The time for individuals, including single-member LLCs taxed as sole proprietors, to get the 2020 Employee Retention Credit correct is here. And this is true even if you have applied for but not yet received the credit. For corporations and partnerships, the time may be past, but this article sheds light on what you need to know.

If you are self-employed or operate your business as a small corporation, it’s possible that you have not yet claimed your COVID-19 family and sick leave tax credits. If that’s true, take a moment or two and answer the 12 easy questions in this article to see whether you could qualify for some or all of the possible tax credits.

The IRS can’t take forever to audit you. Once the statute of limitations expires, the IRS can’t audit your return or assess any additional tax. Most returns must be audited within three years after they were due or filed, whichever is later. But the IRS has much longer to audit returns where taxpayers severely underpay their taxes, commit fraud, or file no return at all. Moreover, there is a longer statute of limitations for certain Employee Retention Credit audits.

As a subscriber, you likely know you are going to see some big tax changes this year. Some are already in place. To help you remember what they are, and to make them available for a quick look anytime you like, download this PDF.

First question: Is your ERC claim improper? Are you sure? If you’re sure, the IRS has a proposition for you. Pay back 80 percent of all your ERC claims, and keep the remaining 20 percent. But hurry, this deal expires soon.

From its origins in the 2020 CARES Act to the 2023 IRS alerts and warnings, the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) has undergone significant shifts. Discover the pivotal changes, and see how this tax credit’s twists and turns could impact your business.

Does your business have a retirement plan for you and, if you have employees, your employees? It should. You have more new reasons in 2023 to get your retirement plan in place and perhaps make changes in existing plans.

The COVID-19 employee retention credit (ERC) of up to $26,000 per eligible employee applied during calendar years 2020 and 2021. Assuming you can qualify for the ERC but did not apply, how do you get it now? It’s pretty easy. You amend your payroll and income tax returns. The harder part is finding the rules that allow you to qualify. We make that easier with this article.

Eight states offer tax rebates or credits to residents who purchase or lease electric vehicles. You collect the state rebates or credits in addition to the federal tax credit. In many cases, the state credits are available for electric vehicles that don’t qualify for the federal credit because of strict domestic sourcing rules for batteries.

With the release of new IRS regulations, the many restrictions on the clean vehicle tax credit for electric vehicles (EVs) take full effect. As a result, only 22 EVs qualified for the clean vehicle tax credit as of April 18, 2023, although this number will likely grow during the year. But the tax rules give you some other ways to claim a federal tax credit for an EV, such as by leasing an EV, buying a used EV, or claiming the commercial clean vehicle credit for business-use EVs.

Of the dozens and dozens of tax-saving articles published by the Bradford Tax Institute in 2022, there were five that stuck out. Download this PDF to capture the five articles in one document.

As a subscriber, you likely know you are going to see some big tax changes this year. Some are already in place. To help you remember what they are, and to have them available for a quick look anytime you like, download this PDF.

It’s been almost 15 years since cancellation of debt was a story above the fold. Should we dip into recession, you likely will see more stories about cancellation of debt. For federal income tax purposes, canceled debt is taxable—unless it meets one of the many possible exceptions, as explained in this article.

If you had W-2 employees in 2020 and/or 2021, you need to look at the Employee Retention Credit (ERC). This is true whether you already filed for it or are thinking of filing for it. See the 12 answers in this article for insights into the ERC.

If you purchase an all-electric vehicle or a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, you can qualify for a tax credit of up to $7,500. But the newly enacted Inflation Reduction Act has thoroughly revamped the credit beginning August 17, 2022, with additional changes taking place in 2023 and 2024. If you are planning to take advantage of this credit, there’s much to know, as you will learn here.

The newly enacted Inflation Reduction Act expands and extends tax credits for installing solar panels, electric vehicle chargers, or other renewable energy systems in commercial buildings and residential rental property. It also increases the tax deduction for making commercial buildings more energy-efficient.

If you purchase an electric car or a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle to use in your business, you can qualify for a brand-new commercial clean vehicle tax credit worth up to a whopping $40,000. But that’s not all.

The Inflation Reduction Act extends and expands tax credits for making your home more energy efficient. These include a healthy 30 percent credit for installing home solar panels; credits for installing energy-efficient windows, doors, and insulation; and even a credit for installing a home electric vehicle charger.

If you suffered from the repeal of the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) for the fourth quarter of 2021 and/or suffered from IRS Notice 2021-49 and its disallowance of the ERC on wages paid to the corporate owner-employee, you now have hope that one or both of these problems can be solved in your favor.

The incredibly valuable employee retention credit is over except for new start-up businesses, but there are several other credits you can claim when you hire an employee to work in your Schedule C business. And you may be able to claim more than one credit.

There are dozens of tax credits for businesses. Most of the tax credits are highly specialized or are only for businesses with employees. This makes it hard to find those credits for small businesses, particularly Schedule C businesses. But in this article, you will find six credits that Schedule C businesses without employees can claim.

IRS Notice 2021-49 disallowing the employee retention credit to more than 50 percent owners who have certain living relatives has to be a mistake. It’s too illogical to stand. In fact, you have to question whether the notice is technically correct.

If you encourage your employees to get the COVID-19 vaccination by giving them paid time off through September 30, 2021, you can collect refundable sick and family leave tax credits of up to $17,511 per employee. The credit is also available if an employee takes time off to help family or household members get vaccinated or recover from side effects of the vaccination. Similar credits are available if you are self-employed and have no employees.

The federal Rehabilitation Tax Credit provides a 20 percent tax credit for owners or leaseholders to renovate certified historic buildings. Most states offer similar tax credits, with different percentages, providing additional cost savings. But this is tax law, and as you would expect, there are some tricky rules that you need to follow to qualify for these huge subsidies.

You’re eligible for a generous 30 percent residential tax credit when you install solar equipment on a residence and have it in use before midnight on December 31, 2019. The IRS instructions for claiming the credit are not as clear as you would like. But nicely, the tax code reveals the answer.

In many business environments, you compete for employee talent in a variety of ways, including perhaps by implementing a medical and family leave policy. The good news on this front is that your federal government may have given you a tax credit (yes, that lovely dollar-for-dollar offset to your taxes) for what you wanted to do anyway.

The government allows you to deduct and amortize a host of start-up costs and organizational costs when starting a new business. The tax rules in this area are unforgiving, meaning mistakes can prove costly. With proper planning, though, you can save money from your “thinking about it” costs and beyond.

Small start-up businesses have an unprecedented new way to save money, and it does not involve income taxes. The new way to save money is on your payroll taxes. How? By applying research and development credits to your payroll tax bill.

When it comes time to sell your business, it’s likely that you need to consider the intangible asset of goodwill. You have several things to consider, depending on the business entity you used to operate your business. For example, if you operated as a C corporation, how do you avoid double taxation on the goodwill? This article shows you how. Regardless of entity, how do you avoid the net investment income tax (NIIT)? This article shows you how.

Your government offers a very generous subsidy, a 30 percent tax credit, if you install solar equipment at one or more of your residences. And if you live in the right area of the country, you can come out well ahead on this deal. But this is tax law, and as you would expect, there are some tricky rules that you need to follow to qualify for the credit.

Would a unique downtown historic building be the perfect site for your office? It may be more affordable than you think. Your state and federal governments want you to rehabilitate these buildings and give you a financial incentive to do so. Here is their offer to you: if you invest in and restore a historic building, the governments will give you tax credits to offset a huge chunk of the cost of restoration.

How would you like to buy a small business, sell it at a huge profit, and defer the taxes as if you had completed a tax-deferred exchange? You can. It’s not a Section 1031 exchange. But it can give you the same exact tax deferral that you can achieve with a Section 1031 exchange. You find this great benefit in Section 1045 of the Internal Revenue Code.

For 2011, you can qualify for the uncapped and unlimited 30 percent tax credit for installing qualified solar, wind, and geothermal in your home, vacation home, or other residence.

Tax credits are a true incentive for the business owner. They reduce taxes dollar for dollar. Now, you have waiting for you a hefty 35 percent tax credit on small-business health insurance coverage for employees. Here are the rules you need to know.

For business owners who have children ages 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26, the new health care bill contains a healthy break, and perhaps even better than that. Amend Section 105 plans now for this new provision. Download your sample plan from this article.

This new law gives you 30 percent uncapped and unlimited tax credits for installing qualified solar, wind, or geothermal energy improvements in your home, vacation home, or other residence.

Tax credits are best. They reduce your taxes dollar for dollar.

Now, you can pocket a 30 percent tax credit of up to $1,500 when you install qualifying energy approved windows, doors, HVAC, insulation, water heaters, roofs, and similar property in your principal residence.

The new housing rescue law (1) creates a $7,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers; (2) creates up to a $500 property tax deduction for the taxpayer who does not itemize deductions; (3) destroys some or all of the $250,000 tax-free exclusion for sales of vacation homes and rentals converted to principal residences; and establishes 1099-style reporting to the IRS of gross income from credit card receipts.

Historic rehab tax credits can put you in Donald Trump’s self-proclaimed favorite spot. Tax credits often exceed the cash you invest in the project making the historic rental or office building a “nothing down” deal for you. Add nonrecourse financing to the package and you have no personal risk. None of your cash in the deal and no personal risk—this is Mr. Trump’s favorite spot. You might do as many Congressional leaders do: Donate your personal home’s historic facade to charity so can realize big tax credits.