When it comes to making charitable contributions, I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news: If you know how to keep the IRS happy, your favorite charity will benefit from your generosity and the government will subsidize your donation with a tax deduction that saves you money. The bad news: Lawmakers have passed more rules that you have to worry about. And the Internet … [Read more...]
What to do if your tax records are destroyed
If you lose your home or business to fire, flood, hurricane, earthquake or some other disaster, the last thing you’ll worry about is your tax records. Unfortunately, the IRS won’t cut you much slack if those records are destroyed. Uncle Sam will still say “Show me the money!” We sure hope you never face terrible losses like those mentioned above, but if you ever do, you’ll … [Read more...]
Old receipts never die. They just fade away.
You take a client out for a business lunch and when you get back to the office, you file the receipt away just like the IRS wants you to. Then, years down the road the IRS calls you down for an audit and asks you to produce your receipts. You go to your file and discover that the thermal paper receipts your favorite restaurants used have faded and are unreadable. The … [Read more...]
S corporations! Save money using income shifting
What’s the perfect gift for family and friends? Stock in your S corporation! That’s right. If you handle things correctly you can save over $6,000 in taxes (versus giving the same dollar-amount in cash.) Until recently, this income-splitting strategy only worked when you gave stock to adults. But because of provisions of the new Obamacare tax law, you now get a benefit … [Read more...]
How to get a tax deduction for your vacation home
Good news! Under IRS rules, your vacation home can avoid the dreaded “entertainment facility” disallowance rules. But you have to know exactly how to meet the law’s detailed requirements. In Part 4 of this series on entertainment-facilities, you’ll learn how to use the business-meeting and overnight-lodging rules to turn your cozy vacation home into a cozy tax-deductible … [Read more...]