Best status tax services companies in Houston? Which receipts you’ll need to provide depends on whether you itemize your deductions or claim the standard deduction. You’ll want to choose whichever produces the greater write-off, but the only way to know for sure is to add up your itemized deductions and compare that with your standard deduction. For the 2019 tax year, the standard deduction for single taxpayers is $12,200 and for married couples filing jointly it is $24,400. For 2020, these amounts rise to $12,400 for single taxpayers and $24,800 for married couples filing jointly.

That might not seem like an advantage, but it is. Any income earned on the money in your Roth IRA is also tax free. You can even roll over the money in a traditional IRA or a 401(k) into a Roth IRA and reap the same benefits. Some of the best times to do a Roth IRA conversion are when you’ve had a year with less income than the previous year, or when you’ve retired and are temporarily in a lower tax bracket. This strategy makes sense if you can wait until the age of 70 ½ to make mandatory withdrawals. We like to suggestion this option to our clients because it’s easy to overlook, especially when people are focused on tax deductions as a way of reducing their taxable income.

Harvest Your Capital Losses: If you own stocks that have lost money, you can sell them and deduct up to $3,000 on your federal taxes. Just be careful not to violate the wash-sale rule, which would disallow the deduction. This rule states you cannot purchase the same or a substantially similar stock within 30 days before or after the sale. “Some people think it’s OK if I do it using two accounts,” Zollars says. They may think they can sell a stock from a taxable account and then immediately purchase similar securities in an IRA. However, this is not allowed. “That’s not the way the rule works,” he says.

Businesses can take tax write-offs on purchases of business equipment, machinery, vehicles, and sometimes even real estate. These write-offs can sometimes be taken in the first year you own and use the equipment. The two most common types of this accelerated depreciation are Section 179 deductions and bonus depreciation. Section 179 deductions allow you to immediately deduct the costs of certain assets when you put the assets in service. The maximum deduction was increased to $1 million in 2018 under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). Equipment, machinery, and certain real estate purchases can qualify. Read even more details at https://greentree.tax/llc-tax-preparation/.

Avoid Confrontation and Manipulation. Attempt to find out if the debtor’s excuse for not paying is legitimate. For example, if the person blames the non-payment on someone else, confirm this is true or false by contacting the other person. Listen carefully to what the person is telling you, and get a sense of whether the person is being honest with you. Often, your gut feeling will be right on.

When you offer a 401(k) or other qualified retirement plan, employer contributions and some administrative fees are tax-deductible if they meet certain criteria. And qualified employers can receive a $500 per year tax credit for the first three years of the plan. Plus, as an employee of your practice, you will be able to take advantage of tax-deferred savings with your company 401(k) as well. To make sure the plan seamlessly integrates with your current back-office systems and payroll deductions, contact your payroll services provider to see what retirement savings plans they offer.