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April 4, 2023by admin

Here are some of the key tax-related deadlines that apply to businesses and other employers during the second quarter of 2023. Keep in mind that this list isn’t all-inclusive, so there may be additional deadlines that apply to you. Contact us to ensure you’re meeting all applicable deadlines and to learn more about the filing requirements.

April 18

  • If you’re a calendar-year corporation, file a 2022 income tax return (Form 1120) or file for an automatic six-month extension (Form 7004) and pay any tax due.
  • For corporations pay the first installment of 2023 estimated income taxes.
  • For individuals, file a 2022 income tax return (Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR) or file for an automatic six-month extension (Form 4868) and pay any tax due.
  • For individuals, pay the first installment of 2023 estimated taxes, if you don’t pay income tax through withholding (Form 1040-ES).

May 1

  • Employers report income tax withholding and FICA taxes for the first quarter of 2023 (Form 941) and pay any tax due.

May 10

  • Employers report income tax withholding and FICA taxes for the first quarter of 2023 (Form 941), if they deposited on time and fully paid all of the associated taxes due.

June 15

  • Corporations pay the second installment of 2023 estimated income taxes.

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April 4, 2023by admin

It’s been years since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 was signed into law, but it’s still having an impact. Several provisions in the law have expired or will expire in the next few years. One provision that took effect last year was the end of current deductibility for research and experimental (R&E) expenses.

R&E expenses

The TCJA has affected many businesses, including manufacturers, that have significant R&E costs. Starting in 2022, Internal Revenue Code Section 174 R&E expenditures must be capitalized and amortized over five years (15 years for research conducted outside the United States). Previously, businesses had the option of deducting these costs immediately as current expenses.

The TCJA also expanded the types of activities that are considered R&E for purposes of IRC Sec. 174. For example, software development costs are now considered R&E expenses subject to the amortization requirement.

Potential strategies

Businesses should consider the following strategies for minimizing the impact of these changes:

  • Analyze costs carefully to identify those that constitute R&E expenses and those that are properly characterized as other types of expenses (such as general business expenses under IRC Sec. 162) that continue to qualify for immediate deduction.
  • If cost-effective, move foreign research activities to the United States to take advantage of shorter amortization periods.
  • If cost-effective, purchase software that’s immediately deductible, rather than developing it in-house, which is now considered an amortizable R&E expense.
  • Revisit the R&E credit if you haven’t been taking advantage of it.

Recent IRS guidance

For 2022 tax returns, the IRS recently released guidance for taxpayers to change the treatment of R&E expenses (Revenue Procedure 2023-11). The guidance provides a way to obtain automatic consent under the tax code to change methods of accounting for specified research or experimental expenditures under Sec. 174, as amended by the TCJA. This is important because unless there’s an exception provided under tax law, a taxpayer must secure the consent of the IRS before changing a method of accounting for federal income tax purposes.

The recent revenue procedure also provides a transition rule for taxpayers who filed a tax return on or before January 17, 2023.

Planning ahead

We can advise you how to proceed. There have also been proposals in Congress that would eliminate the amortization requirements. However, so far, they’ve been unsuccessful. We’re monitoring legislative developments and can help adjust your tax strategies if there’s a change in the law.


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April 4, 2023by admin

Under tax law, businesses can generally deduct advertising and marketing expenses that help keep existing customers and bring in new ones. This valuable tax deduction can help businesses cut their taxes.

However, in order to be deductible, advertising and marketing expenses must be “ordinary and necessary.” As one taxpayer recently learned in U.S. Tax Court, not all expenses are eligible. An ordinary expense is one that’s common and accepted in the industry. And a necessary expense is one that’s helpful and appropriate for the business.

According to the IRS, here are some advertising expenses that are usually deductible:

  • Reasonable advertising expenses that are directly related to the business activities.
  • An expense for the cost of institutional or goodwill advertising to keep the business name before the public if it relates to a reasonable expectation to gain business in the future. For example, the cost of advertising that encourages people to contribute to the Red Cross or to participate in similar causes is usually deductible.
  • The cost of providing meals, entertainment, or recreational facilities to the public as a means of advertising or promoting goodwill in the community.

Facts of the recent case

An attorney deducted his car-racing expenses and claimed they were advertising for his personal injury law practice. He contended that his racing expenses, totaling over $303,000 for six tax years, were deductible as advertising because the car he raced was sponsored by his law firm.

The IRS denied the deductions and argued that the attorney’s car racing wasn’t an ordinary and necessary expense paid or incurred while carrying on his business of practicing law. The Tax Court agreed with the IRS.

When making an ordinary and necessary determination for an expense, most courts look to the taxpayer’s primary motive for incurring the expense and whether there’s a “proximate” relationship between the expense and the taxpayer’s occupation. In this case, the taxpayer’s car-racing expenses were neither necessary nor common for a law practice, so there was no “proximate” relationship between the expense and the taxpayer’s occupation. And, while the taxpayer said his primary motive for incurring the expense was to advertise his law business, he never raced in the state where his primary law practice was located and he never actually got any legal business from his car-racing activity.

The court noted that the car “sat in his garage” after he returned to the area where his law practice was located. The court added that even if the taxpayer raced in that area, “we would not find his expenses to be legitimate advertising expenses. His name and a decal for his law firm appeared in relatively small print” on his car.

This form of “signage,” the court stated, “is at the opposite end of the spectrum from (say) a billboard or a newspaper ad. Indeed, every driver’s name typically appeared on his or her racing car.” (TC Memo 2023-18)

Keep meticulous records

There are no deductions allowed for personal expenses or hobbies. But as explained above, you can deduct ordinary and necessary advertising and marketing expenses in a bona fide business. The key to protecting your deductions is to keep meticulous records to substantiate them. Contact us with questions about your situation.


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April 4, 2023by admin

If you’re buying or replacing a vehicle that you’ll use in your business, be aware that a heavy SUV may provide a more generous tax break this year than you’d get from a smaller vehicle. The reason has to do with how smaller business cars are depreciated for tax purposes.

Depreciation rules

Business cars are subject to more restrictive tax depreciation rules than those that apply to other depreciable assets. Under the so-called “luxury auto” rules, depreciation deductions are artificially “capped.” Those caps also extend to the alternative deduction that a taxpayer can claim if it elects to use Section 179 expensing for all or part of the cost of a business car. (It allows you to write-off an asset in the year it’s placed in service.)

These rules include smaller trucks or vans built on truck chassis that are treated as cars. For most cars that are subject to the caps and that are first placed in service in calendar year 2023, the maximum depreciation and/or expensing deductions are:

  • $20,200 for the first tax year in its recovery period (2023 for calendar-year taxpayers);
  • $19,500 for the second tax year;
  • $11,700 for the third tax year; and
  • $6,960 for each succeeding tax year.

Generally, the effect is to extend the number of years it takes to fully depreciate the vehicle.

Because of the restrictions for cars, you may be better off from a tax timing perspective if you replace your business car with a heavy SUV instead of another car. That’s because the caps on annual depreciation and expensing deductions for passenger automobiles don’t apply to trucks or vans that are rated at more than 6,000 pounds gross (loaded) vehicle weight. This includes large SUVs, many of which are priced over $50,000.

The result is that in most cases, you’ll be able to write-off a majority of the cost of a new SUV used entirely for business purposes by utilizing bonus and regular depreciation in the year you place it into service. For 2023, bonus depreciation is available at 80%, but is being phased down to zero over the next few years.

If you consider electing Section 179 expensing for all or part of the cost of an SUV, you need to know that an inflation-adjusted limit, separate from the general caps described above, applies ($28,900 for an SUV placed in service in tax years beginning in 2023, up from $27,000 for an SUV placed in service in tax years beginning in 2022). There’s also an aggregate dollar limit for all assets elected to be expensed in the year that would apply. Following the expensing election, you would then depreciate the remainder of the cost under the usual rules without regard to general annual caps.

Please note that the tax benefits described above are all subject to adjustment for non-business use. Also, if business use of an SUV doesn’t exceed 50% of total use, the SUV won’t be eligible for the expensing election, and would have to be depreciated on a straight-line method over a six-tax-year period.

Contact us for more details about this opportunity to get hefty tax write-offs if you buy a heavy SUV for business.


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April 1, 2023by admin

April 10, 2023

Employees – who work for tips. If you received $20 or more in tips during March, report them to your employer. You can use Form 4070.

April 18, 2023

Individuals – File an income tax return for 2022 (Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR) and pay any tax due. If you want an automatic 6-month extension of time to file the return, file Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time To File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return and pay what you estimate you owe in tax to avoid penalties and interest. Then file Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR by October 16.

Household Employers – If you paid cash wages of $2,400 or more in 2022 to a household employee, file Schedule H (Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR) with your income tax return and report any employment taxes. Report any federal unemployment (FUTA) tax on Schedule H (Form 1040 or Form 1040-SR) if you paid total cash wages of $1,000 or more in any calendar quarter of 2021 or 2022 to household employees.

Employers – Social Security, Medicare, and withheld income tax. If the monthly deposit rule applies, deposit the tax for payments in March.

Employers – Nonpayroll withholding. If the monthly deposit rule applies, deposit the tax for payments in March.

Individuals – If you are not paying your 2023 income tax through withholding (or will not pay in enough tax during the year that way), pay the first installment of your 2023 estimated tax. Use Form 1040-ES.

Corporations – File a 2022 calendar year income tax return (Form 1120) and pay any tax due. If you want an automatic 6-month extension of time to file the return, file Form 7004 and deposit what you estimate you owe in taxes.

Corporations – Deposit the first installment of estimated income tax for 2023. A worksheet, Form 1120-W, is available to help you estimate your tax for the year.