Forgotten Tax Deductions

It’s estimated that most dental practices overpay their taxes. We don’t want yours to be one of them!

There are several deductions where your dental practice could be saving money on taxes, even on everyday expenses. Two words to keep in mind when claiming dental tax deductions: ordinary and necessary. Both conditions must apply for the expense to be tax deductible.

Read below for eight dental tax deductions to keep more money in your practice. 

Some tax deductions you’re probably already aware of, like premiums for malpractice insurance or the 50 percent deduction for meals and entertainment.

 Talk to your tax advisor to see what applies in your situation.

Supplies

Everything from toothbrushes to cotton balls to dental eyewear can and should be tracked – and deducted. This includes office stationery and administrative supplies.

Lab Fees

Lab fees can be 10 percent or more of your practice’s budget, so make them count on your taxes. Think x-rays, crowns, partials, molds, and dentures. Keep track of these fees for tax savings.

Continuing Education

Even if you don’t consider yourself a lifelong learner, your office’s yearly subscription to a dental industry magazine could be tax deductible. So could your costs and fees associated with exams, licensing, conferences, and certifications. Go ahead and pursue that specialty!

Vehicles

There are three ways to deduct vehicle expenses: 1) buy the vehicle through your dental practice (if your business structure is a corporation), and include personal vehicle expenses as income on your individual tax return 2) track mileage expenses or 3) track actual expenses.

Number one is complicated and merits a call to your tax advisor. The current mileage rate is 53.5 cents per mile for 2017 (54 cents per mile for 2016). Or, to track actual expenses, keep a log of oil changes, repairs and maintenance, gas, and so on. Note that ordinary trips to and from your office don’t apply for standard mileage rates, but trips to other offices or business meetings do.

Utilities

Keep a record of your dental practice’s water, electric, gas, phone, internet, rent and/or mortgage payments.

Employee salaries, healthcare, and retirement accounts

You probably already know you can deduct the employer’s contributions to retirement and healthcare accounts. But you might not be aware of the recent change allowing employer-funded health savings accounts, or that your spouse can earn a salary that can also save money on taxes (there are many ways to do this; call our office for more information).

Read our blog post on Tax Savings for Dentists for more information.

Advertising and marketing

The cost of promoting your dental practice is tax deductible. So take out that ad in the local business journal, and send those mailers. Then include the fees on your taxes.

Legal and Tax Fees

Finally, you can deduct the cost of your attorney and tax professional. We can show you how – contact us today!

End of the Year Tips to Minimize Your 2016 Taxes

As many dentists know, the upcoming year end is always the time to consider minimizing your taxes. Here are a few tips from the CPAs at the Dental CPAs.

1. Maximize your contributions to retirement plans. Contribute more to your 401k by the end of the year to reduce your taxable income and your tax bills.

2. Consider using a credit card to prepay expenses that can generate deductions for this year such as supplies. 
   
   
3. If possible, defer your income. Take capital gains in 2017 instead of 2016.  This move only will be beneficial if you think you will be in the same or a lower tax bracket next year.

4. Consider bonus depreciation, it’s a way to write off the cost of an asset purchased for business use. The Section 179 2016 deduction limit is $500,000, which can be used on new and used equipment and off-the-shelf software. To qualify for the deduction, the equipment must be financed or purchased and put into service by the end of the day on December 31, 2016.

Remember to keep records of the equipment or software purchases that you plan to claim for the Section 179 deduction, including where it was purchased, the date it was acquired, and the date it was placed into service.

5. Give away your money. If you were planning to give a lot of money to someone, utilize your annual gift exclusion of $14,000. This is not an income tax savings strategy but rather is an estate reduction strategy.  If you are concerned about having a large taxable estate, don’t miss the opportunity to utilize your annual gift exclusion each year.
   
   
6. Finalize your records. If you plan to deduct mileage on your personal car, make sure your mileage logs are complete.  Review how long you need to keep your paperwork before throwing out any records.
7. Sell investments such as stocks and mutual funds to realize losses. Then use those losses to offset any taxable gains you have realized during the year. Losses offset gains dollar for dollar.

8. If possible, contribute the maximum to your retirement account ($18,000 for 2016, $24,000 if you are age 50 or over). These accounts can grow to a substantial sum because they compound over time free of taxes.

9. Fund your IRA.  If you cannot make a deductible IRA contribution, consider whether you should make a non-deductible IRA contribution as it could become a possible future Roth IRA conversion for retirement or estate planning purposes.  You have until APRIL 15, 2017 to make IRA contributions for 2016 but the sooner you get the money into the account, the sooner it has the potential to start to grow tax-deferred.

10. Do an alternative minimum tax (AMT) analysis. If there’s a chance that you will be subject to AMT, analyze your deductions to see if you are better off waiting to make some of the above moves. Once AMT comes into play, some of the end of the year tax moves will have no tax benefit.  Deductions such as state income taxes and real estate taxes are always an AMT deductibility issue.

Can a Dentist Deduct Donated Supplies and Equipment?

Can donated supplies and equipment be deducted?

Yes -  if you just bought them for the purpose of donating them and have not and will not deduct them as a business expense (no double-dipping).

No -  if you've already purchased them and written them off completely as a business deduction (no double dipping).

Maybe also on the equipment assuming you haven't fully depreciated it.

Clear as mud? 

This first appeared on Dentaltown.

For more information, please contact info@dentalcpas.com

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest – sign up for our newsletter