Like December 7, April 15 for many is “a date which will live in infamy.” It’s Tax Day in most of the U.S. Calendar-year partnerships and S corporations were required to file their 2023 returns, along with Schedule K-1s for owners, on March 15, 2024, or obtain an extension. Now, the filing deadline for owners of these pass-through entities is approaching. Here are 5 last-minute reminders to help you meet your tax obligations and avoid penalties, interest, and IRS scrutiny. 1. Check your filing deadline. April 15th is the due date for the 2023 federal income tax return. But the deadline is Apri ..read more

Tax credits typically are claimed on tax returns and may be limited to the extent of your tax liability. New rules may allow you to get the benefit upfront or claim the credit even if you lack tax liability. The rules are confusing. Here are 5 things you should know to optimize transferable tax credits for which you qualify. 1. There’s a difference between credit transfers for consumer vehicles versus transfers for other clean energy credits If you buy a new or used clean vehicle, you can effectively “sell” the credit to the dealer. This immediately reduces what you’ll pay for the vehicle. It ..read more

Gig work is temporary or freelance work performed by an independent contractor on an informal or on-demand basis. Side hustles are work performed for income supplementary to a primary source that are not merely additional jobs as employees. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics refers to all such arrangements as “contingent work.” Whichever definition suits the situation, for those performing services it means being in business and operating as such. Overview of gig work and side hustles DoorDash, a leading platform for gig workers, estimates that in 2024, there are 76.4 million gig workers ..read more

Companies starting out have a lot of expenses but little if no revenue. How do you handle this dilemma? Hopefully, a start-up has raised sufficient capital to carry it through the early days and get it to the time when revenue starts to come in. In addition to having sufficient start-up funding, there are some important tax rules that can be helpful to nascent businesses. Here are 3 areas in which tax rules may be helpful. Writing off start-up costs When you start up a business, you may incur a variety of expenses. Ordinarily, these are capital expenditures that are not currently deductible. T ..read more

By Barbara Weltman THIS SUPPLEMENT REFLECTS CHANGES THROUGH FEBRUARY 1, 2024. IF CONGRESS ENACTS THE TAXPAYER RELIEF FOR AMERICAN FAMILIES AND WORKERS ACT OR OTHER MEASURES IMPACTING 2023 RETURNS, THIS SUPPLEMENT WILL BE UPDATED AND REPOSTED. This year’s book, J.K. Lasser’s 1,001 Deductions and Tax Breaks, reflects the tax rules as they stood on December 1, 2023. But tax law is not static and new legislation, IRS pronouncements, and court decisions continue to tweak tax rules. They impact reporting on 2023 returns as well as tax planning for 2024 and beyond. This Supplement updates this year’s ..read more

By Barbara Weltman THIS SUPPLEMENT REFLECTS CHANGES THROUGH FEBRUARY 1, 2024. IF CONGRESS ENACTS THE TAXPAYER RELIEF FOR AMERICAN FAMILIES AND WORKERS ACT OR OTHER MEASURES IMPACTING 2023 RETURNS, THIS SUPPLEMENT WILL BE UPDATED AND REPOSTED. This year’s book, J.K. Lasser’s Small Business Taxes 2024, reflects the tax rules as they stood on December 1, 2023. But tax law is not static and new legislation, IRS pronouncements, and court decisions continue to tweak tax rules. They impact reporting on 2023 returns as well as tax planning for 2024 and beyond. This Supplement updates the book with the ..read more

That’s the question, and the way in which you arrive at an answer can be very challenging. Much has been made today about the gig economy, with many workers doing freelance or other gig work occasionally or full time. For example, according to Statista, in 2022, there were about 31.9 million occasional independent contractors in the U.S., which is double from the 15.8 million in 2020. These workers may be professionals and consultants, platform workers (e.g., Uber and Lyft drivers; FIVRR freelancers), or informal workers (e.g., child or eldercare workers; handymen). It’s estimated that it cost ..read more

If you’re in the market for a plug-in electric vehicle, you’re probably familiar with the benefits and drawbacks of this type of vehicle versus one powered by fossil fuel (see an earlier blog that details the factors to keep in mind). Some of the rules related to federal tax credits are different in 2024 as compared with 2023. Overview of federal tax credits There are 3 potential credits: the new clean vehicle credit, the previously-owned clean vehicle credit, and the commercial clean vehicle credit. Each of these credits has its own rules for eligibility. And there are different dollar limits ..read more

“A partnership is not a legal contract between two equal individuals. It’s an emotional alliance between two people committed to each other’s success.”  —  Warren Buffet, investor and philanthropist A partnership is not a taxpaying entity, but files an annual tax return, Form 1065, to report income, deductions, and other items. The same is true for a limited liability company (LLC) with two or more members; it also files a partnership return. Income, deductions, and other items pass through to partners and LLC members, who may be individuals, other partnerships, corporations, or ot ..read more

The holiday season is synonymous with giving gifts. Your business may be giving gifts at this time to various people…employees, customers, vendors, and prospects to name a few. Giving to charity is one thing (and not discussed in this blog); giving to individuals is another. What should you give? How does this affect your taxes? Should you create a gifting policy for your staff? What should businesses give? Employees usually want money…year-end bonuses. As depicted in the movie Christmas Vacation, they don’t want a jelly-of-the-month subscription. Of course, cash can be supplemented with gifts ..read more