IRS Approved Family Loan
Today's relatively low-interest-rate environment makes it easy to loan money to family members on favorable terms with full IRS approval. Here's a rundown of what the law covers and why [...]
Sec. 179 Expensing Provides Small Businesses Tax Savings on 2017 Returns — and more savings in the future
If you purchased qualifying property by December 31, 2017, you may be able to take advantage of Section 179 expensing on your 2017 tax return. You’ll also want to keep [...]
Tax deduction for moving costs: 2017 vs. 2018
If you moved for work-related reasons in 2017, you might be able to deduct some of the costs on your 2017 return — even if you don’t itemize deductions. (Or, [...]
Families with College Students May Save Tax on Their 2017 Returns With One of These Breaks
Whether you had a child in college (or graduate school) last year or were a student yourself, you may be eligible for some valuable tax breaks on your 2017 return. [...]
TCJA temporarily lowers medical expense deduction threshold
With rising health care costs, claiming whatever tax breaks related to health care that you can is more important than ever. But there’s a threshold for deducting medical expenses that [...]
2 Tax Credits Just for Small Businesses May Reduce 2017 and 2018 Tax Bills
Tax credits reduce tax liability dollar-for-dollar, potentially making them more valuable than deductions, which reduce only the amount of income subject to tax. Maximizing available credits is especially important now [...]
Inventory Your Possessions
Nearly 60% of Americans don't have a home inventory of their possessions, and of those that do, 48% don't have any receipts evidencing their value.¹ It's great to have insurance [...]
Standard Mileage Rates for 2018 Up from Rates for 2017
The Internal Revenue Service today issued the 2018 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes. Beginning [...]
Can you deduct home office expenses?
Working from home has become commonplace. But just because you have a home office space doesn’t mean you can deduct expenses associated with it. And for 2018, even fewer taxpayers [...]
Tax Reform 2018
The new tax reform law— commonly referred to as the "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" (TCJA) —is the most significant tax legislation in decades. Now businesses and individuals are trying [...]
Personal Exemptions and Standard Deductions and Tax Credits, oh my!
Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), individual income tax rates generally go down for 2018 through 2025. But that doesn’t necessarily mean your income tax liability will [...]
Don’t Be a Victim of Tax Identity Theft: File Your 2017 Return Early
The IRS has just announced that it will begin accepting 2017 income tax returns on January 29. You may be more concerned about the April 17 filing deadline, or even [...]
Marital Status and Your Tax Return
When a couple gets married or gets divorced, taxes are probably not the first thing on their minds. But many decisions that couples make do affect their tax returns — [...]
The TCJA temporarily expands bonus depreciation
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) enhances some tax breaks for businesses while reducing or eliminating others. One break it enhances — temporarily — is bonus depreciation. While most [...]