expensing - Linkenheimer LLP CPAs & Advisors

Be Sure Your Employee Travel Expense Reimbursements Will Pass Muster with the IRS

Does your business reimburse employees’ work-related travel expenses? If you do, you know that it can help you attract and retain employees. If you don’t, you might want to start, because changes under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) make such reimbursements even more attractive to employees. Travel reimbursements also come with tax benefits, but only if you follow a method that passes muster with the IRS.

The TCJA’s impact

Before the TCJA, unreimbursed work-related travel expenses generally were deductible on an employee’s individual tax return (subject to a 50% limit for meals and entertainment) as a miscellaneous itemized deduction. However, many employees weren’t able to benefit from the deduction because either they didn’t itemize deductions or they didn’t have enough miscellaneous itemized expenses to exceed the 2% of adjusted gross income (AGI) floor that applied.

For 2018 through 2025, the TCJA suspends miscellaneous itemized deductions subject to the 2% of AGI floor. That means even employees who itemize deductions and have enough expenses that they would exceed the floor won’t be able to enjoy a tax deduction for business travel. Therefore, business travel expense reimbursements are now more important to employees.

The potential tax benefits

Your business […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2020-09-03T20:04:28+00:00October 2nd, 2018|employer, expensing, irs, New Tax Laws|0 Comments

Do You Still Need to Worry About the AMT?

There was talk of repealing the individual alternative minimum tax (AMT) as part of last year’s tax reform legislation. A repeal wasn’t included in the final version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), but the TCJA will reduce the number of taxpayers subject to the AMT.

Now is a good time to familiarize yourself with the changes, assess your AMT risk and see if there are any steps you can take during the last several months of the year to avoid the AMT, or at least minimize any negative impact.

AMT vs. regular tax

The top AMT rate is 28%, compared to the top regular ordinary-income tax rate of 37%. But the AMT rate typically applies to a higher taxable income base and will result in a larger tax bill if you’re subject to it.

The TCJA reduced the number of taxpayers who’ll likely be subject to the AMT in part by increasing the AMT exemption and the income phaseout ranges for the exemption:

For 2018, the exemption is $70,300 for singles and heads of households (up from $54,300 for 2017), and $109,400 for married couples filing jointly (up from $84,500 for 2017).
The 2018 […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2020-09-03T20:04:31+00:00July 31st, 2018|amt, deduction, expensing, New Tax Laws|0 Comments

Medical Expense Deduction Threshold Temporarily Reduced

A deduction is allowed for the expenses paid during the tax year for the medical care of the taxpayer, the taxpayer’s spouse, and the taxpayer’s dependents to the extent the expenses exceed a threshold amount.

To be deductible, the expenses may not be reimbursed by insurance or otherwise. If the medical expenses are reimbursed, then they must be reduced by the reimbursement before the threshold is applied. Under pre-Act law, the threshold was generally 10% of AGI.

RIA observation: For tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2012, and ending before Jan. 1, 2017, a 7.5%-of-AGI floor for medical expenses applied if a taxpayer or the taxpayer’s spouse had reached age 65 before the close of the tax year.

And, under pre-Act law, for alternative minimum tax (AMT) purposes, the medical expenses deduction rules were modified such that medical expenses were only deductible to the extent they exceeded 10% of AGI.

New law. For tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2016 and ending before Jan. 1, 2019, the threshold on medical expense deductions is reduced to 7.5% for all taxpayers. (Code Sec. 213(f), as amended by Act Sec. 11027(a)) In addition, the rule limiting the medical expense deduction for AMT purposes to 10% of […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2020-09-03T20:04:46+00:00January 11th, 2018|deduction, deductions, expensing, medical deduction, New Tax Laws|0 Comments

Depreciation & Expensing Provisions in the PATH Act

Depreciation & Expensing Provisions in the PATH Act

The PATH Act makes permanent the enhanced Code Sec. 179 expensing and phaseout limits, and 15-year write-off for qualifying leasehold improvements, restaurant buildings and improvements, and retail improvements. In addition, the Act provides for a retroactive extension of provisions that had expired at the end of 2014, including 50% bonus first-year depreciation (at a rate that gradually decreases). For further information and to discuss whether your purchase is a “qualifying property”, please contact us.

Enhanced Expensing Made Permanent

Under pre-Act law. For tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2014, the maximum expensing limit had dropped to $25,000, and the investment ceiling dropped to $200,000.

New law. The Act makes the following changes to the Code Sec. 179 expensing election:

The $500,000 expensing limitation and $2 million phase-out amounts are retroactively extended and made permanent. After Dec. 31, 2015, both the expensing and phase-out limits are indexed for inflation.
The rule that allows expensing for computer software is retroactively extended and made permanent.
Qualified real property (generally qualified leasehold improvements, qualified restaurant, and qualified retail property) is eligible to be expensed.
For tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2015, air conditioning and heating units are eligible for expensing.

15-Year Write-off for Qualified Leasehold and Retail Improvements and Restaurant Property Made Permanent

Under […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2020-09-03T20:05:17+00:00January 12th, 2016|depreciation, expensing, irs|0 Comments

Substantiating Expenses

Statutory requirements require taxpayers to provide specific detailed information to substantiate expenses for the following:

Travel expenses (including meals and lodging while away from home);

Any item with respect to an activity that is of a type generally considered to constitute entertainment, amusement, or recreation, or with respect to a facility used in connection with such an activity;
Business gifts (which are limited to $25); and
Expenses with respect to any listed property, i.e., autos, (as defined in Sec. 280F(d)(4)).

A recent case, Garza, demonstrates that this is an all-or-nothing scenario, as a lack of substantiation will disallow these expenses, even if the court believes that a legitimate expenditure was made. In Garza, the court said that “While we believe that petitioner had business travel expenses in relation to his employment, the Court must heed the strict substantiation requirements of section 274(d).” To support its ruling, the court cited DeLima, in which the Tax Court indicated that it had no doubt that the taxpayer used a vehicle for business purposes, but it was bound to deny the vehicle expense deduction because she failed to follow the statutory and regulatory requirements.

Listed property, covers assets that are used by many closely-held […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2020-09-03T20:05:34+00:00January 7th, 2015|expensing|0 Comments