Over 1.6 million businesses collectively owe the IRS more than $58 billion. Who to blame: cheating government contractors, a lenient IRS, irresponsible lawmakers, dishonest businesses. What to do, and how to protect yourself against a dishonest payroll service.

Gone are the days of estimating deductions for expenses. Today, you need better tax records than ever. We give you a chart to help you avoid common mistakes, and to see what you need and why you need it.

Do you own an asset whose sale will produce a capital gain to you? Are you going to take back a note for some of the sales proceeds? If so, consider the “imputed interest” rules as a net-worth building opportunity. You can get up to 57 percent reduction in your tax bite, without changing the buyer’s out-of-pocket spending.

Are you turning in a leased vehicle? For the business use of the vehicle, you can deduct excess mileage charge and the early termination fees.

A new IRS rule says that you may deduct investment interest above the line when you pay interest on debt incurred in the conduct of certain trade or business activities. Above the line interest reduces your gross income. This is good news.

Extenders delay the expiration of a tax law for one year, effectively hiding huge amounts of government spending. Currently, the government is hiding almost $100 billion of spending with extenders. Learn about how they effect small business, and what you can do to stop this type of spending.

NY Congressman Charles Rangel failed to report foreign earnings. Rangel is the chief tax legislator in the country. He should know better.

Learn from Michael Birdsill’s mistakes: keep good records of your business vehicle use, and report it on your taxes. Birdsill’s court case proves that you must do this to receive deductions for mileage. Follow our four rules for claiming Section 179 expensing to make sure you do it right.

Lawmakers finally let the IRS deal with deducting charitable mileage! The IRS annually updates its deduction rates for mileage, but lawmakers haven’t updated their charitable mileage rate since 1997. Read how a new law applies the IRS rates for charitable mileage, and how this affects you.

When using tax preparation software, be alert to automatic calculations that could place improper amounts on your tax returns.

Learn from one taxpayer’s mistakes: know the details regarding seminars and training! Investors cannot deduct training, so you have to follow a few of our tips to help make one-on-one seminars deductible. Also, we give you important information about tax reform and tax changes.

You can deduct your home office, even if you have another office. We have proof from the tax law that makes it possible. See the details and do it right.

Section 105 uses a definition of medical that is broader than that for an itemized deduction. This broadening allows you to deduct supplements and over the counter drugs to treat injuries and illness.