Masters & Jorgensen, Inc.

The deductibility of corporate expenses covered by officers or shareholders

August 27, 2021

Do you play a major role in a closely held corporation and sometimes spend money on corporate expenses personally? These costs may wind up being nondeductible both by an officer and the corporation unless proper steps are taken. This issue is more likely to arise in connection with a financially troubled corporation. Deductible vs. […]

Getting a new business off the ground: How start-up expenses are handled on your tax return

August 20, 2021

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, government officials are seeing a large increase in the number of new businesses being launched. From June 2020 through June 2021, the U.S. Census Bureau reports that business applications are up 18.6%. The Bureau measures this by the number of businesses applying for an Employer Identification Number. Entrepreneurs often don’t […]

SBA streamlines forgiveness for smaller PPP loans

August 13, 2021

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has released new guidance intended to expedite the forgiveness process for certain borrowers under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The simplified process generally is available for loans of $150,000 or less, which the SBA reports account for 93% of outstanding PPP loans. The guidance comes at a time when […]

PPP forgiveness and repayment: What businesses need to know now

August 6, 2021

A critical deadline is approaching for many of the businesses that have received loans under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which was created in March 2020 by the CARES Act. If these borrowers don’t take action before the deadline expires, their loans will become standard loans, and the borrowers could be responsible for repaying […]

Who in a small business can be hit with the “Trust Fund Recovery Penalty?”

July 23, 2021

There’s a harsh tax penalty that you could be at risk for paying personally if you own or manage a business with employees. It’s called the “Trust Fund Recovery Penalty” and it applies to the Social Security and income taxes required to be withheld by a business from its employees’ wages. Because taxes are […]

10 facts about the pass-through deduction for qualified business income

July 19, 2021

Are you eligible to take the deduction for qualified business income (QBI)? Here are 10 facts about this valuable tax break, referred to as the pass-through deduction, QBI deduction or Section 199A deduction. It’s available to owners of sole proprietorships, single member limited liability companies (LLCs), partnerships and S corporations. It may also be […]

Eligible Businesses: Claim the Employee Retention Tax Credit

July 16, 2021

The Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) is a valuable tax break that was extended and modified by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), enacted in March of 2021. Here’s a rundown of the rules. Background Back in March of 2020, Congress originally enacted the ERTC in the CARES Act to encourage employers to hire […]

Here come the child tax credit payments: What you need to know

July 12, 2021

The first advance payments under the temporarily expanded child tax credit (CTC) will begin to arrive for nearly 39 million households in mid-July 2021 — unless, that is, they opt out. Most eligible families won’t need to do anything to receive the payments, but you need to understand the implications and why advance payments […]

Traveling for business again? What can you deduct?

July 9, 2021

As we continue to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic, you may be traveling again for business. Under tax law, there are a number of rules for deducting the cost of your out-of-town business travel within the United States. These rules apply if the business conducted out of town reasonably requires an overnight stay. […]