Taxes

Tax Deductions (Business Tax Deduction Tips)

Tax tips and tax help to assist taxpayers by describing options
for tax reduction and tax cuts through lawful tax deductions.

Tax deductions contribute to national prosperity by providing capital to business. Tax deductions reduce taxable income. A $100,000 tax deduction reduces federal income tax by $35,000 ($100,000 X 35%) assuming a 35% income rate. Options for increasing business tax deductions include revising depreciation schedules, reviewing fixed asset listings, casualty losses, bad debts, and charitable contributions.

Real estate depreciation offers substantial opportunity for increasing tax deductions. Most depreciation schedules are established by simply separating land and long-life improvements. This simple approach is lawful but sharply understates lawful depreciation. About 20-40% of improvements for most properties are short-life items. Short life items can be depreciated over 5, 7, or 15 years. There are about 130 short-life items that have been determined by legislation, tax court decisions and IRS rulings.

Real estate depreciation can typically be increased by 50-100% for the first 5-7 years of ownership by obtaining a cost segregation study. A cost segregation study precisely values up to 130 components of real estate that can be valued as short-life property.

By obtaining a cost segregation study, it is possible to obtain a windfall of tax deductions by “catching-up” previously under-reported depreciation. This one-time “catch-up” can occur in the first tax return filed after the cost segregation study is performed without filing any amended tax returns.

Reviewing fixed asset listings (of business personal property) can generate a meaningful amount of tax deductions. They often include items that should have been expensed, which have been sold or thrown away or which have an excessive depreciation life. Items that should have been expensed include operating expenses (sometimes included by error) and maintenance or repairs (which was necessary but did not increase the life of the assets or component.) Section 179 allows business to use up to $108,000 of 2006 capital expenditures as tax deductions. Confirm you are not capitalizing assets that could be claimed as a tax deduction.

Casualty losses also offer opportunity for tax deductions. For a casualty loss, you can deduct: 1) the market value immediately before the casualty less 2) the market value immediately after the casualty less the amount covered by insurance. The portion that is not intuitive is: the market value after the casualty is much less than the value before  plus the cost to renovate. Other factors which can and should be considered for tax deductions are: lost rent/usage, stigma (in some cases), construction management, construction risks, and entrepreneurial effort.

Bad debts are a subjective matter. Judgment is required to accurately estimate the amount that should be claimed as a tax deduction. If bad debts have not been examined carefully for several years, they may offer a meaningful tax deduction opportunity. (This applies to companies who utilize accrual accounting. Companies who use cash accounting can’t claim a tax deduction for bad debt since they never recognized the revenue.)

Do well by doing good. You reduce taxes in several ways when making charitable contributions. For example, you purchased land 10 years ago for $200,000, and it is now worth $1,000,000. However, you now realize you will never use the land for the intended purpose. You can donate the land to a qualified charitable organization and take a tax deduction for $1,000,000. However, you do not have to pay capital gains taxes on the appreciation.

Tax deductions sometimes seem arcane and complicated. However, a knowledgeable team of advisors from several fields can reduce your federal income taxes. The complexity of the tax code makes it difficult for any one personal to be knowledgeable in all areas. 

Cost segregation produces tax deductions and reduces federal income taxes across the country and in every size market. Below are just a few examples of cities where cost segregation generates meaningful tax deductions.

City:

New York, NY
Houston, TX
Hartford, CT
Las Vegas, NV
Memphis, TN
Philadelphia, PA
Orlando, FL
Phoenix, AZ
Atlanta, GA
Bridgeport, CT
Worcester, MA
Akron, OH
Harrisburg, PA
Salt Lake City, UT
St. Louis, MO
Portland, OR
Scranton, PA
Greenville, SC
Bakersfield, CA
Madison, WI
Chicago, IL
Fresno, CA
Riverside, CA
Albany, NY
Indianapolis, IN
Birmingham, AL
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Baton Rouge, LA
Augusta, GA
Honolulu, HI

Cost segregation produces tax deductions for virtually all property types, including the following:

Property Type:

Medical facility
Shopping mall
Restaurant
Country club
Fast food restaurant
Power center
Hotel
Car wash facility
Convenience store
Health spa

Almost every industry, including the following, can generate cost-efficient tax deductions by using cost segregation.

Industry:

Golf courses and country clubs
Transportation equipment manufacturing
Electrical component manufacturing
Real estate lesser
Apparel manufacturing
Wood product manufacturing
Plastic and rubber products manufacturing
Furniture stores
Beverage and tobacco product manufacturing
Building supply dealers

O’Connor & Associates is a national provider of investment real estate consulting services including commercial real estate appraisals, business personal property valuations, business purchase price allocations, business valuations, cost segregation studies, due diligence, and insurance valuations. O’Connor & Associates is a national provider of income tax, tax deduction,property tax,real estate consulting, market research,condemnation appraisals,highest and best use,cost segregation,financial modeling,Galveston central appraisal district,Tips and Tricks for Appealing Your Property Taxes in Brazoria,Brazoria county appraisal, and Federal tax reduction. Appraisal services are provided for all commercial property types including nursing homes, discount stores, truck terminals, tennis clubs, supermarkets, country clubs, medical offices, mini-warehouses, restaurants, vacant lands, skating rinks, community shopping, centers, power centers, car wash facilities and service stations.

Tax Deductions for Small Business Owners

Tax tips and tax help to assist taxpayers by describing options
for tax reduction and tax cuts through lawful tax deductions.

Small business owners need all the tax help which is available. Tax deductions allow small business owners to keep more of what they earn. With a 35% marginal tax rate, the government is a silent partner who takes no risk and over one-third of the profits. Tax deductions are neither simple, straight forward, or intuitive. However, the effort to increase tax deductions is well worth the effort.

Tax Help Tip 1: Tax deductions reduce taxable income for small business owners but do not directly reduce federal income taxes. (Tax credits, such as low income housing investment tax credits, directly reduce federal income taxes) Both cash and non-cash tax deductions merit review.

Tax Help Tip 2: Cash disbursements can be expensed (used as a tax deduction in the current year) or depreciated (capitalized and depreciated or amortized over a period of years). Due to the judgment required to determine what should be capitalized, there is some discretion. For example, a local gang paints graffiti on a portion of the side of your building. You decide to repaint the entire side of the building instead of just the portion with graffiti. Is this a repair (can be used as a tax deduction) or should it be capitalized (and depreciated over time)? Some owners would elect to expense repainting the entire building. Business owners should seek counsel from their advisor regarding discretionary tax deductions.

Tax Help Tip 3: Real estate provides bountiful tax deductions for small business owners. Most real estate owners inadvertently understate depreciation and thus forego available tax deductions. The common practice is to simply separate land and long-life property (depreciated over 39 years for commercial property and 27.5 years for rental residential property). Real estate owners can typically increase depreciation by 50-100% in the first 5-7 years of ownership by utilizing cost segregation. Cost segregation can separate up to 130 items that can be depreciated over 5, 7, or 15 years (instead of 27.5-39 years). These short-life items typically comprise about 20-40% of the improvement cost basis. The increased depreciation increases tax deductions.

Cost segregation can be utilized for recently purchased or built properties and for properties owned for a period of years (1/1/87 or later). Long-term real estate owners can claim a one-time tax deduction windfall using catch-up depreciation.

Tax Help Tip 4: After a cost segregation study is prepared, the owner can “catch-up” previously under-reported depreciation (without filing any amended tax returns).

Tax Help Tip 5: Another source of “hidden” tax deductions is a careful review of your fixed asset schedule. Many fixed asset schedule include items which should have been expensed or which have been discarded (or should be thrown away). Misclassified items are another source of additional tax deduction. In some cases the depreciation life for an asset has been overstated through clerical error. A fixed asset audit typically generates meaningful tax deductions.

Other Tax Help Articles: Other non-cash sources of tax deductions are amortization, casualty losses, and charitable contributions, which are addressed in separate articles. Planning tax deductions requires a modest effort but the rewards are worth the effort. You work hard to serve your clients and earn a profit; don’t give more than is legally required to your silent partner.

Click here for a FREE preliminary analysis of income tax savings for your property.

Cost segregation produces tax deductions and reduces federal income taxes across the country and in every size market. Below are just a few examples of cities where cost segregation generates meaningful tax deductions.

City:

Memphis, TN
Baltimore, MD
Las Vegas, NV
Boston, MA
Miami, FL
New Orleans, LA
Atlanta, GA
Washington, DC
Phoenix, AZ
Houston, TX
Albuquerque, NM
Sacramento, CA
Sarasota, FL
Salt Lake City, UT
Albany, NY
Virginia Beach, VA
Oxnard, CA
New Haven, CT
Chicago, IL
Kansas City, MO
Buffalo, NY
Jackson, MS
Tucson, AZ
Raleigh, NC
Dayton, OH
Pittsburgh, PA
Scranton, PA
Jacksonville, TN
Portland, OR
Birmingham, AL

Cost segregation produces tax deductions for virtually all property types, including the following:

Property Type:

Veterinary clinic
Single-tenant retail
Auto dealer
Amusement park
Community shopping center
Convenience store
Airplane hangar
Research and development
Shopping mall
Office warehouse

Almost every industry, including the following, can generate cost-efficient tax deductions by using cost segregation.

Industry:

Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation
Frozen food manufacturing
Real estate lesser
Plastic and rubber products manufacturing
Warehousing and storage
Building supply dealers
Electronic and appliance stores
Food and beverage stores
Durable good wholesalers
Electrical component manufacturing

O’Connor & Associates is a national provider of commercial real estate consulting services including cost segregation studies, due diligence, commercial real estate appraisal, Lease Abstraction-,tax deduction, cost segregation, property tax, market research, estate taxes, Collin central appraisal district, Tips and Tricks for Appealing Your Property Taxes in Dento, denton county appraisal and Federal tax reduction. O’Connor appraisers have appraised over 100 types of real estate including auto service garages, service center warehouses, student housing, shopping malls, subsidized housing, commercial buildings, drugstores, office warehouses, racket clubs, office buildings, cold storage facilities, shopping centers, regional malls, strip shopping centers, used car lots, health spas, auto salvage yards and banks.

There is a common adage that says the only two things that are certain in life are death and taxes. While death is definitely not certain when it comes to a home business, taxes assuredly are. If you are going to operate a home business, there are some things you need to know about taxes or you may find yourself in a world of trouble.

I can not think of one person I know who likes paying taxes, doing taxes or talking about taxes; but the fact of the matter is taxes are an inevitable part of life and if you start a home business, they are probably going to be an even bigger part of your life than they were before.

When you work for someone else, your taxes are taken out of your paycheck and then at the end of the year, you simply file your tax return and you either pay money to the IRS or you get money back. Paying home business taxes gets to be quite more complicated than that. While income taxes are the main concern of those employed by others, home business owners need to worry about use taxes, sales taxes, employment taxes, income taxes and a number of other taxes that may apply to their business.

The first thing you need to take care of in terms of home business taxes is the process of getting an EIN number. A business’ EIN number is much like a social security number for your business. It is the number that is used when reporting taxes to the IRS. Once you have your EIN number and your home business starts generating income, you are going to have to start making estimated tax payments to the IRS.

Unlike the annual tax returns you filed when you were employed by someone else, home business owners have to pay taxes on a quarterly basis. For example, you are going to have to pay taxes on the money you make from January through March in April and for the money you make in April through May, you have to pay taxes on in June. The IRS provides home business tax payers with the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System in order to make paying your quarterly taxes more convenient.

If your home business has employees, you are also going to have to take care of your employees’ income taxes. When you have employees, you are required to withhold their income tax from their paychecks and you must pay that income tax to the IRS. If you have less than one-thousand dollars in income tax liability each year, you can do this annually. However, if your employees’ income tax liability is going to total up to more than one-thousand dollars a year, you are going to need to pay the IRS either monthly or semi-weekly.

Remember, this only applies to you if your home business has actual employees. Independent contractors are not considered employees and taxes do not have to be withheld from payments made to independent contractors.

Home business owners also have to pay self employment taxes. Self employment taxes are taxes self employed people pay to Social Security and Medicare. This tax allows you to receive Social Security and Medicare benefits when you retire.

If you are not sure how to manage your home business taxes, you should hire a small business accountant to consult with you on the best way to approach your tax requirements. Hiring an accountant who is willing to teach you how to do your own home business taxes can be much more cost effective than hiring an accountant who insists on doing all of your taxes for you without any explanation of what is being done.  

Tax Write Offs for the Self Employed…Discover 101 Ways To Reduce your Taxes Legally…

Unfortunately, we had been students of self-employed tax deductionsstrategies for over 20 years before we learned what I’m about to share with you regarding tax reduction tips.

I was shocked when we first found out that as self employed owners there were more tax loopholes than the limited itemized tax deductions that we had routinely rehearsed and become accustomed to.

My husband and I thought we were savvy entrepreneurs especially when it came down to self employed tax deductions solutions. (He said I knew how to squeeze a dollar to make George holler)

Boy when we found out that we were severely losing out on Thousands of dollars per year from not maximizing self employed tax deductions expenses…well it was just a bitter sweet experience. We weren’t happy campers to say the least. Now don’t get me wrong we weren’t blaming anyone.

It was sort of like the lady on the news that was scammed for millions. Her concern was not that she had been scammed. Her concerned was that she was paying income taxes on money that didn’t exist. She was gravely looking for IRS to bestow a tax reduction… better yet, interest tax deductions for all of the years of over paying.

We implemented every self employed tax deductions suggested by our accountant. We were appalled to discover how considerably more tax deductions we could claim as self employed home business owner.

It was no secret we’ve visited our share of CPA ,CFP and every other kind of C’s and never seem to stumble on the one that really resonated with us or could noticeably reduce our business taxes.

Now you get the opportunity to benefit from the same self employed tax deductions tips that it took us over 20 years to learn… you get to devour in the time it takes to read this article.

Fortunately, you get to learn from your experiences and from ours.

Here are 9 Bullet-Proof Self Employed Tax Deductions:

If you own your own business (even a home business) or if you’re an Independent Contractor, you could save hundreds… even thousands of dollars each year.

Here is an outline of what you will learn:

1.      Learn how to potentially deduct most of your fun such as movies, plays, and season tickets

2.      Learn how to potentially deduct your golf, golf balls, golf clubs and lessons

3.      Learn how to potentially deduct all parties in your home

4.      Learn how to potentially bullet-proof all your entertainment from any IRS or state audit!

5.      Learn how to potentially deduct any vacation anywhere in the world by combining the trip with business.

6.      Discover the secret as to why IRS doesn’t require receipts for under $75 per item!

7.      Find out how to potentially deduct all dry cleaning and laundry and even the cost of clothing itself!

8.      Learn how to potentially bullet proof all travel from even the toughest IRS scrutiny

9.      Discover a little known secret (that is used by the super rich) to potentially deduct the equivalent of your children’s weddings and education including law school and medical school- No kidding!!

Sanford C. Botkin, CPA and Former top IRS Tax Attorney lives in Germantown, MD, a suburb of Washington D. C., just a short distance from the IRS headquarters.

Over the past 15 years, Sandy has helped over 50,000 taxpayers including home business owners save millions in taxes through legal tax reduction.

To find out what fox news has to say about Sandy Botkin check our website.

* Here’s my disclaimer….I’m not a CPA or Tax Attorney this is for educational purposes only

O.K…. I’m back

According to Sanford Botkin, CPA and Former top IRS Tax Attorney.

Owning a home business is one of the most profitable tax deductions a person could have.

As small business/home business owners we have more tax breaks available to us then the average business takes.

Any legitimate home base business owner that’s actively pursuing a profit, even part-time can qualify for substantial tax breaks.(read  Sandy’s facts)

According to the American Taxpayer Union in 1958, the average American paid 18 percent of their gross income in taxes, Federal, State, and Social Security.

Today, the average American spends 41 percent of their gross income in taxes.

Taxes are the largest expense for most people. It exceeds food, clothing, lodging, and transportation combined. The Average American works 5 months supporting the government and 7 months supporting their families. Learn tax deductions methods to help you reduce your support to 2 or 3 months supporting the government and 9-to 10 months supporting your family.

Here’s one of the biggest mistakes home business owners make, which is having the mindset that their tax accountant will take care of them. No doubt about it, most accountants are working as hard as they can trying to keep abreast of the never-ending changing tax laws while maintaining and growing a client base.

That’s why we have to study  and do our homework to realize the maximum tax reduction possible for your business. Thinking your accountant will take care of your taxes is like thinking your doctor will take care of your health regardless to what you eat.

We hope this information helps you the way it did with us.

*Strategy is better than Strength
proverb

This article is based on the assumptions that 1) You are a small business owner or self-employed person (including home-based and part-time business owners) and 2) You don’t like to pay taxes. In fact, whenever you think about paying taxes, you get so mad you end up all worked up with nowhere to go.

Now, if paying taxes makes you so upset, what have you done about it lately? Why was your tax bill so high last year?

You paid too much tax last year (and the year before that, and the year before that . . .) because you have probably been an innocent victim of many popular myths about taxes.

Here they are. Get rid of them or you’ll be stuck paying too much tax forever.

Tax Myth #1: “I don’t make enough money to worry about reducing my taxes.”

Nothing could be further from the truth. People at all levels of income can pay less tax.

Tax reduction strategies are not just for the rich and famous. No matter how much money you make, you can pay less tax than you currently pay.

In fact, if your business has a loss, you can use that loss to offset other sources of income, such as wages from a regular job, your spouse’s wages, investment income, rental income, and other business income.

And if your business loss is so great that it more than offsets all your other income, you can take advantage of a special rule that lets you: a) Carry back that excess loss to the two prior years, thereby entitling you to a refund of taxes you already paid for either (or both) of those two prior years; and/or b) Carry forward that excess loss to the next 20 future years, so that any income you earn in the future will be reduced by that excess loss.

Tax Myth #2: “Tax reduction strategies are too complicated for me to use.”

Again, hogwash. There are plenty of ways for you, the average American, to lower your taxes.

Tax reduction is not just for the wealthy who pay high-priced attorneys to finagle their way out of paying taxes with sophisticated tax-avoidance schemes, like off-shore trusts and foreign bank accounts.

The average small business owner has plenty of tax reduction strategies at his/her disposal. You just have to know what they are and how to use them.

Tax Myth #3: “I had my return prepared by an accountant, so I know I paid the right amount of taxes.”

There are thousands of excellent, hard-working accountants doing a great job. And if you use a tax professional, maybe he/she has done everything possible to reduce your taxes to the legal minimum.

Based on my own experience, however, I’m convinced that many taxpayers who use professional tax preparers are overpaying their taxes, sometimes by thousands of dollars each year.

Why is that? Well, there are many reasons. The most obvious one is this: Many professional tax preparers are just that: tax preparers and tax preparers only.

A good tax accountant may know how to prepare a tax return in his/her sleep. He knows the forms backwards and forwards. He knows what numbers go on which form perfectly.

But that’s it. That’s all he/she knows.

A good tax preparer is not necessarily knowledgeable in tax reduction strategies. There’s a big difference between a good tax preparer and a savvy tax reduction specialist.

When you look for a good accountant, make sure you find one who doesn’t just “do the returns”, send out a bill and say “Next, please.”

Tax Myth #4: “My tax situation is OK because my BLANK (fill in the blank with a family member or other good friend) takes care of my taxes.”

There are various versions of this myth. Do any of these sound familiar?

“My brother-in-law takes care of my taxes.” “My uncle takes care of my taxes.” “My college buddy takes care of my taxes.”

And of course, the same problem exists with Myth #4 as Myth #3. Even when someone you know and trust does your returns, how do you know that this person is a good tax reduction specialist?

And often, many of these family members or “buddies” are not even professional tax preparers. This person just happens to be “The Family Accountant.” Just like every family has one person who knows a lot about cars (or mutual funds, or carpet cleaning, or whatever), many families have someone who “knows enough to be dangerous” with regard to taxes.

And even if your “Family Accountant” is a professional tax preparer, he’s probably not charging you for the return. He’s doing you a favor. He prepares your return; you change his oil.

My first reaction to this kind of situation (when someone is getting his/her return prepared for free) is this: You get what you pay for. When a family member does your return for free, how much attention can he give to your need for tax reduction strategies? Probably very little.

Tax Myth #5: “My tax situation is OK because I prepare my own returns.”

If this statement applies to you, then perhaps you are a “do-it-yourself-er”. Money is tight and you are used to doing things yourself anyway, so why not save a few bucks each year and do your own returns?

So you’ve spend countless hours over the years pouring over the forms and instructions, trying to figure out how to do the returns. And you’ve done OK. No letters from the IRS, no audits. Hey, pat yourself on the back!

And now that tax preparation software is so readily available and affordable, doing your own return is a breeze. Just key in a few numbers here and there, push the print button, and presto, you’ve got your return done in record time. And now you can even e-file your return with your own computer.

Have you ever heard of the book, “The Millionaire Next Door” (by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko)?

This book describes the common characteristics of millionaires in our country. My favorite millionaire characteristic is this:

Millionaires become millionaires by minimizing their taxes and getting their tax & other financial affairs in order.

Now comes the Million Dollar Question: How do you think millionaires get their tax affairs in order? By doing their own tax returns? Of course not. Millionaires don’t prepare their own tax returns. They have more productive things to do with their time.

Instead, what millionaires do is spend time and money each year on tax planning and tax reduction strategies, not figuring out what number goes on which line of Form XYZ.

So my challenge to you is this: What are you going to do this year to reduce your taxable income?

Are you a believer in any of these myths? Now’s the time to get rid of them, once and for all. Your financial well-being depends on it.