It’s time for business owners to begin year-end planning

The end of the year is fast approaching and we want to provide some strategies for minimizing your corporate tax bill this year.

Businesses should consider making expenditures that qualify for the business property expensing option. For tax years beginning in 2017, the expensing limit is $510,000 and the investment ceiling limit is $2.03 million. Expensing is generally available for most depreciable property (other than buildings), off-the-shelf computer software, air conditioning and heating units, and qualified real property—qualified leasehold improvement property, qualified restaurant property, and qualified retail improvement property.

The ceilings that apply this year mean that many businesses that make timely purchases will be able to currently deduct most if not all their outlays for machinery and equipment. What’s more, the expensing deduction is not prorated for the time that the asset is in service during the year. The fact that the expensing deduction may be claimed in full (if you are otherwise eligible to take it) regardless of how long the property is held during the year can be a potent tool for year-end tax planning. Thus, property acquired and placed in service in the last days of 2017, rather than at the beginning of 2018, can result in a full expensing deduction for 2017.

The following are some other actions you should consider:

  • Businesses also should consider making buying property that qualifies for the 50 percent bonus first year depreciation if bought and placed in service this year (the bonus percentage declines to 40 percent next year). The bonus depreciation deduction is permitted without any proration based on the length of time that an asset is in service during the tax year. As a result, the 50 percent first-year bonus write-off is available even if qualifying assets are in service for only a few days in 2017.
  • Businesses may be able to take advantage of the “de minimis safe harbor election” (also known as the book-tax conformity election) to expense the costs of lower-cost assets and materials and supplies, assuming the costs don’t have to be capitalized under the uniform capitalization (UNICAP) rules. To qualify for the election, the cost of a unit of property can’t exceed $5,000 if the taxpayer has an applicable financial statement ( e.g., a certified audited financial statement along with an independent CPA’s report). If there’s no AFS, the cost of a unit of property can’t exceed $2,500. Where the UNICAP rules aren’t an issue, consider purchasing such qualifying items before the end of 2017.
  • Businesses contemplating large equipment purchases also should keep a close eye on the tax reform plans being considered by Congress. At least one version contemplates immediate expensing—with no set dollar limit—of all depreciable asset (other than building) investments made after Sept. 27, 2017, for a period of at least five years. This would be a major incentive for some businesses to make large purchases of equipment in late 2017.
  • If your business was affected by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma or Maria, it may be entitled to an employee retention credit for eligible employees.
  • A corporation should consider deferring income until 2018 if it will be in a higher bracket this year than next. This could certainly be the case if Congress succeeds in dramatically reducing the corporate tax rate, beginning next year.
  • To reduce 2017 taxable income, consider disposing of a passive activity in 2017 if doing so will allow you to deduct suspended passive activity losses.

These are just some of the year-end steps that can be taken to save taxes. Again, by contacting us, we can tailor a particular plan that will work best for you.

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