For much of the first half of 2020, small business owners adjusted plans and made positive shifts in order to respond to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. As we navigate the second half of 2020, businesses can benefit from taking time to focus on their tax plans. With that in mind, here are five mid-year tax planning suggestions for small business owners to consider for 2020.

1. Pay Taxes Due

In response to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the IRS extended the deadlines for corporations, owners of pass-through businesses and self-employed individuals to pay estimated taxes for the first two quarters of 2020 to July 15. If you have not yet paid taxes for the first two quarters, do so as soon as possible in order to minimize the revenue spent on tax penalties and interest charges.

If your business has been adversely affected by the pandemic, you may not have much taxable income to report — so, estimated taxes may be minimal.

The due dates for the third quarter are not currently extended. At this point, calendar-year taxpayers must pay their estimated taxes for the third quarter by September 15 to avoid penalty and interest charges. Evaluate whether you or your business will have enough cash on hand to meet the third quarter deadline. Owners of pass-through entities might need to take a distribution from their businesses to cover their estimated payments for the third quarter.

2. Keep or Rehire Workers

Under the CARES Act, your business can claim a payroll tax credit equal to 50% of the qualified wages paid to employees after March 12, 2020, and before January 1, 2021. To qualify for the credit, you must meet either of these two requirements:

• The business fully or partially suspended operations during any calendar quarter due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• The business experienced a significant decline in gross receipts. A “significant decline” occurs if gross receipts are less than 50% of the gross receipts for the same calendar quarter in 2019.

For the purposes of claiming the payroll tax credit, qualified wages are limited to the first $10,000 of wages paid to an employee. Thus, the maximum credit is $5,000 per employee.

3. Delay Paying Payroll Taxes

If your business is struggling, it can postpone paying part of its payroll tax obligations for two years. Generally, the next quarterly due date for payroll taxes for corporations is November 2, but under the CARES Act, your business can defer the 6.2% Social Security tax component of payroll taxes for the period between March 27, 2020, and December 31, 2020.

Under this provision, a business may pay 50% of the required Social Security tax by the end of 2021, and the remaining 50% by the end of 2022. Similarly, self-employed individuals can defer 50% of part of their self-employment tax by paying 25% of the amount due by the end of 2021 and the remaining 25% by the end of 2022.

4. Take Advantage of Bonus Depreciation on QIP

Many small businesses made or plan to make significant investments in order to reconfigure offices, plants and warehouses to comply with COVID-19 social distancing and safety guidelines. Fortunately, the CARES Act includes a retroactive correction to the statutory language of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) that allows faster depreciation for real estate qualified improvement property (QIP) that is placed in service after the TCJA became law.

Specifically, the correction allows 100% first-year bonus depreciation for QIP that is placed in service in 2018 through 2022 because QIP placed in service after 2017 is now eligible for a 15-year cost recovery period instead of a 39-year cost recovery period.

QIP is generally defined as an improvement to an interior portion of a nonresidential building that is placed in service after the date the building was first placed in service. However, QIP does not include any expenditures attributable to the building’s internal structural framework, any elevator or escalator or the enlargement of the building.

If your business will be unprofitable this year due to the COVID-19 crisis, deductions for 100% first-year bonus depreciation can create or increase a net operating loss (NOL) for 2020.

Some businesses that used a 39-year recovery period for QIP may instead opt to depreciate QIP over 15 years rather than claiming 100% first-year bonus depreciation. This could be a smart move if, for example, you expect tax rates to be higher in the future or if your business operates as a pass-through entity (such as a partnership, limited liability company or S corporation) and taking 100% bonus depreciation will cause you to miss out or reduce the deduction for qualified business income (QBI).

Hantzmon Wiebel team members can advise you about the pros and cons of claiming bonus depreciation vs. depreciating QIP over 15 years.

5. File an Amended Federal Income Tax Return

Unless you filed for an extension, you have probably completed the appropriate federal tax filings for the 2019 tax year. The CARES Act now includes several provisions that can provide retroactive tax benefits for small business owners. These provisions could make it worthwhile to file an amended return for 2018 or 2019.

For example, previously, a business could carry back a NOL for two years and forward for up to 20 years. Beginning in 2018, the two-year carryback rule was eliminated, but losses could be carried forward indefinitely. In addition, NOLs are generally limited to 80% of business income under this tax law change.

The CARES Act provides a five-year carryback for NOLs incurred in 2018, 2019 or 2020. It also suspends the 80%-of-business-income limit on NOLs until 2021.

In addition, you might decide to file an amended return to take advantage of the QIP technical correction for improvements made in 2018 and 2019. Regardless of whether you choose bonus depreciation or the 15-year straightline depreciation method, your options under the CARES Act are better than they were before the correction. Also, bonus depreciation deductions can be used to create or increase an NOL for 2020.

Brave New World in Tax Planning

Tax planning is especially complicated this year. This article covers just the tip of the iceberg for small businesses. Contact us to discuss mid-year planning strategies to determine the right course of action based on your current situation.

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© Copyright 2020 Thomson Reuters. 

Disclaimer of Liability Our firm provides the information in this a for general guidance only, and does not constitute the provision of legal advice, tax advice, accounting services, investment advice or professional consulting of any kind. The information provided herein should not be used as a substitute for consultation with professional tax, accounting, legal or other competent advisors. Before making any decision or taking any action, you should consult a professional advisor who has been provided with all pertinent facts relevant to your particular situation. Tax articles in this blog are not intended to be used, and cannot be used by any taxpayer, for the purpose of avoiding accuracy-related penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer. The information is provided “as is,” with no assurance or guarantee of completeness, accuracy or timeliness of the information, and without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of performance, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.

 

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