Federal tax law affects us greatly and can present opportunities to save money. Those that have decided to start their own business should be aware of the tax implications of various business structures. Finding a great CPA to register your business as an S Corporation is a great place to start but there are a few others that will help keep your much needed working capital in your bank.
Five ways to make tax law work for you.
HOME-OFFICE DEDUCTIONS
The home-office deduction will lower your taxes if you use part of your home or apartment regularly and exclusively for your money-making endeavor. It is very important that you have a separate room that is not used for anything else. If you pass that test, part of your utility bills and insurance costs can be deducted against your business income. You can also write off part of your rent or depreciate your home if you own it. Many work-at-home taxpayers skip the depreciation tax break, either because they don’t know about it or are afraid claiming it might trigger an audit. Some may be put off by the record keeping hassle necessary to back up the deduction. The IRS has come up with a simplified method that allows taxpayers to deduct $5 for every square foot that qualifies for the deduction. Many work at home taxpayer could deduct $1500 for a 300 sq. ft. office, the maximum size allowed for this method. This deduction is available every year you have a qualifying home office however, must remember to recapture it as a capital gain when you sell your home.
HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUMS
Although medical expenses are deductible, relatively few taxpayers can take advantage of the deduction. First, you have to itemize to get this break (and most taxpayers do not). Second, you may only use the deduction if medical expenses exceed 10% of adjusted gross income (7.5% for those age 65 and older). However, the self employed can deduct what they pay for medical insurance for themselves and their families whether or not they itemize and without regard to the 10% or 7.5% threshold. But, the self employed don’t qualify if they are eligible for employer-sponsored health insurance through either their own or their spouse’s job.
SOCIAL SECURITY TAXES
The self-employed have to pay the full 15.3% tax themselves (instead of splitting it 50/50 with an employer), but they get to write off half of what employee’s pay. The deduction comes on the face of Form 1040, so you don’t have to itemize to take advantage of this deduction.
RETIREMENT TAX SHELTERS
Once you start working for yourself, the door opens wide to tax-sheltered retirement plans. Unlike employees, whose options are limited to either whatever their employer offers or an IRA, self-employed folks may contribute pretax money to a simplified employee pension (SEP). Another option is a Simple IRA which has higher annual limits than regular IRAs. In addition, the self employed’s spouse may do what is termed a spousal IRA whether working or not (as long as she is not in any pension plan at work).
EQUIPMENT: MILEAGE AND DEPRECIATION
- Those who have an older auto or a new vehicle, you are allowed to elect mileage or actual. If you elect mileage, you cannot switch to actual but if you elect actual, you can later switch to mileage. If you choose to deduct actual you’ll be able to deduct depreciation, gas, repairs, insurance etc. However, if you elect mileage only tolls, parking and interest can be deducted.
- Equipment of any kind including furniture, computers and software utilized for three years or more are subject to depreciation. Some equipment has pre-determined depreciation lives and others are determined by using a more complicated depreciation method called MACRS (returns completed on a software already have this built in, so do not worry!)!
- To accelerate your depreciation, take MACRS plus accelerated depreciation ie. 50% of your investment of equipment. The section 179 deduction allows you to deduct 100% of qualifying costs in year one. In 2014, up to $500,000 worth of equipment is eligible for write-off. The limit for 2015 is currently $250,000, but Congress is likely restore it to $500,000.
Have you recently started a business and need to lower your taxes? Jay Allen Finn, Certified Public Accountant and Former IRS Revenue Agent Can Save You Money!
By Jay Allen Finn, CPA & former internal revenue agent
Source by Jay A Finn
Overlooked Tax Breaks
No comments:
Post a Comment