Tax-Home Rules You Should Know

When you travel out of town overnight, you need to know the tax-home rule. The IRS defines your tax-home, and it’s not necessarily in the same town where you have your personal residence.   Tax Law If you have more than one business location, one of the locations...

Is Your Travel Day Personal or a Tax-Deductible Business Day?

When you travel to a business location where you spend the night, you are in travel status. But will the tax rules make this a business or personal night?   Tax Law The rules also affect your costs during the day. When you have an overnight business travel day,...

Garage Space as a Home Office

Do you claim a tax deduction for a home office? Should you include or exclude your garage space in your calculations of business-use percentage?   The Culp’s Case Ronald Culp earned an office deduction for 78 percent of his home. That’s a nice percentage,...

Tax Planning for the New $142,800 Base for Self-Employment Taxes

What happens when lawmakers enact a new tax? It starts small. It looks easy. In 1935, the self-employment tax topped out at $60. Those 1935 lawmakers must be twirling in their graves with the new rules for 2021, which levy the following taxes: • A self-employment tax...

Using Whole or Partial Rooms for Your Home Office

You may be spending more time working from your home office. You may have taken some extra rooms for your business use. Is that okay? Section 280A(c) states that you may claim a home office based on the portion of the dwelling that you use exclusively and regularly...