Beneficial Ownership Information Report (BOIR) – December 31, 2024 Deadline!
To all business owners: Have you filed your mandatory BOIR? If not, you only have until the end of 2024 to do so or you will incur huge daily fines from the government for being out of compliance. The new report involves submitting data that identifies the significant owners of any legal entity on file with the Secretary of State in your jurisdiction. There are a handful of exempt entities, but the majority of companies, large and small, are required to file this report. Be sure to talk to your tax advisor to know your compliance requirements!
2024 Tax Season
December is the month for planning your 2024 tax return.
For businesses, it’s important to have an understanding of how your income statement looks before the year’s end in order to make decisions about everything from estimated payments to large purchases. As a business owner with excess profits for the year, it may be wise to put those profits back into the business in the form of new equipment or other physical improvements that can boost your depreciation deduction and reduce your taxable income.
As an individual, if you itemize deductions, December is a good time to review your allowable deductions and perhaps make some charitable contributions to boost your total deductions and reduce your tax bill.
Social Security Benefit Increases
The IRS announced in October that beginning in 2025, social security benefits will increase by 2.5%. In addition, the total amount of earnings subject to social security tax will be increasing from $168,600 to $176,100.
Gifts
With the Holidays here, many people wonder about the tax implications of giving gifts, both cash and non-cash. The “Gift Tax” as it’s called, has a common misconception that giving a high value gift to a friend or family member would result in them owing taxes. However, gifts are non-taxable for the recipient. It’s the gift giver that would incur taxes. But worry not, because most taxpayer’s rarely reach the annual gift giving limit, and even if they exceed that limit, are unlikely to encounter taxes for doing so.
The annual value limit of cash and non-cash gifts a person can give to another person without any tax implications in 2024 is $18,000. The value of the gift above the annual limit is reported on the gift tax return and is applied against the giver’s total lifetime maximum estate value. The IRS views gifts made during a person’s life and the inheritance they leave behind after death similarly. Both the total amount of gifts above the annual limit, and the total value of their estate when they die are totaled up and only subject to federal estate tax if the total exceeds $13.61 million dollars of value.
