Thinking about owning a passive foreign investment company (PFIC)? Perhaps through a (non-U.S.-owned) mutual fund? Our advice, in just one word, is… “don’t!” Why? Because the IRS punishes owners of PFICs with high tax-rates and extremely burdensome reporting requirements. You might think that all this doesn’t apply to you, but you may be in for a big, nasty surprise. You … [Read more...]
Filing tips
Sorted by Date
Technique That Increases Deductions on Your Vacation or Other Second Home
Would you like to dramatically increase your second-home deductions by thousands of dollars? Well, keep reading because the Tax Reduction Letter has turned up a perfectly legal, court-approved strategy that can put a lot of money in your pocket. What’s that? You haven’t heard about this before? This should come as no surprise. You see, the IRS doesn’t mention this … [Read more...]
Hit with IRS penalties? Here’s how to pay $0
If you or your corporation files your tax return late, or fails to pay your taxes on time, you could face big penalties. Naturally, you’d think you’d have to pay them. Not true! When you know how to play the game, and learn which buzzwords to use when talking to the IRS, they will show you mercy and forgive those penalties. What’s the first step you need to take to avoid … [Read more...]
Does moving your W-2 to Schedule C increase your taxes?
If you qualify to report your W-2 wages on Schedule C (to avoid losing your employee business expenses), will you get any credit for the FICA taxes withheld from your W-2? And another question … would you get any credit for the employer matching the FICA taxes? If you believe that a large part of your tax savings could go down the drain (through the additional … [Read more...]
A loophole lets you deduct hobby expenses after tax reform
Let me give you the bad news right at the top… Tax reform has killed the ability for you to deduct your hobby expenses. But — and this is an extremely important “but” — if you sell items as part of your hobby activity, the IRS allows you to deduct the cost of those items if you handle things the right way. That’s right. Thanks to an obscure rule that the Tax Reduction … [Read more...]