What happens if you owe the IRS – and you can't pay? First, be sure to file your return anyway to avoid penalties for nonfiling. Then consider the following options, and choose the one that fits your financial situation. Can you pay off the balance within 120 days? If so, apply for a short-term payment [...]
Will you be receiving a tax refund this year? If so, you have the opportunity to make some smart financial choices – and best of all, you can make them painlessly. Here's how: Direct deposit your refund. That way, all or part of your tax refund will automatically be deposited via electronic transfer system into [...]
Effective beginning with 2016 taxable years, the de minimis tangible property safe harbor has increased to $2,500 per invoice or item. The change affects regulations issued in 2013 that clarified when your business could expense tangible real and personal business property. Previously, the de minimis safe harbor let you elect to deduct individual capital expenditures [...]
If you helped support your parents or other adult relatives in 2015, tax breaks are available that could lower your taxes. You may be able to claim your relative as a dependent, deduct extra medical expenses, or use a more beneficial tax bracket. Claiming a relative as a dependent. An adult dependent’s gross income must [...]
Only one month to go until tax filing day! That means you still have time to trim your 2015 tax bill. Here are last-minute moves to consider and deductions to remember. Maximize your 2015 IRA contribution. You have until April 18 (or April 19 if you live in Maine or Massachusetts) to make deductible 2015 [...]
You’re slogging through paperwork, gathering and organizing information to prepare your tax return. Take heart – you can make your hard work do double duty by using those same records to improve your financial well-being. Here are suggestions to get you started. Write down your financial goals. How much money will you need to meet [...]
Are you deciding whether to make your business an S corporation for 2016? Here are tax considerations to review before the March 15 due date of the election. When you make an S election, you’re opting to have your business’s income or loss “passed through” to you and other shareholders. That means you’ll report the [...]
The late-year 2015 tax extenders law grabbed headlines, but two other federal laws enacted in 2015 may also have an impact on your tax planning. Here’s an overview of selected provisions of the Bipartisan Budget Act and the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act. Bipartisan Budget Act. This law includes changes in the way the IRS [...]
When you acquire tangible property to use in your business, you have to determine whether the costs should be expensed or capitalized. You probably prefer expensing so you can deduct the entire cost in the year of purchase. Otherwise, you’d need to capitalize the costs, meaning you’d get a partial deduction in the first year, [...]
