News & Tips

If you’re a business owner working from home or an entrepreneur with a home-based side gig, you may qualify for valuable home office deductions. But not everyone who works from home gets the tax break. Employees who work remotely can’t deduct home office expenses under current federal tax law. To qualify for a deduction, you…

Are you hoping to start a business? Many people dream of being their own bosses. To get off to a strong start, you’ll need to make good decisions. For example, which business structure will you use (such as a sole proprietorship or corporation)? This decision will affect the taxes you pay. Another decision is whether…

Do you own a successful small business with no employees and want to set up a retirement plan? Or do you want to upgrade from a SIMPLE IRA or Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) plan? Consider a solo 401(k) if you have healthy self-employment income and want to contribute substantial amounts to a retirement nest egg.…

Taxpayers who operate a business can generally deduct business-related costs on their income tax returns. But they must keep thorough, contemporaneous records proving that the deductions are for legitimate business expenses. An information technology consultant and handyman deducted the cost of professional education on his return. But the IRS found the amounts weren’t business-related because…

When you filed your federal tax return this year, were you surprised to find you owed money? You might want to change your withholding so that this doesn’t happen again next year. You might even want to adjust your withholding if you got a big refund. Receiving a tax refund essentially means you’re giving the…

The U.S. government has begun issuing guidance regarding the Clean Vehicle Credit in the new Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The IRA introduced a $4,000 tax credit for the purchase of used EVs and updated the $7,500 credit for new ones, with major changes. To qualify for the credit, there are now new requirements, including caps…

If you don’t have enough federal tax withheld from your paychecks and other payments, you may have to make estimated tax payments. This is the case if you receive interest, dividends, self-employment income, capital gains or other income. Here are the applicable rules for paying estimated tax without triggering the penalty for underpayment. When are…

Even IRS penalties are affected by inflation. The IRS just announced that fourth quarter 2022 interest rates for tax overpayment and underpayment will increase by 1%. The interest rate for overpayments will be 6% for most taxpayers and 5% for corporations. If a corporation overpays by more than $10,000, the rate will be 3.5%. The…

On Aug. 24, President Biden announced a plan for student loan debt relief. The three-part plan may affect nearly 8 million borrowers. Part one will allow $20,000 of debt forgiveness for taxpayers who went to college on a Pell Grant or $10,000 without a Pell Grant. This applies only to taxpayers earning below $125,000 a…