If you rent a home you own to a relative, there may be tax consequences. Renting out a home you own may result in a tax loss for you even if the rental income is more than your operating costs. You’re entitled to a depreciation deduction for your cost of the home (except for the portion allocated to the land). But if your tenant is related to you, special rules […]
No one needs to remind business owners that the cost of employee health care benefits keeps going up. One way to provide some of these benefits is through an employer-sponsored Health Savings Account (HSA). For eligible individuals, HSAs offer a tax-advantaged way to set aside funds (or have their employers do so) to meet future medical needs. To be eligible, an individual must be covered by a “high deductible health […]
The Social Security Administration recently announced that the wage base for computing Social Security tax will increase to $160,200 for 2023 (up from $147,000 for 2022). Wages and self-employment income above this threshold aren’t subject to Social Security tax. The Federal Insurance Contributions Act imposes two taxes on employers, employees and self-employed workers. One is for Social Security tax, and the other for Medicare tax. There’s a maximum amount of […]
You and your small business are likely to incur a variety of local transportation costs each year. Commuting costs aren’t deductible but the cost of any local trips you take for business purposes is a deductible business expense. Your deduction can be computed using actual expenses or a standard mileage rate (58.5¢ per business mile driven between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2022, and 62.5¢ per business mile driven between […]
If you have a child or grandchild who’s heading to college in the future, you may wonder about investing in a qualified tuition program or 529 plan. You don’t get a federal tax deduction for a contribution, but the earnings aren’t taxed while the funds are in the program. (There may be a state deduction in your state.) You can change the beneficiary without income tax consequences. Distributions are tax-free […]