Inflation Enhances the 2025 Amounts for Health Savings Accounts

The IRS recently released guidance providing the 2025 inflation-adjusted amounts for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). These amounts are adjusted each year, based on inflation, and the adjustments are announced earlier in the year than other inflation-adjusted amounts, which allows employers to get ready for the next year. Fundamentals of HSAs An HSA is a trust created or organized exclusively for the purpose of paying the qualified medical expenses of an account beneficiary. An HSA can only be established for the benefit of an eligible individual who is covered under a high-deductible health plan (HDHP). In addition, a participant can’t be enrolled in Medicare or have other health coverage (exceptions include dental, vision, long-term care, accident and specific disease insurance). Within specified dollar limits, an above-the-line tax deduction is...

You May be Entitled to Tax Breaks if Caring for an Elderly Relative

There are many rewards for taking care of an elderly relative. They may include feeling needed, making a difference in the person’s life and allowing the person to receive quality care. In addition, you could also be eligible for tax breaks. Here’s a rundown of four of them: Medical expenses. If the individual qualifies as your “medical dependent” and you itemize deductions on your tax return, you can include any medical expenses you incur for the person along with your own when determining your medical deduction. The test for determining whether an individual qualifies as your “medical dependent” is less stringent than that used to determine whether an individual is your “dependent,” which is discussed below. In general, an individual qualifies as a medical...

Consider Alternative Indicators of Business Value

When valuing a business, experts often look beyond the company’s financial statements. Management interviews and document requests may provide additional objective insight into how much the owners believe the business is worth. This information shouldn’t be used as a substitute for a comprehensive valuation analysis, but it may identify discrepancies that need to be reconciled. Here are five common alternative indicators of value that experts may consider: 1. Buy-sell agreements. Owners often protect their business interests with buy-sell agreements. These agreements may provide a specific value for the business or contain valuation formulas to be used on an owner’s death or termination. Some detailed buy-sell agreements may even specify whether valuation discounts apply and, if so, how much. But if a buy-sell agreement has been superseded...

Should Your Convert Your Business from a C to an S Corporation?

Choosing the right business entity has many implications, including the amount of your tax bill. The most common business structures are sole proprietorships, partnerships, limited liability companies, C corporations and S corporations. In some cases, a business may decide to switch from one entity type to another. Although S corporations can provide substantial tax benefits over C corporations in some circumstances, there are potentially costly tax issues that you should assess before making the decision to convert from a C corporation to an S corporation. Here are four considerations: 1. LIFO inventories. C corporations that use last-in, first-out (LIFO) inventories must pay tax on the benefits they derived by using LIFO if they convert to S corporations. The tax can be spread over four years. This cost must be weighed against the potential tax gains from...

A Three-Step Strategy to Save Tax When Selling Appreciated Vacant Land

Let’s say you own one or more vacant lots. The property has appreciated greatly and you’re ready to sell. Or maybe you have a parcel of appreciated land that you want to subdivide into lots, develop them and sell them off for a big profit. Either way, you’ll incur a tax bill. For purposes of these examples, let’s assume that you own the vacant land directly as an individual or indirectly through a single-member LLC (SMLLC), a partnership or a multi-member LLC that’s treated as a partnership for federal income tax purposes. Here are a couple of scenarios and a strategy to consider. Scenario 1: You simply sell vacant land that you’ve held for investment If you’ve owned the land for more than one year and you’re not classified...

Tax Tips When Buying the Assets of a Business

After experiencing a downturn in 2023, merger and acquisition activity in several sectors is rebounding in 2024. If you’re buying a business, you want the best results possible after taxes. You can potentially structure the purchase in two ways: Buy the assets of the business, or Buy the seller’s entity ownership interest if the target business is operated as a corporation, partnership or LLC. In this post, we’re going to focus on buying assets. Asset purchase tax basics You must allocate the total purchase price to the specific assets acquired. The amount allocated to each asset becomes the initial tax basis of that asset. For depreciable and amortizable assets (such as furniture, fixtures, equipment, buildings, software and intangibles such as customer lists and goodwill), the initial tax basis determines...

What to do if your business is defrauded

Occupational fraud isn’t just a financial threat. It can potentially change a business’s reputation, culture and relationships. But before dealing with any larger ramifications of fraud, defrauded companies must first “clean up” the mess. This may include potentially terminating the perpetrator, taking civil action or referring the perpetrator to the police. Whatever a business chooses to do in the aftermath of a fraud incident, swift action is paramount and internal controls must be addressed. How do victims react? In its Occupational Fraud 2024: A Report to the Nations, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) reveals that when organizations uncover fraud, 67% choose to terminate the individuals involved. In 57% of cases, companies refer fraud perpetrators to law enforcement. Of those, 45% result in the perpetrator pleading...

California Short-Term Rentals Now Require a Business Personal Property Filing

Commencing in 2024, individuals who possess short-term rentals (such as rentals facilitated by platforms like Airbnb) will be required to fill out the newly introduced Form BOE-571-STR, known as the Short Term Rental Property Statement, in order to disclose their business personal property. Business personal property is typically subject to annual reappraisal, unlike real property. Every year, business owners are required to provide a business property statement that provides a comprehensive breakdown of the expenses associated with supplies, equipment, and fixtures at each of their locations. Form BOE-571-STR can be found here: www.boe.ca.gov/proptaxes/pdf/sample-boe571str.pdf When a property owner rents out all or part of their property, such as a residential unit, they are required to pay business property tax on the items used for the rental, such as furniture,...

When do Valuable Gifts to Charity Require an Appraisal?

If you donate valuable items to charity and you want to deduct them on your tax return, you may be required to get an appraisal. The IRS requires donors and charitable organizations to supply certain information to prove their right to deduct charitable contributions. How can you protect your deduction? First, be aware that in order to deduct charitable donations, you must itemize deductions. Due to today’s relatively high standard deduction amounts, fewer taxpayers are itemizing deductions on their federal returns than before the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act became effective in 2018. If you clear the itemizing hurdle and donate an item of property (or a group of similar items) worth more than $5,000, certain appraisal requirements apply. You must: Get a “qualified appraisal,” Receive the qualified...

What's the Difference Between a Calculation of Value and a Conclusion of Value?

Most business valuation assignments call for a conclusion of value. However, there may be times when a calculation of value can be a quicker, more cost-effective solution. Value conclusions When providing conclusions of value, valuators consider all approaches and procedures they deem appropriate for the circumstances. The valuation takes into account applicable valuation practices and standards, as well as any relevant legal precedents. The result may be presented as a single amount or a range of values. This level of service generally produces a comprehensive, reliable estimate of how much a business is worth in today’s marketplace. When providing a conclusion of value, the valuator customarily issues a comprehensive written report. So value conclusions take significant time to complete, and they’re generally more expensive than calculations. Value calculations A calculation...