Category: Article

Hiring independent contractors is a common solution for business owners to reduce payroll costs — especially during times of staff shortages and inflationary pressures. If you’re among them, be careful that these workers are properly classified for federal tax purposes. If the IRS reclassifies them as employees, it can be an expensive mistake.

Determining whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee for federal income and employment tax purposes isn’t always easy. If a worker is an employee, your company must withhold federal income and payroll taxes and pay the employer’s share of FICA taxes on the wages, plus FUTA tax. There also may be state tax obligations, not to mention health benefits and other financial perks.

On the other hand, if a worker is an independent contractor, these obligations don’t apply. In that case, the business simply sends the contractor a Form 1099-NEC for the year showing the amount paid (if it’s $600 or more).

Employee or contractor? 

Who qualifies as an “employee?” Unfortunately, there’s no uniform definition of the term.

The IRS and courts have generally ruled that individuals are employees if the organization they work for has the right to control and direct them in the jobs they’re performing. Otherwise, the individuals are generally independent contractors. But other factors are also taken into account, including who provides equipment and who pays expenses.

Some employers that have misclassified workers as independent contractors may get relief from employment tax liabilities under Section 530. This protection generally applies only if an employer meets certain requirements. For example, the employer must file all federal returns consistent with its treatment of a worker as a contractor and it must treat all similarly situated workers as contractors.

Section 530 doesn’t apply to certain categories of workers.

You can ask the IRS, but …

You can use Form SS-8 to ask the IRS to determine whether a worker is an independent contractor or employee. You should also be aware that the IRS has a history of classifying workers as employees rather than independent contractors. Filing Form SS-8 can also raise classification concerns with the IRS and unintentionally trigger an employment tax audit.

It may be better to properly set up a relationship with workers to treat them as independent contractors so that your business complies with the tax rules.

Workers who want an official determination of their status can also file Form SS-8. Dissatisfied independent contractors may do so because they feel entitled to employee benefits and want to eliminate their self-employment tax liabilities.

If a worker files Form SS-8, the IRS will notify the business with a letter. It identifies the worker and includes a blank Form SS-8. The business is asked to complete and return the form to the IRS, which will render a classification decision.

Reach out to our tax services team us if you’d like to discuss how to classify workers at your business. We can help make sure your workers are properly classified.

© 2023 KraftCPAs PLLC

Are you getting ready to retire? If so, you’ll soon experience changes in your lifestyle and income sources that can have numerous tax implications.

Here are four tax and financial issues you might contend with when you retire:

Taking required minimum distributions. These are the minimum amounts you must withdraw from your retirement accounts. You generally must start taking withdrawals from your IRA, SEP, SIMPLE, and other retirement plan accounts when you reach age 73 if you were age 72 after December 31, 2022. If you reach age 72 in 2023, the required beginning date for your first RMD is April 1, 2025, for 2024. Roth IRAs don’t require withdrawals until after the death of the owner.

You can withdraw more than the minimum required amount. Your withdrawals will be included in your taxable income except for any part that was taxed before or that can be received tax-free (such as qualified distributions from Roth accounts).

Selling your principal residence. Many retirees choose to downsize to smaller homes. If you’re one of them, and you have a gain from the sale of your principal residence, you may be able to exclude up to $250,000 of that gain from your income. If you file a joint return, you may be able to exclude up to $500,000.

To claim the exclusion, you must meet certain requirements. For example, during a five-year period ending on the date of the sale, you must have owned the home and lived in it as your main home for at least two years.

If you’re thinking of selling your home, make sure you’ve identified all items that should be included in its basis, which can save you tax.

Getting involved in new work activities. After retirement, many people continue to work as consultants or start new businesses. Here are tax-related questions to ask if you’re launching a new venture:

• Should it be a sole proprietorship, S corporation, C corporation, partnership, or limited liability company?
• Are you familiar with how to elect to amortize start-up expenditures and make payroll tax deposits?
• Can you claim home office deductions?
• How should you finance the business?

Taking Social Security benefits. If you continue to work, it can have an impact on your Social Security benefits. If you retire before reaching full Social Security retirement age (65 years of age for people born before 1938, rising to 67 years of age for people born after 1959) and the sum of your wages plus self-employment income is over the Social Security annual exempt amount ($21,240 for 2023), you must give back $1 of Social Security benefits for each $2 of excess earnings.

If you reach full retirement age this year, your benefits will be reduced $1 for every $3 you earn over a different annual limit ($56,520 in 2023) until the month you reach full retirement age. Then, your earnings will no longer affect the amount of your monthly benefits, no matter how much you earn.

Speaking of Social Security: You could have to pay federal tax on your benefits. Depending on how much income you have from other sources, you may have to report up to 85% of your benefits as income on your tax return and pay the resulting federal income tax.

Tax planning is still important

As you can see, you might have to make many decisions after you retire. We can help maximize tax breaks so you can keep more of your hard-earned money.

© 2023 KraftCPAs PLLC

You’ve probably filed your 2022 tax return with the IRS by now, and you might think you’re done with taxes for another year. But since questions may still crop up about the return, here are quick answers to three questions we hear a lot this time of year.

When will your refund arrive?

The IRS has an online tool that can tell you the status of your refund. Go to irs.gov and click on “Get Your Refund Status.” You’ll need your Social Security number, filing status, and the exact refund amount.

Which tax records can you throw away now? 

At a minimum, keep tax records related to your return for as long as the IRS can audit your return or assess additional taxes. In general, the statute of limitations is three years after you file your return. With that in mind, you can generally get rid of most records related to tax returns for 2019 and earlier years. If you filed an extension for your 2019 return, hold on to your records until at least three years from when you filed the extended return.

However, the statute of limitations extends to six years for taxpayers who understate their gross income by more than 25%.

You should hang on to certain tax-related records longer. For example, keep the actual tax returns indefinitely, so you can prove to the IRS that you filed legitimate returns. There’s no statute of limitations for an audit if you didn’t file a return or you filed a fraudulent one.

When it comes to retirement accounts, keep records associated with them until you’ve depleted the account and reported the last withdrawal on your tax return, plus three (or six) years. And retain records related to real estate or investments for as long as you own the asset, plus at least three years after you sell it and report the sale on your tax return. You can keep these records for six years if you want to be extra safe.

Can you still collect a refund for a tax credit or deduction if you overlooked claiming it?

In general, you can file an amended tax return and claim a refund within three years after the date you filed your original return or within two years of the date you paid the tax, whichever is later.

However, there are a few opportunities when you have longer to file an amended return. For example, the statute of limitations for bad debts is longer than the usual three-year time limit for most items on your tax return. In general, you can amend your tax return to claim a bad debt for seven years from the due date of the tax return for the year that the debt became worthless.

© 2023 KraftCPAs PLLC

Tax credits for business owners and a three-month grocery tax holiday for consumers are among almost $400 million in tax cuts included in the new Tennessee Works Tax Act.

The tax law changes included in SB275 and HB323 were approved by the Tennessee legislature and signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee, signaling one of the largest tax cuts in state history.

For businesses, some of the biggest changes will be in franchise and excise (F&E) taxes. More than 23,000 businesses in Tennessee are expected to see their F&E tax bill eliminated thanks to a new tax exemption of a company’s first $50,000 in net earnings. Up to $500,000 of business property will now be exempt from franchise tax.

Additionally, an employer that provides paid family leave may now be eligible for as much as a 50% F&E tax credit for the next two years as part of the new legislation. The law also enacts a single sales factor apportionment for F&E tax similar to more than 30 other states, and it extends the carryforward period for F&E tax credits to 25 years, up from the previous 15 years.

Other key changes for business owners:

• The legislation raises the threshold for filing business taxes to those with gross receipts of $100,000 or more per jurisdiction; that amount previously was $10,000.
• Federal bonus depreciation provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts & Jobs Act will be adopted.
• Tax penalties are removed for manufacturers that do not have enough on-site storage, expanding the qualifying area to a 10 mile-radius.

For consumers, a three-month grocery tax holiday will stretch from August 1, 2023, to October 31, 2023. No sales tax will be collected on food and food ingredients during that time; not included on that list are alcoholic beverages, tobacco, candy, or dietary supplements.

© 2023 KraftCPAs PLLC

Middle market companies engaging in research and development activities face new challenges due to new Section 174 rules. The required capitalization and amortization of R&D costs is problematic and confusing for many businesses, especially those in the technology and life sciences sectors.

Find answers here to some of the most frequently asked questions about the new rules and their ramifications, such as identification and treatment of R&D expenses, software development, state and local tax, international tax, legislative processes, administrative guidance, and advocacy.

Read the full article here

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 changed the required tax treatment of research and development expenses, creating new costs and tax liabilities for buyers when considering mergers and acquisitions. This is particularly relevant in certain industries such as life sciences, technology, and manufacturing/wholesale/distribution.

Depending on how a transaction is structured, buyers should consider a few factors when evaluating their target’s tax treatment of R&D under Section 174. They should assess activities that give rise to capitalizable costs, if accounting method changes have been made, and how the capitalization affects the target’s overall tax posture. The utilization of net operating losses (NOLs) and other tax attributes should also be scrutinized, and any pre-closing tax liabilities should be addressed in the purchase agreement. Potential opportunities or risks related to the R&D tax credit should be evaluated.

Ultimately, understanding the new Section 174 rules is essential to prevent costly surprises and preserve cash flows.

Read the full article here

If your business occupies substantial space and could eventually move or expand, keep the rehabilitation tax credit in mind – even more so if there’s a historical building involved.

The credit is equal to 20% of the qualified rehabilitation expenditures (QREs) for a qualified rehabilitated building that’s also a certified historic structure. A qualified rehabilitated building is a depreciable building that has been placed in service before the beginning of the rehabilitation and, after rehabilitation, is used in business or for the production of income (and not held primarily for sale). Additionally, the building must be “substantially” rehabilitated, which generally requires that the QREs for the rehabilitation exceed the greater of $5,000 or the adjusted basis of the existing building.

A QRE is any amount chargeable to capital and incurred in connection with the rehabilitation (including reconstruction) of a qualified rehabilitated building. QREs must be for real property (but not land) and can’t include building enlargement or acquisition costs.

The 20% credit is allocated ratably to each year in the five-year period starting with the tax year in which the qualified rehabilitated building is placed in service. Thus, the credit allowed in each year of the five-year period is 4% (20% divided by 5) of the QREs with respect to the building. The credit is allowed against both regular federal income tax and alternative minimum tax.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was signed at the end of 2017, made changes to the credit. Specifically, the law:

• Requires taxpayers to take the 20% credit ratably over five years instead of in the year they placed the building into service
• Eliminated the 10% rehabilitation credit for buildings constructed before 1936

Other federal tax benefits could be available in a move or expansion, including credits based on certain energy plans and location of the site. In addition, state or local tax and non-tax subsidies might be available. A member of our tax services team can help you explore the options.

© 2023 KraftCPAs PLLC

What’s your first impression when you get a sloppy, unprofessional invoice from a vendor? You might wonder if they’re equally careless with their approach to products and services.

Appearance matters when it comes to the forms and other documents you share with customers and suppliers, so make them the best they can be. It’s a small thing to do that can make a positive impression.

Much of the interaction you have with your business contacts involves money. It makes sense, then, that QuickBooks contains tools that can help you create a design for your forms that can be consistent. Your invoices can look like your purchase order and your sales receipts can resemble your estimates. Here’s a look at a few options.

Getting Started

QuickBooks’ form customization tools allow you to control two things: how your forms look and what they include. You can modify the templates included for your invoices, estimates, sales receipts, statements, purchase orders, and bill payment stubs so they all look similar.

To get started, you’ll need to select one of the templates that QuickBooks supplies. Open the Lists menu and select Templates. In the window that opens, double click one of the templates, like Intuit Service Invoice. Click Manage Templates at the top of the window. It’s a good idea to leave the original template intact, so you should make a copy of the template that you can modify and save. If you’d rather edit the original template, though, click OK. Otherwise, click Copy, then OK. The Basic Customization window will open.

Making Design Changes

The left side of this window displays all of your design and content options. First, add your logo if you have one by clicking the Use logo box and locating it in the directory of your computer that comes up. (If you don’t have a company logo, you can create one easily and sometimes free online.)

Next, select a color scheme for your invoice by clicking the down arrow below Select Color Scheme. Click Apply Color Scheme. You can see how that would look in the right side of the window, which displays a preview as you make changes. If you want to change the fonts for your header (Title, Company Name, etc.), click each element and then click Change Font. A window containing your options here will open.

Altering Information

When you’re done with fonts, you can choose Company and Transaction Information and indicate your preferences by checking and unchecking boxes. If you get a message warning you about overlapping fields, you will have to go into the Layout Designer, where you can drag and drop your form elements around to make them fit (this isn’t particularly easy if you’ve never worked with a design tool before).

So far, you’ve only modified the very top of your invoice. You also have control over the rest of it. Click Additional Customization to see what your options are here. The window that opens contains a field selection pane on the left and a preview of your work-in-progress on the right again. There are five areas to consider. You can change the field label for each and indicate whether they should appear on the screen and/or the printed copy. The three you should be most concerned with are:

Header. More options for the top of the form, like Due Date and Ship Via

Columns. Which columns should appear in the center of the invoice (Description, Quantity, Rate, etc.)?

Footer. You’ll certainly want to add some of these, like Subtotal and Total, and maybe Sales Tax.

When you’re done customizing here, click OK, then OK again in the Basic Customization window. Your newly designed invoice will now appear in the list of templates.

Making Them Uniform

You can copy the design of one form to another to make them consistent. Go to Lists | Templates again and highlight the form you want to copy (like Copy of Service Invoice). Click the Templates button in the lower left to open the menu and select Duplicate. In the window that opens, select the type of template you want to copy to (like Sales Receipt). Click OK. When the Templates window opens again, you’ll see a Copy 2: Intuit Service Invoice. In the corresponding Type column, you’ll see Sales Receipt. You can make any adjustments necessary here.

QuickBooks is not a graphic design program, and most business owners aren’t professional graphic designers. If you’re going to use the tools, we suggest you keep your modifications simple. By all means, add a logo and work with the color scheme and fonts and maybe add or delete a few fields. But if you do too much, you risk getting tangled up in the Layout Designer.

Because first impressions count, it’s just good practice to make your forms’ designs look uniform throughout your business. Thankfully, QuickBooks makes it a little easier.

© 2023 KraftCPAs PLLC

After you file your 2022 tax return, you’ll likely be tempted to throw away papers, forms, and receipts you’ve been hanging on to for the past year.

But before you do, keep in mind that you could have to produce those records if the IRS audits your return or seeks to assess tax.

It’s a good idea to keep the actual returns indefinitely. But what about supporting records such as receipts and canceled checks? In general, except in cases of fraud or substantial understatement of income, the IRS can only assess tax within three years after the return for that year was filed (or three years after the return was due). For example, if you filed your 2019 tax return by its original due date of April 15, 2020, the IRS has until April 15, 2023, to assess a tax deficiency against you. If you file late, the IRS generally has three years from the date you filed.

However, the assessment period is extended to six years if more than 25% of gross income is omitted from a return. In addition, if no return is filed, the IRS can assess tax any time. If the IRS claims you never filed a return for a particular year, a copy of the return will help prove you did.

Property-related records

The tax consequences of a transaction that occurs this year may depend on events that happened years ago. For example, suppose you bought your home in 2007, made capital improvements in 2014, and sold it this year. To determine the tax consequences of the sale, you must know your basis in the home — your original cost, plus later capital improvements. If you’re audited, you may have to produce records related to the purchase in 2007 and the capital improvements in 2014 to prove the basis. Therefore, those records should be kept until at least six years after filing your return for the year of sale.

Retain all records related to home purchases and improvements even if you expect your gain to be covered by the home-sale exclusion, which can be up to $500,000 for joint return filers. You’ll still need to prove the amount of your basis if the IRS inquires. Plus, there’s no telling what the home will be worth when it’s sold, and there’s no guarantee the home-sale exclusion will still be available in the future.

Other considerations apply to property that’s likely to be bought and sold — for example, stock or shares in a mutual fund. Remember that if you reinvest dividends to buy additional shares, each reinvestment is a separate purchase.

Marital breakup 

If you separate or divorce, be sure you have access to tax records affecting you that are kept by your spouse. Or better yet, make copies of the records since access to them may be difficult. Copies of all joint returns filed and supporting records are important, since both spouses are liable for tax on a joint return and a deficiency may be asserted against either spouse. Other important records include agreements or decrees over custody of children and any agreement about who is entitled to claim them as dependents.

Loss or destruction of records 

To safeguard records against theft, fire, or other disaster, consider keeping important papers in a safe deposit box or other safe place outside your home. In addition, consider keeping copies in a single, easily accessible location so that you can grab them if you must leave your home in an emergency.

© 2023 KraftCPAs PLLC

One of the questions every year on your tax forms asks about your filing status: Single, married filing jointly, married filing separately, head of household or qualifying widow(er). What you might not know is that filing as a head of household is more favorable than filing as a single taxpayer.

For example, the 2023 standard deduction for a single taxpayer is $13,850, while it’s $20,800 for a head of household taxpayer. To be eligible, you must maintain a household that, for more than half the year, is the principal home of a “qualifying child” or other relative of yours whom you can claim as a dependent.

Basic rules

Who is a qualifying child? This is a child who meets four criteria:

• Lives in your home for more than half the year
• Is your child, stepchild, adopted child, foster child, sibling, stepsibling (or a descendant of any of these)
• Is under age 19 (or a student under 24)
• Doesn’t provide over half of his or her own support for the year

If the parents are divorced, the child will qualify if he or she meets these tests for the custodial parent — even if that parent released his or her right to a dependency exemption for the child to the noncustodial parent.

A person isn’t a “qualifying child” if he or she is married and can’t be claimed by you as a dependent because he or she filed jointly or isn’t a U.S. citizen or resident. Special “tie-breaking” rules apply if the individual can be a qualifying child of more than one taxpayer.

You’re considered to “maintain a household” if you live in the home for the tax year and pay over half the cost of running it. In measuring the cost, include house-related expenses incurred for the mutual benefit of household members, including property taxes, mortgage interest, rent, utilities, insurance on the property, repairs and upkeep, and food consumed in the home. Don’t include items such as medical care, clothing, education, life insurance, or transportation.

Maintaining a home for a parent 

Under a special rule, you can qualify as head of household if you maintain a home for a parent of yours even if you don’t live with the parent. To qualify under this rule, you must be able to claim the parent as your dependent.

Marital status

You must be unmarried to claim head of household status. If you’re unmarried because you’re widowed, you can use the married filing jointly rates as a “surviving spouse” for two years after the year of your spouse’s death if your dependent child, stepchild, adopted child, or foster child lives with you and you “maintain” the household. The joint rates are more favorable than the head of household rates.

If you’re married, you must file either as married filing jointly or separately — not as head of household. However, if you’ve lived apart from your spouse for the last six months of the year and your dependent child, stepchild, adopted child, or foster child lives with you and you “maintain” the household, you’re treated as unmarried. If this is the case, you can qualify as head of household.

© 2023 KraftCPAs PLLC

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) says its new requirement for lenders to collect more data on loan applications is a win for business owners and fair lending advocates.

Banks, meanwhile, are looking for solutions to collect, maintain, and analyze the mountains of data to come as a result.

The new guidance is part of Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which Congress approved in 2011 but stagnated until February 2020 when a court ordered its enforcement. The final rule was issued on March 30, 2023, in accordance with the court order and will become effective 90 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Under Section 1071, any financial institution, credit union, or lender with at least 100 covered small business credit originations (an increase from 25 noted in the proposed rule) in the previous two calendar years will be required to document  specific data points as part of the small business loan application process. Small businesses are defined as $5 million or less in gross annual revenues.

The data points include:

• Application data generated by the institution such as application date, application method, action taken, and date of action
• Application data for the transaction collected from the applicant such as credit purpose, amount applied for, census tract, gross annual revenue, number of people working for the applicant, applicant’s time in business, and number of principal owners of the applicant
• Demographic information solely based on information collected from the applicant including the ethnicity, race, and sex of the applicant’s principal owners as well as applicant ownership business status to include minority ownership, women ownership, and LGBTQI+ ownership

The CFPB said the new regulations will help lenders identify business and community development needs and opportunities, and the resulting data will shed light on whether banks are adequately meeting the needs of small businesses. It could also help shape future regulatory actions and enforcement.

The rule affects a wide range of credit providers in addition to financial institutions, including online lenders, platform lenders, fintechs, and credit cards. However, there is a tiered implementation process in the final rule which gives institutions either 18, 24, or 33 months (depending on the transaction volume) to prepare systems, develop written procedures, and implement the requirements.

The mountains of new data collected by lenders will be publicly available and posted annually on the CFPB’s website. That decision has raised concerns among lenders who cite privacy concerns of applicants, as well as potentially sharing lending practices with competing lenders.

For financial institutions, Section 1071 is just one of three pending announcements being watched. A ruling on massive changes to the Community Reinvestment Act is expected soon, followed by a 12-month implementation period. Later this year, the CFPB is expected to announce proposed changes to Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act, followed by a final ruling in 2024.

© 2023 KraftCPAs PLLC

Bank failures don’t happen often, so the recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank – which appeared strong just days before its downfall – came as even more of a shock to its investors and customers.

In the wake of the bank’s sudden nosedive, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has reassured customers that deposits would be covered, and industry leaders have tried to calm investors as bank stock prices struggle. In Tennessee, the president and CEO of the Tennessee Bankers Association insisted that banks in the state are strong, citing differences between traditional lenders and the unique business models of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, which failed just days later.

“Banks are well-capitalized, and that is what we are educating customers on,” Colin Barrett told the Nashville Business Journal.  “The industry is strong. We’ll figure this out and get past it.”

The FDIC’s process for dealing with lost deposits has proven invaluable in the past, particularly amid a wave of bank failures from 2009 to 2011. But customers often don’t know that the FDIC doesn’t cover all depositors or all types of accounts.

Here’s what to know about the FDIC and whether your assets are protected.

A little about the FDIC

Established as an independent agency of the federal government in 1933, the FDIC aims to provide stability and public confidence in the nation’s financial system. It’s funded entirely by premiums paid by financial institutions in return for deposit insurance coverage. As of January 1, 2023, there were 4,706 financial institutions insured by the FDIC.

Credit union deposits are also insured, but those are through the National Credit Union Administration, which operates similarly to the FDIC.

How FDIC insurance works

Almost every bank in the United States is FDIC-insured, which means its customers are automatically covered – but only up to a point. The FDIC insurance limits per customer (per bank) are:

• $250,000 for a single account
• $250,000 for each joint account holder
• $250,000 for each qualified retirement account (such as an IRA or Roth IRA)
• $250,000 for each irrevocable trust
• $250,000 for each beneficiary of a revocable trust

Even with those limits, there are ways to increase FDIC coverage. A customer can open a single account under their name and a joint account with a spouse, for example, for a combined $500,000 in insured deposits. Or a customer could have accounts at different banks, each of which would carry $250,000 worth of FDIC coverage.

Occasionally, the FDIC makes exceptions and covers all deposits in a failed bank regardless of the amount – including in the case of Silicon Valley Bank – but those instances have been rare.

Money market accounts and CDs

Most bank certificates of deposit are also insured by the FDIC for up to $250,000. Some banks offer uninsured CDs, but the potential risk also carries the reward of higher interest rates and values of more than $250,000.

Money market accounts vary in their customer protection. For example, a financial institution’s money market deposit accounts are usually FDIC-insured.  However, money market mutual funds offered by brokerage firms and mutual fund companies are not insured by the FDIC.

Even though bank failures are few and far between, they can happen. If you or your business carry account balances that exceed the $250,000 FDIC insurance cap, it could be worthwhile to consider ways to spread out those savings to guarantee maximum coverage.

© 2023 KraftCPAs PLLC