tax Archives - American Quilt Retailer

Tax Deductions on Travel Expenses

Many business owners aren’t aware they can deduct taxes from a business trip combined with a vacation. Outlined below are a few examples of deductible travel expenses.

New business: Looking for a new location? Travel to and from the location on days meetings happen are deductible.

Conferences: This is most often the work and play trip combined into one. Travel to and from the conference is deductible, but days that business doesn’t take place are not deductible.

Board meetings: For board meetings to be deducted, there must be a reason why the primary location is not suitable for the event. For example, to get more board members to attend the meeting would qualify.

Spouse/Children: Travel for children is typically non-deductible, unless there’s a reason. If your child is your videographer and attends the trip to work with you, then that would qualify as a deductible expense.

Home Office

If you have a home office, the home office deduction won’t cost any more than what you already pay. The home office turns a percentage of your personal home expenses into tax-deductible expenses. Speak with your tax person to calculate the amount of savings this deduction can influence the amount you may owe.

Follow these strategies to get your personal and business income taxes to the lowest legal amount. Stay tuned next week for more tax tips.

Inspiration for this post came from “Tackle Taxes Like a Pro” by Jacob Curtis, CPA, published in the February 2021 issue of American Quilt Retailer.

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Every business owner know the CARES Act provides financial relief for small business. Less talked about however, are the tax credits available for this upcoming tax season. Check out the nine tax changes below so you can start your record keeping today.

Employee Retention Tax Credit

Businesses are eligible for the Employee Retention Tax Credit if operations were fully or partially suspended due to COVID-19, or if gross receipts declined by more than 50% compared to the same quarter last year.

Eligible business can get a 50% tax credit on wages up to $10,000 per employee for wages paid from March 13, 2020 to December 31, 2020. To claim the credit, employers should report wages and health insurance costs on their quarterly tax returns starting the second quarter of 2020.

For more information, visit here.

Sick and Family Leave

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) made big changes to the family leave policy for businesses with less than 500 employees. To reimburse employers for expenses incurred while providing paid sick leave, the CARES Act provides a refundable tax credit of up to 100% of the amount paid, paid quarterly.

Check out this article from the Small Business Administration for more information. This article includes information from the Treasury on how they can help with cash flow.

Delayed Payroll Tax Payments

Any business that didn’t participate in the Payment Protection Program can delay payroll tax credits owed for 2020 over the next two years. You must pay half by the end of 2021, and the other half by the end of 2022.

Charitable Gift Deduction Expansion

Before the CARES Act, corporate charitable contributions could not exceed 10%. This has been expanded to 25%. Note the change is not automatic and must be elected.

Net Operating Loss Changes

Any business that had a net operating loss (NOL) for the years 2018-2020 can carry those for up to five years. You can also carry these NOLs for up to 20 years, but they will be subject to the 80% limitation. This is in hopes to improve cash flow and liquidity.

Business Loss Deduction Changes

The CARES Act halted the cap on deductions for business losses on individual returns for the years 2018-2020. Business owners who had losses during 2018 and 2019 can file amended returns to receive refunds.

Corporate AMT Credits

To improve cash flow, businesses supposed to receive an AMT tax credit at the end of 2021 can claim their refund now.

Changes in Interest Deductibles

The CARES Act allows businesses to increase their business interest expense deductions for 2019 and 2020. The increase went from up to 30% to up to 50% of adjustable taxable income.

Facility Improvement Write-Off

Thanks to a provision in the CARES Act, businesses who made improvements to a facility can immediately write off costs associated with improving the interior of a non-resident building. This basically expands the tax deduction for up to 100% of improvement costs, and the deductions can be made immediately.

To read more about this tax change, check out this article.

Information for this post came from the Small Business Administration.

Tag: tax

Preparing for Tax Season