Introduction
If you’re a professional, no one needs to tell you that taxes are one of your largest expenses. The best way to minimize your taxes and maximize your take-home income is to take advantage of every tax deduction available to you.
This book, the first of its kind, is about tax deductions for all types of professionals, including:
- accountants
- architects
- chiropractors
- consultants
- dentists
- doctors
- engineers
- lawyers
- marriage and family therapists
- optometrists
- pharmacists
- psychologists, and
- veterinarians.
Specially tailored for the unique needs of professionals, it shows you how you can deduct all or most of your business expenses from your federal taxes—everything from advertising to vehicle depreciation. It can be used by professionals who work by themselves, or by those involved in a group practice—whether you are a sole proprietor, or are involved in a professional corporation, a partnership, or an LLC.
Now more than ever you’ll need guidance when it comes to under-standing your taxes. In 2017, Congress enacted the most sweeping changes to the tax code in over 30 years when it passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which took effect in 2018. Now, in an effort to stave off economic devastation in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Congress has revised the nation’s tax laws yet again, temporarily suspending many of the harshest provisions of the TCJA. We explain how these changes affect business deductions for professionals including:
- new rules for deducting net operating losses during 2018 through 2020 (see Chapter 1)
- new tax credits for self-employed professionals impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic (see Chapter 11)
- rules for deducting business-related meals (see Chapter 13)
- changes affecting charitable contributions by businesses (see Chapter 13)
- new tax credits for employers who retain their payrolls and provide sick leave and family leave (see Chapter 14), and
- how employers can deduct pandemic-related payments to employees (see Chapter 14).
Even if you work with an accountant or another tax professional, you need to learn about tax deductions. No tax professional will ever know as much about your business as you do. The information in this book will help you provide your tax professional with better records, ask better questions, obtain better advice—and, just as importantly, evaluate the advice you get from tax professionals, websites, and other sources.
If you do your taxes yourself (as more and more small business owners are doing), your need for knowledge is even greater. Not even the most sophisticated tax preparation program can decide which tax deductions you should take or tell you whether you’ve overlooked a valuable deduction. This book can be your legal companion, providing practical advice and information so that you can rest assured that you are not paying more to the IRS than you need to.
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