Can You Get a Tax Break for Hiring Your Child in Your Business? If you own a business and have a child who's old enough to perform legitimate work for it, putting your child on the payroll can create an interesting tax-planning opportunity. Instead of giving your child money from your after-tax income, you may...Continue reading
Can Business Owners Claim the Paid Family Leave Tax Credit? If you own a business and provide paid family or medical leave to employees, there's a federal tax credit you may be overlooking. And beginning in 2026, there's an even more interesting question: Can you claim the Paid Family Leave Tax Credit when the person...Continue reading
Can You Take the Self-Employed Health Insurance Deduction? If you're self-employed and pay for your own health insurance, you may have access to a valuable tax deduction. (How Do Owners of S Corporations Deduct Their Health Insurance?) The self-employed health insurance deduction can reduce your adjusted gross income dollar for dollar. You don't have to...Continue reading
Can an S Corporation Increase Your QBI Deduction? If you're a successful sole proprietor, you may already have heard one of the most common pieces of small-business tax advice: "You should consider becoming an S corporation." Usually, that conversation focuses on potentially reducing self-employment taxes. But for some higher-income business owners, there may be another...Continue reading
When you hear the words "home office deduction," what do you picture? Probably a spare bedroom with a desk, computer, filing cabinets and a door you can close. But what if you don't have a spare bedroom? Maybe you live in an apartment, condo or smaller house where every room already has a purpose. Does...Continue reading
If you own one business, calculating your Qualified Business Income (QBI) deduction can already get complicated. Own two or three businesses? Now you have another question: Does the IRS calculate the QBI deduction separately for each business, or can you combine them? The answer can potentially make a significant difference in your tax bill. Section...Continue reading
Can My Spouse Use My Home Office and Still Qualify for the Deduction? You have a legitimate home office that you use to run your business. Then your spouse sits down at your desk to pay some personal bills. Or maybe your spouse works from home occasionally and uses your office. Perhaps you have a...Continue reading
You bought a house with plans to renovate it, sell it and make a profit. Instead, renovation costs climbed, carrying costs added up, the real estate market changed - or all three happened at once. By the time you sold the property, your profitable house flip had become a loss. Can you deduct the loss?...Continue reading
Many rental property owners are surprised when they discover they can't deduct all of their rental losses each year. Instead, those losses are often classified as passive losses and carried forward until the IRS allows you to use them. The good news is that these deductions usually aren't lost forever. In many cases, selling your...Continue reading
When most business owners hear "Research & Development Tax Credit," they picture pharmaceutical companies, technology giants, or billion-dollar manufacturers. The reality is very different. Thousands of small and mid-sized businesses qualify for the Research & Development (R&D) Tax Credit every year without realizing it. If your business develops new products, improves manufacturing processes, designs custom...Continue reading
If your business buys products to resell or purchases materials that become part of the work you perform, you've probably heard that you can't deduct those costs until the inventory is sold. While that was generally true for many years, today's tax rules give many small businesses much more flexibility than they realize. In fact,...Continue reading
If you own an S corporation, one of the most valuable tax benefits available to you may be the ability to deduct your health insurance premiums. Unfortunately, many business owners don't realize there are specific IRS rules that must be followed. If those rules aren't followed correctly, you could lose the deduction—even if your business...Continue reading
If you're starting a business, chances are you've already spent money before making your first sale. You may have paid for a website, marketing materials, legal advice, software subscriptions, training, travel, licenses, or professional consulting. One of the most common questions new entrepreneurs ask is: "Can I deduct expenses before my business opens?" The answer...Continue reading
Starting a new business is exciting, but it can also be expensive. Between market research, legal fees, marketing, software, equipment, and professional advice, many entrepreneurs spend thousands of dollars before they ever make their first sale. One of the most common questions we hear at Ken-Mar Tax is: "Can I deduct these expenses?" The answer...Continue reading
It sounds almost too good to be true. What if your business could deduct the cost of renting your home for meetings, planning sessions, employee training, or company events, while you personally receive the rental income tax-free? Under the right circumstances, that's exactly what the IRS allows through a tax strategy commonly known as the...Continue reading
If you’re buying equipment, a vehicle, or making improvements to your business, you’ve probably heard about bonus depreciation and Section 179. Both can help you write off large purchases and reduce your taxes - but they don’t work the same way. And choosing the wrong one can cost you more than you think. So what’s better:...Continue reading
If you’re self-employed, missing a tax deadline isn’t just an inconvenience - it can mean penalties, interest, and unnecessary stress. That’s why understanding the important tax dates for self-employed business owners is critical. < Download Your 2026 Self-Employed Tax Calendar > Now that the main tax deadline has passed, this is actually one of the...Continue reading
If you’ve been using a vehicle for your business and you’re thinking about switching it to personal use, you’re probably wondering: can I change a vehicle from business use to personal? The short answer is yes - but the tax impact depends on how you’ve been using and deducting that vehicle. And if you don’t understand...Continue reading
Yes—there can be. And in the right situation, it can be a pretty meaningful one. Most people are familiar with the idea of putting their kids on payroll to save on taxes. That works well in some cases. But if your child is older, or your business isn’t set up the right way, that strategy...Continue reading
Starting in 2026, there’s a new opportunity for small business owners that a lot of people are going to overlook: a significantly expanded childcare tax credit for small business. On paper, it sounds straightforward. But once you start applying it to real-life situations—especially when you’re self-employed or working with your spouse—it gets a little more...Continue reading