What businesses can expect from a DOL benefits plan audit
All but the smallest businesses today are generally expected to offer employees “big picture” benefits such as health insurance and a retirement plan. Among the risks of doing so is that many popular plan types must comply with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). That means lots of rules and much documentation.
No matter how careful your company is with ERISA compliance, it could receive a request from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) for plan-related documents. Such a request usually initiates a DOL civil investigation — commonly referred to as a “plan audit.”
The first rule of the day is: Don’t panic! The second is to respond in a timely fashion. Here are the basic steps that a DOL plan audit will usually take:
Initial document request. Generally, a plan sponsor learns of an audit when it receives a letter or phone call from the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) advising those responsible for the plan — typically referred to as “plan officials” — of the investigation and requesting a detailed list of documents. The investigation may be general in nature or target a specific issue.
On-site review and interviews. The investigator may arrange to visit the plan sponsor’s offices and could request additional documents for review during the visit, such as payroll and claims processing records. Often, the investigator will also interview plan officials.
Investigation findings. If the investigator finds no ERISA violations, EBSA will send a closing letter stating that the investigation is complete, and no further action is contemplated. If the investigator does find violations, EBSA will issue a voluntary compliance notice letter identifying the violations and inviting plan officials to voluntarily make corrections.
Corrections and settlement. Whenever possible, EBSA seeks voluntary compliance through full corrections of identified violations and restoration of plan losses. After negotiating corrective actions with plan officials, the agency issues a detailed settlement agreement.
A typical agreement requires evidence of corrections and provides that, if EBSA determines that the agreement’s terms have been fulfilled, no further enforcement action will be taken regarding the specified violations. When voluntary compliance isn’t achieved, EBSA may refer a case to DOL attorneys for litigation. Some situations are inappropriate for voluntary correction — such as those involving fraud, criminal misconduct, or severe or repeated fiduciary violations.
Fiduciary violations. ERISA imposes a mandatory 20% penalty on any amounts recovered from a fiduciary or other person for a fiduciary breach, including amounts recovered under a settlement agreement. Generally, EBSA assesses the penalty in a separate letter, though the penalty may be addressed in the settlement agreement.
Closing letter following corrections. After EBSA confirms that corrective action has been completed and any penalties have been paid, it will send a closing letter indicating that compliance was achieved.
The steps described above could be completed in a matter of weeks or take a year or more. It all depends on factors such as complexity of plan design, issues identified in the investigation and number of potential violations. The availability of documents and individuals for interviews, as well as how cooperative your company’s plan officials are with EBSA, will also affect the duration and severity of the investigation.
Again, if your business receives notification about a DOL plan audit, address the inquiry immediately. Failure to provide requested documents to EBSA can lead to a penalty assessment. A prompt and cordial response, on the other hand, can establish a positive rapport with the investigator.
Above all, obtain the assistance of experienced advisors and legal counsel. Contact us for further information, as well as for support throughout the audit process.
New per diem business travel rates kicked in on October 1
Are employees at your business traveling and frustrated about documenting expenses? Or perhaps you’re annoyed at the time and energy that goes into reviewing business travel expenses. There may be a way to simplify the reimbursement of these expenses. In Notice 2023-68, the IRS announced the fiscal 2024 special “per diem” rates that became effective October 1, 2023. Taxpayers can use these rates to substantiate the amount of expenses for lodging, meals and incidentals when traveling away from home. (Taxpayers in the transportation industry can use a special transportation industry rate.)
Basics of the method
A simplified alternative to tracking actual business travel expenses is to use the “high-low” per diem method. This method provides fixed travel per diems. The amounts, provided by the IRS, vary from locality to locality.
Under the high-low method, the IRS establishes an annual flat rate for certain areas with higher costs of living. All locations within the continental United States that aren’t listed as “high-cost” are automatically considered “low-cost.” The high-low method may be used in lieu of the specific per diem rates for business destinations. Examples of high-cost areas include Boston, and San Francisco. Other locations, such as resort areas, are considered high-cost during only part of the year.
Under some circumstances — for example, if an employer provides lodging or pays the hotel directly — employees may receive a per diem reimbursement only for their meals and incidental expenses. There’s also a $5 incidental-expenses-only rate for employees who don’t pay or incur meal expenses for a calendar day (or partial day) of travel.
Reduced recordkeeping
If your company uses per diem rates, employees don’t have to meet the usual recordkeeping rules required by the IRS. Receipts of expenses generally aren’t required under the per diem method. But employees still must substantiate the time, place and business purpose of the travel. Per diem reimbursements generally aren’t subject to income or payroll tax withholding or reported on an employee’s Form W-2.
The FY2024 rates
For travel after September 30, 2023, the per diem rate for all high-cost areas within the continental United States is $309. This consists of $235 for lodging and $74 for meals and incidental expenses. For all other areas within the continental United States, the per diem rate is $214 for travel after September 30, 2023 ($150 for lodging and $64 for meals and incidental expenses). Compared to the FY2023 per diems, the high-cost area per diem increased $12, and the low-cost area per diem increased $10.
Important: This method is subject to various rules and restrictions. For example, companies that use the high-low method for an employee must continue using it for all reimbursement of business travel expenses within the continental United States during the calendar year. However, the company may use any permissible method to reimburse that employee for any travel outside the continental United States.
For travel during the last three months of a calendar year, employers must continue to use the same method (per diem or high-low method) for an employee as they used during the first nine months of the calendar year. Also, note that per diem rates can’t be paid to individuals who own 10% or more of the business.
If your employees are traveling, it may be a good time to review the rates and consider switching to the high-low method. It can reduce the time and frustration associated with traditional travel reimbursement. Contact us for more information or read the IRS notice here.
Contributing to your employer’s 401(k) plan: How it works
If you’re fortunate to have an employer that offers a 401(k) plan, and you don’t contribute to it, you may wonder if you should participate. In general, it’s a great tax and retirement saving deal! These plans help an employee accumulate a retirement nest egg on a tax-advantaged basis. If you’re thinking about contributing to a plan at work, here are some of the advantages.
With a 401(k) plan, you can opt to set aside a certain amount of your wages in a qualified retirement plan. By electing to set cash aside in a 401(k) plan, you’ll reduce your gross income and defer tax on the amount until the cash (adjusted by earnings) is distributed to you in the future. It will either be distributed from the plan or from an IRA or other plan that you roll your proceeds into after leaving your job.
Tax benefits
Your wages or other compensation will be reduced by the pre-tax contributions that you make, which will save you current income taxes. But the amounts will still be subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes. If your employer’s plan allows, you may instead make all, or some, contributions on an after-tax basis. These are Roth 401(k) contributions. With Roth 401(k) contributions, the amounts will be subject to current income taxation, but if you leave these funds in the plan for a required time, distributions (including earnings) will be tax-free.
Your elective contributions — either pre-tax or after-tax — are subject to annual IRS limits. In 2023, the maximum amount permitted is $22,500. When you reach age 50, if your employer’s plan allows, you can make additional “catch-up” contributions. In 2023, that additional amount is up to $7,500. So if you’re 50 or older, the total that you can contribute to all 401(k) plans in 2023 is $30,000. Total employer contributions, including your elective deferrals (but not catch-up contributions), can’t exceed 100% of compensation or, for 2023, $66,000, whichever is less.
In a typical plan, you’re permitted to invest the amount of your contributions (and any employer matching or other contributions) among available investment options that your employer has selected. Periodically review your plan investment performance to determine that each investment remains appropriate for your retirement planning goals and your risk specifications.
Taking withdrawals
Another important characteristic of these plans is the limitation on withdrawals while you’re working. Amounts in the plan attributable to elective contributions aren’t available to you before one of the following events:
- Retirement (or other separation from service),
- Reaching age 59½,
- Disability,
- Plan termination, or
- Hardship.
Eligibility rules for a hardship withdrawal are strict. A hardship distribution must be necessary to help deal with an immediate and heavy financial need.
As an alternative to taking a hardship or other plan withdrawal while employed, your employer’s plan may allow you to receive a loan, which you pay back to your account with interest.
Matching contributions
Employers may opt to match 401(k) contributions up to a certain amount. Although matching is not required, surveys show that most employers offer some type of match. If your employer matches contributions, you should make sure to contribute enough to receive the full amount. Otherwise, you’ll lose out on free money!
These are just the basics of 401(k) plans for employees. For more information, contact your employer. Of course, we can answer any tax questions you may have.
Businesses: Know who your privileged users are … and aren’t
Given the pervasiveness of technology in the business world today, most companies are sitting on treasure troves of sensitive data that could be abducted, exploited, corrupted or destroyed. Of course, there’s the clear and present danger of external parties hacking into your network to do it harm. But there are also internal risks — namely, your “privileged users.”
Simply defined, privileged users are people with elevated cybersecurity access to your business’s enterprise systems and sensitive data. They typically include members of the IT department, who need to be able to reach every nook and cranny of your network to install upgrades and fix problems. However, privileged users also may include those in leadership positions, accounting and financial staff, and even independent contractors brought in to help you with technology-related issues.
What could go wrong?
Assuming your company follows a careful hiring process, most of your privileged users are likely hardworking employees who take their cybersecurity clearances seriously.
Unfortunately, sometimes disgruntled or unethical employees or contractors use their access to perpetrate fraud, intellectual property theft or sabotage. And they don’t always act alone. Third parties, such as competitors, could try to recruit privileged users to steal trade secrets. Or employees could collude with hackers to compromise a company’s network in a ransomware scheme.
How can you protect yourself?
To best protect your business, you may want to implement a formal privileged user policy. This is essentially a set of rules and procedures governing who gets to be a privileged user, precisely what kind of access each such user is allowed, and how your company tracks and revokes privileged-user status.
When developing and enforcing the policy, you’ll first need to identify who your privileged users are and what specific security clearances each one needs. A good way to start is to list the privileges required for every position and then compare that list to a separate record of privileges that each employee currently has. What makes sense? What doesn’t? When in doubt whether someone needs a certain type of access, it’s generally best to err on the side of caution.
Also, establish an “upgrading” process under the policy. Only trusted and qualified managers or supervisors should have the power to upgrade or reinstate an employee’s privileges, perhaps in consultation with the leadership team. Use technology to help standardize and track requests and approvals. For sensitive systems and applications, such as those that store customer and financial data, consider requiring two levels of approval to elevate a user’s privileges.
In addition, your privileged user policy should include stipulations to carefully monitor user activity. Observe and track how employees use their privileges. Let’s say a salesperson repeatedly accesses customer data for a region that the person isn’t responsible for. Have the sales manager inquire why. Subtly reminding employees that the company is aware of their tech-related activities is a good way to help deter fraud and unethical behavior.
Another important aspect of the policy is how you revoke privileges and remove dormant accounts. When employees leave the company, or independent contractors end their engagements, privileged access should be revoked immediately. Keep clear records of such actions. If a previously deactivated account somehow shows signs of activity, block access right away and investigate how and why it’s come back to life.
Do you know?
Every business should be able to definitively say who is a privileged user and who isn’t. If there’s any gray area or uncertainty regarding current or former employees or other workers, the security of your data could be severely compromised. And the ramifications, both financially and for your company’s reputation, are potentially very serious.
Choosing a business entity: Which way to go?
If you’re planning to start a business or thinking about changing your business entity, you need to determine what will work best for you. Should you operate as a C corporation or a pass-through entity such as a sole-proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company (LLC) or S corporation? There are many issues to consider.
Currently, the corporate federal income tax is imposed at a flat 21% rate, while individual federal income tax rates currently begin at 10% and go up to 37%. The difference in rates can be alleviated by the qualified business income (QBI) deduction that’s available to eligible pass-through entity owners that are individuals, and some estates and trusts.
Individual rate caveats: The QBI deduction is scheduled to end in 2026, unless Congress acts to extend it, while the 21% corporate rate is not scheduled to expire. Also, noncorporate taxpayers with modified adjusted gross incomes above certain levels are subject to an additional 3.8% tax on net investment income.
Organizing a business as a C corporation instead of a pass-through entity may reduce the current federal income tax on the business’s income. The corporation can still pay reasonable compensation to the shareholders and pay interest on loans from the shareholders. That income will be taxed at higher individual rates, but the overall rate on the corporation’s income can be lower than if the business was operated as a pass-through entity.
More to take into account
There are other tax-related factors to take into consideration. For example:
- If most of the business profits will be distributed to the owners, it may be preferable to operate the business as a pass-through entity rather than a C corporation, since the shareholders will be taxed on dividend distributions from the corporation (double taxation). In contrast, owners of a pass-through entity will only be taxed once, at the personal level, on business income. However, the impact of double taxation must be evaluated based on projected income levels for both the business and its owners.
- If the value of the assets is likely to appreciate, it’s generally preferable to conduct business as a pass-through entity to avoid a corporate tax when the assets are sold or the business is liquidated. Although corporate level tax will be avoided if the corporation’s shares, rather than its assets, are sold, the buyer may insist on a lower price because the tax basis of appreciated business assets cannot be stepped up to reflect the purchase price. That can result in much lower post-purchase depreciation and amortization deductions for the buyer.
- If the business is a pass-through entity, an owner’s basis in his or her interest in the entity is stepped-up by the entity income that’s allocated to the owner. That can result in less taxable gain for the owner when his or her interests in the entity are sold.
- If the business is expected to incur tax losses for a while, you may want to structure it as a pass-through entity so you can deduct the losses against other income. Conversely, if you have insufficient other income or the losses aren’t usable (for example, because they’re limited by the passive loss rules), it may be preferable for the business to be a C corporation, since it’ll be able to offset future income with the losses.
- If the owner of a business is subject to the alternative minimum tax (AMT), it may be preferable to organize as a C corporation, since corporations aren’t subject to the AMT. Affected individuals are subject to the AMT at 26% or 28% rates.
As you can see, there are many factors involved in operating a business as a certain type of entity. This only covers a few of them. For more details about how to proceed in your situation, consult with us.
What you need to know about restricted stock awards and taxes
Restricted stock awards are a popular way for companies to offer equity-oriented executive compensation. Some businesses offer them instead of stock option awards. The reason: Options can lose most or all of their value if the price of the underlying stock takes a dive. But with restricted stock, if the stock price goes down, your company can issue you additional restricted shares to make up the difference.
Restricted stock basics
In a typical restricted stock deal, you receive company stock subject to one or more restrictions. The most common restriction is that you must continue working for the company until a certain date. If you leave before then, you forfeit the restricted shares, which are usually issued at minimal or no cost to you.
To be clear, the restricted shares are transferred to you, but you don’t actually own them without any restrictions until they become vested.
Tax rules for awards
What are the tax implications? You don’t have any taxable income from a restricted share award until the shares become vested — meaning when your ownership is no longer restricted. At that time, you’re deemed to receive taxable compensation income equal to the difference between the value of the shares on the vesting date and the amount you paid for them, if anything. The current federal income tax rate on compensation income can be as high as 37%, and you’ll probably owe an additional 3.8% net investment income tax (NIIT). You may owe state income tax too.
Any appreciation after the shares vest is treated as capital gain. So, if you hold the stock for more than one year after the vesting date, you’ll have a lower-taxed long-term capital gain on any post-vesting-date appreciation. The current maximum federal rate on long-term capital gains is 20%, but you may also owe the 3.8% NIIT and possibly state income tax.
Special election to be currently taxed
If you make a special Section 83(b) election, you’ll be taxed at the time you receive your restricted stock award instead of later when the restricted shares vest. The income amount equals the difference between the value of the shares at the time of the restricted stock award and the amount you pay for them, if anything. The income is treated as compensation subject to federal income tax, federal employment taxes and state income tax, if applicable.
The benefit of making the election is that any subsequent appreciation in the value of the stock is treated as lower-taxed, long-term capital gain if you hold the stock for more than one year. Also, making the election can provide insurance against higher tax rates that might be in place when your restricted shares become vested.
The downside of making the election is that you recognize taxable income in the year you receive the restricted stock award, even though the shares may later be forfeited or decline in value. If you forfeit the shares back to your employer, you can claim a capital loss for the amount you paid for the shares, if anything.
If you opt to make the election, you must notify the IRS either before the restricted stock is transferred to you or within 30 days after that date. We can help you with election details.
Important decision
The tax rules for restricted stock awards are pretty straightforward. The major tax planning consideration is deciding whether or not to make the Section 83(b) election. Consult with us before making that call.
Is your business subject to the new BOI reporting rules?
The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) was signed into law to fight crimes commonly associated with illegal business activities such as terrorist financing and money laundering. If your business can be defined as a “reporting company” under the CTA, you may need to comply with new beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting rules that take effect on January 1, 2024.
Who’s who?
A reporting company includes any corporation, limited liability company or other legal entity created through documents filed with the appropriate state authorities. A reporting company may also be any private entity formed in a foreign country that’s properly registered to do business in a U.S. state.
Reporting companies must provide information about their “beneficial owners” to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. A beneficial owner is someone who, directly or indirectly, exercises substantial control over a reporting company, or who owns or controls at least 25% of its interests. Indirect control is often exhibited by a senior officer or person with authority over senior officers.
The CTA does exempt a wide range of entities from the BOI reporting rules — including government units, nonprofit organizations and insurers. Notably, an exemption was created for “large operating companies” that:
- Employ more than 20 employees on a full-time basis,
- Have more than $5 million in gross receipts or sales (not including receipts and sales from foreign sources), and
- Physically operate in the United States.
However, many of these businesses need to comply with other reporting requirements.
What info must be provided?
The BOI reporting requirements are extensive. Reporting companies must file a report with FinCEN that includes the entity’s legal name (or any trade or doing-business-as name), address, jurisdiction where the entity was formed and Taxpayer Identification Number.
Reporting companies must also submit the name, address, date of birth and “unique identifying number information” of each beneficial owner. A unique identifying number may be a U.S. passport or state driver’s license number. An image of the document containing the identifying number must be included in the filing.
In addition, the CTA requires reporting companies to provide identifying information about their “company applicants.” A company applicant is defined as someone who’s responsible for:
- Filing the documents that created the entity (for a foreign entity, this is the person who directly files the document that first registers the foreign reporting company to conduct business in a U.S. state), or
- Directing or controlling the filing of the relevant formation or registration document by another individual.
Note: This rule often encompasses legal representatives acting in a business capacity.
When to file?
Reporting companies have either 30 days or one year from the effective date of January 1, 2024, to comply with the CTA. Reporting companies created or registered before the effective date have one year to file their initial reports with FinCEN. Those created or registered on or after January 1, 2024, will have 30 days upon receipt of their creation or registration documents to file initial reports.
After initially filing, reporting companies have 30 days to file an updated report reflecting any changes to previously reported BOI. In addition, reporting companies must correct inaccurate BOI in previously filed reports within 30 days after the date they become aware of the error.
Who can help?
With the effective date closing in quickly, now’s the time to determine whether your business is a nonexempt reporting company that must comply with the BOI reporting rules. We can help you make this determination in consultation with your legal advisors.
A cost segregation study may cut taxes and boost cash flow
Is your business depreciating over 30 years the entire cost of constructing the building that houses your enterprise? If so, you should consider a cost segregation study. It may allow you to accelerate depreciation deductions on certain items, thereby reducing taxes and boosting cash flow.
Depreciation basics
Business buildings generally have a 39-year depreciation period (27.5 years for residential rental properties). In most cases, a business depreciates a building’s structural components, including walls, windows, HVAC systems, elevators, plumbing and wiring, along with the building. Personal property — including equipment, machinery, furniture and fixtures — is eligible for accelerated depreciation, usually over five or seven years. And land improvements, such as fences, outdoor lighting and parking lots, are depreciable over 15 years.
Frequently, businesses allocate all or most of their buildings’ acquisition or construction costs to real property, overlooking opportunities to allocate costs to shorter-lived personal property or land improvements. In some cases, the distinction between real and personal property is obvious. For example, computers and furniture are personal property. But the line between real and personal property is not always clear. Items that appear to be “part of a building” may in fact be personal property. Examples are removable wall and floor coverings, removable partitions, awnings and canopies, window treatments, decorative lighting and signs.
In addition, certain items that otherwise would be treated as real property may qualify as personal property if they serve more of a business function than a structural purpose. These include reinforced flooring that supports heavy manufacturing equipment, electrical or plumbing installations required to operate specialized equipment and dedicated cooling systems for data processing rooms.
Identifying and substantiating costs
A cost segregation study combines accounting and engineering techniques to identify building costs that are properly allocable to tangible personal property rather than real property. Although the relative costs and benefits of a cost segregation study depend on your particular facts and circumstances, it can be a valuable investment.
Speedier depreciation tax breaks
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) enhanced certain depreciation-related tax breaks, which may also enhance the benefits of a cost segregation study. Among other changes, the law permanently increased limits on Section 179 expensing, which allows you to immediately deduct the entire cost of qualifying equipment or other fixed assets up to specified thresholds.
In addition, the TCJA expanded 15-year-property treatment to apply to qualified improvement property. Previously, this tax break was limited to qualified leasehold-improvement, retail-improvement and restaurant property. And the law temporarily increased first-year bonus depreciation from 50% to 100% in 2022, 80% in 2023 and 60% in 2024. After that, it will continue to decrease until it is 0% in 2027, unless Congress acts.
Making favorable depreciation changes
It isn’t too late to get the benefit of faster depreciation for items that were incorrectly assumed to be part of your building for depreciation purposes. You don’t have to amend your past returns (or meet a deadline for claiming tax refunds) to claim the depreciation that you could have already claimed. Instead, you can claim that depreciation by following procedures, in connection with the next tax return you file, that will result in automatic IRS consent to a change in your accounting for depreciation.
Cost segregation studies can yield substantial benefits, but they’re not the best move for every business. Contact us to determine whether this strategy would work for your business. We’ll judge whether a study will result in tax savings that are greater than the costs of the study itself.
11 Exceptions to the 10% penalty tax on early IRA withdrawals
If you’re facing a serious cash shortfall, one possible solution is to take an early withdrawal from your traditional IRA. That means one before you’ve reached age 59½. For this purpose, traditional IRAs include simplified employee pension (SEP-IRA) and SIMPLE-IRA accounts.
Here’s what you need to know about the tax implications, including when the 10% early withdrawal penalty tax might apply.
Penalty may be avoided
In almost all cases, all or part of a withdrawal from a traditional IRA will constitute taxable income. The taxable percentage depends on whether you’ve made any nondeductible contributions to your traditional IRAs. If you have, each withdrawal from a traditional IRA consists of a proportionate amount of your total nondeductible contributions. That part is tax-free. The proportionate amount of each withdrawal that consists of deductible contributions and accumulated earnings is taxable. If you’ve never made any nondeductible contributions, 100% of a withdrawal is taxable.
Wide variety of exceptions
Unless one of these 11 exceptions applies, there will be a 10% early withdrawal penalty tax on the taxable portion of a traditional IRA withdrawal taken before age 59½.
1. Substantially equal periodic payments (SEPPs). These are annual annuity-like withdrawals that must be taken for at least five years or until the you reach age 59½, whichever comes later. Because the SEPP rules are complicated, consult with us to avoid pitfalls.
2. Withdrawals for medical expenses. If you have qualified medical expenses in excess of 7.5% of your adjusted gross income, the excess is exempt from the penalty tax.
3. Higher education expense withdrawals. Early withdrawals are penalty-free to the extent of qualified higher education expenses paid during the same year.
4. Withdrawals for health insurance premiums while unemployed. This exception is available to an IRA owner who has received unemployment compensation payments for 12 consecutive weeks under any federal or state unemployment compensation law during the year in question or the preceding year.
5. Birth or adoption withdrawals. Penalty-free treatment is available for qualified birth or adoption withdrawals of up to $5,000 for each eligible event.
6. Withdrawals for first-time home purchases. Penalty-free withdrawals are allowed to an account owner within 120 days to pay qualified principal residence acquisition costs, subject to a $10,000 lifetime limit.
7. Withdrawals by certain military reservists. Early withdrawals taken by military reserve members called to active duty for at least 180 days or for an indefinite period are exempt from the 10% penalty.
8. Withdrawals after disability. Early withdrawals taken by an IRA owner who is physically or mentally disabled to the extent that the owner cannot engage in his or her customary gainful activity or a comparable gainful activity are exempt from the penalty tax. The disability must be expected to lead to death or be of long or indefinite duration.
9. Withdrawals to satisfy certain IRS debts. This applies to early IRA withdrawals taken to pay IRS levies against the account.
10. Withdrawals after death. Withdrawals taken from an IRA after the account owner’s death are always exempt from the 10% penalty. However, this exemption isn’t available for funds rolled over into the surviving spouse’s IRA or if the surviving spouse elects to treat an IRA inherited from the deceased spouse as the spouse’s own account.
11. Penalty-free withdrawals for emergencies coming soon. The SECURE 2.0 law adds a new exception for certain distributions used for emergency expenses, which are defined as unforeseeable or immediate financial needs relating to personal or family emergencies. Only one distribution of up to $1,000 is permitted a year and a taxpayer has the option to repay it within three years. This provision is effective for distributions made after December 31, 2023.
Plan ahead
Since most or all of an early traditional IRA withdrawal will probably be taxable, it could push you into a higher marginal federal income tax bracket. You may also owe the 10% early withdrawal penalty and possibly state income tax too. Note that the penalty tax exceptions generally have additional requirements that we haven’t covered here. Contact us for more details.
Key 2024 inflation-adjusted tax parameters for small businesses and their owners
The IRS recently announced various inflation-adjusted federal income tax amounts. Here’s a rundown of the amounts that are most likely to affect small businesses and their owners.
Rates and brackets
If you run your business as a sole proprietorship or pass-through business entity (LLC, partnership or S corporation), the business’s net ordinary income from operations is passed through to you and reported on your personal Form 1040. You then pay the individual federal income tax rates on that income.
Here are the 2024 inflation adjusted bracket thresholds.
- 10% tax bracket: $0 to $11,600 for singles, $0 to $23,200 for married joint filers, $0 to $16,550 for heads of household;
- Beginning of 12% bracket: $11,601 for singles, $23,201 for married joint filers, $16,551 for heads of household;
- Beginning of 22% bracket: $47,151 for singles, $94,301 for married joint filers, $63,101 for heads of household;
- Beginning of 24% bracket: $100,526 for singles, $201,051 for married joint filers, $100,501 for heads of household;
- Beginning of 32% bracket: $191,951 for singles, $383,901 for married joint filers, $191,951 for heads of household;
- Beginning of 35% bracket: $243,726 for singles, $487,451 for married joint filers and $243,701 for heads of household; and
- Beginning of 37% bracket: $609,351 for singles, $731,201 for married joint filers and $609,351 for heads of household.
Key Point: These thresholds are about 5.4% higher than for 2023. That means that, other things being equal, you can have about 5.4% more ordinary business income next year without owing more to Uncle Sam.
Section 1231 gains and qualified dividends
If you run your business as a sole proprietorship or a pass-through entity, and the business sells assets, you may have Section 1231 gains that passed through to you to be included on your personal Form 1040. Sec. 1231 gains are long-term gains from selling business assets that were held for more than one year, and they’re generally taxed at the same lower federal rates that apply to garden-variety long-term capital gains (LTCGs), such as stock sale gains. Here are the 2024 inflation-adjusted bracket thresholds that will generally apply to Sec. 1231 gains recognized by individual taxpayers.
- 0% tax bracket: $0 to $47,025 for singles, $0 to $94,050 for married joint filers and $0 to $63,000 for heads of household;
- Beginning of 15% bracket: $47,026 for singles, $94,051 for joint filers, $63,001 for heads of household; and
- Beginning of 20% bracket: $518,901 for singles, $583,751 for married joint filers and $551,351 for heads of household.
If you run your business as a C corporation, and the company pays you qualified dividends, they’re taxed at the lower LTCG rates. So, the 2024 rate brackets for qualified dividends paid to individual taxpayers will be the same as above.
Self-employment tax
If you operate your business as a sole proprietorship or as a pass-through entity, you probably have net self-employment (SE) income that must be reported on your personal Form 1040 to calculate your SE tax liability. For 2024, the maximum 15.3% SE tax rate will apply to the first $166,800 of net SE income (up from $160,200 for 2023).
Section 179 deductions
For tax years beginning in 2024, small businesses can potentially write off up to $1,220,000 of qualified asset additions in year one (up from $1,160,000 for 2023). However, the maximum deduction amount begins to be phased out once qualified asset additions exceed $3,050,000 (up from $2,890,000 for 2023). Various limitations apply to Sec. 179 deductions.
Side Note: Under the first-year bonus depreciation break, you can deduct up to 60% of the cost of qualified asset additions placed in service in calendar year 2024. For 2023, you could deduct up to 80%.
Just the beginning
These are only the 2024 inflation-adjusted amounts that are most likely to affect small businesses and their owners. There are others that may potentially apply, including: limits on qualified business income deductions and business loss deductions, income limits on various favorable exceptions such as the right to use cash-method accounting, limits on how much you can contribute to your self-employed or company-sponsored tax-favored retirement account, limits on tax-free transportation allowances for employees, and limits on tax-free adoption assistance for employees. Contact us with questions about your situation.