IRA Lawyer

John Hyre here.  Sorry I have “gone dark” for the last 45 or so days.  The usual pile up of year-end work (i.e. – procrastinating entrepreneurs planning at the last minute kills my schedule every November & December) was brutal this year.  Add some midnight oil being burned to digest the massive changes in the law and my schedule has been a bit overdone, to say the least.

I have included a list of “last minute” “to-do’s” and “year-end tax items” for your consideration.

Also:  I will be presenting a webinar on new tax law changes and what real estate investors, small businesses, and SDIRA/401k investors should be doing about it.  Congress has not given us much time to think or analyze, the changes take effect 1/1/18!  The webinar will be on Thursday, January 4^th.  At $99, it is much cheaper than paying by the hour ($400/hour from January 1^st) for the same information, click HERE if interested.

In addition:  Some of you have asked when the next SDIRA/401k workshop would be.  It is February 3^rd & 4^th in Tampa, click HERE for more information.

Year End THINGS TO DO

• Get a notarized plan in place for a valuable $2,500 “expensing policy” (see the link at the end of this newsletter for more details)
• Get your “Accountable Reimbursement Plan” in place (see the other link at the end of this newsletter for more details)
• Prepay 2017 property taxes (that are due in 2018) on your personal residence – their deductibility will be limited after 2017
  • This strategy will not work with 2018 income taxes
• Consider prepaying 2018 charitable contributions in 2017 if you can afford to do so – itemized deductions will be limited after 2017, you want to benefit from them now if at all possible
• You should almost certainly defer income into 2018 if possible – your bracket will probably be lower, and you paying taxes later beats paying them now

“Miscellaneous Itemized Deductions” are DEAD after 2017.  Consider prepaying 2018 expenses for:

• Appraisal fees for a casualty loss or charitable contribution;
• Casualty and theft losses from property used in performing services as an employee;
• Clerical help and office rent in caring for investments (“investments” mean activities that do not rise to the level of a “trade or business”);
• Depreciation on home computers used for investments;
• Excess deductions (including administrative expenses) allowed a beneficiary on termination of an estate or trust;
• Fees to collect interest and dividends;
• Hobby expenses, but generally not more than hobby income;
• Indirect miscellaneous deductions from pass-through entities;
• Investment fees and expenses;
• Loss on deposits in an insolvent or bankrupt financial institution;
• Loss on traditional IRAs or Roth IRAs, when all amounts have been distributed;
• Repayments of income;
• Safe deposit box rental fees, except for storing jewelry and other personal effects;
• Service charges on dividend reinvestment plans; and
• Trustee’s fees for an IRA, if separately billed and paid.
• Tax prep (personal return only and only the non-business portions of it)
• Employee expenses
• Business bad debt of an employee;
• Business liability insurance premiums;
• Damages paid to a former employer for breach of an employment contract;
• Depreciation on a computer a taxpayer’s employer requires him to use in his W2 job;
• Dues to a chamber of commerce if membership helps the taxpayer perform his W2 job;
• Dues to professional societies;
• Educator expenses;
• Home office or part of a taxpayer’s home used regularly and exclusively in the taxpayer’s work;
• Job search expenses in the taxpayer’s present occupation;
• Laboratory breakage fees;
• Legal fees related to the taxpayer’s W2 job;
• Licenses and regulatory fees;
• Malpractice insurance premiums;
• Medical examinations required by an employer;
• Occupational taxes;
• Passport fees for a business trip;
• Repayment of an income aid payment received under an employer’s plan;
• Research expenses of a college professor;
• Rural mail carriers’ vehicle expenses;
• Subscriptions to professional journals and trade magazines related to the taxpayer’s W2 job;
• Tools and supplies used in the taxpayer’s W2 job;
• Purchase of travel, transportation, meals, entertainment, gifts, and local lodging related to the taxpayer’s W2 job;
• Union dues and expenses;
• Work clothes and uniforms if required and not suitable for everyday use; and
• W2 job-related education.
• Repayments of income received under a claim of right (only subject to the two percent
• floor if less than $3,000);
• Repayments of Social Security benefits; and
• The share of deductible investment expenses from pass-through entities.

Documents

Expensing Letter Dec 26 2017 for 2018

AccountablePlanSample