©2007 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are trademarks used herein under license. Chapter 3 Business Expenses & Retirement Plans Income Tax Fundamentals 2007 edition Gerald E. Whittenburg & Martha Altus-Buller

©2007 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are trademarks used herein under license. Rental Income/Expenses  Net Rental Income/Loss is part of gross income Report on Schedule E - Part I Report on Schedule C if provide service to tenants exceeding customary level  Vacation Homes - if both personal and rental use of residence must allocate expenses Deductions limited based on period of time residence used for personal vs. rental purposes Different treatment based on three scenarios  Primarily personal  Primarily rental  Dual use

©2007 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are trademarks used herein under license. Passive Loss Limitations  Rule: When taxpayer is not actively involved in an activity – losses are passive and may not be deducted in excess of passive gains, but Loss can be carried forward and deducted in future years or Can be deducted when investment is sold  Examples of passive activities Limited partnership tax shelters Flow through from investment in partnerships where taxpayer is not actively involved in business  Allowable passive losses reported on Form 8582

©2007 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are trademarks used herein under license. Passive Loss Limitations - Exception  Rental property is specifically designated as passive  However, when taxpayer is actively involved* in the management of rental real estate May take up to $25,000 of rental loss against ordinary income (even though passive) The $25,000 loss capability is reduced by 50¢ for each $1 modified AGI > $100,000 *Actively involved defined as screening tenants, maintaining property, etc.

©2007 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are trademarks used herein under license. Bad Debts  Bad debts arise when taxpayer sells good/services on credit and accounts receivable later become uncollectible Deduction for bad debts allowed up to amount previously included in income Cash basis taxpayers cannot take bad debts as they never reported original income  Must use specific charge-off method  Different tax treatments: non-business bad debt [capital loss] verses business bad debt [business loss]

©2007 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are trademarks used herein under license. Net Operating Losses (NOL)  NOLs are losses resulting from business and casualty items only Since inequities may occur for a taxpayer with an NOL, he/she may carry NOL back 2 years, then forward 20  First carry it back to the second prior year [and deduct against income from that year] File amendments for prior years (1040X) or 1045 (for quick refund)  May make an irrevocable election to forgo carry back, but must elect this in year of loss

©2007 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are trademarks used herein under license. Types of Individual Retirement Accounts [IRA]  Regular IRA Deduction for AGI Distributions in retirement are taxable  Roth IRA No current deduction Distributions in retirement are nontaxable

©2007 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are trademarks used herein under license. Contributing/Deducting - IRA  Roth or Traditional IRA contribution limited to lesser of: 100% of earned income or $4000  Spouse with no earned income will be able to contribute up to $4,000  Additionally, ‘catch-up’ provisions can be made  Contribution limits will gradually increase through 2008 For , taxpayers and spouses 50 and over can contribute an additional $1000/year [catch-up provisions]  Phase out provisions found on page 3-15 Can make contributions up through April 15, 2007 for 2006

©2007 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are trademarks used herein under license.  Participants must met minimum age and years of service requirements  Retirement plan geared towards self-employed individuals  Tax free contributions are limited to lesser of 20% of net earned income or $44,000 Net earned income includes business profits if significantly generated from taxpayers personal services Must reduce net earned income by ½ self- employment tax for calculation Keogh Plan

©2007 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are trademarks used herein under license. Simplified Employee Pension [SEP]  Same dollar limits as Keogh plans, but contributions made to SEP-IRA IRA account with higher funding limits  Participants must met minimum age and years of service requirements  Pay early withdrawal penalty if receive distributions prior to age 59.5  Must start drawing by age 70.5

©2007 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are trademarks used herein under license. Qualified Retirement Plan  Contributions by an employer to qualified retirement plans are tax deductible Employee contributions are pre-tax Tax on earnings is deferred  To achieve qualified plan status, an employer-sponsored retirement plan must Be for exclusive benefit of employees Be nondiscriminatory Have certain participation and coverage requirements Comply with minimum vesting requirements Have uniform distribution rules

©2007 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are trademarks used herein under license. Limitations on Certain Qualified Plans  §401(k) Employee chooses to defer some compensation into plan  Forego current or future increased compensation  Maximum % of wages that may be contributed is 15%  Not to exceed $15,000/year for all salary reduction plans $20,000/year if 50 or older An employer may match to encourage participation, this is excludable from income When distributions occur, contributions/earnings taxable

©2007 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are trademarks used herein under license. Low Income Retirement Plan Contribution Credit  Credit to encourage low-income taxpayer participation in retirement savings Single taxpayers with AGI <= $25,000 MFJ with AGI <= $50,000 HH with AGI <= $37,500  Tax credit for percentage of retirement plan contribution based upon AGI Credit equal to 50%, 20% or 10% of contribution See table on p. 3-21

©2007 Thomson South-Western, a part of The Thomson Corporation. Thomson, the Star logo, and South-Western are trademarks used herein under license. Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE)  Designed for use by employers with less than 100 employees  SIMPLE-IRA Employees can defer up to $10,000 per year into SIMPLE-IRA  $12,500 if 50 or older  Contribution expressed as percentage of income  Employer must either: Match employees’ contributions dollar for dollar up to 3% of gross wages or Contribute 2% of gross wages of all employees w ho make over $5,000 per year even if they don’t elect salary deferral