When a family property changes hands, well-meaning parents often think they are doing their adult children a favor by deeding a house over while they are still alive. It feels clean, avoids probate, and feels like an "inheritance ahead of time." However, from an IRS standpoint, there is a
Why Do I Have to File a Tax Return If the IRS Already Takes Money From My Paycheck?
There's a perfectly reasonable question that comes up every tax season: My employer already took money out of every paycheck. They sent it to the IRS. The IRS knows how much I made. The IRS knows how much money was withheld. So...why can't the government just do the math? It's
Rental Property Write-Off Limits in Seattle
Seattle's rental market can be attractive to real estate investors, but owning a rental property also means navigating a tax system with plenty of rules about what you can deduct, when you can deduct it, and how much of a rental loss you can actually use. The good news is that rental-property
Do You Need a Lawyer to Form an LLC?
Starting a business comes with a seemingly endless list of things you have to figure out. Choose a name. Buy a domain. Open a bank account. Get an EIN. Figure out accounting. Maybe build a website. Maybe convince your family that, yes, this is actually going to work. And somewhere in that pile
Who Qualifies as a Dependent on Your Taxes?
These sound like straightforward questions. Unfortunately, the tax code has a tendency to turn “Who lives with whom?” into a surprisingly complicated series of tests involving relationship, age, residency, income, support, custody and sometimes even the number of nights a child spent in your
10 Tax Tips for Sole Proprietors
Being a sole proprietor is one of the simplest ways to start a business. You don't have to create a separate corporation, issue yourself a paycheck, or maintain a complicated corporate tax structure. But "simple" doesn't mean "hands-off" when it comes to taxes. As a sole proprietor, your
Can Your Business Buy a Car? How Entrepreneurs Should Finance and Deduct a Business Vehicle
At some point, a lot of entrepreneurs reach the same realization: “I'm driving to see clients constantly. I think I actually need a car for the business.” Maybe you're visiting customers, traveling between job sites, meeting prospects, hauling equipment, or simply putting a ridiculous number
1099-K Forms: What you Need to Know about Online Payments
Tax season can feel overwhelming, especially when money moves through a growing number of online payment platforms and marketplaces. If you've been using services like PayPal, Venmo, eBay, or other payment apps to sell goods or provide services, you may encounter a Form 1099-K among your tax