Tab 1: Client Handouts Sixteen one-page tax info sheets to copy and distribute to your clients.
Tab 2: Formation and Start-Up
Types of business entities, business owner’s objectives, tax and nontax considerations, advantages and disadvantages of each entity, business vs. hobby, business plans, basic start-up procedures, facilities issues, risk management, selecting a tax year, selecting an accounting method, developing a tax administration system, recordkeeping requirements, business taxes, organizational costs, start-up expenses, generating business.
Tab 3: Personnel and Compensation
Hiring employees, employing family members, employment laws, employee vs. independent contractor, general compensation considerations, deferred compensation, stock options.
Tab 4: Financing
Determining amount needed, types and sources available, equity financing and exempt offerings, SBA loans, choosing among financing alternatives, preparing a financial proposal.
Tab 5: Fringe Benefits
Taxable fringe benefits, fully or partly excludable fringe benefits, special rules for partnerships, special rules for S corporations, cafeteria plans.
Tab 6: Retirement Plans
Qualified plans (defined contribution, defined benefit), nonqualified retirement programs, choosing the right plan, credit for start-up costs, prohibited transactions.
Tab 7: Travel/Entertainment, Home Office, Other Expenses
Travel expenses, meal and entertainment costs, record-keeping for travel, reimbursed business expenses, car allowances, per diem methods, home-based businesses, partner/S corp shareholder expenses, deduction for US production activities.
Tab 8: Dealings With Owner
Loans between shareholders and C corporations, loans between owners and pass-through entities, paying rents or royalties to a C corporation shareholder, renting property from S corporation shareholders, paying directors' fees to shareholders, property sales, deducting accrued expenses to a cash basis owner, transactions between partners and partnerships.
Tab 9: Business Dispositions
Selling business assets, selling business interest vs. assets, installment sales, corporate liquidations following asset sales, treating stock purchase as asset purchase (Section 338 elections), corporate reorganization dispositions.
Tab 10: Valuation
Why is it important?, when is it needed?, valuation terms, approaches, methods and reports, selecting appropriate valuation methods for different types of businesses, applying discounts and premiums to closely held businesses.
Tab 11: Buy-Sell Agreements
What are they?, common types, structuring, restricting ownership transfers, planning for an owner's disability, C corp considerations, S corp considerations, partnership/LLC considerations, estate tax planning uses, funding mechanisms, sample agreement.
Tab 12: C Corporations
Why incorporate?, incorporation and capitalization, using multiple corps, special C corp deductions, compensation issues, shareholder distributions (current/liquidating), avoiding C corp penalty taxes, personal service corporations, reorganizations.
Tab 13: S Corporations
Election planning considerations, number of shareholders limit, all shareholders must be eligible, one-class-of-stock limit, when does the election become effective?, minimizing tax on distributions, compensation strategies, reorganizations, qualified Subchapter S subsidiaries.
Tab 14: LLCs and Partnerships
Basic considerations, LLC-specific considerations, electing out of partnership taxation, contributing property or services, basis from debt, advantages of a Section 754 election, special allocations, S corporation election to minimize payroll taxes, family limited partnerships and LLCs, partnership agreement review checklist, other unique LLC/partnership items.
Tab 15: Sole Proprietors
Comparison to other entities, viability, maximizing deductions, minimizing employment taxes, family member employment, spousal rentals, single-member LLC planning.
Tab 16: IRS Information and Tax Law Changes
Business tax publications, IRS phone numbers, government statistics on small businesses, IRS audit techniques guides, tax law changes impacting business tax planning, inflation adjustments impacting business tax planning, retirement plan inflation adjusted amounts, energy tax incentives.
Tab 17: Index
