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Business auto expenses… it’s an area of the tax law that can be confusing and lead to abuse.  Businesses have two methods available for determining the most beneficial expense.  The following will explain each approach.

For a business, a vehicle can be deducted in two ways; actual expense and mileage.  When using actual expense, the vehicle can be depreciated and maintenance, insurance, gas and other expenses can be deducted. When using the standard mileage rate to calculate the deduction, depreciation expense is  included, therefore separate depreciate expense would not be taken.  When you purchase a new vehicle we will calculate the deduction using both methods (assuming all information is provided) and the method that gives the higher deduction will be used.  You should keep a log for each company owned vehicle recording the mileage and expenses for each.  This can become tedious but it will be one of the first items requested by an IRS auditor

If your employees are allowed to use company owned vehicles on personal time, it is considered a taxable fringe benefit.  We collect certain data and use an IRS table to determine the taxable amount.  This allows the business to deduct one hundred percent of the auto expense.  The employee pays tax on the personal use of the vehicle.  The IRS table for this taxable fringe is so beneficial that this is often the best method for both employer and employee.  The most important pieces of information needed are the annual business and personal miles on the vehicle.

As always, see your tax preparer in considering your tax situation.

I can’t believe this blog will celebrate its two year anniversary in April.  I think we should have a party!  Oh wait, we already do… it’s our “end of tax season” party.  We’ve had our ups and downs but I’m proud of us for sticking with it.  Our staff stays very busy and sometimes posting a blog is challenging.  Things got pretty quiet during my four months of maternity leave last year, but I’m back!  I know you are excited! 

We created this blog to help you; our readers, our clients, our friends.  We know you are bombarded with information.  Tax and accounting can sometimes be intimidating topics.  Our goal is to keep you informed so you can be better business owners, employees and asset managers.  You can help us by giving us your feedback and requests.  If you have a question related to a particular blog already posted, leave a comment.  You can always email us questions on requested topics.  There are no dumb questions.  I’d bet money that if you have a question, many others have the same one.

One of my personal goals this year is to ramp up the blog again.  I want it to be resource for our readers. 

So bring on the questions!

We are starting two A to Z series (one for individual taxes and one for entity taxes) which will run through tax season.  We hope to bring you some useful information about the tax world.  As always, if there is a topic you’d like us to write on, please e-mail us your requests!  We love input!

Our first one is A for Adoption Expense.  Adopting a child is a noble act and unfortunately a costly one.  However, you may be eligible for a tax credit if you meet certain criteria.

1. The child must be under the age 18 or
2. Physically or mentally incapable of caring for himself/herself
3. The credit is phased out for taxpayers with a modified Adjusted Gross Income  between $185,210 and $225,210 (tax year 2011) 

 Qualifying expenses include: 

-          Adoption fees

-          Attorney’s fees

-          Court costs

-          Travel expenses

The tax credit is limited to $13,360 (tax year 2011) per child.  You cannot take the credit until the year in which the adoption is final.  You will be required to attach a copy of the adoption order or decree to your tax return.  After the adoption is final, you can take the credit in the year in which you pay the expenses.  Keep in mind, the limitation amount is cumulative for each child.  It is not an annual amount.

Some employers offer adoption assistance programs to their employees (what an incredible benefit if you have this!).   If you receive assistance payments from your employer, the IRS will allow you to exclude up to $13,360 per child from income.  Both the credit and exclusion can be claimed for the same adoption; however, both cannot be claimed for the same expense.  Thus, for example if you spent $30,000, you could exclude $13,360 and take a credit of up to $13, 360.  The limit applies separately to the credit and exclusion if both are taken (meaning you can utilize both the $13,360 credit and the $13,360 exclusion from income.

If an adoption is unsuccessful, the expenses are combined with expenses of a later successful adoption for dollar limits.

If you adopt a special needs child, you are able to claim the full credit of $13,360 even if you don’t have $13,360 in qualified adoption expenses.

NOTE:  Adopting your spouse’s child or costs related to a surrogate parenting arrangement does not qualify for the credit or exclusion.

As always, see a tax professional when dealing with unique situations such as this.  There are additional facts to consider in each case which cannot be covered in one blog.

Over the summer, I found myself consumed with nonprofit work.  It’s the time of year when that is pretty much all I do.  It is occasionally broken up with other jobs, but they seem few and far between.  The following blog post is  focused on nonprofit topics:

Nonprofit entities are required to classify expenses between three categories: Program, Management & General, and Fundraising.  Determining how to classify expenses in these categories is usually a matter of judgement. 

The IRS does provide some guidance, but not much.  Hopefully the following will help answer some questions. 

The following descriptions come straight out of the Form 990 instructions: 

Program Services (Expenses) are mainly those activities that further the organization’s exempt purposes.  What is your exempt purpose?  How are you accomplishing that purpose?  What are the programs you run?  

Management and General are expenses that relate to the organization’s overall operations and management, rather than to fundraising activities or program services.  Overall management usually includes the salaries and expenses of the organization’s chief executive officer and his or her staff, unless a part of their time is spent directly supervising program services or fundraising activities.  In that case, salaries and expenses should be allocated among management, fundraising, and program services. 

The IRS generally considers the following expenses to be management and general:

Costs of board of directors meetings, committee meetings and staff meetings (unless they involve specific program services or fundraising activities)

• General legal and accounting
• General liability insurance
• Office management
• Human resources
• Management of investments 

Fundraising expenses are the expenses incurred in soliciting contributions, gifts and grants.  If you have contributions revenue, you should have some fundraising expenses.  These expenses include:

• Publicizing and conducting fundraising campaigns
• Soliciting bequests and grants from foundations, other organizations or government entities
• Participating in federated fundraising campaigns (such as United Way)
• Preparing and distributing fundraising manuals, instructions and other materials 

Expenses will either be direct expenses or indirect.  The direct expenses are easy, they are identified specifically with an organization’s activity or project and can be assigned with a high degree of accuracy.  Indirect expenses are costs that are not identified specifically to one category or another and must be allocated accordingly.  If the CEO spends time in management, programs and fundraising, compensation must be allocated among the three categories.  Oftentimes using a percentage based on hours spent in each activity is the most realistic approach. 

I wish I could say it’s easy to make the determination between these expense categories in all cases.  The fact of the matter is, we run into the grey areas with most returns we prepare and discussion is needed to make the determination.  Seek advice from your tax preparer when trying to make the distinction.  Have an in depth conversation about the activities. 

One way to simplify the process is to prepare an annual budget determining in advance the types of expense activity to be included in each category.

Well, it finally happened.  Sort of.  A deal has been made on the debt ceiling issue and supposedly there will be no new taxes.  Congress agreed to make $917 billion in spending cuts (over 10 years) and the President is able to raise the debt ceiling by $400 billion.  Future debt ceiling increases of $500 billion have also been authorized.  No one actually likes the deal, but apparently it is as good as it’s going to get according to Congressional leaders.

Where are the $900 billion in spending cuts going to hit?  Well, that is up to a joint committee to determine.  This “committee”, which has not yet been established, has until November to make its recommendations for a vote by Congress.  If unsuccessful, automatic spending cuts would occur which have already been established.

They say that there will be no tax increases.  The problem is, those Bush-era tax cuts that were extended last minute… (remember that chaos?) are set to expire December 31, 2012.  Do you think they forgot about that?  I highly doubt it.  In addition, there are tax increases which will mostly affect the high income earners that are set to begin in 2013.  I’m sure Congress is counting on those tax increases. 

I personally struggle with the continued last minute deals that really don’t make a difference except to calm down the immediate crisis.  Politicians are letting their political aspirations limit their actual potential impact for good in our government.  Everything they do and pass is for a temporary fix.  They extended the Bush tax cuts for only two years… they extended the estate tax and AMT issues out for two years… they refuse to actually take on the tax system and give it a much needed tax reform.  I can’t be too harsh.  The “Gang of Six”, made up of six Senate members, has been working on a comprehensive tax reform plan.  However, it’s far from being ready for proposal to Congress.  At this point, it’s hard to say where those efforts will lead us. I understand that with the two main parties having such differing opinions on tax issues, this task is not an easy one.  But no one can deny that something has to be done.  

For more information see the ‘Debt Ceiling breakdown of deal’ on CNN’s website

The IRS has issued the new mileage rates.  Beginning July 1, 2011, the standard mileage rate for business purpose is 55.5 cents per mile (was 51 cents from January 1 through June 30).  The most common uses of the rate include:

• Mileage reimbursement to employees using an accountable reimbursement plan (can be less than the federal rates, but never greater)
• Mileage deducted on schedule C
• Unreimbursed business miles deducted on Schedule A 

The IRS publishes these rates as a guideline, not a requirement.  Businesses are allowed to use a lower rate if they choose.  However, you cannot use a higher rate.  If a business reimburses its employees using a higher rate, the difference would be taxable to the employee. 

The mileage rates for medical or moving expenses also increased 4.5 cents from 19 cents to 23.5 cents per mile.  The charitable mileage rate remains at 14 cents per mile.

You may remember a few years ago when the sales tax in California increased by 1%.  That increase expired June 30, 2011 and as of July 1, 2011, we are back to a 7.25% state sales tax.   We’ve been waiting to see if the California legislature was going to extend it, since they can’t balance the budget. 

In San Diego, we have an additional 0.50% local tax which brings our sales tax to 7.75% in most areas.  Vista has an additional 0.50% city sales tax on top of that, bringing the new rate to 8.25%.  Click here to view the Board of Equalization’s chart of all cities in California and the sales tax rates effective July 1^st.  

Make sure your accounting software, POS systems, accountants, etc. are updated on the change. 

Be sure to see your tax advisor if you are uncertain of your responsibilities.  Any excess sales tax collected must be remitted to the state.

In case you didn’t know, the tax filing deadline is April 18^th this year rather than the 15^th.  Why you ask?  Because the District of Columbia has this holiday called “Emancipation Day” which was celebrated on the 15^th this year.   So, taxpayers got another day to procrastinate and we got another three days to work long hours.

Thank you to all our clients!  As you can imagine, we are very happy another busy season has come to a close.  To celebrate, our office will be closed from 12 noon Monday, April 18^th through Wednesday, April 20^th. 

On a side note, our blog has officially been up and at your service for one year now.  We are quite proud of it.  We hope you’ve found it valuable and would love your input.  Have a subject or a question you’d like addressed?  E-mail it to us or post a comment and we’d be happy to respond.

We were introduced to Brendan Foote and his company, Cal Tax Group, Inc., through a client of ours who was able to claim quite a bit in California tax credits related to the Enterprise Zone.  This article gives the quick facts of what you need to know about the Enterprise Zone credits. 

By the way, if you are interested in contributing to our blog, email Mary for more information. mmm@politoeppich.com

Brendan Foote, Partner

Cal Tax Group, Inc.,  San Diego, CA  92101   

619-202-4198; bfoote@caltaxgroup.com

 “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” We are clearly in the midst of difficult economic times that limit our ability to grow a business, but for companies in certain areas of San Diego County, there is one program that may be the perfect catalyst to take steps in the expansion direction. The San Diego Regional Enterprise Zone is a California funded tax incentive program that encourages businesses and business owners in certain parts of the state to create job opportunities and buy equipment. Through lucrative tax incentives, companies creating eligible jobs and purchasing qualified equipment can look forward to tens of thousands of dollars in state income tax credits. 

San Diego’s Enterprise Zone is concentrated south of Interstate 8, stretching from Downtown and east, including the majority of the South Bay and border regions as well. Companies located “in the zone” can obtain state income tax credits for each new employee they hire who meets one of thirteen qualifying criteria. Among these criteria include; former military, those hired off unemployment, residents of the local communities and those laid off from their previous place of employment. For each employee that meets one of these qualifying criteria, companies can receive up to $38,000 in credits over a five year period. 

For qualified equipment purchased, namely manufacturing equipment or computer based equipment; companies can convert California sales tax paid on such expenditures into an income tax credit. 

All California income tax credits obtained can be carried forward indefinitely and used against any tax liabilities resulting from Enterprise Zone income. For pass-through entities such as S-Corporations and LLCs, the income tax credits flow directly to the shareholders of the company and can be applied against personal income taxes resulting from W2, K-1 and rental or other passive income sources generated within the Enterprise Zone. 

One of the best parts about this program is companies who have not yet participated can identify and claim credits retro-actively on amended tax returns for up to four years against taxes they have paid to the State. Refunds will be issued and any remaining credits can be carried forward for future use.

 In short, if you aren’t taking advantage of the Enterprise Zone Program, you are passing up “free” money.

In March I mentioned that both houses in Congress were working on a repeal of the new 1099 reporting requirements that came out of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Small Business Jobs Act.  It appears we are now only a signature away from this repeal becoming a reality!  At this point, I can’t imagine the President not signing the legislation (H.R. 4).  This legislation repeals BOTH the reporting requirements for rental property owners as well as the provisions for payments made to corporations for payments of goods and other property.  Basically, things will go back the way we’ve been doing it for years. 

Hallelujah!!! 

(Now for the full repeal of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act… hey, a girl can dream, can’t she?)