When one of your company’s customers can’t pay up, you may be able to give that debt “the business.” That is, you may be able to claim a tax deduction under Internal Revenue Code Section 166. To successfully do so, however, you’ll need to know how the tax code defines a partially or wholly worthless [...]
Did you know that you can transfer funds directly from your IRA to a Health Savings Account (HSA) without taxes or penalties? According to the IRS, you’re permitted to make one such “qualified HSA funding distribution” during your lifetime. Ordinarily, if you have an IRA and an HSA, it’s typically a good idea to contribute [...]
Owners of closely held corporations often want or need to withdraw cash from the business. The simplest way, of course, is to distribute the money as a dividend. However, a dividend distribution isn’t tax-efficient because it’s taxable to the owner to the extent of the corporation’s earnings and profits. It also isn’t deductible by the [...]
For various reasons, business owners sometimes decide to put their companies on the market. To successfully negotiate the sale of a business, it’s critical to understand the tax implications. Armed with this knowledge, you can assess the impact of various transaction structures and sales price allocations on your net proceeds from the sale and potentially [...]
It may be one of your least favorite accounting tasks. But account reconciliation is easier if you get ready for it. There’s no question that account reconciliation is a dreaded chore. So much so that many small businesspeople simply don’t do it. QuickBooks’ reconciliation tools and its ability to import transactions from your banks make [...]
The IRS recently announced it intends to hire thousands of new employees as part of a tax-enforcement push. This could mean an uptick in audits sometime soon, likely focused on wealthier individuals and business owners. (Some tax returns are chosen randomly as well.) The best way to survive an IRS audit is to prepare for [...]