entertainment qualify for this 100 percent deduction
- How tax law defines entertainment that’s primarily for the benefit of employees
Deductions for Food or Beverages From Restaurants
Beginning January 1, 2021, and extending through December 31, 2022, businesses can claim 100% of their food or beverage expenses paid to restaurants as long as the business owner (or an employee of the business) is present when food or beverages are provided, and the expense is not lavish or extravagant under the circumstances.
Personal Protective Equipment Qualifies for Deduction
As a quick reminder, the purchase of personal protective equipment, such as masks, hand sanitizer, and sanitizing wipes, for the primary purpose of preventing the spread of coronavirus are deductible medical expenses.
Donating a Car To Charity as a Tax Write-Off — Special Rules
If you donate a car to a qualified charitable organization and intend to claim a deduction, you should be aware of the special rules that apply to vehicle donations.
Five Tax Tips for Older Americans
Everyone wants to save money on their taxes, and older Americans are no exception. If you’re age 50 or older, here are five tax tips that could help you do just that.
RIC Shareholder Dividends Qualify as Section 199A
Section 199A, enacted as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), allows individual taxpayers and certain trusts and estates to deduct up to 20 percent of certain income (section 199A deduction). It is available to eligible taxpayers with qualified business income (QBI) from qualified trades or businesses operated as sole proprietorships or through partnerships, S corporations, trusts, or estates, as well as for qualified REIT dividends and income from publicly traded partnerships. The deduction is not available for C corporations.
Estates and Trusts: Guidance for Itemizing Deductions
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) prohibits individual taxpayers from claiming miscellaneous itemized deductions for any taxable year beginning after December 31, 2017, and before January 1, 2026. However, proposed guidance has recently been issued clarifying that certain deductions of estates and non-grantor trusts are not miscellaneous itemized deductions and are allowable in figuring adjusted gross income, specifically: