Strategic Tax Articles
Welcome to the Philadelphia CPA insights blog, brought to you by Mark S. Fineberg CPA. Every time a new tax ruling, pronouncement, or tax change occurs, stop by this blog to learn more. Here you can find and explore the most advanced legal, ethical, and moral tax saving strategies allowed by the U.S. Tax Code. Enjoy.
Recent Insights
6 Tax Credits for the Sole Proprietor
Obtaining a tax credit is the next best thing to paying no taxes at all. The tax code contains over 30 non-refundable tax credits for businesses. These are part of the general business tax credit and are claimed on IRS Form 3800, General Business ... (continued)
Analysis-Catch-Up Contribution to Your Retirement Plan?
After reaching age 50, you can make additional “catch-up” contributions to certain types of tax-advantaged retirement accounts. For the 2021 tax year, this opportunity is available if you’ll be age 50 or older on Friday, December 31, 2021. Specifically, with an employer-sponsored 401(k), 403(b), 457, ... (continued)
Little Known Law Can Reduce the Excludable Gain on Your Residence
Once upon a time, you could convert a rental property or vacation home into your principal residence, occupy it for at least two years, sell it, and take full advantage of the home sale gain exclusion privilege of $250,000 for unmarried individuals or $500,000 ... (continued)
Say Goodbye to the Employer Tax Credit (ERC)
Say goodbye to the employee retention credit (ERC) for the fourth quarter. Lawmakers giveth, and lawmakers taketh away. In this case, what lawmakers did is pitiful. It’s like magic: now you see it, now you don’t. On March 11, 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act of ... (continued)
Tax Credits Still Available for your Sole Proprietorship
If you hire an employee for your Schedule C business, you can qualify for several valuable tax credits. Each credit is different, and certain limitations apply to all or most employer tax credits. Remember, tax credits are the best. They beat deductions. Note the difference ... (continued)
Partnership Treating of Unreimbursed Expenses/ 1099 Contractor-Interesting!
When the individual production activity of a partner is outside his or her capacity as a member of the partnership, the partnership has two choices: Allocate the production income to the partner, and have the partner treat the expenses ... (continued)
Roth IRA After TCJA- The Backdoor is Still Open
As you likely know, the Roth IRA is a terrific way to grow your wealth with a minimum tax downside because you pay the taxes up front and then, with the proper holding period, pay no taxes after that. But if you earn too much, ... (continued)
Stock Portfolio Year End Tax Strategies
When you take advantage of the tax code’s offset game, your stock market portfolio can represent a little gold mine of opportunities to reduce your 2021 income taxes. The tax code contains the basic rules for this game, and once you know the rules, ... (continued)
Last Minute Medical Deductions/ Credits for Your Business
All small-business owners with one to 49 employees should have a medical plan for their business. Sure, it’s true that with 49 or fewer employees, the tax law does not require you to have a plan, but you should. Most of the tax rules that apply ... (continued)
Vaccines & Tax Credits--Interesting
As the nation suffers from the ravages of the super-contagious COVID-19 Delta variant, the federal government desperately wants all American workers and their families to get vaccinated. If you have employees, you probably feel the same way. Indeed, more and more employers are implementing vaccine ... (continued)
Existing Vehicle Last Minute 2021 Business Deductions
Wow, how time flies! Yes, December 31 is just around the corner. That’s your last day to find tax deductions available from your existing business and personal (yes, personal) vehicles that you can use to cut your 2021 taxes. But don’t wait. Get on ... (continued)
Retirement Planning for Year-End 2021
The clock continues to tick. Your retirement is one year closer. You have time before December 31 to take steps that will help you fund the retirement you desire. Here are four things to consider. 1. Establish Your 2021 Retirement Plan First, a question: As you read ... (continued)
6 Last Minute Valuable Business Deuctions for 2021
The purpose of this letter is to get the IRS to owe you money. Of course, the IRS is not likely to cut you a check for this money (although in the right circumstances, that will happen), but you’ll realize the cash when you pay ... (continued)
Turbo Charge Your Retirement Savings with an HSA
You probably think of a Health Savings Account (HSA) as simply an account to put aside funds for medical expenses--think again-in this brief article you will see that the HSA provides MORE tax benefits than an IRA. To contribute to an HSA you must have ... (continued)
Self Employed COVID 19 Benefits Revisited
As you likely know, in times of economic dislocation such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the self-employed get no special government help. For example, you generally do not receive benefits that employees get, such as unemployment and paid sick leave. But this time it’s different. Because ... (continued)
529 Withdrawals-What You Need to Know!
The big advantage of 529 plans is that qualified withdrawals are always federal-income-tax-free—and usually state-income-tax-free too. What you may not know is that not all 529 withdrawals are tax-free qualified withdrawals, even in years when you have heavy college costs. Here are six important points ... (continued)
Travel Deduction & Tax-Home Rule
When you travel out of town overnight, you need to know the tax-home rule. The IRS defines your tax home, and it’s not necessarily in the same town where you have your personal residence. If you have more than one business location, one of the ... (continued)
More on Depreciation
Are you thinking about buying personal property (such as a car, a computer, or other equipment) or real property (such as a building)? If you use the property for personal purposes, it’s not deductible. But if you use it in a business, you can deduct ... (continued)
Independent Contractors Revisited
Millions of American businesses hire independent contractors to perform all types of services. And millions of American workers prefer to work as contractors rather than employees. Indeed, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s likely that more people than ever want the freedom that comes ... (continued)
How Are Roth IRA Withdrawals Taxed
Some withdrawals are taxable. Even worse, some can be socked with a 10 percent early withdrawal penalty tax, and this can happen even when there’s no income tax hit. Any withdrawals from any of your Roth accounts are federal-income-tax-free qualified withdrawals if you, as ... (continued)