Whether you’re in the process of making a retirement or estate plan or you intend to donate property to charity, you’ll need to know the value of your assets. For many hard-to-value items, such as closely held business interests, real estate, art and collectibles, an appraisal may be necessary.
Click on the links below to jump to each section in this article: One Reason to File Your 2023 Tax Return Early Did You Get Married in 2023? 2024 vehicle mileage rates One Reason to File Your 2023 Tax Return Early The 2023 individual income tax return filing season will open soon. Even if you typically don't file until much closer to the April 15 deadline (or you file for an extension), consider filing earlier this year. Why? You may be able to protect yourself from tax identity theft. In a tax identity theft scheme, a thief uses your personal information to file a fraudulent tax return early in the filing season and claim a bogus refund. Then when you file your return, you'll hear from the IRS that the return is being rejected because someone has already filed a return with the...
If you operate your small business as a sole proprietorship, you may have thought about forming a limited liability company (LLC) to protect your assets. Or maybe you’re launching a new business and want to know the options for setting it up. Here are the basics of operating as an LLC and why it might be a good choice for your business.
If eligible, you can elect to use Section 179 expensing or bonus depreciation to deduct a large portion of the cost (and in some cases the full cost) of eligible property in the year it’s placed in service. Alternatively, you may follow regular depreciation rules and spread deductions over several years or decades, depending on how the asset is classified under the tax code.
Did you know that you can transfer funds directly from your IRA to a Health Savings Account (HSA) without taxes or penalties? Under current law, you’re permitted to make one such “qualified HSA funding distribution” during your lifetime.
If you may be eligible for disability income should you become disabled, it’s important to know whether that income will be taxable. As is often the case with tax questions, the answer is “it depends.”
Is your business having trouble collecting payments from clients or vendors? You might be able to claim a bad debt deduction on your tax return. But if you hope to take the deduction on your 2023 return, you’ll have to get busy, because you must be able to show that you’ve made a “reasonable” effort to collect the debt. Requirements:
Click on the links below to jump to each section in this article: New Per Diem Rates for Business Travel Follow IRS Rules to Nail Down a Charitable Tax Deduction Withdrawing ERC Claims New Per Diem Rates for Business Travel The IRS has announced the per diem rates for ordinary and necessary business travel expenses in fiscal year 2023-24: When using the high-low substantiation method, the rate for travel to high-cost localities is $309 per day and the rate for all other continental United States (CONUS) localities is $214 per day. For meals, the rate is $74 (high) and $64 (all other) per day. The rate for incidental expenses when traveling in or outside the CONUS is $5 per day. These rates are effective beginning Oct. 1, 2023. Questions about per diem rates or other options for...
Click on the links below to jump to each section in this article: IRS Suspends Processing of New ERC Claims What Exactly Is a “Small Business”? Tax Treatment of Cryptocurrency IRS Suspends Processing of New ERC Claims The IRS is continuing to warn businesses about aggressive marketing by nefarious actors involving the Employee Retention Credit (ERC). It has suspended the processing of ERC claims until at least year end because of a spike in the number of fraudulent claims. The IRS has now issued a series of red flags businesses should bear in mind. Warning signs include: Unsolicited calls mentioning an “easy application process,” Claims that a business qualifies for the ERC even before any discussion of the business's tax situation, and Large upfront fees and additional fees based...
Receiving a sudden and sizable influx of cash may seem like a dream come true. It can be, but many people get carried away and end up in worse financial shape. If you’re hit with a financial windfall, here are some points you should know.
