Stephen Fishman

Energy-Related Tax Credits Homeowners Can Use From the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act

Save on energy bills and on taxes by taking advantage of expanded home energy tax credits for 2022. Among the many provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that was passed in mid-2022 was one extending and expanding three existing tax credits…

New Tax Reporting Rules Start in 2022 for Payments by PayPal and Other Third-Party Payment Providers

If you work as an independent contractor and get paid through PayPal or a similar third-party settlement organization, are an Airbnb host, or sell goods on eBay, Etsy, or another website, you need to know about a little-noticed change in the tax…

Deducting Your State Income Taxes with a Pass-Through Entity

Many states have adopted an optional pass-through entity (PTE) tax that effectively enables many business owners to deduct state income tax on their business income without limit. The personal federal income tax deduction for state and local income…

New Hampshire State Business Income Tax

Most states tax at least some types of business income derived from the state. As a rule, the details of how income from a specific business is taxed depend in part on the business's legal form. In most states, corporations are subject to a corporate…

How Illinois State Business Income Tax Works

Most states tax at least some types of business income derived from the state. As a rule, the details of how income from a specific business is taxed depend in part on the business's legal form. In most states, corporations are subject to a corporate…

How the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Affects Businesses

In 2017, Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), the most significant tax reform law in over 30 years. The TCJA continues to have a big impact on businesses' taxes. Except where otherwise noted, all of the changes covered in this article…

IRS Increases Standard Mileage Rate

Just before Christmas, the IRS has proved a bringer of gifts for taxpayers who drive a car for business. ‍ The IRS announced the federal standard mileage rates for 2022. So, how many cents per mile can you write off this year? 58.5 cents per business…

Can Landlords Deduct Unpaid Rent?

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 10 million American renters have fallen behind on their rent payments. Some haven't paid any rent for months. Rental assistance for struggling tenants is available from the federal government, but it is…

Back-Door Roth IRA: A Great Way to Save for Retirement

It's never too soon to start saving for your retirement. One of the best ways to do so is to sock money into a Roth IRA account. Unfortunately, higher income people haven't been allowed to use Roth IRAs because of tax law restrictions. By using the…

Business vehicle trade-ins under the new tax law

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ("TCJA") has resulted in many changes in the tax laws. One little-noticed change affects trade-ins of vehicles uses for business. Let's go over the tax changes for business vehicle trade-ins. Old tax law: Tax-deferred…

Tax Reporting by Online Hiring Platforms

Today, millions of Americans obtain work in the gig economy. They sell their services through online hiring platforms like Uber, Lyft, TaskRabbit, and UpWork. Usually, payment for such gig workers' services transact through the platform. The vast…

What are Force Majeure Contract Clauses?

In March, the Illinois governor suspended dining in restaurants due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In response, an Italian restaurant in Chicago stopped paying its rent. Subsequently, the landlord sued, but the court held the restaurant only…

Tax issues for the newly unemployed

Unemployment is at levels not seen since the Great Depression of the 1930s. If you got laid off, taxes are probably the last thing you want to have to think about. However, you need to understand the answers to these questions: Is unemployment taxed?…

Health insurance for the newly unemployed

Millions of Americans have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. That’s bad enough. But for most employees, losing a job also means losing employer-provided group health insurance. Fortunately, there are many health insurance…

IRS gives taxpayers a break and extends its deadlines

Probably the last thing you want to have to worry about in the midst of a pandemic is the IRS. Surprisingly, the IRS agrees. It has postponed most of its tax filing and payment deadlines. Who qualifies for the extensions? The extensions apply to…

Top Tax Deductions for Doing Good

Times of crisis like the present brings out the best and worst of humanity. Some people go out of their way to help others in need. Congress has acted to encourage charitable giving by expanding the tax deduction for charitable contributions. Tax…

Tax deductions for working from home

Millions of Americans are now working from home. Many of them never worked from home before. If you’re one of them, can you get a tax deduction for your home office expenses? It depends. Claiming a home office deduction for business owners If you’re…

Important tax changes for retirement plans

Congress has passed an 880-page law called the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The CARES Act contains many tax relief measures. These include several for taxpayers who have money in retirement plans. If you have a…

Understanding and deducting a stock loss

It’s no fun losing money in the stock market. But it does come with a silver lining: You get to deduct your losses. Don’t get too excited, though, because this deduction is strictly limited. The first thing to know: When do you suffer a loss? You…

New tax rules for deducting business losses

Due to difficult economic conditions, Congress has enacted the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). Among many other things, this law makes it much easier for businesses to deduct losses. The CARES Act may enable you to get a…