Small Business Essential Services

10/15/2020

A recent law change authorized a one-year suspension of those rules for calendar year 2020 (and only 2020). The temporary change permits taxpayers who aren’t itemizers to claim as much as $300 for charitable contributions and also take the standard deduction.

08/20/2020

IRS Urged to Stop Sending Notices for Unpaid Taxes Until it Catches Up on Mail Backlog
(Accounting Today) - Many taxpayers have been receiving balance-due notices from the IRS even though they sent in their tax payments to the IRS months ago, because trailers full of mail have remained unopened since the start of the pandemic.

09/13/2018

WILL THE IRS CONSIDER YOUR SIDE HUSSLE A BUSINESS OR A HOBBY?
Whether or not you will be able to deduct losses from your “side job” depends on whether the IRS believes you have a profit motive. Year to year losses could pique the interest of the IRS and raise the treacherous RED FLAG. To make the determination of whether an activity is engaged in for profit, nine factors included in Regs. Sec.1.183-2(b) will be considered. In brief, these nine factors are:
1) Is the business carried on in a business-like manner? Separate bank account, books, records.
2) Does the owner/taxpayer have any expertise in the type of business?
3) How much time does the taxpayer spend in the operation of the business?
4) Is there an expectation that assets of the business (such as land) will appreciate enough to cover expenses?
5) Has the taxpayer ever converted any previous activity from unprofitable to profitable?
6) Has the history of profitability fluctuated considering the type of activity and the economy?
7) Has gross income exceeded deductions in three out of five years?
8) Does the taxpayer have other sources of income?
9) Does the activity provide any recreational benefit to the taxpayer?
No single factor is determinative in concluding that an activity is or is not engaged in for profit. All historical factors are considered in making a determination of profit motive. If the IRS believes the business is actually a hobby, no losses are deductible, currently or in the past.

05/08/2017

http://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/news/12332164/tax-court-denies-stockbrokers-questionable-meal-and-cell-phone-expenses

Your clients might need to be reminded about the stringent rules about travel and expense deductions. Check in with small business clients to ensure that they are sticking to the letter of the law.

02/14/2017

The IRS is scrutinizing mortgage interest deductions more closely. Does that concern you?

10/17/2016

Whew, That's end of the 2015 tax year. Now on to planning for 2016!

02/14/2016

Pretty much anyone can charge a fee for doing your taxes, and it shows.

02/02/2016

Message to current and future clients: For every referral that hire me, I will reward the referring person with a $25 gift card.

12/22/2015

Something to consider if you are a partner in a partnership:

Partnerships often grant equity interests to valued employees but often mistakenly continue to treat them as employees for employment tax and other purposes. This article examines the risks a partnership and the partner run in continuing this treatment and suggests a few solutions.

11/13/2015

If you stop by, please say hello. You can write something in the Visitor Post to the left.

05/28/2015

If you want to get more leads for your business you should check out Thumbtack.com. I did.
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Small businesses and individuals are my main focus. I have more than twenty years of experience in accounting and tax preparation. I love startups!...