Tax Tips
Most businesses have websites today. Despite their widespread use, the IRS hasn’t issued formal guidance on when website costs can be deducted.
However, there are established rules that generally apply to the deductibility of business expenses and provide business taxpayers launching a website with some guidance about proper treatment. In addition, businesses can turn to IRS guidance on software costs. Here are some answers to questions you may have.
Want to make money by renting out your home? If done correctly, this can boost your cash flow with minimal effort. Selling your home to your S corporation is one of the best strategies. Here’s why it’s better than just converting your home to a rental property.
Owning and running a company tends to test one’s patience. You wait for strategies to play out. You wait for materials, supplies, or equipment to arrive. You wait for key positions to be filled. But, when it comes to sales, how patient should you be? A widely used metric called “sales velocity” can help you decide.
Purchasing a home is an expensive proposition that leaves many would-be buyers feeling cash-strapped. If that’s you, you might be thinking about taking some money out of your traditional IRA to help fund the purchase. But should you? After all, a 10% penalty normally applies to IRA withdrawals before age 59 1/2. The good news is that there’s an exception to the penalty for certain home purchases, subject to a lifetime limit of $10,000.
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.
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.
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?
Under the Inflation Reduction Act, construction contractors who build or rehab energy-efficient homes may be eligible for a federal tax credit of up to $5,000 per project.
To claim the credit, builders are required to construct or substantially rehab a qualified home and own it during the construction process.
Leaving a job? You may want to roll over funds in your former employer’s 401(k) plan to an IRA. But there’s a tax trap for the unwary. If you receive a 401(k) plan check that’s payable to you personally or if you have a distribution put into a personal account electronically, 20% of the taxable amount of the payout will be withheld for federal tax.
The next quarterly estimated tax payment deadline for individuals and businesses is September 16, so this is another good opportunity to review the rules for computing corporate federal estimated payments.
You want your business to pay the minimum estimated tax amount without triggering the penalty for underpayment of estimated tax.
