Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)It's hard to judge these many books on taxes and tax-related issues because a reviewer doesn't necessarily know what a specific reader needs to know.
In my case, I'm interested in tax advice to the self-employed. I want to get all the deductions to which I'm entitled. In reading a number of books of late, I've discovered I've been lax in that area.
We can't expect our tax preparer to dig out deductions for us. Nor our software or anything else. We have to understand the current tax law as it relates to us and find our own deductions. That's why these books exist. Of course, some exist to help you prepare your taxes. But I'm not interested in that type of book.
All that said, I was somewhat disappointed in this book written by an ex-IRS attorney. Certainly he's qualified to write the book and I did learn some useful information. But the book was rather general and not specific to the self-employed.
But he does offer some interesting advice.
You learn about business gifts and how to get the most bang for your buck. For example, "So how do you decide whether to treat gifts of tickets as entertainment or as business gifts? The answer is very simple. If the face value of the ticket is less than $50, you should treat it as a business gift and deduct 100 percent of the cost up to $25. This would result in a greater deduction than if you classified this as a gift of entertainment, which allows only a 50 percent deduction."
He continues, ". . . if the cost is $50 or greater, you would want to classify this as entertainment and deduct 50 percent of the ticket cost without limit."
"Use entertainment tickets as business gifts to avoid the $25 ceiling, he adds."
There is also an interesting section about how to determine the difference between making repairs to your home or making actrual home improvements. Even the IRS has issues with that one, he says. He also tells the reader where one is better than the other and why.
"When should you try to make an improvement and when should you try to make repairs? At first, they seem similar, but learning to classify and structure them correctly can result in thousands of dollars of extra benefits to you."
"Improvements make the property better in some way. You make improvements when you do one or more of the following:
You increase the value of the property.
You make the property last much longer.
You adapt the property to a new or different use."
The author also discusses fringe benefits when you own your own business. He says, "The myth that 'my accountant takes care of my taxes' has kept people ignorant about all the amazing fringe benefits that are available."
Trouble is, most of these benefits, while handsome indeed, only work for those with employees. Many people looking for tax advice are one-person shops. I was hoping I could deduct my home gym. No such luck.
There's a lot of information in this book but I felt that the first half was written a decade ago. It talked about how to mail in your return and how to fill it out and pay. It didn't mention sending it in via the Internet as many of us do today and making electronic payments. It even discussed installing telephones. How quaint in a time when we're all disconnecting the things.
Only in the second half do we sense we're getting new, updated information. And it's critical that what we read is current because the tax code is radically changing.
In general, I don't recommend this book unless you feel you might benefit from something in it that you can't find elsewhere.
I have read and highly recommend J.K. Lasser's 1001 Deductions and Tax Breaks 2011: Your Complete Guide to Everything Deductible -- an excellent book full of valuable information.
-- Susanna K. Hutcheson
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