J.K. Lasser's Small Business Taxes 2018

J.K. Lasser's Small Business Taxes 2018

by Barbara Weltman
Released October 2017
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9781119380412

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

Maximize your bottom line with the nation's most trusted small business tax guide

J.K. Lasser's Small Business Taxes 2018 is the small business owner's ultimate guide to a money-saving, stress-free tax season. Providing straightforward advice from the nation's most trusted tax expert on small business taxes, this book gives you the answers you need quickly, with clear, concise guidance. Updated and expanded to cover new and changing tax law, this edition also includes an e-supplement covering the latest developments from Congress and the IRS to keep you fully up-to-date.

A complete listing of all available business deductions and credits helps you identify those you qualify for, and includes critical information on dollar limits, recordkeeping requirements, and how to actually take the write-off—all the way down to which line on which form. Organizational and planning strategies help you get through the process quickly and with fewer headaches, and this year's changes to the tax laws are explained in terms of how they affect your filing.

Keeping up with the intricacies of tax law and filing is a full-time job—but it's not your full-time job. You have a business to run. This book gives you the guidance you need in the time that you have so you can get taxes out of the way and get back to work.

  • Learn which expenses qualify for deductions—and which ones don't
  • Adopt a more organized recordkeeping system to streamline the filing process
  • Explore small-business-specific strategies for starting or closing a business, running a sideline business, and operating in multiple businesses
  • Decode the various forms and worksheets correctly with step-by-step guidance
  • Review obligations for the 'other taxes,' including payroll and excise taxes

Every year, millions of small business owners overpay their taxes because they lack the time and expertise to make tax-sensitive business decisions throughout the year only to learn that it's too late to act when it comes to tax time. Now you can put your money back where it belongs—in your business. J.K. Lasser's Small Business Taxes 2018 helps you take wise actions during the year and tells you how to file completely and accurately while maximizing your bottom line.

Table of contents

  1. Preface
  2. Introduction
  3. PART 1 Organization
    1. 1 Business Organization
      1. Sole Proprietorships
      2. Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies
      3. S Corporations and Their Shareholder-Employees
      4. C Corporations and Their Shareholder-Employees
      5. Employees
      6. Factors in Choosing Your Form of Business Organization
      7. Forms of Business Organization Compared
      8. Changing Your Form of Business
      9. Tax Identification Number
    2. 2 Tax Year and Accounting Methods
      1. Accounting Periods
      2. Accounting Methods
      3. Uniform Capitalization Rules
    3. 3 Recordkeeping for Business Income and Deductions
      1. General Recordkeeping
      2. Specific Substantiation Requirements for Certain Expenses
      3. Records for Depreciation, Basis, Carryovers, and Prepaid Expenses
      4. How Long You Should Maintain Records
  4. PART 2 Business Income and Losses
    1. 4 Income or Loss from Business Operations
      1. Business Income
      2. Income for Service Businesses
      3. Income from the Sale of Goods
      4. Income from Farming
      5. Income from Commercial Fishing
      6. Investment-Type Income
      7. Miscellaneous Business Income
      8. State Income Taxes on Business Income
      9. Net Operating Losses
      10. Limitations on Business Losses
      11. Income Earned Abroad
    2. 5 Capital Gains and Losses
      1. What Are Capital Gains and Losses?
      2. Tax Treatment of Capital Gains and Losses for Pass-Through Entities
      3. Tax Treatment of Capital Gains for C Corporations
      4. Loss Limitations
      5. Sales of Business Interests
      6. Special Situations
    3. 6 Gains and Losses from Sales of Business Property
      1. Section 1231 Gains and Losses
      2. Sale-Leasebacks
      3. Installment Sales
      4. Recapture
      5. Involuntary Conversions
      6. Abandonment, Foreclosure, and Repossession of Property
      7. Sale of All the Assets of the Business
  5. PART 3 Business Deductions and Credits
    1. 7 Employee Compensation: Salary, Wages, and Employee Benefits
      1. Worker Classification
      2. Temporary Workers and Outsourced HR
      3. Deductible Employee Compensation
      4. Compensation to Owners
      5. Stock Options and Restricted Stock
      6. Deferred Compensation
      7. Disallowance Repayment Agreements
      8. Employee Benefits
      9. Golden Parachute Payments
      10. Cafeteria Plans
      11. Employment Tax Credits
    2. 8 Travel and Entertainment Expenses
      1. Local Transportation Costs
      2. Travel within the United States
      3. Foreign Travel
      4. Conventions
      5. Living Away from Home on Temporary Assignments
      6. Meal and Entertainment Expenses
      7. Business Gifts
      8. Reimbursement Arrangements
      9. Recordkeeping Requirements
      10. Employees
    3. 9 Car and Truck Expenses
      1. Deducting Car and Truck Expenses in General
      2. Actual Expense Method
      3. Standard Mileage Allowance
      4. Leasing a Car for Business
      5. Arranging Vehicle Ownership
      6. Employee Use of an Employer-Provided Car
      7. Vehicle Trade-In
      8. Trucks and Vans
      9. Credit for Plug-In Electric Vehicles
      10. Reimbursement Arrangements
      11. Recordkeeping for Vehicle Expenses
    4. 10 Repairs, Maintenance, and Energy Improvements
      1. Ordinary Repairs
      2. Rehabilitation Plans
      3. Small Business Safe Harbors
      4. Rotable Spare Parts
      5. Change in Accounting Method
      6. Special Rules for Improvements for the Elderly and Handicapped
      7. Lists of Deductible Repairs and Capital Improvements
      8. Energy Improvements
    5. 11 Bad Debts
      1. Bad Debts in General
      2. Collection of Bad Debts
      3. Business versus Nonbusiness Bad Debts
      4. Loans by Shareholder-Employees
      5. Guarantees That Result in Bad Debts
      6. Special Rules for Accrual Taxpayers
      7. Reporting Bad Debts on the Tax Return
      8. Collection Strategies
    6. 12 Rents
      1. Deducting Rent Payments in General
      2. The Cost of Acquiring, Modifying, or Canceling a Lease
      3. Improvements You Make to Leased Property
      4. Rental of a Portion of Your Home for Business
      5. Leasing a Car
      6. Leveraged Leases
    7. 13 Taxes and Interest
      1. Deductible Taxes
      2. Nondeductible Taxes
      3. Deductible Interest
      4. Nondeductible Interest and Other Limitations on Deductibility
    8. 14 First-Year Expensing, Depreciation, Amortization, and Depletion
      1. First-Year Expensing
      2. Other Expensing Opportunities
      3. General Rules for Depreciation
      4. Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System
      5. Depreciation Methods
      6. Bonus Depreciation
      7. Limitations on Listed Property
      8. De Minimis Safe Harbor Rule
      9. Putting Personal Property to Business Use
      10. Amortization
      11. Depletion
    9. 15 Advertising Expenses
      1. Ordinary Advertising Expenses
      2. Promotion of Goodwill
      3. Prizes, Contests, and Other Promotional Activities
      4. Help-Wanted Ads
      5. Websites and Apps
      6. Social Media
    10. 16 Retirement Plans
      1. Qualified Retirement Plans
      2. Added Costs for Retirement Plans
      3. Retirement Plans for Self-Employed Individuals
      4. Regular 401(k)s and Designated Roth Accounts
      5. Individual Retirement Accounts
      6. MyRAs
      7. State-Sponsored Plans for the Private Sector
      8. When to Take Action
      9. Actions to Avoid
      10. Comparison of Qualified Retirement Plans
      11. ESOPs
      12. Correcting Plan Defects
      13. Retirement Plans Owning Your Business
      14. Nonqualified Retirement Plans
      15. Glossary of Terms for Retirement Plans
    11. 17 Casualty and Theft Losses
      1. Casualties and Thefts
      2. Condemnations and Threats of Condemnation
      3. Disaster Losses
      4. Deducting Property Insurance and Other Casualty/Theft-Related Items
      5. Certain Disaster Victims
      6. Disaster Assistance
    12. 18 Home Office Deductions
      1. Home Office Deductions in General
      2. Special Requirements for Employees
      3. Actual Expense or Simplified Method
      4. Actual Expense Method
      5. Simplified Method
      6. Special Business Uses of a Home
      7. Mobile Offices
      8. Ancillary Benefits of Claiming Home Office Deductions
      9. Impact of Home Office Deductions on Home Sales
    13. 19 Medical Coverage
      1. Health Care Mandates
      2. Deducting Medical Insurance for Employees
      3. Deducting Health Coverage by Self-Employed Persons and More-Than-2% S Corporation Shareholders
      4. Using Reimbursement Plans
      5. Tax Credit for Contributions to Employee Health Coverage
      6. Shifting the Cost of Coverage to Employees
      7. Setting Up Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)
      8. Archer Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs)
      9. COBRA Coverage
      10. Wellness Programs
      11. Reporting Health Coverage on W-2s
      12. Reporting Health Coverage on Forms 1095
    14. 20 Deductions and Tax Credits for Farmers
      1. Farm Expenses
      2. Timber Gains
      3. Farm Losses
      4. Farm-Related Tax Credits
      5. Nondeductible Farm-Related Expenses
    15. 21 Domestic Production Activities Deduction
      1. Background
      2. Qualified Producers
      3. Figuring the Deduction
    16. 22 Miscellaneous Business Deductions
      1. Other Business Expenses in General
      2. Job-Seeking Expenses
      3. Moving Expenses
      4. Educational Expenses
      5. Charitable Contributions Made by Your Business
      6. Licenses and Permits
      7. Dues and Subscriptions
      8. Legal and Professional Fees
      9. Bank and Merchant Fees
      10. Supplies, Materials, and Office Expenses
      11. Uniforms and Clothing
      12. Insurance
      13. Commissions
      14. Outsourced Workers
      15. Payments to Directors and Independent Contractors
      16. Penalties, Fines, and Damages
      17. Meal Costs for Day-Care Providers
      18. Expenses of Disabled Persons
      19. The Dividends-Received Deduction
      20. Foreign Housing Deduction
      21. Other Expenses
    17. 23 Roundup of Tax Credits
      1. Employment-Related Credits
      2. Capital Construction–Related Credits
      3. Other Tax Credits
      4. General Business Credit
  6. PART 4 Tax Planning for Your Small Business
    1. 24 Income and Deduction Strategies
      1. Tax-Saving Tips
      2. Audit-Proofing Your Return
      3. Common Errors and How to Avoid Them
      4. Tax Assistance
    2. 25 Tax Strategies for Opening or Closing a Business
      1. Initial Tax Decisions to Make
      2. Investing Your Own Resources
      3. Debt versus Equity Financing
      4. Tax Identification Numbers
      5. Tax Reporting for the First Year
      6. How to Write Off Start-Up Costs
      7. Setting Up a Business Bank Account and Credit Card
      8. Moving a Business
      9. Aborted Business Ventures
      10. Bankruptcy
      11. Expenses of Winding Up a Small Business
      12. Tax Reporting in the Final Year
    3. 26 Tax Strategies for a Sideline Business
      1. Reporting Sideline Business Income
      2. Hobby Losses
      3. Business Expenses
    4. 27 Tax Strategies for Multiple Businesses
      1. Advantages and Disadvantages of Multiple Entities
      2. When to Run Multiple Activities within One Business
      3. Treatment of Multiple Corporations
      4. Tax Rules for Owners of Multiple Businesses
    5. 28 Alternative Minimum Tax
      1. Alternative Minimum Tax Basics
      2. Deduction Limits for Alternative Minimum Tax
      3. Credit Offsets
      4. Minimum Tax Credit
    6. 29 Other Taxes
      1. State Income Taxes
      2. Employment Taxes
      3. Self-Employment Tax
      4. Sales and Use Taxes
      5. Excise Taxes
    7. 30 Filing Tax Returns and Paying Taxes
      1. Income Tax Deadlines and Extensions
      2. Online Filing of Business Income Tax Returns
      3. Estimated Taxes
      4. Making Tax Payments
      5. Filing Other Business Returns
      6. Using Tax Professionals
    8. 31 Retirement and Succession Planning
      1. Retirement Planning
      2. Exit Strategies
      3. Financing Options to Fund Buyouts
      4. Consulting Agreements
      5. Estate Taxes
      6. Estate Planning Concerns
    9. 32 Working with CPAs and Other Tax Professionals
      1. Types of Tax Professionals
      2. Finding a Tax Professional
      3. Tips for Selecting a Tax Professional
    10. 33 Handling Audits with the IRS
      1. Types of Audits
      2. Appeals
      3. Litigation
      4. Mediation
      5. Taxpayer Bill of Rights
      6. Taxpayer Advocate Service
  7. APPENDIX A Information Returns
    1. Dividends
    2. Large Cash Transactions
    3. Payments to Independent Contractors
    4. Pension and Retirement Plan Distributions
    5. Retirement and Employee Benefit Plans
    6. Small Cash Transactions
    7. Wages
    8. Health Coverage
    9. Merchant Transactions
    10. Foreign Accounts
  8. APPENDIX B Tax Penalties
    1. Failure to File a Tax Return or Pay Tax
    2. Failure to File Correct Information Returns
    3. Failure to File Correct Payee Statements
    4. Accuracy-Related Penalties
    5. Preparer Penalties
    6. Penalty Relief
  9. APPENDIX C Checklist of Tax-Related Corporate Resolutions
  10. APPENDIX D List of Dollar Limits and Amounts Adjusted for Inflation
    1. Items Adjusted Annually for Inflation
    2. Items Fixed by the Tax Code
    3. Items Set by the IRS
  11. Index
  12. EULA

Product information

  • Title: J.K. Lasser's Small Business Taxes 2018
  • Author(s): Barbara Weltman
  • Release date: October 2017
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9781119380412