Benefits of a Living Trust for Your Estate

You may think you don’t need to make any estate planning moves because of the generous federal estate tax exemption of $12.92 million for 2023 (effectively $25.84 million if you’re married). However, if you have significant assets, you should consider establishing a living trust to avoid probate. Probate is a court-supervised legal process intended to make sure a deceased person’s assets are properly distributed. However, going through probate typically means red tape, legal fees and your financial affairs becoming public information. You can avoid this with a living trust (also commonly called a family trust, grantor trust and revocable trust). How they work You establish the living trust and transfer legal ownership of assets for which you wish to avoid probate to it (such as your main home,...

Keep These DOs and DON'Ts in Mind When Deducting Business Meal and Vehicle Expenses

If you’re claiming deductions for business meals or auto expenses, expect the IRS to closely review them. In some cases, taxpayers have incomplete documentation or try to create records months (or years) later. In doing so, they fail to meet the strict substantiation requirements set forth under tax law. Tax auditors are adept at rooting out inconsistencies, omissions and errors in taxpayers’ records, as illustrated by one recent U.S. Tax Court case. Facts of the case In the case, a married couple claimed $13,596 in car and truck expenses, supported only by mileage logs that weren’t kept contemporaneously and were made using estimates rather than odometer readings. The court disallowed the entire deduction, stating that “subsequently prepared mileage records do not have the same high degree of...

Business Valuation Pros Can Wear Two Hats

In adversarial situations — such as divorces, contract breaches and shareholder disputes — you might need to hire an outside business valuator to evaluate complex financial matters. To get the most from these professionals, it’s important to understand the two key roles they can play in conflict resolution. Keeping these roles separate helps prevent valuators from being seen as “hired guns” by judges, juries, arbitrators and mediators. Expert witnesses Valuators often serve as expert witnesses in litigation. In this role, they may provide written opinions and verbal testimony on financial issues concerning: The value of a business, including the fair market value or fair value of a specific owner’s business interest, Economic damages, including temporary lost profits and diminution in business value, Formal rebuttal of...

Being a Gig Worker Comes With Tax Consequences

In recent years, many workers have become engaged in the “gig” economy. You may think of gig workers as those who deliver take-out restaurant meals, walk dogs and drive for ride-hailing services. But so-called gig work seems to be expanding. Today, some nurses have become gig workers and writers in Hollywood who recently went on strike have expressed concerns that screenwriting is becoming part of the gig economy. There are tax consequences when performing jobs that don’t involve taxes being deducted from a regular paycheck. The bottom line: If you receive income from freelancing or from one of the online platforms offering goods and services, it’s generally taxable. That’s true even if the income comes from a side job and even if you don’t receive an...

The IRS Has Just Announced 2024 Amounts for Health Savings Accounts

The IRS recently released guidance providing the 2024 inflation-adjusted amounts for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). HSA fundamentals 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 “high-deductible health plan.” In addition, a participant can’t be enrolled in Medicare or have other health coverage (exceptions include dental, vision, long-term care, accident and specific disease insurance). Within specified dollar limits, an above-the-line tax deduction is allowed for an individual’s contributions to an HSA. This annual contribution limitation and the annual deductible and out-of-pocket expenses under the tax code are adjusted annually for inflation. Inflation adjustments for next year In Revenue Procedure...

Financial Statement Fraud: Don't Believe Everything You Read

Financial statements are central to understanding any business. A public company’s balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement enable investors, lenders, the media and other stakeholders to value the company, forecast short- and long-term performance, and determine potential credit risk, among other purposes. To ensure analysis of a company is accurate and insightful, financial statements must be reliable. For this reason, financial statement fraud — the exaggeration or outright fabrication of numbers by insiders, such as owners and executives — is extremely dangerous. It can lead to criminal charges, lawsuits, large financial losses and even the company’s demise. It’s critical that your business do everything possible to prevent this type of fraud. More common than you might think Financial statement fraud involving large public companies has received...

4 Tax Challenges You May Encounter If You're Retiring Soon

Are you getting ready to retire? If so, you’ll soon experience changes in your lifestyle and income sources that may have numerous tax implications. Here’s a brief rundown of four tax and financial issues you may 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...

Electric Car Tires Explained

As posted to the Engineering Explained YouTube Channel on 12/23/2022 (Run Time 11 min, 45 sec) Electric cars place unique challenges on tires, as a result of four key characteristics: weight, efficiency, noise, and torque. Thanks to asking Hankook's engineers an abundance of questions, John Fenske has got all the answers on how electric car tires can help EVs overcome these challenges. (This is Blog Post #1396) Jason Fenske is a graduated mechanical engineer with a passion for cars, and his goal is to help other people passionate about cars learn how they work.  Check out his YouTube Channel here: www.youtube.com/@EngineeringExplained/about...

What Gig Workers Need to Know About Taxes

As appearing in IRS Tax Tip 2022-97 Many people take up gig work on a part-time or full-time basis, often through a digital platform like an app or website. Gig work, such driving a car for booked rides, selling goods online, renting out property, or providing other on-demand work, is taxable and must be reported as income on the worker's tax return. Here are some things gig workers should know to stay on top of their tax responsibilities: Gig work is taxable Earnings from gig economy work is taxable, regardless of whether an individual receives information returns. The reporting requirement for issuance of Form 1099-K changed for payments received in 2022 to totals exceeding $600, regardless of the total number of transactions. This means some gig workers will...

Ranking the Top 12 Automakers

As posted to the AutoLine Network YouTube Channel on 4/8/2023 (Run Time 10 min, 25 sec) John McElroy presents his 2023 ranking of the top 12 automakers based on revenue, profits and several other factors. No editorializing . . . just the numbers. (This is Blog Post #1396) John McElroy has been called an influential thought leader in the automotive industry. He created “Autoline Daily,” the first industry webcast of industry news and analysis. He also hosts the Emmy Award-winning television program “Autoline This Week” and co-hosts “Autoline After Hours”, all of which can be found at www.autoline.tv....