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Suppose you’re thinking about setting up a retirement plan for yourself and your employees. However, you’re concerned about the financial commitment and administrative burdens involved. There are a couple of options to consider. Let’s take a look at a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) and a Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE). SEPs offer easy implementation SEPs are intended to be an attractive alternative to “qualified” retirement plans, particularly

Some tax sins are much worse than others. An example is failing to pay over federal income and employment taxes that have been withheld from employees’ paychecks. In this situation, the IRS can assess the trust fund recovery penalty, also called the 100% penalty, against any responsible person. It’s called the 100% penalty because the entire unpaid federal income and payroll tax amounts can be assessed personally as a penalty against a responsible person, or several responsible

Once your 2024 tax return is in the hands of the IRS, you may be tempted to clear out file cabinets and delete digital folders. But before reaching for the shredder or delete button, remember that some paperwork still has two important purposes: Protecting you if the IRS comes calling for an audit, and Helping you prove the tax basis of assets you’ll sell in the future. Keep the return itself — indefinitely Your filed tax returns are the cornerstone of your records. But

When we prepare your tax return, we’ll check one of the following filing statuses: single, married filing jointly, married filing separately, head of household or qualifying widow(er). Only some people are eligible to file a return as a head of household. But if you’re one of them, it’s more favorable than filing as a single taxpayer. To illustrate, the 2025 standard deduction for a single taxpayer is $15,000. However, it’s $22,500 for a head of household taxpayer. To be

For federal income tax purposes, the general rule is that rental real estate losses are passive activity losses (PALs). An individual taxpayer can generally deduct PALs only to the extent of passive income from other sources, if any. For example, if you have positive taxable income from other rental properties, that generally counts as passive income. You can use PALs to offset passive income from other sources, which amounts to being able to currently deduct them. Unfortunately, many rental property

Are you starting a business with partners and deciding on the right entity? An S corporation might be the best choice for your new venture. One benefit of an S corporation One major advantage of an S corporation over a partnership is that shareholders aren’t personally liable for corporate debts. To ensure this protection, it’s crucial to: Adequately finance the corporation, Maintain the corporation as a separate entity, and Follow state-required formalities

As a business owner, you may be eligible to claim home office tax deductions that will reduce your taxable income. However, it’s crucial to understand the IRS rules to ensure compliance and avoid potential IRS audit risks. There are two methods for claiming this tax break: the actual expense method and the simplified method. Here are answers to frequently asked questions about the tax break. Who qualifies? In general, you qualify for home office deductions if part of your home is used

You may wonder if you can claim itemized deductions on your tax return. Perhaps you made charitable contributions and were told in the past they couldn’t be claimed because you didn’t have enough deductions to itemize. How much do you need? You can itemize deductions if the total of your allowable itemized write-offs for the year exceeds your standard deduction allowance for the year. Otherwise, you must claim the standard deduction. Here’s how we’ll determine if you can

If you made significant gifts to your children, grandchildren or other heirs last year, it’s important to determine whether you’re required to file a 2024 gift tax return. And in some cases, even if it’s not required to file one, you may want to do so anyway. Requirements to file The annual gift tax exclusion was $18,000 in 2024 (increased to $19,000 in 2025). Generally, you must file a gift tax return for 2024 if, during the tax year, you made gifts: That exceeded the

If an individual taxpayer has substantial business losses, unfavorable federal income tax rules can potentially come into play. Here’s what you need to know as you assess your 2024 tax situation. Disallowance rule The tax rules can get complicated if your business or rental activity throws off a tax loss — and many do during the early years. First, the passive activity loss (PAL) rules may apply if you aren’t very involved in the business or if it’s a rental activity.