Renting to a relative? Watch out for tax traps

If you own a home and rent it to a relative, you may be surprised to find out there could be tax consequences.

Quick rundown of the rules

Renting out a home or apartment that you own may result in a tax loss for you, even if the rental income is more than your operating costs. You’ll be entitled to a depreciation deduction for your cost of the house or apartment (except for the portion allocated to the land). However, if your tenant is related to you, special rules and limitations may apply. For this purpose, “related” means a spouse, child, grandchild, parent, grandparent or sibling.

No limitations apply if:

  • You rent a home to a relative who uses it as his or her principal residence (that is, not just as a second or vacation home) for the year, and
  • The home is rented at a fair market rent amount (not at a discount).

In these cases, you can deduct all the normal rental expenses, even if they result in a rental loss for the year. (If you have a loss, however, it’s a “passive” loss, which may be subject to a different set of limitations.)

Below fair market rent

Problems arise if you set the rent below the fair market rental value. The reason is this then becomes a rental property that you’re treated as using personally. So you’d have to allocate the expenses between the personal and rental portions of the year. Even more seriously, however, since all of the rental days (at a bargain rate to a relative) are treated as personal days, the rental portion would be zero. Thus, you’d have to report all of the rent you receive in income, but none of your expenses for the home would be deductible. (You’d still be able to deduct the mortgage interest, assuming it otherwise qualifies as deductible, and property taxes. These items are deductible even for nonrental homes.)

Given the above problems, it’s important to set the rent at a fair rate. Factors to look at include comparable rentals in the area and whether you made any “side” gifts to your relative (to help pay the rent) that could reasonably be interpreted to be a bargain element.

Contact us if you have any questions or would like to discuss any of these matters in more detail.


Look forward to next year by revisiting your business plan

Businesses of all stripes are about to embark upon a new calendar year. Whether you’ve done a lot of strategic planning or just a little, a good way to double-check your objectives and expectations is to revisit your business plan.

Remember your business plan? If you created one recently, or keep yours updated, it might be fresh in your mind. But many business owners file theirs away and bust them out only when asked to by lenders or other interested parties.

Reviewing and revising your business plan can enable you and your leadership team to ensure everyone is on the same page strategically as you move forward into the new year.

6 traditional sections 

Comprehensive business plans traditionally comprise six sections:

  1. Executive summary,
  2. Business description,
  3. Industry and marketing analysis,
  4. Management team description,
  5. Implementation plan, and
  6. Financials.

Business plans are a must for start-ups. And, as mentioned, they’re sometimes part of the commercial lending process. Yet business plans are often overlooked when leadership teams engage in strategic planning.

The best ones can be quite simple. In fact, long-winded business plans can wind up confusing everyone involved or simply go ignored. For a small business, the executive summary shouldn’t exceed one page, and the maximum number of pages of the entire plan should generally be fewer than 40.

Spotlight on financials

The executive summary is usually the first thing anyone looks at when reading a business plan, but it’s the last section you should write. Start with your company’s historic financial results, assuming it’s not a start-up. Then, identify key benchmarks that you want to achieve in the coming year — as well perhaps longer periods, such as three, five or even 10 years out.

Next, generate financial projections that support your strategic goals. For example, suppose your company has $10 million in sales in 2022 and expects to double that figure over a three-year period. How will you get from Point A ($10 million in 2023) to Point B ($20 million in 2025)?

Let’s say you and your leadership team decide to double sales by hiring four new salespeople and acquiring the assets of a bankrupt competitor. These strategic objectives will drive the projected income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statement included in your business plan.

Be particularly sure you’ve discussed how you’ll fund any cash shortfalls that take place as the company grows. Cash flow projections are critical for fruitful strategic planning, as well as for applying for a loan.

Blueprint for the future

One could say that integrating your strategic planning objectives into your business plan is a way to make your strategic plan “official.” By putting it in writing, and including the necessary financial documentation, you’ll have a blueprint of how to build the future of the business. Contact us for help.


The standard business mileage rate is going up in 2023

Although the national price of gas is a bit lower than it was a year ago, the optional standard mileage rate used to calculate the deductible cost of operating an automobile for business will be going up in 2023. The IRS recently announced that the 2023 cents-per-mile rate for the business use of a car, van, pickup or panel truck is 65.5 cents. These rates apply to electric and hybrid-electric automobiles, as well as gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles.

In 2022, the business cents-per-mile rate for the second half of the year (July 1 – December 31) was 62.5 cents per mile, and for the first half of the year (January 1 – June 30), it was 58.5 cents per mile.

How rate calculations are done

The 3-cent increase from the 2022 midyear rate is somewhat surprising because gas prices are currently lower than they have been. On December 29, 2022, the national average price of a gallon of regular gas was $3.15, compared with $3.52 a month earlier and $3.28 a year earlier, according to AAA Gas Prices. However, the standard mileage rate is calculated based on all the costs involved in driving a vehicle — not just the price of gas.

The business cents-per-mile rate is adjusted annually. It’s based on an annual study commissioned by the IRS about the fixed and variable costs of operating a vehicle, including gas, maintenance, repair and depreciation. Occasionally, if there’s a substantial change in average gas prices, the IRS will change the cents-per-mile rate midyear, as it did in 2022.

Standard rate versus actual expenses

Businesses can generally deduct the actual expenses attributable to business use of vehicles. This includes gas, oil, tires, insurance, repairs, licenses and vehicle registration fees. In addition, you can claim a depreciation allowance for the vehicle. However, in many cases, certain limits apply to depreciation write-offs on vehicles that don’t apply to other types of business assets.

The cents-per-mile rate is beneficial if you don’t want to keep track of actual vehicle-related expenses. With this method, you don’t have to account for all your actual expenses. However, you still must record certain information, such as the mileage for each business trip, the date and the destination.

Using the cents-per-mile rate is also popular with businesses that reimburse employees for business use of their personal vehicles. These reimbursements can help attract and retain employees who drive their personal vehicles a great deal for business purposes. Why? Under current law, employees can’t deduct unreimbursed employee business expenses, such as business mileage, on their own income tax returns.

If you do use the cents-per-mile rate, keep in mind that you must comply with various rules. If you don’t comply, the reimbursements could be considered taxable wages to the employees.

The standard rate can’t always be used

There are some cases when you can’t use the cents-per-mile rate. It partly depends on how you’ve claimed deductions for the same vehicle in the past. In other situations, it depends on if the vehicle is new to your business this year or whether you want to take advantage of certain first-year depreciation tax breaks on it.

As you can see, there are many factors to consider in deciding whether to use the standard mileage rate to deduct vehicle expenses. We can help if you have questions about tracking and claiming such expenses in 2023 — or claiming 2022 expenses on your 2022 income tax return.


SECURE 2.0 law may make you more secure in retirement

A new law was recently signed that will help Americans save more for retirement, although many of the provisions don’t kick in for a few years. The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement 2.0 Act (SECURE 2.0) was signed into law on December 29, 2022.

SECURE 2.0 is meant to build on the original SECURE Act of 2019, which made major changes to the required minimum distribution (RMD) rules and other retirement provisions.

Here are some of the significant retirement plan changes and when they’ll become effective:

  • The age for beginning RMDs is going up. Employer-sponsored qualified retirement plans, traditional IRAs and individual retirement annuities are subject to RMD rules. They require that benefits start being distributed by the required beginning date. Under the new law, the age distributions must begin increases from age 72 to age 73 starting on January 1, 2023. It will then increase to age 75 starting on January 1, 2033.
  • There will be higher “catch-up” contributions for 401(k) participants ages 60 through 63. Currently, participants in certain retirement plans can make additional catch-up contributions if they’re age 50 or older. The limit on catch-up contributions to 401(k) plans is $7,500 for 2023. SECURE 2.0 will increase the 401(k) plan catch-up contribution limits for individuals ages 60 through 63 to the greater of $10,000 or 150% of the regular catch-up amount. The increased amounts will be indexed for inflation after 2025. This provision will take effect for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2024. (There will also be increased catch-up amounts for SIMPLE plans.)
  • Tax-free rollovers will be allowed from 529 accounts to Roth IRAs. SECURE 2.0 will permit beneficiaries of 529 college savings accounts to make direct trustee-to-trustee rollovers from a 529 accounts in their names to their Roth IRAs without tax or penalty. Several rules apply. This provision is effective for distributions after December 31, 2023.
  • “Matching” contributions will be permitted for employees with student loan debt. The new law will allow an employer to make matching contributions to 401(k) and certain other retirement plans with respect to “qualified student loan payments.” The result of this provision is that employees who can’t afford to save money for retirement because they’re repaying student loan debt can still receive matching contributions from their employers into retirement plans. This will take effect beginning after December 31, 2023.

Non-retirement plan provision

There are also some parts of the law that aren’t related to retirement plans, including a change to Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) accounts. Tax-exempt ABLE programs are established by states to assist individuals with disabilities. Currently, in order to be the beneficiary of an ABLE account, an individual’s disability or blindness must have occurred before age 26. SECURE 2.0 increases this age limit to 46, which will make more people eligible to benefit from an ABLE account. This provision is effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2025.

Just the beginning

These are only some of the many provisions in SECURE 2.0. Contact us if you have any questions about your situation.


Unused PTO a problem? Consider a contribution arrangement

A new year has arrived. For many businesses, this means employees’ paid time off (PTO) arrangements have reset. And at companies with “use it or lose it” policies, workers have likely left a few or perhaps many unused hours on the table.

It’s a growing problem. A July 2022 survey conducted by Sorbet, a provider of PTO solutions, found that 55% of the PTO offered by responding companies was left unused last year — a notable rise from only 28% in 2019. (This is the first such survey the company has done since the pandemic.) Overall, 57% of employees who participated in the study had unused PTO in 2022, up from 37% in 2019.

Conventional methods

There are various ways for businesses to help employees better or, ideally, fully use their PTO. Regular reminders from supervisors and helpful information about wellness might do the trick.

However, taking these steps will require that your company has systems set up to deliver running PTO totals to supervisors and that the supervisors themselves can keep up with the reminders. You may also need to engage a third-party provider to send accurate and easily digestible wellness content to employees.

An alternate strategy

If your business offers a 401(k) plan, there’s an alternate strategy to consider: a PTO contribution program. It allows employees with unused vacation hours to elect to convert them to retirement plan contributions. A 401(k) plan can treat these amounts as a pretax benefit — similar to typical employee deferrals. Alternatively, the plan can treat the amounts as employer profit sharing, converting excess PTO amounts to employer contributions.

A PTO contribution arrangement may be a better option than increasing the number of days employees can roll over, assuming you allow rollovers to begin with. Larger rollover limits can result in employees building up large balances that create a significant liability on your books.

To offer a PTO contribution arrangement, you’ll need to amend your 401(k) plan. And you must still follow the plan document’s eligibility, vesting, rollover, distribution and loan terms.

Many details

Additional rules may apply to creating and administering a PTO contribution arrangement. To learn more about one, including the tax implications, please contact us. We can also help you measure and assess the cost of unused PTO for you and your employees.


Employers should be wary of ERC claims that are too good to be true

The Employee Retention Credit (ERC) was a valuable tax credit that helped employers that kept workers on staff during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the credit is no longer available, eligible employers that haven’t yet claimed it might still be able to do so by filing amended payroll returns for tax years 2020 and 2021.

However, the IRS is warning employers to beware of third parties that may be advising them to claim the ERC when they don’t qualify. Some third-party “ERC mills” are promising that they can get businesses a refund without knowing anything about the employers’ situations. They’re sending emails, letters and voice mails as well as advertising on television. When businesses respond, these ERC mills are claiming many improper write-offs related to taxpayer eligibility for — and computation of — the credit.

These third parties often charge large upfront fees or a fee that’s contingent on the amount of the refund. They may not inform taxpayers that wage deductions claimed on the companies’ federal income tax returns must be reduced by the amount of the credit.

According to the IRS, if a business filed an income tax return deducting qualified wages before it filed an employment tax return claiming the credit, the business should file an amended income tax return to correct any overstated wage deduction. Your tax advisor can assist with this.

Businesses are encouraged to be cautious of advertised schemes and direct solicitations promising tax savings that are too good to be true. Taxpayers are always responsible for the information reported on their tax returns. Improperly claiming the ERC could result in taxpayers being required to repay the credit along with penalties and interest.

ERC Basics

The ERC is a refundable tax credit designed for businesses that:

  • Continued paying employees while they were shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, or
  • Had significant declines in gross receipts from March 13, 2020, to September 30, 2021 (or December 31, 2021 for certain startup businesses).

Eligible taxpayers could have claimed the ERC on an original employment tax return or they can claim it on an amended return.

To be eligible for the ERC, employers must have:

  • Sustained a full or partial suspension of operations due to orders from an appropriate governmental authority limiting commerce, travel, or group meetings due to COVID-19 during 2020 or the first three quarters of 2021,
  • Experienced a significant decline in gross receipts during 2020 or a decline in gross receipts during the first three quarters of 2021, or
  • Qualified as a recovery startup business for the third or fourth quarters of 2021.

As a reminder, only recovery startup businesses are eligible for the ERC in the fourth quarter of 2021. Additionally, for any quarter, eligible employers cannot claim the ERC on wages that were reported as payroll costs in obtaining Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness or that were used to claim certain other tax credits.

How to Proceed

If you didn’t claim the ERC, and believe you’re eligible, contact us. We can advise you on how to proceed.


Tax-wise ways to save for college

If you’re a parent or grandparent with college-bound children, you may want to save to fund future education costs. Here are several approaches to take maximum advantage of the tax-favored ways to save that may be available to you.

Savings bonds 

Series EE U.S. savings bonds offer two tax-saving opportunities when used to finance college expenses:

  1. You don’t have to report the interest on the bonds for federal tax purposes until the bonds are cashed in, and
  2. Interest on “qualified” Series EE (and Series I) bonds may be exempt from federal tax if the bond proceeds are used for qualified college expenses.

To qualify for the college tax exemption, you must purchase the bonds in your own name (not the child’s) or jointly with your spouse. The proceeds must be used for tuition, fees, etc. — not room and board. If only some proceeds are used for qualified expenses, only that part of the interest is exempt.

If your modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) exceeds certain amounts, the exemption is phased out. For bonds cashed in 2023, the exemption begins to phase out when joint MAGI hits $137,800 for married joint filers ($91,850 for other returns) and is completely phased out if MAGI is $167,800 or more for joint filers ($106,850 or more for others).

Qualified tuition programs or 529 plans 

Typically known as a “529 plans,” these programs allow you to buy tuition credits or make contributions to an account set up to meet a child’s future higher education expenses. 529 plans are established by state governments or private institutions.

Contributions aren’t deductible and are treated as taxable gifts to the child. But they’re eligible for the annual gift tax exclusion ($17,000 in 2023). A donor who contributes more than the annual exclusion limit for the year can elect to treat the gift as if it were spread out over a five-year period.

Earnings on the contributions accumulate tax-free until the college costs are paid from the funds. Distributions from 529 plans are tax-free to the extent the funds are used to pay “qualified higher education expenses,” which can include up to $10,000 in tuition for an elementary or secondary school. Distributions of earnings that aren’t used for “qualified higher education expenses” are generally subject to income tax plus a 10% penalty.

Coverdell education savings accounts (ESAs)

You can establish a Coverdell ESA and make contributions of up to $2,000 for each child under age 18. This age limitation doesn’t apply to beneficiaries with special needs.

The right to make contributions begins to phase out once AGI is over $190,000 on a joint return ($95,000 for single taxpayers). If the income limit is an issue, the child can make a contribution to his or her own account.

Although contributions aren’t deductible, income in the account isn’t taxed, and distributions are tax-free if spent on qualified education expenses. If the child doesn’t attend college, the money must be withdrawn when the child turns 30 and any earnings will be subject to tax plus a penalty. However, unused funds can be transferred tax-free to a Coverdell ESA of another member of the family who hasn’t reached age 30. The age 30 requirement doesn’t apply to individuals with special needs.

We can help

These are just some of the tax-favored ways to save a college fund for your children. In a future article, we’ll discuss possible tax breaks once your child is already in college. Contact us if you wish to discuss these issues.


3 ways your business can uncover cost cuts

Every business wants to find them, but they sure don’t make it easy. We’re talking about cost cuts: clear and substantial ways to lower expenses, thereby strengthening cash flow and giving you a better shot at strong profitability.

Obvious places to slash costs — such as wages, benefits and overhead — often aren’t a viable option because the very stability of your operation may depend on them. But there might be other ways to lower expenses if you dig deeply enough. Here are three ways to perhaps uncover some cost-cutting opportunities.

1. Study your suppliers

Many companies find that just a few of their suppliers account for most of their spending. By identifying these vendors and consolidating spending with them, you may be able to put yourself in a stronger position to negotiate volume discounts. Consolidating your supplier base also tends to streamline the administrative work associated with purchasing.

On a related note, how well do you know your suppliers? One way to ensure you’re working off an abundance of relevant information is to conduct a supplier audit. This is a formal process for collecting key data points regarding a supplier’s performance to manage quality control and ensure you’re getting an acceptable return on investment.

2. Go green

Given the already noticeable effects of climate change, operating an environmentally friendly company has become imperative. But going green can, under the right circumstances, save you money as well.

Refurbished computers or office furniture often can be found at substantial savings compared with their brand-new counterparts. If you no longer need equipment, computing devices or office furniture, you may be able to sell them to a liquidator or dealer. You’ll not only bring in some money on the sales, but also free yourself of the need to store and maintain the items.

In addition, look at your facilities. If you own the property on which you operate, research energy efficient upgrades to the HVAC and lighting systems. Naturally, making such upgrades will cost you money initially, but you may be able to lower energy costs over the long term. What’s more, you might qualify for tax credits for installing certain items.

3. Explore outsourcing, tech upgrades

Many business owners try to cut costs by doing everything in-house — from accounting to payroll to HR. But if the staffing and expertise just aren’t there, these companies often suffer losses because of mistakes and mismanagement. Although you’ll obviously incur costs when outsourcing, the time and labor it saves you could end up being a net gain.

Carefully chosen and implemented technology upgrades can serve a similar purpose. Many products on the market today are so robust and fully featured, upgrading to them is almost comparable to outsourcing.

Again, you’ll need to spend money in the near term but, eventually, you could lower the cost of doing business. For example, the right customer relationship management system can help you generate sales leads and focus on your most profitable existing customers.

Snip, snip, snip

Lowering expenses is often difficult, but looking for ways to do it is an important activity to undertake regularly. This is particularly true now that inflation is a major factor in the economic landscape. Please contact us for help identifying and lowering your company’s most “cuttable” costs.


Forms W-2 and 1099-NEC are due to be filed soon

With the 2023 filing season deadline drawing near, be aware that the deadline for businesses to file information returns for hired workers is even closer. By January 31, 2023, employers must file these forms:

Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement. W-2 forms show the wages paid and taxes withheld for the year for each employee. They must be provided to employees and filed with the Social Security Administration (SSA). The IRS notes that “because employees’ Social Security and Medicare benefits are computed based on information on Form W-2, it’s very important to prepare Form W-2 correctly and timely.”

Form W-3, Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements. Anyone required to file Form W-2 must also file Form W-3 to transmit Copy A of Form W-2 to the SSA. The totals for amounts reported on related employment tax forms (Form 941, Form 943, Form 944 or Schedule H for the year) should agree with the amounts reported on Form W-3.

Failing to timely file or include the correct information on either the information return or statement may result in penalties.

Independent contractors

The January 31 deadline also applies to Form 1099-NEC, Nonemployee Compensation. These forms are provided to recipients and filed with the IRS to report non-employee compensation to independent contractors.

Payers must complete Form 1099-NEC to report any payment of $600 or more to a recipient.

If the following four conditions are met, you must generally report payments as nonemployee compensation:

  • You made a payment to someone who isn’t your employee,
  • You made a payment for services in the course of your trade or business,
  • You made a payment to an individual, partnership, estate, or, in some cases, a corporation, and
  • You made payments to a recipient of at least $600 during the year.

Your business may also have to file a Form 1099-MISC for each person to whom you made certain payments for rent, medical expenses, prizes and awards, attorney’s services and more.

We can help 

If you have questions about filing Form W-2, Form 1099-NEC or any tax forms, contact us. We can assist you in staying in compliance with all rules.


Why you might want to file early and answers to other tax season questions

The IRS announced it opened the 2023 individual income tax return filing season on January 23. That’s when the agency began accepting and processing 2022 tax year returns. Even if you typically don’t file until much closer to the mid-April deadline (or you file for an extension), consider filing earlier this year. The reason is you can potentially protect yourself from tax identity theft.

Here are some answers to questions taxpayers may have about filing.

How can your tax identity be stolen?

In a typical tax identity theft scam, a thief uses another individual’s personal information to file a fraudulent tax return early in the filing season and claim a bogus refund.

The actual taxpayer discovers the fraud when he or she files a return and is told by the IRS that the return is being rejected because one with the same Social Security number has already been filed for the tax year. Ultimately, the taxpayer should be able to prove that his or her return is the legitimate one, but tax identity theft can be time consuming and frustrating to straighten out. It can also delay a refund.

Your best defense may be to file early. Why? If you file first, the tax return filed by a potential thief will be rejected.

What are this year’s deadlines?

This year, the filing deadline to submit 2022 returns or file an extension is Tuesday, April 18 for most taxpayers. The due date is April 18, instead of April 15, because the 15th falls on a weekend and the District of Columbia’s Emancipation Day holiday falls on Monday, April 17.

If you’re requesting an extension, you’ll have until October 16, 2023, to file. Keep in mind that an extension of time to file your return doesn’t grant you any extension of time to pay your taxes. You should estimate and pay any taxes owed by the regular deadline to help avoid penalties.

When will your W-2s and 1099s arrive?

To file your tax return, you need all of your Form W-2s and 1099s. January 31 is the deadline for employers to issue 2022 W-2s to employees and, generally, for businesses to issue Form 1099s to recipients of any 2022 interest, dividend or reportable miscellaneous income payments (including those made to independent contractors).

If you haven’t received a W-2 or 1099 by February 1, first contact the entity that should have issued it. If that doesn’t work, ask us how to proceed.

Are there any other advantages to filing early? 

In addition to protecting yourself from tax identity theft, another advantage of early filing is that, if you’re getting a refund, you’ll get it sooner. The IRS expects most refunds to be issued within 21 days. The time may be shorter if you file electronically and receive a refund by direct deposit into a bank account.

Direct deposit also avoids the possibility that a refund check could be lost, stolen, returned to the IRS as undeliverable or caught in mail delays.

Need assistance?

If you have questions or would like an appointment to prepare your return, please contact us. We can help ensure you file an accurate return and receive all of the tax breaks to which you’re entitled.