TAX DEBT RELIEF – SMALL BIZ TAX LADY

Here in our South Loop of Chicago Tax Preparation office, and our Homewood, Il tax preparation office, we specialize in tax preparation for real estate investors, and small business owners. Working with this client base, we come across many general contractors that operate 95% in cash. Although cash only taxpayers are entitled to tax deductions, they (like every other taxpayer) must have proof of income received, and proof of expenses incurred. While in most cases we can help taxpayers reconstruct their income and expenses, in some cases the IRS will deny the expenses due to lack of documentary (paper) evidence. In the tax court case of NNABUGWU C. EZE, Petitioner v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, not only did the taxpayer lack documentary evidence for expenses, he also didn’t have proof of income received.

In 2015, and 2016 NNABUGWU C. EZE, owned and operated 2 sole proprietor businesses: a consulting business, and a residential construction business (while we’ll touch on issues related to the consulting business, the main focus of this article will be the residential construction business). “For 2015 he reported taxable income of $3,314 and claimed a refund of $774. For 2016 he reported taxable income of zero and claimed a refund of $744.”¹ For his consulting business, Eze claimed to have generated $142,675 in gross revenue, $30,533 in auto expenses, 2,815 in business travel, and $9,662 in other expenses.² While his auto expenses were high, the return might have avoided audit had Mr. Eze not reported that his construction business spent $99,275 (business expenses) to generate $27,875 in gross revenue. In the court opinion, the court noted that Mr. Eze:

Described his Schedule C2 business as “home improvement.”
Allegedly “did handyman, construction, and residential rehabilitation projects for individual customers.”
Claimed to have written contracts with his customers, but never produced the contracts into evidence.
Didn’t specify how he was paid by his customers, or what type of arrangements he had with his customers.

The court also noted that:

There was no proof of electronic or paper (documentary evidence) invoices being submitted to customers.
There were no bank statements to prove the income or expenses claimed on his schedule C profit and loss.
None of his alleged customers reported payments to him on Forms 1099-MISC, Miscellaneous Income.
As in typical fraudulent tax return behavior, the expenses reported on the tax return far exceeded the reported income.

Auto Deductions

When it comes to the business use of a vehicle, one of the best tax deductions for business owners is the ability to deduct either mileage, or actual expenses. In this case, Mr. Eze owned 3 vehicles: “a 2008 Mercedes Benz, a 2002 Ford SUV, and a 2004 Chrysler.”³ Mr. Eze testified that the Mercedes was used 100% in his consulting business; the Ford was used 100% in his residential construction business, and that he used the Chrysler “exclusively for personal and family purposes.” To prove that he drove the business mileage, Mr. Eze submitted a calendar with the places that he allegedly drove to for his consultation business, and a second calendar with drives for his construction business. Although Mr. Eze created the calendars, he couldn’t explain how he was able to remember information from 3-4 years ago. “When asked asked how he kept track of start and finish odometer readings for hundreds of trips, Mr. Eze said that he jotted them down on scraps of paper (since discarded)”⁴ to which the IRS responded kick rocks (okay, they actually said “we do not find that testimony credible”, but we like our version better). Since Mr. Eze couldn’t prove his business mileage (see our video here on how to prove business mileage), the mileage deduction wasn’t allowed.

Construction Expenses

To prove his construction material expenses, Mr. Eze submitted receipts from Home Depot, Lowes, and 84 lumber. While under oath, Mr. Eze stated that all of the purchases were not made by him, but some were made by his wife, and “maybe somebody else.”⁵ We find it odd that Mr. Eze can remember all of his business mileage locations from 4 years prior, but he can’t remember who the “somebody else” was that purchased materials from Home Depot. Some of the issues the court took with Mr. Eze material purchases were as follows:

All receipts are for cash purchases in excess of $5,000. Mr. Eze said he withdrew the money from his bank, yet he didn’t provide any bank statements, or record that would prove that. ⁶
He claimed to spend $175,000 for materials for a business that was unprofitable, and he somehow still paid his mortgage, private school tuition, and took care of 2 children. ⁷
The receipts for materials often show large-volume purchases- on the order of 200 pieces of lumber, 50 sheets of gypsum wallboard, and 100 gallons of paint. These volumes vastly exceeded what would have been needed for the projects shown on petitioner’s mileage log.⁸
The receipts often show purchases of items that petitioner could not possibly have used in any project that he allegedly undertook during the ensuing months. For example, the receipts show purchases of bathtubs, shower units, and refrigerators, but petitioner could not identify any project that would have required installation of such items. He testified that he made advance purchases of these materials and stored them in his garage until he needed them.⁹
Petitioner allegedly spent more than $21,000 on tools, but he was unable to explain the function or intended operation of many machines and tools listed on the receipts. He said that he could not remember what these things were used for, having purchased them years ago.¹⁰

As we read further into this case, it was clear to us that Mr. Eze thought that the IRS, and the courts were either stupid, or that they wouldn’t look at the documentation he provided. To illustrate, in one instance, Mr. Eze tried to claim the tuition that he paid for his daughter’s tuition as a business education expenses. He also claimed AT&T cellphone expenses of over $2,000, but the AT&T bills submitted covered tv and internet service. Mr. Eze also submitted payments to cricket wireless, claiming that although he didn’t receive invoices from the company “he knew what he owed each month.”

While social media (TikTok, YouTube, & Facebook video’s) will have you believing that you can magically turn personal expenses into business tax deductions (by simply creating a LLC), the truth is that taxpayers have to prove that they are entitled to any business or personal tax deductions claimed. Although courts do have the power to allow approximations (under the Cohan rule if an expense is reasonable), there must be some factual basis for the estimate, and the deduction must not be subject to increased substantiation rules.

Although we’ve given you the basics, this is not an all-inclusive article. Should you have questions, or need business tax preparation, business entity creation, or business compliance assistance please contact us online, or call our office at 855-743-5765. Do you owe the IRS, or your state back taxes? Do you have unfiled tax returns? Is the IRS threatening to garnish your paycheck, or levy your bank account? Are you ready to get back on track with the IRS? Howard Tax Prep LLC will help you get back on track with the IRS, get into a settlement, or setup a payment with the IRS. Reach out to us now! Make sure to join our newsletter for more tips on reducing taxes, and increasing your wealth.

Author information: Trudy M. Howard is a managing member of Howard Tax Prep LLC, a south loop of Chicago tax preparation and accounting office.

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IRS says that some PPP (Paycheck Protection Program) loans that were forgiven improperly, are taxable.

September 21, 2022 Howard Tax Prep LLC

Photo by RODNAE Productions on Pexels.com

The IRS recently issued guidance addressing improper forgiveness of a Paycheck Protection Program loan (PPP loan).

To summarize, the guidance says that if a taxpayers PPP loan is forgiven based upon lies, or leaving things out (misrepresentations or omissions) the taxpayer cannot exclude the forgiven loan income from taxation; basically, you will have to pay taxes on the loan amount that you received.

According to the IRS, while many small business owners were entitled to receive the loan (and properly claimed the PPP loan forgiveness), there are many taxpayers who weren’t eligible for the loan, or loan forgiveness. Some taxpayers lied to receive the PPP loan funds, while other’s spent the loan proceeds on ineligible items.

Per IRS Issue Number IR-2022-162: “Under the terms of the PPP loan program, lenders can forgive the full amount of the loan if the loan recipient meets three conditions.

1 – The loan recipient was eligible to receive the PPP loan. An eligible loan recipient:

is a small business concern, independent contractor, eligible self-employed individual, sole proprietor, business concern, or a certain type of tax-exempt entity;
was in business on or before February 15, 2020; and
had employees or independent contractors who were paid for their services, or was a self-employed individual, sole proprietor or independent contractor.

2 – The loan proceeds had to be used to pay eligible expenses, such as payroll costs, rent, interest on the business’ mortgage, and utilities.

3 – The loan recipient had to apply for loan forgiveness. The loan forgiveness application required a loan recipient to attest to eligibility, verify certain financial information, and meet other legal qualifications.

If the 3 conditions above are met, then under the PPP loan program the forgiven portion is excluded from income. If the conditions are not met, then the amount of the loan proceeds that were forgiven but do not meet the conditions must be included in income and any additional income tax must be paid.”

Per IRS Issue Number IR-2022-162: “Taxpayers who inappropriately received forgiveness of their PPP loans are encouraged to take steps to come into compliance by, for example, filing amended returns that include forgiven loan proceed amounts in income.” In essence, if you know that you lied about how you spent the PPP (paycheck protection program) funds, take the lie back by amending (changing) your tax return to reflect the truth.

IRS Commissioner Chuck Retting said: “This action underscores the Internal Revenue Service’s commitment to ensuring that all taxpayers are paying their fair share of taxes.” “We want to make sure that those who are abusing such programs are held accountable, and we will be considering all available treatment and penalty streams to address the abuses.”

If you, or someone you know had a person “do your PPP loan” (complete the application, and get you the funds), and you need assistance with amending your tax return, please reach out to us for assistance.

Although we’ve given you the basics, this is not an all-inclusive article. Should you have questions, need help with tax debt, business tax preparation, business entity creation, business insurance, or business compliance assistance please contact us online, or call our office toll free at 1-855-743-5765 or locally in Chicago or Indiana at 1-708-529-6604. Make sure to join our newsletter for more tips on reducing taxes, and increasing your wealth. Never miss another tip again! Join our newsletter, to receive tax reduction/wealth building tips delivered right to your inbox!

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HIDING INCOME FROM THE IRS? HOW WILL THEY FIND OUT?

July 25, 2022 Howard Tax Prep LLC

In our South Loop Chicago tax preparation office, and in our Homewood, Il tax preparation office, we often receive calls from people that have not filed taxes in years, and they want to know how the IRS knows how much income they have receive. So how does the IRS know when a small business owner is POTENTIALLY hiding income? The IRS has many methods to detect the underreporting of income such as: taxpayer interviews, income probes, Indirect methods, accounting records; QuickBooks files, cash expenditures, bank deposits, net worth, and more; however, this article will be covering a method called the vertical analysis.

The vertical analysis method identifies the differences between gross income, and net profit reported by the business owner, and the industry standards gross income and net profit. In plain English, the IRS compares what businesses owners say their profit is in relation to expenses, to what other people in the same industry say their profit is in relation to expenses. So what data, or statistics does the IRS use to create the comparison? The IRS uses a website called Bizstats.

Information in Bizstats expresses expense categories as a percentage of revenue. Per the IRS “Potential underreporting of income which equals 10% or more of the reported income should be resolved with the taxpayer’s assistance.”

To give an example, let’s say that we have a caterer that reports $65,000 in gross sales, and $50,000 in expenses, leaving them with a profit of $15,000. The caterer’s expenses to sales ratio is 77% ($50,000 in cost to make sales (expenses)/revenue brought in.) If the industry standard is 60%, the IRS might believe that the taxpayer is hiding an additional $18,333 in revenue (50,000/60%=$83,333. $83,333-$65,000=$18,333).

So who is Bizstats? Per their website, “BizStats is owned and operated by Bizminer of Camp Hill, PA, a leader in online data analysis since 1998. Bizminer also publishes more than 9 million local and national industry statistical reports at its own web site at www.bizminer.com” Bizstats has business statistics and financial ratios for Sole proprietors, Corporations, S-Corporations, & Partnerships.

Where does Bizstats get it’s information? Per their website, Bizstats get it’s data from “the latest available IRS financial information in a useful, readable format.”

What are some drawbacks to Bizstats data? Bizstats are only available for 1 year, and the information is typically 3 years old. At the time of publication, the current stats were showing data from 2017.

How can I protect myself from a vertical analysis?

#1 Always report the GROSS income generated in your business. An accounting mistake that we often see in our Chicago South Loop tax preparation office, is that people don’t do bookkeeping, so instead of reporting their gross receipts, they report gross income less returns, refunds, etc. in the gross receipts area, which is not correct. Gross receipts are gross receipts, and you account for returns in a separate line item.

#2. Invoice clients, or keep copies of receipts if you’re in a business that doesn’t use invoicing.

#3. NEVER COMMINGLE YOUR FUNDS. Your business income and expenses need to be kept separate

P.S. For wealth building and tax reduction tips, please join Howard Tax Prep LLC newsletter!

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Two Ways to Fix Tax Return Mistakes Before the IRS Discovers Them.

July 2, 2021 Howard Tax Prep LLC

In our South Loop Chicago tax preparation office, and in our Homewood, Il tax preparation office, we often receive calls from people that have made an error (or errors) on their tax return. The tax law is complicated and constantly changing, so it’s easy to make a small, or large error that causes you to:

1.) underpay your tax, leaving you open to IRS penalties, or
2.) overpay your tax, meaning you gave a gift to the government.

However, if you made an error on your tax return, don’t worry; there’s good news: you can undo your mistake! Here’s even better news: there are two special ways to fix your incorrect tax return that will save you from paying more to the IRS than you would otherwise. We’ll tell you all about them in this article. —there are two easy ways to fix it:

A superseding return
A qualified amended return

A superseding return is an amended or corrected return filed on or before the original or extended due date. The IRS considers the changes on a superseding return to be part of your original return.

A qualified amended return is an amended return that you file after the due date of the return (including extensions) and before the earliest of several events, but most likely when the IRS contacts you with respect to an examination of the return. If you file a qualified amended return, you avoid the 20 percent accuracy-related penalty on that mistake.

Superseding Return Example

You file a joint Form 1040 tax return electronically on February 21, 2022, for tax year 2021, but you later decide you want to file a separate return. Since the joint-filing election is irrevocable, on or before April 15, 2022 (which is the unextended due date for your 2021 Form 1040), you must file a superseding return to undo the joint election.

IRS electronic filing rules for amended returns do not permit you to file this superseding return electronically, because you are changing your filing status (from married, filing jointly, to married, filing separately). That being said, your only other option is to use “snail mail.” Using a paper return via snail mail, you’ll submit either:

1.) A second original Form 1040 return using the married-filing-separately filing status, or
2.) An amended Form 1040X showing the change from joint to separate filing status.
Be sure to write “SUPERSEDING RETURN – IRM 21.6.7.4.10” in red at the top of page 1 of either Form 1040 or Form 1040X.

Qualified Amended Return Example

You realize your return preparer left a $30,000 IRA distribution off your 2019 tax return. Ouch!
Let’s assume you are in the 32 percent tax bracket and had no federal income tax withholding on the distribution: you owe an additional $9,600 in federal income tax on your 2019 tax return due to this distribution.

If you file an amended return before the IRS contacts you about the missing income, then it’s a qualified amended return, and you avoid $1,920 (20percent of $9,600) in audit penalties.

If you don’t file the amended return, and if the IRS contacts you about the missing income, the IRS will propose the $1,920 penalty. You may be able to request penalty relief, but you’ll have to make your case, and the facts may or may not be on your side.

In both circumstances, you’ll also pay interest on the $9,600 back to July 15, 2020 (the COVID-19-postponed 2019 Form 1040 due date). Of course, the earlier you pay the tax, the less interest you’ll accrue. You’ll pay less interest with a qualified amended return because you’re paying the tax sooner.

BUSINESS CREDIT, Business Strategies, business taxes, Family Tax Issues, Self Employed, TAX DEBT RELIEF, Tax Reduction, TAXES

Wow! Married, Filing Separately, May Be the Tax Year 2020 Strategy

April 8, 2021 Howard Tax Prep LLC

If you are married like many of our clients in our Chicago south loop tax preparation office, most likely you’ve always filed a joint tax return with your spouse. Most of the time, a joint return shows less overall tax than two separate tax returns do, because the married-filing-separately status has many tax disadvantages.

Fast-forward to the 2020 tax filing season, however—and nothing is as it was. This year, four tax provisions will be key to determining whether you’ll be better off filing a joint tax return or separate tax returns for tax year 2020:

Tax-free unemployment
Recovery rebate, round 1
Recovery rebate, round 2
Recovery rebate, round 3

Tax-Free Unemployment

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, which was signed into law on March 11, 2021, excludes from tax the first $10,200 of 2020 unemployment benefits paid to an individual with 2020 modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) of less than $150,000.

Recovery Rebate, Round 1

The recovery rebate, round 1, is a refundable tax credit on the 2020 tax return, equal to

$1,200 ($2,400 on a joint return), plus
$500 for each dependent under age 17.

Your credit decreases by 5 percent of the amount your adjusted gross income (AGI) exceeds

$150,000 if married, filing a joint return;
$112,500 if head of household; or
$75,000 if single or if married, filing separately.

The IRS gave you an advance payment of this credit based on either your 2018 or 2019 AGI and dependents. And now the IRS looks at your 2020 tax return and does the following:

Smiles on you if the tax credit based on your 2020 tax return exceeds the advance payment. What do we mean by “smiles on you”? You get the additional amount as a refundable tax credit.
Smiles on you (again!) if your actual credit is less than the advance payment. You keep the money. You don’t have to pay back any excess received.

Recovery Rebate, Round 2

This is a refundable tax credit on the 2020 tax return, equal to

$600 ($1,200 on a joint return), plus
$600 for each dependent under age 17.

Your credit decreases by 5 percent of the amount your AGI exceeds

$150,000 if married, filing jointly;
$112,500 if head of household; or
$75,000 if single or if married, filing separately.

The IRS gave you an advance payment of this credit based on your 2019 AGI and dependents. And now the IRS looks at your 2020 tax return and

Smiles on you if the tax credit based on your 2020 tax return exceeds the advance payment. What do we mean by smiles on you? Once again, you get the additional amount as a refundable tax credit.
Smiles on you (again!) if your actual credit is less than the advance payment. You keep the money. You don’t have to pay back any excess received.

Recovery Rebate, Round 3

This is a refundable tax credit on the 2021 tax return, equal to

$1,400 ($2,800 on a joint return), plus
$1,400 for each dependent, regardless of age.

Your credit phases out over the following AGI ranges:

$150,000 to $160,000 if married, filing jointly;
$112,500 to $120,000 if head of household; or
$75,000 to $80,000 if single or if married, filing separately.

The IRS will give you an advance payment of this credit based on your 2019 or 2020 AGI and dependents. If your first advance payment used your 2019 return information, then the IRS will send an additional payment based on your 2020 tax return if the IRS processes your 2020 tax return by August 15, 2021.

You then reconcile your advance payment(s) on your 2021 tax return:

If your actual credit amount exceeds the advance payment, you get the difference as a refundable credit.
If your actual credit is less than the advance payment, you keep what you have. You don’t have to pay back the excess benefit.

There are two main reasons you may have net lower federal tax with separate returns versus a joint return. First, if your MAGI is $150,000 or more on a joint return, but the spouse who received the unemployment compensation earns under $150,000 on a separate return, then that spouse can take the full exclusion up to $10,200 (except possibly in a community property state).

Second, if one spouse has AGI of $75,000 or less, but your joint AGI is over $150,000, then that spouse can claim the dependents and get all the available round 1 and round 2 credits on the 2020 tax return as well as the entire round 3 advance payment.

When considering the above, keep two important notes in mind:

For a couple that got joint advance payment(s), the law says you allocate 50 percent of the payment to each spouse. The higher-earning spouse doesn’t pay back any of his or her allocated advance payment, while the lower-income spouse will get the difference as a refundable tax credit.
Married taxpayers who agree how to allocate dependents on separate returns do not have to use the “tiebreaker” rules and can choose who claims which dependents.

Important note. You may lose other deductions and credits on a separate return. The only way to know which is better in light of these temporary provisions is to run your tax returns both ways and see which puts you ahead. For example, separate returns can change your health insurance premium tax credit and perhaps some non-tax items such as your Medicare premiums.

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How Serious Is your IRS Letter?

November 22, 2019 Howard Tax Prep LLC

Has the IRS sent you a collections letter? How serious is that letter? Can you stroll to the phones, or do you need to break and run to the phones and call for help?

Listed below are the most common IRS collection letters that one may receive when they have tax debt. I’ve listed them in order from stroll to the phones (low detection on the IRS radar) to break and run to the phone lines & get help (requires immediate action).

CP14 – Casually stroll (No sense of real urgency).

CP501 – Put a little pep in your step (Take notice).

CP503 – Speed walk (Decide to do something).

CP504 – Start Jogging (things are getting very serious).

Letter 1058/LT11 – (Final Levy Notice)—Run like you’re trying to lose weight. —act now or lose your collection due process rights (your right to a hearing and a stop of collection).

CP90/CP91 – Run like you’re trying to lose weight. Another form of Final Notice of Intent to Levy.

CP71 – 10 Day Final Notice of Intent to Levy. RUN LIKE YOU’RE BEING CHASED IN A HORROR MOVIE. Act now, you are out of time.

Although we’ve given you the basics, this is not an all-inclusive article. Should you have questions, need help with tax debt, business tax preparation, business entity creation, business insurance, or business compliance
assistance please contact us online, or call our office toll free at 1-855-743-5765 or locally in Chicago or Indiana at 1-708-529-6604. Make sure to join our newsletter for more tips on reducing taxes, and increasing your wealth.

Never miss another tip again! Join our newsletter, to receive tax reduction/wealth building tips delivered right to your inbox!

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SORTING OUT CONVERSIONS

November 22, 2019 Howard Tax Prep LLC

We’re getting closer and closer to the end of a tumultuous 2019 and almost daily in our Chicago tax office, we’re handling phone calls from clients asking for more ways to save on their tax bills.

Now, that’s nothing new, but these days, the strategies are. One of the biggest savings, long-term, is converting traditional retirement savings structures to Roth-based structures.

The granddaddy of all of these, of course, is the Roth IRA. What makes it so special? Well, for starters, you pay taxes up front. In 401(k)s and Traditional IRAs, those taxes a deferred until retirement or a certain age is reached.

Guess what? That’s a terrible idea! Who knows what the tax bill could look like in two, three or even four decades! Pay those taxes now and get them out of the way.
Here’s what makes most people nervous about converting a traditional 401(k) or IRA into a Roth structure.

You gotta pay taxes on it. Period. That’s it! You’ll pay – at least this year, on what you converted. In the future, of course, you’ll have already paid taxes on those monies or earnings prior to placing them into a Roth, but for a lot of people, that one-time conversion “tax” can be painful.

Don’t let it be. You’d have to do nearly the same thing if you took an “emergency” dispersion due to a financial challenge that forced you to crack open one of those retirement accounts. In most cases, anyway, the funds will be diverted out automatically, so your “payment” is really painless.
Just a little mental anguish.

Besides, you’re paying taxes on money you literally have in your hands!
Once you actually have a Roth set up, it’s surprisingly easy to convert old accounts to them.

You’ll essentially do one of three things:

• Execute a “Rollover” where monies from one account are drafted in a check to you, the account holder, and deposited into the new account within 60 days.
• Execute a “trustee to trustee transfer” where your current institution will transfer the monies from your account there to your Roth account elsewhere.
• Or execute a “same-trustee transfer” where you’ll merely instruct the institution to convert the current account to a Roth standard.

See? It’s not hard and, in fact, it’s easier than many types of banking we all do on a daily or weekly basis. In the long run, though, the tax savings can be considerable, and when you consider this is the money you’ll be using to fund your retirement, it’s important to understand – or know – all that money is yours, not the taxman’s!

Let us know how we can help you sort through all these challenges and we’ll chat soon! Although we’ve given you the basics, this is not an all-inclusive article. Should you have questions, need help with tax debt, business tax preparation, business entity creation, business insurance, or business compliance
assistance please contact us online, or call our office toll free at 1-855-743-5765 or locally in Chicago or Indiana at 1-708-529-6604. Make sure to join our newsletter for more tips on reducing taxes, and increasing your wealth.

Never miss another tip again! Join our newsletter, to receive tax reduction/wealth building tips delivered right to your inbox!

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401k For The Self Employed

November 18, 2019November 18, 2019 Howard Tax Prep LLC

You Don’t Have To Work For Others To Have A 401k Plan

In our Chicago South Loop tax preparation office, we often meet people that are ready to leave their jobs & start a new business. If you’re new to entrepreneurship, or even a veteran (seasoned) business owner, you may not realize that you can start an IRS qualified retirement plan for your business. The best thing about a small business owners solo 401k is that if you’re leaving your old an employer, you can transfer your current 401k plan to your own company’s 401k!

Transferring your 401k to a traditional solo 401k will help you avoid LOSING YOUR INVESTMENT TO TAXES & PENALTIES! Don’t want to leave your employer? No problem! You can still have a traditional or roth 401k plan with your own company, as long as you don’t defer more than the IRS yearly contribution limit.

WHAT DOES IT DO? A traditional solo 401k allows you to exclude income from currents years’ taxes,and defer the income for taxation at a later time. Build your retirement income, and maintain access of up to 50% of the funds’ assets through loans.

WHAT WILL IT SAVE ME? With the traditional solo 401k, you will be able to defer up to $56,000 of taxable income in 2019, and $57,000 in 2020. For example, if you generate $100,000 in business revenue, expenses, you would be taxed on the remaining $60,000. With a solo 401k, you can defer $19,000 as an employee of your company, and $15,000 for the employer contributions giving you a total deduction of $34,00 (leaving you with a taxable income of $26,000). By using this method you would remove yourself from the 22% tax bracket, and place yourself into the 12% tax bracket giving yourself a tax bill (including self employment taxes) of $4,650 instead of a $13,509 tax bill!

or click here to call us 1-855-743-5765.

WHAT CAN I INVEST IN? If you choose the traditional 401k plan, you will be able to invest in securities such as stocks, bonds, ETFs, commodities, and more. Should you choose a self directed Solo 401k, you can invest in things such as real estate, businesses, antiques, and more.

WHAT IF I HAVE OTHER RETIREMENT PLANS? Any contributions you make to other types of retirement accounts, such as IRAs, do not affect your 401(k) contribution limit.

WHY DO I NEED IT? Retirement plans are an important element of a tax reduction plan. While an IRA is a good plan, if you need to access your money, you will have to pay a penalty. Those that can, should have a mix of 401k and traditional and Roth IRA’s.

or click here to call us 1-855-743-5765.

Solo 401k Contribution Calculator: What is the maximum amount you can contribute?

The Solo 401k Contribution Calculator allows you to calculate the maximum amount you can contribute to your plan. Click on the link below, enter requested info below and click the “Submit” button to see your results. A PDF document will be generated with the option for you to save or print it. It is very important that you select the correct business type; please note that Sole-Proprietor is selected by default (if your business is a single member LLC, select the Sole-Proprietor type). For an alternative calculator click HERE.

Although we’ve given you the basics, this is not an all-inclusive article. Should you have tax debt help questions, need Chicago business tax preparation, business entity creation, business insurance, or business compliance assistance please contact us online, or call our office toll free at 1-855-743-5765 or locally in Chicago or Indiana at 1-708-529-6604. Make sure to join our newsletter for more tips on reducing taxes, and increasing your wealth.

Never miss another tip again! Join our newsletter, to receive tax reduction/wealth building tips delivered right to your inbox!

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How Corporations Reduce IRS Audits of Home-Office Deductions

October 16, 2019 Howard Tax Prep LLC

In our south loop Chicago tax preparation office, we often work with clients that want to reduce their tax bill, without triggering an audit. If you filed your business income and expenses as a proprietor in 2017 and reported $100,000 or more in gross receipts, your chances of IRS audit were 2.4 percent (2017 returns are still open for audit, so the percentage could increase).

Had you reported this income as an S corporation, your chances of audit were only 0.20 percent.

You have probably read that the home-office deduction increases your chances of IRS audit. We’ve read that, too, but we don’t believe it.

Regardless, let’s assume that you’re a little paranoid about audits, and you want to claim the home-office deduction in a way that doesn’t attract the attention of the IRS.

If you operate as a corporation, your home-office deduction does not show on either your personal return or your corporate return if you have the corporation reimburse the office as an employee business expense.
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With reimbursement, the corporation claims the deduction for the expenses it reimburses to you. The corporation probably puts the reimbursement into a category called “office expenses” or something similar. Thus, the home-office deduction as a name or title does not appear in the corporate return.

You receive the reimbursement from the corporation as a reimbursed employee expense. You do not report employee-expense reimbursements as taxable income on your personal return. Thus, you do not identify the home office on your personal return.

Got it? The home-office deduction does not appear under a home-office label on either the corporate or personal tax return as a tax deduction.

If the corporate form of business appeals to you, please call us at 1-855-743-5765 so we can look at your options to see if we should spend some time on your tax planning.

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Family Tax Issues, General Information, REAL ESTATE, Self Employed, TAX DEBT RELIEF, Tax Reduction, TAXES

Are you a homeowner marrying a homeowner?

October 3, 2019October 3, 2019 Howard Tax Prep LLC

In our Chicago South Loop Tax Preparation office, we frequently meet with engaged couples for tax planning purposes. An issue that comes up often is the one of homeowners marrying each other. Engaged couples that each own a home have to decide which home to move into, & which home to rent out, or sell. Keep reading to see how you can sell your home and pay ZERO TAXES on up to $500,000!

1.) Don’t sell until AFTER THE WEDDING. If you sell your personal residence for a profit, you may be able to exclude up to $250,000 as a single person, and up to $500,000 if you’re married. In order to get the entire $500,000 both spouses must have used the home as their primary residence for at least 2 years out of the last 5 years. If only 1 spouse used the home as a residence, the maximum exclusion will be $250,000.

2.) File your taxes married filing jointly. Check with your tax professional to see if this is the best filing status for your situation. Tax debt, student loans, and child support obligations need to be taken into consideration before choosing this status.

3.) Sell the home that at least 1 of you have lived in for 24 months out of the last 5 years. In order to qualify for the personal residence capital gain exclusion you must meet the ownership and residency test. Per IRS.gov “If you owned the home for at least 24 months (2 years) out of the last 5 years leading up to the date of sale (date of the closing), you meet the ownership requirement. For a married couple filing jointly, only one spouse has to meet the ownership requirement.

HOWEVER, for the residence test, the IRS says: unlike the ownership requirement, each spouse must meet the residence requirement individually for a married couple filing jointly to get the full exclusion. If you owned the home and used it as your residence for at least 24 months of the previous 5 years, you meet the residence requirement. The 24 months of residence can fall anywhere within the 5-year period, and it doesn’t have to be a single block of time. All that is required is a total of 24 months (730 days) of residence during the 5-year period.

4.) If you’re going to rent the home, remember to account for any property improvements when figuring your basis for depreciation. For example, if you purchased the home for $100,000 & you’ve added a $10,000 porch, and a $20,000 roof, your basis (amount of money in the property) is now $130,000. There are other rules that need to be considered when figuring tax basis, so consult a tax professional.

5.) If you rent to family, family includes only your spouse, brothers and sisters, half brothers and half sisters, ancestors (parents, grandparents, etc.), and lineal descendants (children, grandchildren, etc.). MAKE SURE TO CHARGE THEM FAIR MARKET VALUE FOR RENT so that you don’t lose out on valuable tax deductions!

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Are you a homeowner marrying a homeowner?

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