Tag: Small Business

  • Businesses: Get Ready for the New Form 1099-NEC

    There’s a new IRS form for business taxpayers that pay or receive nonemployee compensation. Beginning with tax year 2020, payers must complete Form 1099-NEC, Nonemployee Compensation, to report any payment of $600 or more to a payee. Why the new form? Prior to 2020, Form 1099-MISC was filed to report payments totaling at least $600…

  • Even if No Money Changes Hands, Bartering is a Taxable Transaction

    During the COVID-19 pandemic, many small businesses are strapped for cash. They may find it beneficial to barter for goods and services instead of paying cash for them. If your business gets involved in bartering, remember that the fair market value of goods that you receive in bartering is taxable income. And if you exchange…

  • Why Do Partners Sometimes Report More Income on Tax Returns than They Receive in Cash?

    If you’re a partner in a business, you may have come across a situation that gave you pause. In a given year, you may be taxed on more partnership income than was distributed to you from the partnership in which you’re a partner. Why is this? The answer lies in the way partnerships and partners…

  • Fortunate Enough to Get a PPP loan? Forgiven Expenses Aren’t Deductible

    The IRS has issued guidance clarifying that certain deductions aren’t allowed if a business has received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan. Specifically, an expense isn’t deductible if both: The payment of the expense results in forgiveness of a loan made under the PPP, and The income associated with the forgiveness is excluded from gross…

  • IRS Releases 2021 Amounts for Health Savings Accounts

    The IRS recently released the 2021 inflation-adjusted amounts for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).  HSA basics An HSA is a trust created or organized exclusively for the purpose of paying the “qualified medical expenses” of an “account beneficiary.” An HSA can only be established for the benefit of an “eligible individual” who is covered under a…

  • Business Meal Deductions: The Current Rules Amid Proposed Changes

    Restaurants and entertainment venues have been hard hit by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. One of the tax breaks that President Trump has proposed to help them is an increase in the amount that can be deducted for business meals and entertainment. It’s unclear whether Congress would go along with enhanced business meal and entertainment…