Would you drive a car without a functional dashboard? Perhaps once a month someone could tell you how fast you were going and how much fuel you had left. Sound good? Probably not. Yet this is how many business owners run their companies.
Category: business tax (page 2)
The IRS can reclassify S corporation distributions as wages
If you run your business as an S corporation, you’re probably both a shareholder and an employee. As such, the corporation pays you a salary that reflects the work you do for the business — and you (and your company) must remit payroll tax on some or all of your wages.
Using independent contractors? Protect your business with these tips
Many businesses use independent contractors to keep payroll taxes and fringe benefit costs down. But using outside workers may result in other problems. The IRS often questions businesses about whether workers should be classified as employees or independent contractors for federal employment tax purposes.
4 pillars of robust business growth
Accelerate depreciation deductions with a cost segregation study
Business owners may be able to see substantial tax savings faster by conducting cost segregation studies. These studies identify property components and their costs, allowing you to maximize current depreciation deductions by using shorter lives and speeding up depreciation rates available for the qualifying parts of the property.
Please go home: The problem businesses face with presenteeism
What keeps business owners up at night? Many would say sluggish productivity or escalating expenses. An employee coming to work every day usually doesn’t make the list. But a staff member who never takes a day off can cause problems by showing up sick, distracted or too stressed out to be effective. There’s a name for this problem: presenteeism.
Prevent expense account padding with the right policies
Ask employees whether padding expense account reports is wrong and just about everyone will say “yes.” Yet inflated expenses continue to cost businesses thousands of dollars annually. For this reason, every company must establish the right policies to stop it.
Estate tax deferral offers relief to some business owners
To deduct business losses, you may have to prove “material participation”
You can only deduct losses from an S corporation, partnership or LLC if you “materially participate” in the business. If you don’t, your losses are generally “passive” and can only be used to offset income from other passive activities. Any excess passive loss is suspended and must be carried forward to future years.
HSA + HDHP = Your ideal benefits strategy?
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) were created as a tax-favored framework to provide health care benefits mainly for small to midsize businesses and the self-employed. So, assuming your company falls into one of these categories, have you considered the strategy of using these accounts with a high-deductible health plan (HDHP)?