Blog Posts
Combine Home Sale with the 1031 Exchange
You don’t often get the opportunity to even consider making a tax-saving double play. But your personal residence combined with a desire for a rental property can provide just such an opportunity. The tax-saving strategy is to combine the tax-avoidance advantage of...
Can the IRS Require Odometer Readings with the Mileage Rate?
Do you claim your business miles at the IRS optional rate? If so, imagine you are now being audited by the IRS for your business mileage. The IRS has requested odometer readings for your vehicle. You might wonder if the IRS can do this. The answer is yes. The tax code...
QBI Issue When Your S Corp Is a Partner in a Partnership
It’s common to consider making your S corporation (versus yourself) a partner in your partnership: it saves you self-employment taxes. Does this affect your Section 199A deduction? It does. Guaranteed payments are not qualified business income (QBI) for the Section...
Avoid This S Corporation Health Insurance Deduction Mistake
If you own more than 2 percent of an S corporation, you have to do three things to claim a deduction for your health insurance: You must get the cost of the insurance on the S corporation’s books. Your S corporation must include the health insurance premiums on your...
Divorce and Taxes
Filing status. Your filing status is based on your marital status as of December 31. If you are divorced under a final decree by the last day of the year, you are considered unmarried for the whole year and you cannot choose Married Filing Jointly as your filing...
Gift Tax
Gift Tax There is no dollar limit on the amount that one person is allowed to give to another. Gift tax rules do not prohibit a donor from making gifts in excess of the annual exclusion($15,000 for 2019). However, if more than the annual exclusion is given to any one...
Death of a Taxpayer
Death of a Taxpayer When a taxpayer dies, there are certain returns that still need to be filed, a responsibility that falls onto the personal representative. Personal Representative Under state law, a personal representative is the person appointed by a court to...
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)
A health savings account (HSA) is a tax-exempt or custodial account set up with a qualified HSA trustee to pay or reimburse certain medical expenses incurred by an individual, his or her spouse, and qualified dependents.The medical expenses must not be reimbursable by...
Estimated Taxes
The federal income tax is a pay-as-you-go tax. You must pay the tax as you earn or receive income during the year. There are two ways to pay as you go, either by employer withholding or estimated tax payments. Employer withholding. If you are an employee, your...
Short-Term Rentals
Short-Term Rentals Income and expenses related to rental of your home, a room in your home, or a vacation home, must be reported on your tax return. Expenses may need to be divided between rental and personal use. Limits apply when deducting rental expenses for a home...