STEVEN R. JONES, CPA, PA

The question comes up from time-to-time where a client purchases a business suit and asks if they can claim it as a business deduction, citing this is their "uniform." The short answer is No, as you will read below. No Deduction for Required Employer-brand Clothing: The taxpayer, a Ralph Lauren salesman, deducted, as an employee business expense, the cost of his employer's brand clothing that he was required to wear while representing the company. The IRS issued a notice of

Do you work at home or have a home-based business? If so, you should be aware that the IRS has created a simpler option for calculating the deduction for the business use of your home. The new option makes recordkeeping easier because, instead of maintaining records of specific home office expenses, you can use a standard rate per square foot. The rate is $5 per square foot (up to a maximum of 300 sq. feet or $1,500) for qualifying business use space in place of taking a pro

To Pay Taxes or To Not Pay Taxes... That is the Question When you're 70 1/2 you MUST start withdrawing a percentage of your IRA set by the government from your investments called the RMD (Required Minimum Distribution). If you regularly give to "certain tax-exempt charities" (for example your tithe), you can have your RMD paid directly to the tax-exempt entity and you don't have to pay income tax on that money which you would if it came to you first. So here is the