JT Tax Services

Tax Services

What You Need to Know About Claiming Tips on Your Tax Return

For many workers, tips are an important part of their income, as many companies and businesses rely on them in order to cover the wages for their staff. If we count on tips as part of our income, we need to report them to the IRS, as we need to cover our corresponding taxes for Social Security and Medicare based on tip income we receive. In order to help you take care of this process, we have put together a short list of steps and tips you need to follow when claiming tips on your tax return. These include keeping a monthly record, documenting shared tips, checking for tax withholding balances, and filing a form for unreported income.

Keep a Monthly Record on Your Tip Income

One of the most important aspects you need to keep in mind when claiming tips on your tax return is that the IRS requires you to report your total tip earnings to your employer on the 10th of every month. Most employers have a specific process to follow for reporting tip income, but if yours doesn’t, you can do it by filing Form 4070. This way, your employer will be able to cover income withholding from your tip income. Remember that if you fail to report this income, you can be subject to a penalty equal to 50% of the Social Security and Medicare taxes you are not paying.

Document How Much Tip You Share with Other Employees

In many places, it is common for employees to share or pool tips with other employees, and we must remember to document this when claiming tips on your tax return. This is because it can help you reduce the amount of tip income you need to report. Since every company might work with different processes of tipping structures, we need to keep a very detailed record of how much we got and how much we shared. For example, if we received a total of $200 in tips, but need to share $50 with another staff member, we should only report $150 as tip income.

Check Your Tax Withholding on Your W-2 Form

When it comes to claiming tips on your tax return, we must pay a lot of attention to tax withholding. In most cases, your employer will be in charge of taking your tax withholding share and reporting it to the IRS. However, you might not have earned enough in tips and wages to cover your withholding. If this were the case, you will be able to find the balance you owe in your W-2 Form. If it shows a significant balance, you might be subject to several tax penalties after submitting your returns.

Include Unreported Tip Income on Form 4137

If there were some months on which we didn’t receive more than $20 in tips, or if we received non-cash tips, we need to fill out Form 4137. This form will allow us to include any unreported tip income and wages we didn’t have the chance to report during the year. Also, the form comes with instructions that will help you calculate the amount of Social Security and Medicare tax you must cover on your unreported tip income reports.

This Is How You Can Deduct your International Business Expenses

As business owners, traveling outside our city to meet with existing and potential clients is an important part of our company’s success, as it allows us to expand the reach of our brand and build strong relationships with our partners. However, this can represent a significant portion of our budget, as we need to cover several travel expenses, such as transportation, meals, and accommodations. Luckily for us, there are many business-related expenses we can deduct from these trips, and these apply for both domestic and international expenses. This is how you can deduct your international business expenses and the limitations you might need to know.

Eligibility Rules for Business Travel Expenses

The very first thing we need to know regarding deducting our business travel expenses is that the IRS divides these into two different categories, having ordinary and necessary business expenses incurred for travel away from home. According to the IRS, ordinary expenses correspond to those that are common and accepted in your trade or business, and necessary expenses are those considered helpful and appropriate for your work. When it comes to international travel, the expenses incurred away from home during trips that are longer than an ordinary day’s work and that require us to rest or sleep are eligible.

Business Travel Expenses We Can Usually Deduct

If this is the first year we will be deducting business travel expenses, we should become familiar with the types of expenses that tend to be eligible for deductions. The most common types of expenses include transportation expenses, whether we go by plane, train, or automobile; shipping and baggage of any props or materials we need for work purposes; and accommodations if our trip is overnight and we need to stay in a hotel while away from home. We can also deduct half the costs of our meals as long as they are not lavish or extravagant, as well as our communications, dry cleaning, and laundry expenses when away from home on work purposes.

Expenses We Can Deduct from International Business Trips

Deducting international business expenses can get a bit trickier, as the IRS sets expenses into two different categories you must meet in order to be eligible for these deductions. These categories of expenses are from trips that were entirely for business or considered entirely for business. Expenses for international travel entirely for business can be deducted if you spent virtually all waking hours of your trip on business activities. On the other hand, an international trip is considered entirely for business can still qualify for expenses deductions if you didn’t have substantial control in arranging the trip if you spent no more than a week outside of the US, and if you spent at least 76% of your time on business-related activities.

What Limits the Deductions for International Business Expenses

Once you have figured out which of your expenses qualify for international business expenses and which ones do not, you still need to consider the limits of these deductions. If you don’t meet one or more of these conditions, and if your business trip was not entirely work-related, you don’t have to worry. You can still deduct a portion of these expenses, as long as you determine the percentage of business days from your trip. This way, the IRS will have a more accurate and acceptable idea of just how many days you spent on work-related activities, being able to grant the deductions for the expenses on those days only.

If You Are a Real Estate Investor, Keep These Tax Tips in Mind

Dealing with taxes as an independent business owner can get tricky when we don’t have all the information and guidance we need. This can get even more confusing when we have just started to invest in real estate property. However, there are several tax tips we should keep in mind in order to make the most out of our investments, especially when it comes to property taxes and other taxes involved. That’s why we decided to share some useful tax tips that any real estate investor can follow to make tax season easier for them.

Take Advantage of Business Deductions

Something that every real estate investor needs to remember is that they qualify as a business, so they are entitled to submit business expense deductions just like any other company can. This means that, by the end of the year, you can write off several of your expenses, as long as they are related to running your investments and your properties. Some of these expenses include mileage from driving to and from properties, home office expenses like rent and electricity, mortgage interests and premiums, professional services, and depreciation of your property.

Don’t Sell your Property Before the First Year

One mistake we might be likely to make when we begin to invest in real estate is selling a property before the first year of ownership. When we have owned a property for less than 365 days and then we sell it, we will be subject to a short-term capital gains tax. Instead, we should hold properties for more than a year, so that, when we sell them, the profit ends up being subject to a long-term capital gains tax.

Learn About the Power of 1031 Exchanges

Another quite useful strategy any real estate investor must learn about is 1031 exchanges, also known as like-kind exchanges. This allows us to defer the taxes generated by selling a property when we use it to buy another property. As a result, we are able to buy/sell properties in order to increase our portfolio without having to worry about paying taxes on each sale. However, 1031 exchanges might be tricky at times, so it is important that we do extensive research or consult with a professional tax advisor before we choose to take advantage of them.

Opt for Tax-Free Refinances

Refinancing a property tends to be a common scenario any real estate investor will likely face. Even when we might think that refinancing a property means another transaction being subject to taxes, this is actually not the case. Therefore, we are able to pull equity out of a property we own through a cash-out refinance plan without being subject to any taxes for that transaction. Since we are not really making money from this, the IRS won’t consider it as taxable income. This way, real estate investors can take money to invest in new properties without being subject to taxes, and having the opportunity to report loan interests as a business expense, qualifying for a deduction.

4 Useful Tax Tips for Independent Contractors to Keep in Mind

Working as an independent contractor can come with many benefits, such as being able to choose the projects we work on, the clients we network with, and the rates we set for our work. However, all of this comes with many responsibilities, including paying more attention to our income tax return. Whether we decide to do this part of the job ourselves or hire a tax professional to guide us through each part of the process, we must make sure we stay on top of our tax obligations. That’s why we have gathered these four useful tax tips for independent contractors to keep in mind.

Always Remember to Report All Your Income

To begin with our list of tax tips for independent contractors, we must remember that we always should report all of our income, including that from each job and project we got during the year, regardless of the amount of what we got paid. Whenever we work on a job that included a payment of more than $600, we will get a 1099-MISC Form. This should happen with most of our projects. However, if we did a job with a payment of $599.99 or less, we won’t see this form. No matter how tempted we are, we should include this part of our income when we file our tax returns.

Pay Your Estimated Taxes and Include SE Taxes, Too

When we work as independent contractors, we need to remember that we are responsible for paying our income tax on the earnings we made as estimated taxes. Unlike our income tax return, our estimated taxes are due four times a month. The due dates we need to pay attention to are April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15. Whenever we pay our estimated taxes, we need to add our SE (self-employed) taxes, too. Otherwise, we will be subject to different interests and penalties when we cover our final tax return.

Keep All Your Receipts Stored and Registered

Every taxpayer should be aware of the importance that keeping all your receipts stored and registered represents when filing their income tax return. This is particularly true for independent contractors since much of what qualifies as a business expense can be deductible. In order to get a lower tax bill, storing our receipts is essential. This way, we will be able to list and justify the expenses we made for a particular job, allowing us to request a deduction to the IRS.

Determine Which Schedule You Should File

The last thing we need to check when working as independent contractors is determining which schedule we will use to file our taxes. Many contractors decide to file Schedule C, adding it to their annual Form 1040 tax return. However, filing under Schedule C-EZ might be more convenient for some contractors, especially when:

  • they had business expenses for less than $5,000
  • used the cash method of accounting
  • didn’t have an inventory during the tax year
  • didn’t hired an employee
  • didn’t claim home office business expenses, or
  • didn’t carry over any passive activity losses from a previous year.

LLC or S Corp: Which Should I Choose for My Business?

Whenever we decide to start our own business, one of the first questions we should ask ourselves which business structure we’ll choose, LLC or S Corp? Each will come with different benefits regarding structure, organization, and taxation, depending on which we choose. Every business will differ, and there is no fool-proof method to know which option better suits our situation. Therefore, we must always consult with a professional before making a decision.

One of the first aspects to consider is trying to fully understand what an LLC is, and what an S Corp is. This way, we’ll be able to make a more informed decision, one that will benefit our business. Learning the differences in structure and taxations will make the decision easier to take. Again, we should hire a professional tax advisor to help us make the best choice.

A Limited Liability Company, also known as LLC is a type of business structure that legally separates it from its business owners. This means that the members of your company would receive protection from personal liability. In other words, if members of an LLC were subject to legal action, only their business assets would be on the line, not personal ones.

When it comes to taxes, the IRS doesn’t recognize LLCs for taxes purposes; LLCs are not taxing entities. Therefore, an LLC might be taxed as either a corporation, a partnership, or as part of the owner’s tax return. If we have a partnership or multi-member LLC, the IRS would not tax the business, but each member instead. If we want to file taxes as an S Corp, though, we must request the tax form 2243.

There is the common misconception that the term S Corp refers to “small corporations”. However, the name comes from the Subchapter S of the IRS code. In order for our business to choose this structure, it must meet several IRS requirements. First of all, it must be a domestic corporation, with no foreign owners. It must also have no more than 100 approved members, unlike an LLC, which can have as many members as they consider.

One of the benefits S Corps have is that they include lower taxes, from both income tax and self-employment tax. Also, shareholders of an S Corp report its flow-through of income and losses on their personal taxes. This way, S Corps are able to avoid being subject to double taxation on their corporate incomes. To see the full filing requirements to become an S Corporation, you can go to the IRS website.

Like we mentioned above, every company is different. Choosing between an LLC or S Corp structure will require a thorough analysis. That’s why every business owner or entrepreneur should consider getting the assistance of a professional tax advisor. This way, they will be able to balance the pros and cons of each structure, LLC or S Corp, and make a decision that will benefit them the most.

Even when it might sound like a long and daunting process, sitting down with your accountant or advisor is a must. Don’t be afraid to express what your goals and objectives are. Also, think about the total income you are expecting to make. All this will help you make an informed decision, and your company will see the results.

 

These Are the Tax Implications of Employing Family Members

As small businesses keep growing at a steady rate, entrepreneurs and business owners will eventually reach a point on which they have to start employing workers to help make a company successful. It is not uncommon to see that many opt to offer a job to their family members, as they already know the qualifications, skills, and attitudes certain relatives have. This can bring many benefits to a business, as it allows you to spend more time with your loved ones, it strengthens the family economy. Besides, this also comes with different tax implications that you might want to take advantage of.

Whenever we hire an employee, regardless of them being a relative, a friend, or a job applicant, we need to remember that we still need to cover certain employment taxes. These include federal income tax withholding, Social Security taxes, and Medicare taxes. There is one exception, though, which is the federal unemployment tax, also known as FUTA. This tax is used to help fund workforce agencies in every state. The Current FUTA rate is 6%, and it is applied to the first $7,000 we pay our employees in the year. We might be exempt from having to pay this tax on certain family members, which comes as a great advantage for many entrepreneurs and business owners.

Employing a spouse tends to be quite a common scenario for those who are just starting their own business. In this case, their salary is subject to all the taxes mentioned above except FUTA, in the case of a sole proprietorship. However, by being the owner of a sole proprietorship and choosing to employ our spouse, we can have access to an interesting tax-saving strategy. If our employee-spouse chose to purchase a health insurance policy under their name, extending the coverage to their employer-spouse, this can be written off as a fully deductible business expense.

Another situation that we can see happening quite often is when parents offer their kids an employment opportunity. This might happen under different circumstances, and it also comes with certain requirements in order to remain compliant to IRS regulations. If our child is under 18 years old, their wage isn’t subject to FICA and FUTA employment taxes, and if they are under 21, their salary is only subject to FICA. We need to make sure we treat our child as a real employee, compensating them fairly, complying with all legal laws and requirements, and giving them the benefits the rest of our employees receive.

Lastly, offering our parents employment at our business is another common situation among family businesses, small companies, and startups altogether. If we are employing our parents, their salaries are subject to income tax withholding, Social Security, and Medicare taxes only, as FUTA taxes do not apply to their wages. It is very important to remember that FICA taxes also apply to any payment we may make to our parents and that qualifies as a “domestic service”. This is particularly important if we are employing our parents, if we have child or stepchild living with us, if we can’t take care of the child or stepchild for more than four continuous weeks due to a mental or physical condition, and if our child or stepchild is under 18 and requires constant care for at least four continuous weeks because of a mental or physical condition.

 

5 Useful Tax Tips for Rideshare Drivers to Keep in Mind

As freelance jobs become more and more popular, opting to work as a rideshare driver is a great self-employment alternative that many are choosing nowadays. The way we think about commuting has been forever altered thanks to the popularity of platforms like Uber and Lyft, with an increasing demand for rideshare services, which also opens more positions for drivers to take. However, rideshare drivers must be aware of the tax implications this self-employment option brings. Thus, we have gathered five useful tax tips that rideshare drivers should keep in mind when filing their income.

One of the most important steps every freelancer or self-employed worker should follow is to create a system to track their tax deductions. Whether we decide to use an expense-tracking spreadsheet or a mobile app, being consistent and documenting every single business relates expense is a must. This will help us record and identify every deductible expense we made during the year, and facilitate our income tax filing process.

Many freelancers and self-employed workers tend to struggle when keeping track of their personal expenses and business expenses. A great way to solve this issue is by having separate bank accounts, one for our personal expenses, and one to use exclusively for business expenses. This will not only help us manage our personal and commercial finances better but will help us keep track of our business expenses, too.

Something that many people tend to ignore for some reason is that there are plenty of apps available, both free and paid, that can help us when tracking expenses and deductions. Taking advantage of this reliable and effective tools to document the number of trips we have, how often we charge fuel, the time we’ve spent driving, and any car repair costs will make our filing process more accurate and easier than ever.

Now, as rideshare drivers, we should always remember that mileage tracking represents our biggest tax deduction. Therefore, we must be very careful and consistent when recording the miles we drive. Since the IRS requires a mileage log when filing such deduction, we shouldn’t take this lightly. Otherwise, we might not be eligible for this deduction, and this would have a significant impact on our income taxes without a doubt.

Lastly, rideshare drivers who work with apps like Uber and Lyft have access to a very resourceful tool, their driver dashboard. This is where drivers can find very useful information, including their annual income, some of the deductions they might be eligible for, as well as the commissions that the apps are taking out of they pay.

How to Prove your Business Expenses and Deductions to the IRS

As business owners, dealing with the IRS and meeting all their requirements can be a demanding task, especially if this is the first year of our company. We might have a lot of questions regarding how to document, prove, and deduct our business expenses, and we might not know who to ask. That’s why it is important to make sure we have a professional tax advisor, and if they have experience in corporate tax, even better. This way, we will know we are complying with all IRS requirements and regulations, and that our business won’t be affected by any late fees, penalties, or missed deductions.

One of the best ways to prove our business expenses to the IRS is by having a designated account that will only be used to cover such costs. Whether it is a business credit card or a business checking account, having a designated account will help us with in many ways. For one, it will allow us to keep track of our business expenses in an accurate and effective way. It will also work to prove these expenses to the IRS, as no personal purchases should be registered on our business account’s statement.

This doesn’t mean that we cannot use our personal account to cover business expenses, as there is no specific requirement for this. However, it might make it more difficult for us to prove our business expenses to the IRS, especially those for travel and property. One great way to work this out is by keeping expenses logs and recording everything in a very detailed way. This includes recording the time and date of each expense, and recording them at the time, meaning on the same moment of the purchase, and not by the end of the day or, even worse, guessed by the end of the year.

When buying property for our business, choosing from listed property will make the process of proving these expenses to the IRS quite simple and easy. When we talk about listed property, we refer to several items that the IRS has determined to be used for both business and personal use. Items like printers, computers, cellphones, furniture, and vehicles are considered listed property. When we use them, whether it is for business or personal purposes, we should log the time, the date, and the purpose of using a given item. By the end of the year, we should be able to easily determine the percentage used for business purposes. As a result, deducting our expenses will be much easier.

Asking for the receipt of every single purchase we make during the year and storing them in a designated and properly labeled shoebox sounds like an easy and effective way to track our business expenses. However, if we don’t refine this system, we will end up with thousands of receipts and a whole lot of work to do when filing our company’s taxes. Arranging all these receipts by the week or the month can help us give our record more structure. Also, labeling each receipt on the same day of the purchase will make our filing system even cleaner easier, which will simplify our filing process when the time comes.

5 Essential Tax Tips for Millennials to Lower their Tax Bills

Thinking about filing our taxes comes with a feeling of confusion and stress for many of us, especially those who aren’t experienced enough with the whole process of filing their income tax and covering their balance. This is particularly true for the younger generations, Millennials and Gen Z who have recently started earning a steady income. Even when it might sound hard at first, there are many different ways in which we can lower our tax bills, making smart financial decisions and patiently waiting for the benefits to kick in. These are some of them.

One of the most efficient ways to save on tax payments is by taking advantage of the retirement plans many companies offer to their employees. Opting for a Traditional 401(k) or a Roth 401(k) account can help us save on taxes in the short or long run or even both. With these accounts, we have a salary deferral that goes straight towards our retirement account, which we would be able to access when we reach retirement age. With a Roth account, we would enjoy tax-free cash flow when we are no longer working, which is a great long-term advantage.

Choosing to purchase a life insurance policy is another great strategy that can come with some tax advantages, yet many young people tend to delay this process until later in life. Besides the benefits of having life insurance, most whole life policies offer the opportunity of withdrawing accumulated tax value on a tax-favored basis. However, we need to keep in mind that every plan and every policy and every company will have a different set of criteria. Therefore, we need to make sure we get advice from a professional, knowledgeable, and trustworthy insurance professional so that they can guide us through choosing the best plan for us.

When it comes to income tax saving tips for millennials, we need to remember that the younger generations tend to land part-time jobs or choose to work on their own. Self-employment comes with many tax benefits in the form of deductions that we can take advantage of. Home office deductions, for example, are a great way to lower our tax bill if we use a portion of our house to run our own business. We can also benefit from choosing the most appropriate business structure for our company, even if we are the owners and only worker. If we work with a knowledgeable advisor, they will be able to help us come with the best strategy for our business.

If we are looking for a long-term investment that will also help on our tax bills, homeownership is a great way to achieve this. There are many benefits that come from being a homeowner, such as the security of having a place to live, and the investment opportunity it represents if we choose to upgrade and sell our property when the time is right. However, we are also eligible for property tax deductions, which can significantly lower our tax bills if we meet certain criteria. In order to determine whether this would work for you, contact a professional tax advisor with experience in real estate and property taxes.

 

The Taxes-Security-Together Checklist Every Advisor Must Follow

Being able to file our taxes online sure comes with a lot of benefits, as it is a convenient way to make sure we stay compliant with the IRS while saving time and money on the process. However, one of the main concerns many taxpayers have regarding this process is knowing that their data will be safe. Therefore, every tax advisor must follow a checklist of security measures to guarantee that the information of their clients will be safe when handled on a digital format. Such guidelines have been laid out by the IRS in collaboration with the Security Summit, and these are some of the key security features to keep in mind.

In order to guarantee data security, tax advisors need to follow a set of measures that will ensure clients any sensitive information is safe and will not be accessed or misused by anyone who is not authorized to. The Taxes-Security-Together Checklist refers to the “Security Six” measures as:

  • Activate anti-virus software
  • Use a firewall
  • Opt for two-factor authentication methods
  • Use backup software and services
  • Use Drive encryption
  • Create and secure VPNs, or Virtual Private Networks

Besides following these data security measures, tax advisors must create a data security plan, too, which is required by federal law. This way, they will have better strategies to prevent and respond to security breaches. Requirements for data security plans are flexible, so they can fit the needs and circumstances of every tax preparation firm regardless of its size. However, these plans should focus on key risk areas, including employee management, training, information systems, and system failure detection.

Tax preparers need to remember that data security threats change and evolve faster than we think, so it is essential for them to educate themselves and remain alert to common phone call and email tax scams. Learning about spear-phishing emails and ransomware can help us avoid falling victim of tax scams.

Also, we need to understand that client data theft can have devastating effects, and recognizing the signs of malicious attempts to obtain sensitive information will help us become better protected. Some of the most common ones include:

  • Clients receiving IRS letters regarding suspicious tax returns on their behalf
  • Clients receiving tax transcripts they didn’t request
  • Having more tax returns filed through a practitioner’s Electronic Filing Identification Number than the ones that were submitted.

Lastly, any professional tax advisor needs to work on a data theft security plan in case they were victims of a cyberattack of if their clients’ sensitive data happened to get compromised. Such a plan such include:

  • Contacting the IRS Stakeholder Liaison as soon as possible
  • Collaborating with the IRS to protect the accounts of our clients
  • Hiring a cybersecurity expert in order to prevent and stop data theft.

Data protection cannot be taken lightly, and as tax advisors, it is our responsibility to make sure we follow every measure there is in order to guarantee our clients their information isn’t at risk when working with us.

 

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