With 2017 just around the corner, it is time to think about those last-minute year-end tax moves you can take to improve your tax situation for 2016. Year-end tax planning is probably something you will want to deal with before the holiday season crush arrives.
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Thinking of Converting Your Home to a Rental?
If you are considering converting your home to a rental, there are a number of tax issues you need to consider before making a final decision.
Are You Worried About Taxes on an Asset Sale?
There is always a temptation to sell off assets that you’ve accumulated and take the money. However, that usually results in a tax bill. There may be a way to profit more from those assets by giving them away.
New Overtime Rules for Businesses
Here are some common things that workers tend to do: check Blackberries or iPhones at home after office hours; catch up on work email on weekends; burn the midnight oil to crunch on critical projects; travel for work.
Proving “Material Participation” to Deduct Business Losses
Small Business CPA Insight
You can only deduct losses from an S corporation, partnership or LLC if you “materially participate” in the business. If you don’t, your losses are generally “passive” and can only be used to offset income from other passive activities. Any excess passive loss is suspended and must be carried forward to future years.
Short-Term Rental, Special Treatment
If you are one of the many taxpayers who rents out a first or second home using rental agents or online rental services that match property owners with prospective renters, then some special tax rules may apply to you.
Back-Door Roth IRAs
Many individuals who are saving for retirement favor Roth IRAs over traditional IRAs because the former allows for both accumulation and post-retirement distributions to be tax-free. In comparison, contributions to traditional IRAs may be deductible, earnings are tax-deferred, and distributions are generally taxable. Anyone who is under age 70.5 and who has compensation can make a contribution to a traditional IRA (although the deduction may be limited). However, not everyone is allowed to make a Roth IRA contribution, and other regulations still apply.
Can You Deduct Employee Expenses?
If you are an employee, you may be curious about which expenses relating to your employment are deductible on your tax return. This is a complicated area of tax law, and many expenses are deductible only if the expense is a “condition of employment” or is for the “convenience of the employer,” two phrases that are effectively the same.
The deductions available to each employee vary significantly based upon that individual’s unique situation.
Minimizing Tax on Social Security Benefits
Whether your Social Security benefits are taxable (and, if so, how much of them are) depends on a number of issues. The following facts will help you understand the taxability of your Social Security benefits.
If you have questions about how these issues affect your specific situation, or if you wish to do some tax planning, please give this office a call.
New Business Startup – Deducting Costs at Tax Time
Before you earn your first dollar, before you are even open for business, your startup can incur considerable expenses. The money you spend opening your business can often be deducted; the IRS allows you to deduct many of these one-time startup costs. Speaking with an accountant in the early stages can help you decide which of these deductions to take – and may also help you discover additional ways to save money as you operate your new startup.