4Thought Blog

The general rule for retaining federal tax records is three years. That's because the statute of limitations for the IRS to audit your tax return is typically three years. The statute of limitations starts on the later of 1) the due date for your tax return, or 2) the date on which you file your taxes.

However, there are many exceptions to this rule of thumb that require you to save financial documents longer. And some states have different records retention requirements. So, it's often prudent to keep most financial records longer than three years.

For decades, owners of small to midsize manufacturing companies have opted for the S corporation form of ownership, rather than being subject to the double taxation of C corporations.

However, in recent years the limited liability company (LLC) has become another popular alternative. Let's compare these two business structures.

In general, the value of statutory fringe benefits paid to employees is exempt from federal income tax. But special rules apply to S corporation shareholders who own 2% or more of a company.

For these owner-employees, several fringe benefits are tax-exempt, but others — including some of the biggest benefits — constitute taxable income. Here's a brief rundown of the tax treatment of fringe benefits for individuals who own 2% or more of an S corporation.

When it comes to selling your business, you must consider the buyer's perspective — not just your own — to get the deal done.

Both sides will require certain due diligence procedures, which take time and patience to get through. Here's what to expect, including some tax considerations.

When business starts to increase, it's time to dig in your heels a little deeper to turn your construction firm's revenue growth into an upward trend — rather than just a good month. Buying or renting a larger facility can help.

There are certain key factors to consider when making a decision to expand or consolidate your physical plant operations base. Here are some questions to consider before you start allocating dollars to the plan:

It's rare a manufacturer who doesn't want to improve profits and boost cash flow by reducing the carrying cost of inventory.

Here are two cutting-edge ways to help you manage inventory more efficiently.

Financial health is critically important to your success as a McDonald’s Owner. To help you measure your financial health, we’re doing a series of articles on the McDonald’s financial standard ratios, what they entail and how to improve them.

If you missed them, check our prior articles Your Next McDonald’s Ratio: Estimated Net Equity Percentage, Understanding and Managing Financial Ratios for McDonald’s Franchisees,An Important Metric for Franchisees: Trailing Twelve-Month Liability Turnover and Cash Flow Coverage Ratio: The Most Popular McDonald’s Ratio.

As mentioned in our previous articles in this series, the Financial Standard has three measures.

We talked in great length in previous articles about the Financial Viability Standard and its three components. The other two standards are: submits timely and accurate financial statements and pays McDonald’s and others on time.

If your nonprofit organization operates on a calendar-year tax basis, the deadline for filing your 2021 Form 990 (Form 990 EZ for certain small organizations) is right around the corner — May 15, 2022.

Besides filing on time, you must ensure the information provided on your form is accurate. Pay particular attention to the following eight issues that commonly trip up nonprofits:

If philanthropy is important to you, you probably make regular charitable deductions. You may also have established a nongrantor trust.

Such trusts can help you make charitable gifts that provide greater tax benefits than you'd receive for individual donations. Of course, you don't give to charity simply for the tax deductions.

But there's nothing wrong with getting the most bang for your buck. Here's how individual and trust donations differ — and how their differences can guide you in making charitable giving decisions.

If you're lucky enough to own a vacation home, you might wonder about the optimal ownership structure for the property.

For rental real estate properties and real estate held for investment, such as raw land, good choices are single-member and multi-member limited liability companies (LLCs). But the LLC option isn't always right for vacation homeowners.

Here's important information to help you decide what's best for your situation.