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New law offers small business tax breaks

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) does much more for businesses than lower corporate tax rates. With careful planning, your small business may realize big tax benefits under the new law. Here are several tax-saving opportunities for 2018:

  • Place assets in service. Under Section 179, a business can now deduct the cost of up to $1 million of qualified assets a year, doubled from $500,000. But the Section 179 deduction is still limited to the amount of income from the business activity. Also, the TCJA doubles the 50 percent bonus depreciation deduction to 100 percent for 2018, giving your small business greater flexibility.
  • Consider buying a new business car. The TCJA also increases depreciation deductions allowed for cars used for business driving. Specifically, it hikes the annual limits for luxury cars for each year in service. For instance, the first-year write-off for a car jumps from $3,160 in 2017 to $10,000 in 2018, not even counting bonus depreciation. If you're shopping for a new business car, now's a good tax time to buy.
  • Manage pass-through income. For taxpayers owning a business taxed as a pass-through entity — like a partnership, S corporation or sole proprietorship — the new law creates a brand-new deduction generally equal to 20 percent of the business income. This effectively lowers the tax rate for owners. There have been conditions put in place to avoid abuses, especially for professionals and other taxpayers providing services. By keeping income below the thresholds of $157,500 for single filers and $315,000 for joint filers, you may benefit from the maximum 20 percent deduction.
  • Cash in on other business tax breaks. Finally, you can still take advantage of various deductions and credits (albeit with certain tweaks), including tax breaks for research activities, interest deductions, net operating losses (NOLs) and a new temporary credit for family and medical leave wages.

Call our office today and we can help you develop the best tax strategies for your situation.

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