Month: February 2019

Put Your Children on Your Payroll and Reduce Taxes

One tax reduction strategy that most business owners do not take advantage of is putting their childrenPutting Your Children on Your Payroll on payroll.

This can help reduce the overall family tax bill and transfer assets to children without introducing gift tax implications.

As a business owner, you can deduct wages paid to children, while the child can offset those wages with their own standard deduction.  In addition to the standard deduction, you could setup pre-tax retirement accounts that would allow taxpayers to deduct more, while the child saves for retirement.

For partnerships and disregarded entities, if your child is under 18, the company does not have to pay employment taxes such as Social Security, Medicare and Workers’ Compensation Insurance. You can also avoid Unemployment taxes until the child turns 21. But for S-Corps and C-Corps, Social Security and Medicare taxes are paid regardless of age. These payroll taxes amount to 15.3% of wages earned, your share and child’s share.

Potential tax savings

With that in mind, let’s review a sample of potential tax savings. Starting in 2019, the standard deduction is $12,000 for single filers. The maximum contribution to a traditional IRA is $6,000 (if modified adjusted gross income is less than $64,000 for single filers in 2019). Additionally, taxpayers can draft a 401(k) plan that includes no age limitations, which will allow younger children to contribute $19,000 of pre-tax dollars to their 401(k). The example below illustrates the potential tax savings if the taxpayer’s entity is an S-Corporation.

Save taxes by putting your children on your payrollIf the entity is an LLC instead of an S-Corp, and your child is under 18, add back the payroll taxes of $5,585 to get your tax saving potential.

One other benefit you could produce is a safe harbor 401(k) plan or profit sharing/matching system that could increase your child’s retirement account and provides a deduction for your business. This strategy has plenty of scenarios to take into consideration which provide an opportunity to save even more money in taxes.

There are some rules you need to be aware of when using this strategy:

  • Keeping detailed employment records, including timely tracking of weekly hours and wages that correspond to services provided
  • Issuing paychecks as you would a normal employee (e.g., bi-weekly)
  • Documenting that the services are legitimate and considered ordinary and necessary for the business
  • Ensuring the services provided do not include typical household chores

If your child is not treated like any other employee in a similar position, the IRS could potentially deem their wages as not ordinary and necessary, and disallow them as a deductible expense.

We’ve got your back

At KRS, our CPAs can help you strategize setting your children up on payroll to maximize potential tax savings. Give us a call at 201.655.7411 or email me at sfaust@krscpas.com.

Filing Taxes as a Married Couple

Filing Taxes as a Married CoupleIf you were married this past year, congratulations!

Getting married is a big step in your life and along with it comes many changes.  One change is filing taxes as a married couple for the first time. This advice can help you get started.

First, you must determine your filing status. Your status depends on your marital status on the last day of the year. If you were legally married as of December 31, you are considered to be married for the full year and must either file a Married Filing Joint or Married Filing Separate tax return.  Filing status is important for determining your standard deduction, whether you qualify for various deductions and credits, and the amount of tax is owed.

Filing Alternatives

If you choose to file a Married Filing Joint tax return, you must include all your and your spouse’s income, deductions, and credits on one tax return.  The standard deduction in 2018 for filing a Married Filing Joint tax return is $24,000. If you choose to file a Married Filing Separate tax return, each of you will report your respective income, deductions, and credits on separate tax returns.

The standard deduction for a Married Filing Separate tax return is $12,000 each. Married Filing Separate will rarely produce a lower tax liability. Most tax preparing software will provide you with an analysis on whether filing separately makes sense.  If using a self-preparing software or if you work with a tax preparer, be sure to ask which way produces a lower liability for your family.

When filing a separate tax return, there are some tax deductions that may be unavailable to you:

  • If you itemize your deductions, your spouse must also itemize their deductions.  You may not mix and match the itemized deduction and the standard deduction.
  • The Earned Income Credit is unavailable.
  • The Child and Dependent Care Credit is generally unavailable.
  • You cannot deduct interest paid on student loans.
  • Adoption Credit is generally not allowed.
  • Reduction of Child Tax Credit is unavailable.

Considerations for Working Couples

For couples who both work, both spouses will need to adjust the tax withholding from their paychecks.  One of the biggest mistakes of newlywed couples and taxes is the under withholding of income tax from their paychecks.  Because your income will be taxed together, this may push you into a higher tax bracket and when it’s time to file your tax return, there will be a surprise balance due.  Be sure to sit down with your spouse and properly fill out each of your Form W-4s Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate correctly.  Form W-4 worksheets are available to walk you through the process of matching tax due with withholdings.  The goal here is to match these as close as possible so that there is not a large balance due or large refund.  This way you have the most money in your pocket all year long.

Name and Address Changes

One other thing to keep in mind is filing with the correct names and addresses.  If there are any name changes, be sure to use the correct name on your married tax returns.  If there is an address change, you should change your address with the IRS by filing Form 8822 Change of Address and mailing it to the address on the form.  You should also update your address with your local post office.  If you have any children, be sure to include them as well on your tax return with their full name and social security number.  Retirement accounts and beneficiary information should also be updated accordingly if your spouse is the beneficiary.

Considerations for Home Sales

Planning on selling your home? Your taxable gain exclusion on your personal residence doubles from $250,000 to $500,000 once you are married.  This is only the case if you own the home and both you and your spouse have lived in the home the past 2 out of 5 years.  If you sold your home before you were married, the $250,000 would still apply.

Keeping these tips in mind can help make your first tax season together go a bit more smoothly.

Lance Aligo, CPA, MSA, is a senior accountant at KRS CPAs, LLC, Paramus, NJ.  You can reach him at laligo@krscpas.com or 201-655-7411. Check out KRSCPAS.com for more tax tips, checklists, blogs, and other resources to help you succeed.

Should Rules of Thumb Be Used to Value a Business?

Should Rules of Thumb Be Used to Value a Business?I frequently receive requests to quickly value a business by applying a “rule of thumb”, that is, application of a simple formula to the gross or net income of a business to determine its value.  The value of a business is based on two factors: cash flow and risk.  Using a rule of thumb to value a business considers neither.

Rules of thumb are old wives’ tales of business valuation; no one knows where they come from or the basis upon which they were derived.

How rules of thumb get it wrong

As a simple example, consider two hypothetical businesses in the same industry (Company A and Company B).  Each has $2 million of sales and $400,000 net income.  Using a rule of thumb would result in both businesses having the same value.  But what if all of Company A’s sales came from a single customer, and Company B’s sales consisted of $100,000 each to twenty customers.  Which company is more valuable?  Company A clearly has more risk because the loss of a single customer would put it out of business.  However, this factor, and many similar factors, are never considered by rules of thumb.

In determining what they will pay for a business, investors consider projected cash flow and risk that projected cash flow will not be realized.  A fair market value buyer pays for cash flow; the greater the cash flow the more the buyer will pay.  Cash flow includes funds available for distribution during the period of ownership, as well as the amount received upon the sale of the business.  The cash flow is discounted at a rate based on risk; the greater the risk the higher the discount rate and the lower the business value.

Risks to consider

Risks common to many businesses include customer and/or supplier concentration, competition, lack of management depth, and product obsolescence.  This list is not all inclusive as most businesses are unique and may face other risks not mentioned.

We’ve got your back

Estimating the value of a business requires thorough analysis of the business, the industry, the marketplace, and the economy.   If you want to know the value of a business, don’t use a rule of thumb; engage a business valuation professional.  You will be glad you did.