Self-Employment: Quick and Dirty Guide to Tax Issues and Savings

Are you considering joining the Great Resignation and becoming self-employed to be in charge of yourself? Yes? Okay, but before leaping, consider the tax implications. This self-employment thing may not be as rosy as it appears. Here’s the big picture. Don’t Believe the Hype Despite what some may believe, becoming self-employed won’t allow you to […]

When Your Income Is Subject to Self-Employment Taxes

Self-employment taxes are to individual business owners what payroll taxesare to employers and employees. They fund Social Security and Medicare. All individuals with self-employment income must pay self-employmenttaxes, regardless of their age. When business owners reach retirement age,they’ll be able to collect Social Security and Medicare A (hospital insurance)benefits if they paid self-employment taxes for […]

Alert: A Massive New FinCEN Filing Requirement Is Coming

Do you own a corporation, limited liability company (LLC), limited partnership, limited liability partnership, limited liability limited partnership, or business trust? Or are you planning to form one of these entities? If so, be alert. There’s a new federal filing requirement coming. Back in 2021, Congress passed a new law called the Corporate Transparency Act […]

IRS increases mileage rate for remainder of 2022

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced an increase in the optional standard mileage rate for the final 6 months of 2022. Taxpayers may use the optional standard mileage rates to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business and certain other purposes. For the final 6 months of 2022, the standard […]

IRS Says Your Independent Contractors Are Employees: Use the CSP

Uh-oh! The IRS audited your business and concluded that you misclassified some workers as independent contractors. The IRS says they are employees. You are worried—rightfully worried. If you got this wrong, the IRS will assess years of back employment taxes, plus penalties and interest. The dollar amounts can be huge. This is the second in […]

Home-Office Deduction If You Operate as a Corporation

Question What does the IRS audit manual say about the home office for an individual who operates his or her business as a corporation? Answer You will be interested in two boilerplate explanations from the Internal Revenue Manual that examiners use to explain why the IRS is denying the home-office deduction:1 We [the IRS] have […]

Health Savings Accounts: The Ultimate Retirement Account

Looking to save for retirement? The first account you should open and fund is not an IRA (regular or Roth) or 401(k). If you qualify, your first retirement account should be a Health Savings Account (HSA). Don’t let the name fool you.The HSA may be the ultimate retirement account. Not looking to save for retirement? […]

New Hope for Restoring and Fixing the Employee Retention Credit

As you may remember, two bad things happened to the Employee Retention Credit (ERC): On November 15, 2021, Congress retroactively repealed the ERC for the fourth quarter of 2021(except for start-up businesses). On August 4, 2021, the IRS issued the clearly irrational Notice 2021-49 stating that a corporateowner with certain living relatives does not qualify […]

Don’t Rob Yourself of the Home Internet Deduction

Given the connected nature of remote work these days, you likely use your home internet to do a little or a lot ofwork. In this article, you will learn how to deduct the cost of your home internet. The rules that apply to the home internetalso apply to all the other expenses incurred while working […]

Tax-Saving Tips

Is Your Sideline Activity a Business or a Hobby? Do you have a sideline activity that you think of as a business? From this sideline activity, are you claiming tax losses on your Form 1040? Will the IRS consider your sideline a business and allow your loss deductions? The IRS likes to claim that money-losing […]