By month: August 2013

Repair That Vacation Home

Do you have a vacation home rental? Do you use it for both rental and personal purposes? If so, you need to know the rules on what makes a repair day. Why? Repair days do not count as either personal or rental days. And that’s only part of the story.

Being Married!

Do you gain or lose tax advantages when you marry? Lawmakers have tried to deal with the marriage issue for years, and they have made multiple changes in the laws. But there’s no perfect law, so winning and losing because of marriage still exists.

Big Mistake: File Your Tax Return Late

What one mistake can you make with your taxes that will cause you to pay penalties of up to 47.5 percent? And that’s not the worst part. What could be worse than a 47.5 percent tax penalty? How about both the penalty and a full-blown IRS audit? That’s far worse.

Oops! Loan Guarantee Sinks Self-Directed IRA

Taxpayers get into a self-directed IRA to achieve investment returns larger than they can achieve with conventional IRAs. Whether that works out or not is the investment side, but another big issue is the tax side. In this court case, the taxpayers learned that they destroyed their self-directed IRA on the first day. Thus, during the six years this self-directed IRA operated it did not exist under the law. This put the IRA owners on the hook for taxes and penalties.

Test Your Tax IQ: Can You Deduct Dutch-Treat Entertainment?

Business entertainment is tax deductible even when you pay only for yourself. That’s because entertainment tax deductions are based on the activity, i.e., whether it’s bona fide business entertainment, not on who paid for whom.

Fatal Error Makes Management Service Firm Fail as a Tax Strategy

Would you like to find more tax deductions for your business? This taxpayer created an ESOP as one way to gain more tax benefits from his business. He also created a management services corporation to provide services for his existing corporation. But he made one common and most tragic error. He just did not do the work.

Tax Treatment of Vehicles Provided for Employees

Have you considered providing your employee with an automobile? Would that automobile be used by the employee for business purposes or personal purposes? The tax effect for the employee depends on the answers to that question. This article gives you what you need to know.

Shedding Doubts about the Home-Office Tax Deduction

Are you timid about claiming your rightful home-office deductions, especially when you have a business location outside your home? You’re not alone. This article addresses the rule that causes much misinformation and worry. Join us as we dispel this home-office deduction doubt!

Bank Is Not a Work Location for Commuting Rules

Does stopping at the bank create business miles and eliminate personal miles? Is the bank a business stop for purposes of the temporary stop rules? This article explains the mileage rules that apply when you drive to the bank.

 

[ View / Print full text of all articles in this issue ]
Clicky