Small Business Taxes & Management^TM--Copyright 2023, A/N Group, Inc.

General Comments

Note--This is Part 1 of three parts. This section is designed to lay down some preliminaries and help you estimate your income and taxes for the year. Part 2 is Business Planning and Part 3 is Individual Planning.

This year should have been more normal but the steep rise in interest rates has changed that. While on balance businesses are doing better, that's far from universally true. Much the same is true of the stock market. Many funds have done well, as have many averages, but more than a few tech stocks are less then half of what they were a year ago. There's a good chance you've got substantial losses--both realized and unrealized. But you could be in a different financial situation than usual, whether you're simply an employee, an independent contractor, or own a regular business. Consumers have generally tightened their belt as a result of inflation. For businesses 80 percent bonus depreciation is in effect for 2023 but drops to 60 percent in 2024. Capital spending plans can be long term for many businesses.

Tax rates saw a big drop in 2023, but the drop in 2024 will be smaller. The same is true for thresholds for the long-term capital gain rates, alternative minimum tax exemptions, phaseouts of credits, etc. Before doing any serious planning you should review your income and expenses for the year. If you have a business operating as an S corporation, partnership, LLC, or sole proprietorship, the income and losses will be passed through to you. So you've got to have a good idea of how the business is doing. Much the same applies if you have a rental property (or properties) and can deduct the losses or if the property throws off income. In the past we've said that rental properties tend to be more stable than an operating business. That may not be true this year as residential rental rates have climbed (but may be peaking). Depending on the market, you may have tenants who are behind in the rent, moved out, or had new tenants moving in--some at a higher rent, some lower.

The theory behind business tax planning is similar to planning for your personal return. You want to defer the income to a low tax rate year. If you do business as a sole proprietorship (i.e., file a Schedule C), S corporation, partnership, or LLC (limited liability company), income and losses of the business are passed through and reported on your personal tax return. Thus, your approach to year-end planning is similar to that for individual planning. (There are some factors that can complicate the issue; they're discussed below.) And, yes, while it's true you can save taxes by making equipment and other purchases, you're out-of-pocket cost is still more than 50%. For example, you purchase a $1,000 laptop. If you're in the 37% bracket for federal purposes and 10% for state, you're effective tax rate is probably about 45% (you may get a deduction for your state taxes on your federal return). That means the government is picking up $450 of the cost; you're paying for the other $550. If you're self-employed or doing business as a partnership or LLC, your rate will be slightly higher when you add in the self-employment tax. Best suggestion? As always, economic considerations come first. Don't buy what you don't need; don't buy more than you need.

For a list of tax rates, facts on alternative minimum tax, standard deduction, credits, etc. go to our Tax Tables page for the details.

Projecting Your Income--Business

Before going any further you've got to have a good handle on the income from your business. Your accounting records are a good starting point, but more than likely you'll have to adjust them to conform to the tax accounting rules. Here are some possible adjustments:

• Depreciation. The depreciation reported on your books may be higher or lower than that used for tax purposes. In some cases, no provision may have been made yet for depreciation for 2023.

• Writeoffs. Bad debt reserves and many book writeoffs are not allowed for tax purposes. That may increase current year taxable income. On the other hand, book writeoffs taken in prior years may be reversing this year and may be deductible for tax purposes.

• Like-kind exchanges. Gain may be deferred for tax purposes but recognized for book. But keep in mind that like-kind exchanges of items other than real estate are no longer allowed for tax purposes. That means you'll have to recognize gain or loss on that truck or equipment trade in.

• Meal and entertainment expenses were fully expensed for book purposes. That's generally not true for tax purposes. For 2022 you could deduct 100 percent of your qualifying meal expenses, but from 2018 on entertainment expenses are not deductible. Starting again in 2023, meal expenses are only 50 percent deductible.

• Installment sales. Tax law doesn't allow the installment method for accounting for sales of goods that are inventory property. For example, if you sell furniture as a business, you can't use the installment sale for those items. On the other hand, you can use the installment method for the sale of store fixtures, shop equipment, etc. You may use a different method for tax and accounting purposes.

• Amortization. You may have capitalized some expenses for book purposes in the past and are currently taking a deduction while you immediately expensed the item for tax purposes. That means your tax income will be higher than book. It's possible for items to go in the reverse direction. That is, tax income could be lower than book.

• Nondeductibles. You may have made payments with a business check or credit card that clearly aren't deductible, e.g., that tuition payment for your daughter. You've got to make adjustments for such items. Similarly, you may have contributed money to the business either as a capital contribution or loan. If you're just using your bank deposits as a proxy for your income, be sure to account for these items.

• Tax law has some pretty specific rules as to when you can record income and expenses. If you're a manufacturer you'll also have to contend with the uniform capitalization rules. Construction contracts may be reported on the completed contract or percentage of completion method. In short, many costs that you may have expensed for book purposes could have to be capitalized for taxes.

Check with your accountant on these issues. Hopefully, the differences will be slight, and, if so, can be ignored.

In the past we've suggested annualizing your income (e.g., take the first 10 (or 11 if you have them) months, divide the income by 10 (or 11) and multiply by 12) to figure your full-year profit or loss and then account for any variations during the year. You might try and forecast revenue and expenses through the end of the year. Alternatively, use the latest couple of months, say August, September, and October, divide by three and multiply by two to estimate November and December. Whatever you do, don't just wing it. Use a rational approach. You might even use more than one scenario. Consider how business has gone for the year. Again, this will be an important year for tax planning. Fortunately some businesses are lucky and seasonal or year-to-year variations aren't significant.

Businesses that operate as a sole proprietorship, LLC, partnership, S corporation, etc. have their income (or losses) passed through to the owners and reported on the owners' individual tax returns. That means you'll have to project both the businesses income and your personal income to evaluate your tax bracket. See below.

Projecting Your Income--Personal

If you do business as an S corporation, sole proprietorship, etc. your share of profits or losses are passed through and taxed on your personal return. (If you, or you and your spouse are the only shareholders in an S corporation, taking a smaller or larger salary won't change the outcome materially. A larger salary will just mean the pass-through income from the S corporation will be reduced and vice versa. But the total income will be virtually unchanged. That means you'll have to do a projection of your personal as well as business income before you can do any serious business planning. Fortunately, projecting your personal income is likely to be easier. Assemble your records for the first 10 months of the year. If you record income and expenses on a regular basis, this should be a snap. The purpose of this article is to determine if it makes sense to make any last minute business capital expenditures to take advantage of bonus depreciation, etc. While we've included a list of items to take into account at the personal level, you can cheat and estimate some of them. For example, your charitable contributions usually run $500 to $1,000. For now your best guess is good enough. Concentrate on the bigger numbers.

• Passthroughs from partnerships, S corporations, trusts, etc. If you're a small business owner more than likely this is where the largest source of income. Use the guide above to project your income and add it to your personal income. If you're a minor investor you may not be privy to current financial information. Get the best information you can. Estates can produce income that's taxed to the beneficiaries. Ask the executor for his projection.

• Passive activity losses. Rental properties, S corporations, partnerships and LLCs in which you don't materially (or actively for rental properties) participate can generate passive losses. In the past any income may have been offset by losses. If you've run out of carryforward losses, you could now have taxable income. If the activity is fully disposed of in 2023 unused losses may be deductible. A similar situation can occur with respect to amounts at risk. Prior losses could have been limited by your investment at risk. Discuss with your accountant.

• Salary income. This one is easy. You should have cumulative pay stubs that show gross income and taxes withheld. If nothing has changed during the year, annualize them as described above. Adjust for bonuses. Be sure to take into account any unemployment payments, severance pay, etc.

• Interest and dividends. You won't have 1099s, but you should have a good idea of your interest and dividend income. Check your last statements from your broker, mutual fund, etc. and annualize the amount (use the year-to-date amount, divide by the number of months the statement covers, then multiply by 12). Caution. Annualizing may not work for dividend income. It's fine for small dividends, but you may have to do some additional work if you have big holdings in some stocks or have significant holdings in mutual funds. That could be especially important this year. Alternatively, use last year's amounts and adjust up or down.

• Rental income. If you have rental properties, you'll need to come up with an income estimate. Before annualizing the income or loss for the first 10 months, be sure there are no unusual factors. For example, if you incurred big repairs earlier in the year, you may have to adjust for that. Same for utilities and certain other items. Or the space was vacant for a time. Not sure of how much depreciation to use? You won't be too far off if you use last year's number (unless 2022 was a partial year or you made significant capital improvements in 2021 or 2022). You may have given tenants an abatement in rent for one or more months or have an unusual number of vacancies. Alternatively, you could have filled space during the year that was vacant for part of last year. That will affect your rental income.

• Capital gains. For many taxpayers this is an important factor and difficult to predict. You may have unrecognized losses from prior years, but chances are you've got realized gains. First step is to check for carryforward losses from last year. For many taxpayers this is important since it's where you can do considerable tax planning. Get your brokerage statements for the year to date to find your gain or loss on every significant transaction. Total short-term gains and losses, then long-term gains and losses (property held more than 12 months) Your broker can help, but call as soon as possible. And keep in mind that net losses that exceed $3,000 can't be used to offset ordinary income but can be carried forward. If your broker manages your account check the year-t0-date trades to determine if you've got big gains or losses.

• Also check for distributions from mutual funds made to date. There's a very good possibility some or all of your funds could distribute income before the end of the year. While payouts could be less this year, some could still be substantial. You may be able to get information from the fund to see what the year-end distribution will be. Keep in mind that you could receive a large distribution from the fund even though it performed poorly, or conversely, a small distribution even if it had significant gains. This has to do with the internal workings of the fund.

• Other income. Did you sell your main or vacation home, win any prizes or awards, settle a lawsuit, etc.? Get a state or local income or real estate tax refund? (Keep in mind that if you did't itemize last year the refund is not taxable.) You could have additional taxable income. Also consider insurance reimbursements you received this year for medical expenses you deducted in an earlier year. Casualties can sometimes produce gains as well as losses. Had any net gambling winnings? Collecting on a prior-year installment sale?

• Principal residence sale. If you sold your principal residence, there's a good chance you'll owe no tax on the sale. If you're single, the first $250,000 of gain should be exempt. If you're married, you can exclude the first $500,000. (Caution. The exclusion doesn't apply or is reduced if you haven't used the house or condo as your principal residence for at least two of the last five years or you claimed the exclusion on another residence within the last two years.) However, before you go to the next topic, think again. If you're a long-time home owner, you could have broken this threshold. Remember, you'll have to consider gains deferred on sales made before 1997 if this is your first sale since that law change. The exclusion also contains a number of restrictions. If you used part of the home for business, some of the gain may be taxable. Finally, even if you don't owe any federal taxes, you still could be liable for state income taxes on the sale.

• Distributions from pension plans. You may have taken money out of an IRA, Keogh, 401(k), etc. during the year. Chances are it's all taxable income. (Roth distributions are an exception and a portion of your IRA may be nontaxable if you made nondeductible contributions.) Distributions from some regular pension plans may be part taxable-part nontaxable. In addition, if you're under age 59-1/2 and don't qualify for one of the exceptions, you'll owe a 10% penalty. CAUTION. This is an important item. Such distributions can raise your final tax bill significantly. Using last year's data may not be helpful here. Cash in a whole life insurance policy? You may have taxable income. Discuss with your agent or the insurance company.

• Social Security. If this is your first full year on Social Security you'll have to compute the taxable portion. If your AGI is above a threshold 50% may be taxable; above a second threshold 85% is taxable. Those thresholds can be important. If your AGI is low, you may not pay any tax on your social security. But a boost in your income from other sources could make social security taxable and result in a more than proportionate jump in tax.

• Nontaxable income. Some income escapes taxes. That includes gifts and inheritances (generally, but pensions, annuities, etc. received from an estate are likely to be taxable) interest on most municipal bonds, returns of capital (e.g., principal repayments on a loan), reimbursements from your employer for business expenses, etc. Make sure you don't count any items as income if they're not. But if you're a shareholder in an S corporation or a partner in a partnership or LLC and received distributions in excess of your basis, they may be taxable, and that could be in addition to any income the entity passed through.

• Check last year's return. Many items repeat year after year. You may find some income you hadn't considered.

Caution!--If you turned 73 this year you'll have to start taking distributions (required minimum distributions or RMD). There's no option to defer this year. You can delay your first RMD until April 1 of next year, but then you'll have to take two RMDs next year. The IRS is checking to make sure the distribution is made. Failure to do so can result in a substantial penalty. There's no exception for IRAs, but an RMD may not be required from a pension plan if you're still working. Check with your accountant.

• Alimony. If your divorce was finalized before January 1, 2019 it should be deductible by you (and income to the recipient). However, payments that are really part of a property settlement or child support aren't deductible. Conversely, alimony is taxable to the recipient; property settlements and child support aren't. This can be a big number, so make sure the payments qualify. If you're unsure of your situation, talk to your accountant.

• Contributions to SEP, IRA, Keogh, etc. Some will depend on your income (e.g., SEP contributions may depend on your Schedule C). You can make contributions as late as return filing (no later than April 15th for some plans), but if you're going to use that for planning, make sure you'll have the funds.

• If you're self-employed or a shareholder/employee in an S corporation, you may be entitled to deduct 100% of health insurance premiums you paid.

• Medical expenses. Add up all your expenses. Include medical insurance premiums not deducted elsewhere, doctors, dentists, hospitals, travel to and from the doctor, etc. Also include medical appliances such as glasses, hearing aids, etc. You may be able to deduct additions to your home if required or prescribed by a doctor. For example, a wheelchair ramp, special sink, etc. This can get tricky. Check with your tax adviser. Of course, reduce the amount by any reimbursement from insurance. Your deduction is limited to the amount that exceeds 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI). Keep in mind that if all your decductions don't exceed your standard deduction, you won't itemize.

• Taxes. Include real estate taxes, state income taxes paid in 2023, and personal property taxes. When adding your taxes be sure to include any payments made when you filed your 2022 state return this year. Remember, you're limited to $10,000 here and that includes all taxes, income, real estate, personal property, etc..

• Interest. You're generally limited to interest on a home mortgage, including a mortgage on a second home. Only interest on the first $1,000,000 of acquisition debt incurred before December 16, 2017 counts. Interest on debt incurred after that date is limited to the first $750,000 of debt. Home equity interest isn't deductible unless the proceeds of the loan are used to improve your home (then it's technically not home equity interest but acquisition interest). Interest to invest in an S corporation or partnership. is also fully deductible (but not on Schedule A). Interest on other investments may or may not be deductible.

• Charitable contributions. If they're significant go through your receipts and checkbook. You may receive a notice from your church or charity after the end of the year. For now you can use an estimate. Remember the substantiation rules on charitable contributions. Keep in mind that you're entitled to a standard deduction of $24,800 if you're married filing joint or $12,400 if you're single (more if you're over 65 or blind). If your taxes, medical, interest and charitable contribution don't break those amounts, the contribution won't do you much good. For 2023 there's no deduction unless you can itemize.

• Education expenses. Amounts paid for your children or yourself may qualify for a credit. More than likely the amount spent will far exceed the amount qualifying for a tax benefit.

• Casualty or theft loss. Business casualty losses are still deductible, but personal ones are only deductible if they occur in a presidentially declared disaster area.

• Miscellaneous deductions. They're generally no longer deductible, but there are some exceptions.

• Life changes. The biggest factors on your tax return may be life changes. Have a baby? Get married? Get divorced? Child out of college? Just started college? Spouse passed away? Buy or sell a house? These can make big differences in your taxes, even if your income and deductions stay the same. Just retired? Your income may drop substantially. Or, if you're still working and collecting social security your income may be much higher. There's often little or nothing held from these types of income unless you specify, so plan accordingly.

Two more points to keep in mind. First, the general rule for most taxpayers is if you're married filing joint and you don't have a home mortgage, chances are you won't have enough in deductions to come out ahead by itemizing. The exception here is if you have large charitable contributions and/or high medical expenses. Second, if you bought an electric vehicle or are planning to before the end of the year, check the rules carefully if you're anticipating a tax credit.

Finding your tax bracket. If you've got a good handle on your income and expenses you can net the two to arrive at your taxable income.

If you're pretty confident of your computations, you can find your tax bracket by using the Tax Tables in our Reference File. Keep in mind that long-term capital gains and qualifying dividends are taxed at a lower rate. Go to our Tax Tables for the details. However, we strongly suggest you use tax software to do the calculations. Many 2022 versions have a 2023 planning module. Alternatively, you can use the 2022 version. For planning purposes you won't be far off.

Caution. Your chance of getting hit with the alternative minimum tax (AMT) is substantially less than before the 2017 tax law change. But it's still possible. If you were subject to it in 2020 there's a chance you may face it again.

We'll discuss specifics of tax planning for businesses in the next article and planning for individuals in the final article.

--Last Update 11/22/23