11/08/2021
Here are the six last-minute tax deduction strategies we covered in this article:
1.
Prepaying your 2021 expenses right now reduces your taxes this year, without question. While it’s true you kicked the can down the road some, perhaps you have an offset with a big deduction planned for next year. And even if you don’t have such a plan at the moment, you have plenty of time to create one or to put additional big deductions in place for 2022.
2.
The easiest year-end strategy of all is simply to stop billing your customers, clients, and patients. Once again, this kicks the can down the road some and makes your 2022 tax planning more important.
3.
With 100 percent bonus depreciation and increased Section 179 expensing in 2021, you can make significant purchases of equipment, machinery, and furniture and write off 100 percent of the value. Make sure you place the assets in service on or before December 31, 2021, to get the deduction this year.
4.
Charges to your credit cards can create deductions on the day of the charge. This is absolutely true if you are a sole proprietor or if you operate as a corporation and the credit card is in the name of the corporation. But if you operate as a corporation and the credit card is in your personal name, your corporation needs to reimburse you on or before December 31, 2021, to create the 2021 deduction at the corporate level.
5.
Make sure to claim all your legitimate deductions. Don’t think you have too many, and don’t try to avoid deductions that you think could be red flags. First, it’s unlikely you could have enough deductions to create red flags. Second, no one knows what those red flags are. Third, if the deduction is legitimate, it doesn’t matter if the IRS audits it—you’ll win. If your deductions exceed your income, you will have a loss for the year, and that loss can create an NOL. The good news here is that the NOL can give your business a cash infusion beginning next year.
6.
If you placed QIP in service in 2018 or 2019, you have some work to do because that QIP is no longer 39-year property; it is 15-year property and requires a 100 percent bonus depreciation deduction if you don’t elect out of bonus depreciation. For what’s needed, see CARES Act Fixes TCJA Glitch on QIP, Requires Action. For your 2021 QIP, make sure to place the QIP in service on or before December 31, 2021.