Business Tax

Do you have a client or customer who won’t pay? Even when all attempts to collect a bad debt have failed, the IRS may give you a break at filing time. Click through to see how to take that bad debt off your taxes.

When can you use bad debt to reduce business income? Even when you take the customer to court and you still don’t get your money, there’s a way to make lemonade from this lemon of a customer.

If your business has already shown this amount as income for tax purposes, you may be able to reduce your business income by the amount of the bad debt. Look at bad debt as an uncollectible account—a receivable owed by a customer, client or patient that you are not able to collect.

Bad debt may be written off at the end of the year if it is determined that the debt is in fact uncollectible.

According to the IRS, bad debt includes:

• Loans to clients and suppliers.
• Credit sales to customers.
• Business loan guarantees.

How do you write off bad debt?

Your business uses the accrual accounting method, showing income when you have billed it, not when you collect it.

If your business operates on a cash accounting basis, you can’t deduct bad debt because you don’t record income until you’ve received the payment. If you don’t get the money, there’s no tax benefit to recording bad debt. You only record the sale when you receive the money from the customer.

Under accrual accounting, manually take the bad debt out of your sales records before you prepare your business tax return.

You must wait until the end of the year, just in case someone pays.

• Prepare an accounts receivable aging report, which shows all the money owed to you by all your customers, how much is owed and how long the amount has been outstanding.
• Total all bad debt for the year, listing all customers who have not paid during the year. Only make this determination at the end of the year and only if you’ve made every effort to collect the money owed to your business.
• Include the bad debt total on your business tax return. If you file business taxes on Schedule C, you can deduct the amount of all bad debt. Each type of business tax return has a place to enter bad debt expenses.

It makes sense in any kind of business—no income recorded, no bad debt.

A business bad debt often originates as a result of credit sales to customers for goods sold or services provided. The best documentation is likely to be a detailed record of collection efforts, indicating you made every effort a reasonable person would in order to collect a debt.

Take some solace by claiming a bad business debt deduction on your tax return. Not exactly a guarantee because you need to show that the debt is worthless, but it’s good to know there may be some relief.

Call our Memphis, TN CPA now at 901-685-9411 to find out how we can decrease your tax obligations. We offer a free initial consultation to new clients so contact us today.

Everyone knows about income taxes and sales taxes, but we tend to forget about excise taxes, because they’re not obvious. Click through for an introduction to this important class of taxes, and see what’s changed.

Excise taxes are paid when purchases are made on specific goods or activities, such as wagering or highway usage by trucks. The producers or merchants pay the tax and typically include the additional tax in the price to the end consumer. Governments levy excise taxes on goods and services that have a high social cost, such as cigarettes, alcohol and gambling. Excise taxes are also referred to as selective sales or differential commodity taxes.

Here are six key facts regarding common, little-known excise taxes —

1. The tax reform bill exempted certain payments made by an aircraft owner or sometimes a lessee, related to the management of private aircraft, from excise taxes imposed on taxable transportation by air.
2. To support the use of alternative fuels, fuel tax credits are allowed on certain types of fuel including the following: biodiesel, including renewable diesel and mixture; alternative fuel credit and mixture; and second-generation biofuel producer.
3. Indoor tanning service providers may need to file a federal excise tax return. These services are subject to a 10 percent excise tax under the Affordable Care Act. This is an example of how excise taxes are often levied on goods and services that are considered unnecessary.
4. Taxpayers who engage in certain specified activities related to excise tax must be registered by the IRS before engaging in the activity. This is known as the 637 registration program. The taxpayer can go online to confirm whether they or a specific company has a valid IRS registration.
5. You may be surprised to know that there is an archery federal excise tax, including the importation and manufacture of archery and fishing products. These, of course, affect relatively few people, but are good examples of how a product or service may be subject to a particular excise tax that is not necessarily obvious.
6. The Environmental Protection Agency’s list of devices to reduce high tractor idling may be exempt from the 12 percent retail excise tax. This shows that a major component of the excise program is motor fuel, and different rates may apply to different types of fuel — gasoline, diesel and gasohol.

The idea is to limit the use of certain products, such as alcohol and tobacco. States also levy excise taxes. Some people say that excise taxes are stopgap measures to solve short-term problems. In fact, some note that discriminatory excises on the consumption of specified products is a step back in development of fiscal systems, postponing a more proper reform for the country or state.

Are you unsure how excise taxes may affect you? Call our Memphis, TN CPA now at 901-685-9411 to find out how we can decrease your tax obligations. We offer a free initial consultation to new clients so contact us today.

Most of us will agree that our biggest investment is in our home. So, it shouldn’t surprise you that your house or condo is your first port-of-call whenever there’s a need to borrow money. And the easiest way to draw funds against the security of real estate is by arranging a Home Equity Loan.

Home Equity funding helps us in important ways:

• Number one, the interest rates payable on this type of loan are arguably the lowest available.
• Secondly, you can get the cash working for you quickly with the least bother, paperwork and tedious protocol.
• Then there’s the third big reason: help from Uncle Sam.

Up to now all interest payments on a Home Equity Loan were tax-deductible. It made borrowing almost a no-brainer! Who wouldn’t opt for already-low interest rates to be pulled even lower? Benefits like this are rear in our modern world where it seems like everything, including financing fees, are only going up.

Well, it’s time for a retake on the “Uncle Sam thing”: the new taxation laws as per the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, enacted in December of the same year, have removed some delectable treats from the traditional “Home Equity feast”.

Is it likely to change your borrowing behavior anytime soon? No, but it should give you pause. There’s a certain logic to it that really can’t be argued with. Here are the new Home Equity items to keep in mind:

• The amount you can borrow is tied to the value of the residence, be it a primary or secondary home. The I.R.S. has decided that your total loan value cannot be more than the assessed value of the asset as a start.
• And in combination with all other mortgages cannot exceed $750,000. So Home Equity lending is not the bottomless well some may believe it to be.
• Tax breaks haven’t disappeared but at the same time, they simply are not what they used to be. Any Home Equity draws you make from now on have to be used to build, renovate or essentially improve your residence to qualify the interest payable on them for a tax deduction.

So on this last point, for example: if you use your new funds to pay off student loans, reduce your credit card debt or splurge it on a vacation, nobody is going to stop you. What they are going to stop is anyone claiming tax relief for this type of expenditure for the foreseeable future.

TD Bank in a survey points out that 32% of Home Equity Lending fits the new definition for deductibility. Looking at it from the other side, 68% of the tax deductions we took for granted for so long now fall away. That said, we all know that there’s no substitute for smart thinking to make the most of new terms and conditions.

So don’t hesitate to consult with our professional tax team when it comes to making your Home Equity decisions, or to clarify your thinking on any tax matter. We often see benefits buried under the “strict letter of the law” – we could make a difference.

We offer financial management solutions for developers, property managers, realtors, brokers and other real estate businesses. Call us at 901-685-9411 today for more information or request a free consultation online now.

The new Section 199A provides self-employed taxpayers the ability to deduct up to 20% of their Qualified Business Income (QBI) on their tax returns. In general, QBI is net income that is received from a Qualified Trade or Business. However, there are some exclusions, the most common of which are capital gains, dividend and interest income. Additionally, any guaranteed payments or “reasonable compensation” paid to owners is excluded.

How Does the New Tax Law Define QBI?

Section 199A(c) defines QBI as, “the net amount of qualified items of income, gain, deduction, and loss with respect to any qualified trade or business of the taxpayer.” The section further states that qualified REIT dividends, qualified cooperative dividends, and qualified publicly traded partnership income are specifically excluded from the definition of QBI.

What are “Qualified Items of Income, Gain, Deduction, and Loss?”

Qualified items of income, gain, deduction, and loss are defined as items that are connected with a trade or business that is operated in the United States and are generally included or allowed when a business determines its taxable income for the year. However, there are items that are specifically excluded:

• Short-term capital gains and losses
• Long-term capital gains and losses
• Dividends
• Interest income
• Foreign personal holding income
• Income from an annuity if not received in connection with the business

These items may not be income or deductions for purposes of calculating QBI. A basic method of viewing QBI is “ordinary” income less “ordinary” expenses. In other words, investment gains and expenses are not QBI for Section 199A purposes.

Reasonable Compensation and Guaranteed Payments

In addition to the items discussed above, any reasonable compensation paid to the taxpayer by the business, including guaranteed payments, is not QBI. For example, if you receive $50,000 in wages from an LLC that you own and your share of income at the end of the year is $100,000 – only the $100,000 would be considered QBI.

Rikard & Neal CPAs, PLLC, a Memphis area CPA offers a FREE initial consultation to business owners. Email us or call us at 901-685-9411 today.

Increasing your profits requires selling more and/or spending less. While building up your sales may require an extended effort, business costs are often very ripe for a quick trimming. Here are some possibilities.

Supplies and Other Purchases

Usually in any business, relatively few items represent a very large share of all outlays. The first step in cutting expenses is, therefore, to identify your highest costs. You may be able to trim many of these costs by making sure you always bid out significant purchases or by more actively seeking less expensive alternatives.

For many companies, inventory carrying costs are a very significant expense. Focusing on matching your inventory quantities more closely to your short-term needs could result in significant savings.

Telecommunications and Other Services

The ongoing services you buy may also offer the potential for cost savings. Revisit your choice of telecommunications vendor and your usage.

Look carefully at your costs for financial services. If you borrow or maintain a line of credit, always compare the rates from more than one financing source before you commit. Make sure you are not paying higher-than-necessary fees for your company’s checking and deposit services.

Cash Management

To control cash outlays, take advantage of discounts for early payment whenever possible. And look to delay payments for as long as you can without giving up discounts.

On the receiving side, deposit all receipts daily. And always actively pursue collection of any invoices that are past due. To help control your working capital needs and, therefore, your credit costs, try to match any new liabilities to your anticipated cash flow.

Fixed Expenses

One other category worth examining is fixed expenses that are long-term commitments. While you usually can’t change these quickly, be aware of when a window for change will open and prepare well in advance by considering lower cost alternatives.

To learn more ways to control your business costs give Rickard & Neal CPAs a call today. Our trained staff of professionals are always available to answer any questions you may have.

Send us an e-mail or call us today at 901-685-9411 to discuss your business needs with an experienced CPA. Or, request a free consultation online.