Individual Tax Articles

Understanding how to deduct local transportation costs can significantly reduce your small business’s tax burden. While commuting costs aren’t deductible, travel expenses for business purposes, such as trips from your office to a client’s location, are deductible. Proper recordkeeping is essential to ensure these deductions are accurately claimed.

As we approach year end, it's time for individuals, business owners and family offices to review their 2024 and 2025 tax situations and identify opportunities for reducing, deferring, or accelerating their tax obligations. With rising interest rates, inflation and continuing market volatility, tax planning is as essential as ever for taxpayers looking to manage cash flow while paying the least amount of taxes possible over time. 

The annual gift tax exclusion allows you to reduce your taxable estate with minimal effort. While filing a gift tax return is generally not required, it becomes necessary or advisable in certain situations, such as when making split gifts or exceeding the annual exclusion amount. Filing can also provide audit protection and establish asset values for tax purposes.

Self-employment tax combines Social Security and Medicare taxes, with a 15.3% rate applied to the first $168,600 of net income in 2024. Future inflation adjustments will likely increase the tax burden, making strategies like restructuring as an S corporation a potential way to reduce costs. Understanding SE tax calculations and exploring tax-saving options can help self-employed individuals manage their financial obligations effectively.

The IRS has released the annual inflation adjustments for the 2025 tax year, which will affect taxpayers when they file their returns in 2026 including notable changes.

When a spouse passes away, the surviving spouse must decide whether to file a joint or separate tax return for the year of death. Filing jointly can offer benefits such as lower tax rates and larger credits, but it's important to consider the potential impact on deductions and other factors. Consulting a tax professional can help determine the best filing option.

What are the federal income tax implications associated with selling an appreciated vacation home?

One option you may have thought of when buying a new home is to keep your current home and rent it out. This has possible tax advantages and disadvantages.

For tax purposes, the key factors are how many days you lease the property and the amount of income that you have to report for taxes, regardless of whether you rent to relatives or nonrelatives.

Effective in January 2024, you can move funds that are not used in a 529 plan to a Roth IRA for the same beneficiary, with no tax or penalties.