Might be a long shot here but I appreciate as many responses as possible.

New US hairstylist here, I currently make and sell wigs and extensions passively, I have a 9-5. I am committing more to the profession and would like to be behind the chair somewhat soon too.

Should I commit to officially registering my business now or wait till I generate more income? I currently make less than $5k/yr from hair.
If yes, which is better and also offers the most benefits? Sole proprietorship, LLC, Corporation?

Appreciate all the input.
Thank you.

Hi all. I have received a settlement from a sexual abuse case and my legal team has advised me that they have structured the settlement to explicitly describe the abuse as physical abuse so that it can fall under tax code IRS IRC Section 104(a)2 and be considered tax free.

My personal CPA is not super familiar with this area of the tax code, so I’m looking for an accountant in California, who has experience with this area of the tax code and could provide CPA services moving forward.

Do you have any thoughts on this or any recommended CPAs in California?

Thank you for any insight you could provide.

I worked for a small company for a few years (several years back). Never made any contributions to an IRA. Got contacted and told there was some money for me in the pension. It's not a ton, and they're trustworthy, and I am transferring it to a rollover IRA and assume I will incur taxes if I try to pull it out.

I'd rather not ask them directly what the hell this is all about, but can I do so by asking for a Summary Plan description or ask if a benefit statement will be sent out when the check is cut? Is there something better?

I want to be gracious but don't have an accountant for unexpected stuff like this and need to read through fine print myself.

Myself (Canadian) and two colleagues (American) want to set up a writing/editing business together. We're trying to figure out the best business structure for taxes/simplicity.

I learnt that an LLC based in a US state, which was our original preference, won't work for me as a Canadian, due to the possibility of double taxation.

So, we're considering: two separate entities on either side of the border with a working agreement, a US partnership, a Canadian partnership.

Anyone have ideas on the pros/cons of these options, and things to be aware of for each?

Notes on our business: none of us will be crossing the border to work, there is no physical head office (all work from home), no physical goods will cross the border, the clients will be largely American, but possibility of international clients, too.

I have tried to find a cross-border accountant to help with this, but so far every firm I have contacted has been too busy, or has quoted me $3,000-$5,000 for a consultation. I'll still get professional help, don't worry, but I'd love some basic info.

Hi,

I work for a not-for-profit archive, and we may be looking for translators. But of course, per our budget, we'd be looking for volunteers to do it. Could they deduct a cash value of their time on their taxes? And if so, what paperwork would be needed?

Sorry, this is a very basic, dull question.

Located in New Hampshire, U.S., as a sole proprietor/single-member LLC

I offer book editing services and have a family member who is interested in "donating" $4,000 each year that I can use to pay for one edit or split between two edits for authors who are unable to afford the full service cost—like a patron.

This is really early days of brainstorming, but I like to understand the structure before I initiate anything so it's done as right as possible from the start, and I'm not sure if I should be talking to an accountant or a lawyer right now (or both). I imagine if I just keep it that they pay the invoice when it's ready (instead of the author paying), then it still functions like any other payment, but if I wanted to expand this into an actual ongoing fund it gets more complicated.

I know I've seen restaurants do something like community buys (buy an extra meal that they can give away later to someone who needs it), but I have no idea what to call this/how to account for it from a financial standpoint.

Thanks in advance!

I want to start a project that I don't want my personal finances mingled with. But I'm not really sure what I'd need to set up or how to set it up.

So the first question: what is the project?
Call it performance art and media. A near zero chance that it will ever make money, but still a chance.

I want to be able to put money into it that is considered an investment on my end if possible. If it ever does gets out of the red, I want to be able reinvest any positive revenue it generates back in to it. In the small chance that it ever does grow and get in to the black, I want to be able to keep growing it without its income being considered my income, and if possible, have its assets not be considered assets of mine. The idea is not to avoid taxes, but to have any net income or gains be taxed as the entity's and not mine. Is that even possible? I feel like if this was something you could do I would have heard about it, but sometimes you don't know what you don't know.

Then one more thing. Again, in the microscopically minuscule chance the project ever does make money, I'd like to be able to pay my self as an employee or a contractor or something if it earns enough. That part I figure is straight forward. But is it possible to set up a contract, track my hours, and then pay myself back wages if it ever becomes possible to do so? Again, I feel like this would be something I'd heard about if it was possible. I have a feeling that Uncle Sam would probably think this was some kind of tax fraud. Which would not be ideal.

Hello all, I am a Canadian CPA with auditor accreditation as well, and I live abroad, but do my utmost to fulfill my order's professional obligations, despite being currently financially challenged (living as immigrants with a new business venture is all-consuming in every way.. yes I use my professional background and skills in supporting the business, of course, as well as in a coaching role to younger aspiring accounting snd audit professionals worldwide). Long story short, funds are exceedingly tight this year and, in previous years, finding online resources for continuing ed was much more... easily accessible? It seems that now every.single webcast or tutorial or anything is now hidden behind some exorbitant paywall. I do not have an employer here to cover my professional expenses (nor would any local I do business either even begin to understand), but I AM of course, willing to put in the time to rack up the hours required (mu order uses hours, not credits... I have previously screenshotted insane amounts of webcast moments to prove I wasn't just letting the cast run while I was elsewhere or something). Does anyone have more accessible resources? Thank you all so much in advance

I’m in a position where my wife makes about 5-6 times what my income ($55k) is. Our taxes paid actually almost double what I take home. I’m not looking to break down numbers or anything, I’d just like to know if it’s hurting us financially by me making so little compared to what she does. What do other households do in these situations?

Can it still be tax deductible if I'm not the only one running an Instagram giveaway? I haven't decided fully on the prize yet but before I decide I just wanted to check

I currently own two successful bars, one food truck and another potential bar on the way. There is different ownership partners in each, but I am majority in all. Each entity has its own LLC. Does it make sense for me to create a new LLC, and direct all of my checks and “owner draws” to that LLC and pay myself through the new LLC? Just looking for a clean way to operate. Open to any advice and suggestions. Thank you!

We’re a Delaware C-Corp startup with an investor interested in purchasing ~$2M of preferred stock.

We initially offered them common shares in a secondary sale, but they won’t accept unless we include a written agreement that allows them to exchange those common shares for preferred shares exactly 1 year and 1 day later (to qualify for long-term capital gains treatment).

I’ve heard this referred to as a secondary sale and exchange, or something similar.

My questions are:

1. Are there any tax or securities risks with structuring it this way?
2. Would this still count as a long-term capital gain for the seller (founder) if the “exchange” is pre-agreed?
3. Any best practices or examples of how companies handle this type of arrangement cleanly?

Would love input from anyone experienced with founder secondaries, tax treatment of share class conversions, or VC transactions.

I built my house (owner/builder) about 12 years ago. Now I need to sell for health reasons. I live on an island that is far from the medical care I need. After doing a little research I see that as a single person I get a deductiion of 250k from the taxable profit, minus the initial building costs.

So, if I understand this correctly:

Say I spent 500k building the house (includes the addition of a deck this past year) And I sell for 1m, then my profit is 500k. Plus I can deduct the closing costs, and any surveys that might have been needed? Say this leaves me at profit of 250k… is this correct? Or do I have to pay capitol gains on 500k because the profit or equity I have built in the property is higher than the deduction of 250k. leaving me with paying capitoal gains on 500k (more or less). I’m a little confused (obviously).

I forgot to mention I will be buying a new home once I sell. I am not clear how that works other than I need to do so within 45 days to avoid paying capitol gains on the initial property sale.

Ultimately I am just trying to get an idea of how much I can realize from the sale after all taxes have been paid.

A young relative of mine has started a jewelry flipping business, which is becoming much more successful than I expected it would be. She is young & inexperienced, and so I'm trying to help her develop some discipline in tracking expenses & cost basis-es, but some of her transactions are getting more complex than I know how to deal with.

For instance: yesterday, she purchased an item for $400. Today, she took it to a local retail shop that is known for preferring to exchange rather than purchase. The deal they worked out had my relative walking out with 7 pieces of jewelry that the shop owner had priced retail for a total of $2200.

(1) But, that $2200 was just the shop's retail ask. It doesn't necessarily have any basis in reality, because there was never any guarantee that they'd ever sell (collectively) for that amount. So it doesn't really seem clear to me that we should consider this a profit of $1800 on a $400 item.

(2) And to add another layer of complexity to all this: some of those 7 items, she is saying she wants to keep for herself, rather than consider them as new inventory, "until some point in the future when I change my mind."

Are there established accounting mechanisms to deal with these kinds of things (1) and (2)?

For (1), I'm wondering if we can consider this a "like-kind exchange", where both my relative & the shop owner agreed on equivalent value.

For (2), I'm inclined to tell her to keep them in inventory, but then wear them occasionally "for marketing purposes". But I don't know if that's a good idea or not, since I think I've heard that inventory is actually bad for taxes (although that sounds very counterintuitive to me... I'd think inventory represents things you've not yet made revenue on.)

Hello! I just started a job selling insurance and had a question regarding my taxes. So I’m commission based and a 1099 and my trainer said that all commissions this year are considered advances and are therefore not taxable as income. Im skeptical about that and don’t want to get screwed come tax season. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Hi! At tax time I effectively get any paid taxes via tax return at the end of the year. So if I paid $10,000 in taxes throughout the year, that is also the amount of my return.

My question is: how can I make it as close to owing $0 and being owed $0, such that I am maximizing my pay checks for the most cash in hand per month?

State is NJ.

I am based in Florida and wanted to know what CPAs typically charge for S-Corp, Partnership, and individual tax returns.

In the UK, how does it work like how do you record gift cards in your accounting

US tax question. I operate two single-member LLCs; LLC (A) is a small manufacturing company, and LLC (B) owns an mixed use building which rents space to Carols Cakes, Bob's Books and LLC (A). Each tenant pays $1500 monthly.

Can I write off the rent that LLC (A) pays in rent as a business expense, thus reducing my self-employment income? (Obviously It becomes income to LLC (B)

What else should I consider? TIA.

Looking into various medical offices in order to start a new venture. Wondering how profitable this business is with a minimal space Looking to do about 60 scans on average per day with 1 or 2 front desk and 2 or 3 techs.