How do you structure your real estate activities? Are you running a business or simply investing in properties? The answer can have big tax consequences! EXAMPLE: If you want to take a trip to a real estate seminar you may be able to deduct all the related expenses… or maybe not. It all depends on how you’ve structured your activities. Which is why you need more … [Read more...]
Give the IRS an inadequate mileage log and it will crush you
Don’t let what happened to Jim and Martha Flake happen to you. Because of bad recordkeeping, they attracted the attention of the IRS. The result? They had to visit with an IRS agent every two weeks for about a year! How can you stay on Uncle Sam’s good side and avoid the two mistakes that got the Flakes in hot water? Easy. Read my new article titled Tax Tips: IRS Asserts … [Read more...]
How to deduct your golf expenses. (It’s easier than you think!)
Do you hook or slice on the golf course? Don’t worry. No matter how well or poorly you play the game, when it comes to deducting your golf expenses, you can always sink a hole in one! That’s right. Uncle Sam will let you write off your golf expenses if you follow a few simple rules. And these same rules also let you deduct expenses for fishing, scuba diving, hunting, … [Read more...]
The truth about “defined-contribution health plans”
After the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) became law, a bunch of ads have popped up on the web touting “defined-contribution health plans.” They’re billed as perfect for business owners who have fewer than fifty employees. The trouble is, the tax code makes no mention of defined-contribution health plans! FACT: These plans are purely the creation of marketers and can get you … [Read more...]
How to escape payroll taxes on S corp. health insurance
Good news! If you know the tax law… You can pay zero in payroll taxes on the cost of the health insurance fringe benefit — the benefit that your S corporation has to put on your W-2. That’s right. According to IRS Announcement 92-16, you don’t have to pay a penny in payroll taxes in certain situations. What are these situations? How can you use the tax law to keep more … [Read more...]