Tag: Depreciation
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Economic Substance Principle
The taxpayer must prove that the underlying economic transaction was not concocted to avoid or reduce tax liability. In the Gregory Vs. Helvering case, the Supreme Court actually uses the word ‘sham’.
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Internal Controls – Fixed Assets
Internal control is a subset of the accounting system to aid in proper reporting of existing assets and liabilities. Internal controls over fixed assets alleviate two distinct risks. The primary risk is physical in nature and relates to the asset getting lost, stolen or damaged thereby affecting the value as reported on the financial statements. The second risk…
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Various Sets of Accounting Books
Accounting’s primary purpose is to measure economic activity. There are several different methods to determine the economic value generated in your business each year. In accounting this is referred to as sets of books. There are four basic sets of accounting books. Each has a different purpose and end goal.
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Hobbies – Business Perspective and Tax Compliance
Many people turn their hobbies into a business operation. Not so much to make a living or make big profits, but more to help offset the costs of the hobby. Whenever you go to one of those community fairs, the vendors at the respective booths are mostly folks selling a product that is direct outcome of…
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Accelerated Depreciation – An Explanation
Unlike traditional straight line depreciation where the asset value is costed out to depreciation expense in equal increments over a given life expectancy, accelerated depreciation expenses the cost at higher values during the earlier accounting periods and at a lower amount towards the last half of the asset’s life expectancy.
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Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Definition of an Expense
The Internal Revenue Service defines a business expense as ‘ordinary’ and ‘necessary’. Ordinary expenses are those costs typically incurred in your industry. A restaurant would not ordinarily purchase vaccines. And a medical practice would not purchase 50 heads of lettuce.
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The Various Forms of Depreciation
There are various forms of depreciation used in the small business world. In general, depreciation is not required but it is advisable.
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What is Amortization?
Non-physical assets are expensed to the income statement or profit and loss statement via a method called amortization. It is most commonly used in the mortgage industry to refer to the monthly payment made to pay interest and the principal (the amortizable portion) on a debt instrument.
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Small Business Tax Depreciation – Section 179
The Internal Revenue Service sets the depreciation allowance based on the Code as promulgated by Congress. The most commonly referenced section is 179. This is a form of accelerated depreciation allowing the small business owner the opportunity to take a large expense deduction and reduce their tax obligation immediately.
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Depreciation – This is Weird Accounting
In the world of accounting, there are two types of expenses on the reports widely misunderstood. They are depreciation and amortization. I will try to help the novice gain an understanding of depreciation in this article.