Education, Illinois, IRS, Site News, Tips

City of Chicago February 2019 Business Education Workshops

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Each month the City of Chicago offers twice-weekly (Wed & Fri) FREE business education workshops presented by experts in private practice as well as representatives from various city departments. There are quite a few good ones this month — see the list below — and they’re all offered at City Hall (right downtown and near public transit). To register for any of them, email BACPoutreach@cityofchicago.org or call 312.744.2086.

City Inspections – Ask Questions, Get Answers
Wed, February 6, 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM
City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St. – 8th Floor, Room 805
Presented by the City of Chicago
To operate a successful business in Chicago you need to know what it takes to maintain compliance. Officials from several City departments will provide insight on how to operate safely, stay compliant, help prepare for inspections and highlight the do’s and don’ts of operating a business.

Create Your 2019 Social Media Plan
Fri, February 8, 9:30 AM – 11:00 AM
City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St. – 8th Floor, Room 805
Presented by Business Bragger
Set goals each quarter for 2019, determine which platforms are best for you to use your business, create a messaging concept and set KPIs to track your results.

New Food Code Workshop
Wed, February 13, 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM
City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St. – 8th Floor, Room 805
Presented by Gerrin Butler, City of Chicago Department of Public Health
This workshop will provide information for retail food establishments to prepare for the City of Chicago new food code requirements. These requirements are based on the latest science, conform to federal guidelines, state and local laws.

Get Capital for Your Small Business with Kiva and Accion
Fri, February 15, 9:30 AM – 11:00 AM
City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St – 8th Floor, Room 805
Presented by Kiva and Accion
Hear from Kiva, a nonprofit that provides 0% interest loans of up to $10,000 to small business owners and entrepreneurs, and from Accion, a small business lender with loan ranges of up to $100,000 for small and existing businesses.

How to Open a Concession at O’Hare or Midway Airport
Wed, February 20, 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM
City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St – 8th Floor, Room 805
Presented by Chicago Department of Aviation – Concessions Department
Are you interested in operating a restaurant or shop at O’Hare or Midway International Airport, but don’t know where to begin? Come and learn about the Request for Proposals (RFP) process, how to operate a business at the airport, and a summary of the Airport Concessions Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (ACDBE) program.

What You Need to Know About Your Business & Taxes
Fri, February 22, 9:30 AM – 11:00 AM
City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St. – 8th Floor, Room 805
Presented by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Ladder Up (LU)/Center for Economic Progress (CEP)
Topics include: Are you required to file a tax return? Is your worker an independent contractor or an employee? What will the IRS request during an audit? Are you required to make estimated tax payments? What resources does the IRS have for small business owners?

Customer Service
Wed, February 27, 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM
City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St – 8th Floor, Room 805
Presented by the Better Business Bureau (BBB)
One element of every successful business is Customer Service. It’s importance should never be underestimated. Nor should it be assumed employees understand it. This presentation by the Better Business Bureau uses the latest research to help businesses understand how customers themselves view customer service, and how a “better business” is defined by customers.

To register for a workshop, email BACPoutreach@cityofchicago.org or call 312.744.2086.

Also, in case you weren’t aware, BACP offers a Business Start-Up Certificate Program, designed to give business owners the essential elements in starting and growing a business. Attend nine workshops at BACP and learn the essentials of business planning, financing, marketing, legal issues, technology and more. Complete the program workshops within six months and earn your certificate, as well as get free advice on your business plan. You can register for the Business Start-Up Certificate Program at any BACP workshop. Learn about the full set of BACP offerings here.

And visit their Business Video Library here.

Source: City of Chicago :: Business Education Workshop Calendar

IRS, Tips

Tax Preparer Due Diligence Checklist Expands for 2018 Returns

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I recently sent out the email to clients that I’ve been dreading for months, explaining that I have no choice but to raise rates because of the new tax law. As fate would have it, I have the most amazing client base in history, and all of the responses I’ve received have been overwhelmingly supportive, ranging from, “good for you” to “it’s about time”.

The three main reasons I cited for the increase in fees were:

  1. I have spent over a full month of non-billable time learning the ins-and-outs of the legislation, researching issues, running calculations and scenarios, and attending tax update seminars.
  2. Due to the complexity of certain areas of the new regulations that concern small businesses — and because I service mostly small business clients — I anticipate that on average, the amount of time it will take me to prepare each return (as well as examine potential alternatives or changes for 2019) will double.
  3. The due diligence requirements for tax preparers have been increasing my liability every year, and I’ve been ignoring these risks and costs — the additional requirements for 2018 tax returns are even more far-reaching.

It’s this third point I’d like to discuss today, for the benefit of my colleagues who prepare tax returns, but also for my clients and colleagues who do not prepare returns, so they understand what demands are being placed on us as tax practitioners.

The Journal of Accountancy recently shared an article summarizing the new requirements and related penalties. These “due diligence” rules, as they’re called, are a way to force tax preparers into delving deeper into the questions about whether or not their clients truly qualify for some of the tax benefits they are claiming. In effect, it’s shifting the burden of proof from the individual and the IRS onto the paid preparer.

It used to be that a client could give a tax practitioner their information and we were allowed to take it “as is” — unless there were egregious claims that failed the “sniff test” and would cause your average tax professional to ask follow-up questions about their accuracy.

However, over the past many years, the IRS has instituted an ever-growing list of “due diligence” questions that practitioners are required to ask, regardless of any evidence that the client is not being entirely honest and accurate in their claims.

As explained in the article:

Form 8867 consists of a series of questions verifying the paid preparer’s due diligence in requesting information from clients regarding a series of credits and deductions that have been subject to substantial tax fraud. This form transfers the burden of responsibility from the taxpayer to the paid preparer.

The new question for head-of-household status is, “Have you determined that the taxpayer was unmarried or considered unmarried on the last day of the tax year and provided more than half of the cost of keeping up a home for the year for a qualifying person?”

The other dependent credit is new for 2018. It provides a credit of up to $500 for dependents who are not qualifying children for purposes of the child tax credit. The due-diligence questions for the other tax credit are the same as for the child tax credit or the American opportunity tax credit.

And the penalties for any tax preparer who does not comply are increasing as well:

The law known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), P.L. 115-97, expands the penalties for failure to prepare the due-diligence checklist. Under prior law the penalty was imposed on each failure and could expose a practitioner to a potential $1,560 penalty on each return (see Rev. Proc. 2017-58). Under the TCJA, the penalty is increased to a maximum of $2,080 on a single tax return for returns and refund claims filed in 2018 ($2,120 for 2019).

The article lists the preparer requirements for interviewing the taxpayer, filling out the form, and retaining records.

So in case you’re wondering why fees are on the rise, take a look at those penalties and risks and ask yourself how you would handle taking a fall for a dishonest or unorganized client… and before you complain that your tax preparer is requiring you to submit documents of a personal nature, like birth certificates and proof of your child’s residency with you — when you know darned well that she’s met them in-person more than once — please remember that we’re all under a lot of pressure to protect your butts, ours, and that of the US Treasury.

Source: Paid preparer’s checklist expands to include head-of-household, other tax credit questions – Journal of Accountancy

Education, IRS

IRS Publishes Final Guidance On The 20% QBI Pass-Through Deduction

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WHAT A DAY! My three most trusted sources (Tony Nitti, NATP and Compass Tax Educators) for information on the new 199A QBI deduction have all reported extensively on the newly-released final guidance from the IRS. There is a lot that has changed from the proposed regs, and much that will work differently than all of my tax course instructors (including those at the IRS Tax Forum) anticipated.

First, from the National Association of Tax Professsionals (if you are a practitioner and not yet a member, you owe it to yourself to join — let me know and I’ll get you a referral code):

The IRS has released the long-awaited final regulations concerning the deduction for qualified business income (QBI) under §199A. QBI can affect certain individuals, partnerships, S corporations, trusts and estates. The final regulations are 247-pages long. It is noted that the rules provided in the final regulations as well as the proposed regulations issued in August, can be relied upon for taxable years ending in 2018.

In addition, the IRS released new proposed regulations which provide guidance on the treatment of previously suspended losses that constitute QBI. Also, the regulations provide guidance on the determination deduction for taxpayers that hold interests in regulated investment companies, charitable remainder trusts, and split-interest trusts.

Also released was Rev. Proc. 2019-11 which provides procedures for calculating W-2 wages. The guidance provides three methods that can be used to calculate W-2 wages. The first method (the unmodified Box method) allows for a simplified calculation while the second and third methods (the modified Box 1 method and the tracking wages method) provide greater accuracy. W-2 wages calculated under this revenue procedure are not necessarily the W-2 wages that are properly allocable to QBI and eligible for use in computing the section 199A limitations.

The last item issued was Notice 2019-07 for a §199A safe harbor for rental real estate enterprises. To qualify for treatment as a trade or business under this safe harbor, the rental real estate enterprise must satisfy the requirements of the proposed revenue procedure. If an enterprise fails to satisfy these requirements, the rental real estate enterprise may still be treated as a trade or business for purposes of §199A if the enterprise otherwise meets the definition of trade or business in §1.199A-1(b)(14).

They will be reviewing these newly released documents and will provide members with a summary next week.

Meanwhile, Toni Nitti published a first-stab article on the new guidance, and as usual, has knocked it out of the park: IRS Publishes Final Guidance On The 20% Pass-Through Deduction: Putting It All Together

I love that he gave the IRS so much credit for getting these out there before tax season (honestly, none of us expected that to happen) — during a shutdown and with hampering budget cuts already crippling the agency.

It was less than 13 months ago that Congress dumped 500 pages of sloppy statutory language on the Service in the form of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, and somehow, in that span the IRS has managed to provide final regulations on the most controversial, convoluted and complicated provision of the new law: Section 199A, better known as the “20% pass-through deduction.” It required a Herculean effort, particularly when you consider that, you know…most of the government has been on unpaid leave since December 22nd.

His analysis is spot-on, as usual, and you’re doing yourself a favor to devour the entire article word-for-word.

And then we’ve got Tom Gorczynski, a talented EA and tireless educational contributor to colleagues everywhere, who has put together a four-hour webinar on the topic in record time, knowing we’re all eager to learn how this works before tax season opens January 28, rather than after.

I’ve already spent over a month of non-billable time learning the new tax law, so I figure, what’s one more day, right?

IRS

Some IRS Penalties Waived for 2018 Tax Underpayment

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UPDATE as of MARCH 23, 2019 — The IRS has issued further relief for underpayment of estimated taxes, by lowering the prior relief (below, noted at 85%) to only 80%. See new post here.

National Association of Tax Professionals sent out an important bulletin yesterday highlighting a big announcement from the IRS:

The IRS announced that it is waiving the estimated tax penalty for many taxpayers whose 2018 federal income tax withholding and estimated tax payments fell short of their total tax liability for the year.

The IRS is generally waiving the penalty for any taxpayer who paid at least 85 percent of their total tax liability during the year through federal income tax withholding, quarterly estimated tax payments or a combination of the two. The usual percentage threshold is 90 percent to avoid a penalty.

This relief is designed to help taxpayers who were unable to properly adjust their withholding and estimated tax payments to reflect an array of changes under the TCJA.

This was followed up today by an article in the Journal of Accountancy with further details:

Under Sec. 6654(d)(1)(B), the required annual income tax payment an individual taxpayers is required to make is the lesser of (1) 90% of the tax shown on the return for the tax year or (2) 100% of the tax shown on the taxpayer’s return for the preceding tax year (110% if the individual’s adjusted gross income on the previous year’s return exceeded $150,000). Sec. 6654(a) imposes an addition to tax for failure to make a sufficient and timely payment of estimated income tax. The IRS, however, is entitled to waive the addition to tax in certain unusual circumstances if its imposition would be against equity and good conscience.

Accordingly, under Sec. 6654(e)(3)(A), the IRS is waiving the Sec. 6654 addition to tax for failure to make estimated income tax payments for the 2018 tax year otherwise required to be made on or before Jan. 15, 2019, for any individual taxpayer whose total withholding and estimated tax payments made on or before Jan. 15, 2019, equal or exceed 85% of the tax shown on that individual’s 2018 return. To request the waiver, an individual taxpayer must file Form 2210, Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Individuals, Estates, and Trusts, with his or her 2018 income tax return. The taxpayer should check the waiver box in Part II, box A, of the form and include the statement “85% waiver” on the return.

The IRS Notice (2019-11) provides further details and explanation.

To clarify — it looks like this relief is not going to help those who have seriously underpaid estimated taxes, to the extent that they are under the newly-adjusted 85% rule. This relief merely adjusts the rule down from a 90%-threshold by 5%, and is intended to assist taxpayers who made the effort to withhold and pay estimates accurately, but could not due to the confusing changes in the new tax law and the less-than-perfect job the new W-4 form does in assisting with calculations (we’re not criticizing the IRS on this one — the new law is too complex to allow for any single form to work for all taxpayers). We still recommend the following:

  1. If you run a business, work with your accountant to close the books each quarter and have them calculate estimated tax payments for you; we offer this service to all of our bookkeeping and accounting clients, even if we do not prepare taxes for them.
  2. If you are a W-2 employee — especially if you have other sources of income — please use the “paycheck checkup” we highlighted in an August blog post. It is much more accurate than the W-4 form.
  3. If it turns out you’ve underpaid for 2018, make sure to adjust your payroll withholding and estimated taxes as soon as possible for 2019.

Source: Some individual taxpayers get relief from underpayment penalty – Journal of Accountancy

IRS

IRS Confirms Tax Filing Season to Begin Jan 28

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Big news from the IRS today!

IR-2019-01, January 7, 2019

WASHINGTON ― Despite the government shutdown, the Internal Revenue Service today confirmed that it will process tax returns beginning January 28, 2019 and provide refunds to taxpayers as scheduled.

“We are committed to ensuring that taxpayers receive their refunds notwithstanding the government shutdown. I appreciate the hard work of the employees and their commitment to the taxpayers during this period,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig.

Congress directed the payment of all tax refunds through a permanent, indefinite appropriation (31 U.S.C. 1324), and the IRS has consistently been of the view that it has authority to pay refunds despite a lapse in annual appropriations. Although in 2011 the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) directed the IRS not to pay refunds during a lapse, OMB has reviewed the relevant law at Treasury’s request and concluded that IRS may pay tax refunds during a lapse.

The IRS will be recalling a significant portion of its workforce, currently furloughed as part of the government shutdown, to work. Additional details for the IRS filing season will be included in an updated FY2019 Lapsed Appropriations Contingency Plan to be released publicly in the coming days.

“IRS employees have been hard at work over the past year to implement the biggest tax law changes the nation has seen in more than 30 years,” said Rettig.

As in past years, the IRS will begin accepting and processing individual tax returns once the filing season begins. For taxpayers who usually file early in the year and have all of the needed documentation, there is no need to wait to file. They should file when they are ready to submit a complete and accurate tax return.

The filing deadline to submit 2018 tax returns is Monday, April 15, 2019 for most taxpayers. Because of the Patriots’ Day holiday on April 15 in Maine and Massachusetts and the Emancipation Day holiday on April 16 in the District of Columbia, taxpayers who live in Maine or Massachusetts have until April 17, 2019 to file their returns.

Software companies and tax professionals will be accepting and preparing tax returns before Jan. 28 and then will submit the returns when the IRS systems open later this month. The IRS strongly encourages people to file their tax returns electronically to minimize errors and for faster refunds.

Source: IRS Confirms Tax Filing Season to Begin January 28 | Internal Revenue Service

Education, IRS

NSAC Co-op Learning Network Webinar 1/15: Current Tax Developments

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Each month the National Society of Accountants for Cooperatives puts on a series of webinars aimed at educating accountants that work within or provide consulting for cooperatives. This Tuesday, January 15th, George Benson — one of the great minds in the world of accounting for co-ops — will be giving a one-hour talk on current tax developments. If you’ve read his articles or heard his talks before, you know you’re in for a treat. So tune in and catch up on tax issues within the cooperative sector.

Source: NSAC Cooperative Learning Network – Current Tax Developments

Education, Illinois

City of Chicago January 2019 Business Education Workshops

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Each month the City of Chicago offers twice-weekly (Wed & Fri) FREE business education workshops presented by experts in private practice as well as representatives from various city departments. There are quite a few good ones this month — see the list below — and this month they’re all offered in Room 805 of City Hall (right downtown and near public transit). To register for any of them, email BACPoutreach@cityofchicago.org or call 312.744.2086.

City Inspections – Ask Questions, Get Answers
Wed, January 9, 3:00pm – 4:30pm
City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St. – 8th Floor, Room 805
Presented by the City of Chicago
To operate a successful business in Chicago you need to know what it takes to maintain compliance. Officials from several City departments will provide insight on how to operate safely, stay compliant, help prepare for inspections and highlight the do’s and don’ts of operating a business.

Roadmap to Business Financing
Fri, January 11, 9:30am – 11:00am
City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St. – 8th Floor, Room 805
Presented by Fifth Third Bank
In order for businesses to start or grow, financing is often needed. Attend this workshop and you will obtain the pathway to financial success including traditional and non traditional credit sources and how to best prepare for when your company needs capital most.

Business Growth Strategies 101
Wed, January 16, 3:00pm – 4:30pm
City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St. – 8th Floor, Room 805
Presented by The Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC)
Are you trying to determine how to grow your business and what area to target for growth? Do you need connections, capital, or additional capacity for your business? Come to the Women’s Business Development Center’s Business Growth Strategies 101 class to begin to identify what part of your business you need to grow, and gain tools that will help fuel your success. Topics that will be covered include finding your target customer, how to prepare for the first time you meet with a banker, and where to begin if you’re thinking about contracting with the government. This workshop will be most meaningful to businesses that have been in business for at least one year.

Rock Your Profile
Fri, January 18, 9:30am – 11:00am
City Hall, 121 N. La Salle St – 8th Floor, Room 805
Presented by Hayden Humphrey, Success Coach and Creative Entrepreneur
Attend this workshop and discuss the ins, outs, tips, and tricks of creating a stellar LinkedIn profile. During this workshop, we will discuss the major profile components, best practices for creating a stellar page, and some behind the scenes advice on navigating the platform. Please come prepared with your profile already created and any questions you have on the platform!

How to Obtain the new Pop-Up User or Pop-Up Host Business License
Wed, January 23, 3:00pm – 4:30pm
City Hall, 121 N. La Salle St – 8th Floor, Room 805
Presented by the City of Chicago Department of Business Affairs & Consumer Protection (BACP) and Department of Public Health (CDPH) – Food Protection
The City’s new Pop-Up User and Pop-Up Host business licenses are now available for short-term general retail, or food, sales entrepreneurs and owners of commercial spaces respectively. Learn about the unique features which allow the User to “pop-up” around the City during the license term, the license application and food protection requirements and process, as well as the benefit provided to existing Shared Kitchen Users and Retail Food license holders. Be ready to become one of the first to obtain these innovative licenses.

How to Write a Business Plan – What you need to know!
Fri, January 25, 9:30am – 11:00am
City Hall, 121 N. LaSalle St. – 8th Floor, Room 805
Presented by Donna R. Rockin, Managing Partner at Rockin Enterprises, Inc.
Learn how to create a comprehensive business plan. It’s easier than you think when you understand all the components that get included. You’ll receive a complete list of what to include to demystify the process. Writing a solid business plan is your roadmap to business success.

Nuts and Bolts of Creating a Charitable Organization
Wed, January 30, 3:00pm – 4:30pm
City Hall, 121 N. La Salle St – 8th Floor, Room 805
Presented by the Community Law Project
Attend this workshop to learn about the legal steps to becoming a charitable organization, the differences between a for profit and a nonprofit and provide an overview of the legal process of creating a not for profit corporation, developing a board of directors, explain bylaws, and obtaining recognition of 501c3 income tax exemption for the organization.

To register, email BACPoutreach@cityofchicago.org or call 312.744.2086.

Source: City of Chicago :: Business Education Workshop Calendar

IRS

The Government Shutdown and the IRS

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A large number of IRS employees have been furloughed at a pretty inopportune time. The unusually-complex and rushed tax law changes are already pushing tax season’s opening day into the future (no date yet announced, and it’s already January 4th), and the government shutdown is making it worse.

The IRS has listed a series of activities that will continue to be conducted on a limited or intermittent basis. Per the NATP, those that directly affect tax preparers and our clients include:

  • Completion and testing of the upcoming Filing Year programs
  • Processing of returns with payments
  • Processing remittances including payment perfection
  • Processing disaster relief transcripts
  • Design and printing of tax forms

The following activities will be furloughed and will NOT be conducted:

  • Issuing refunds
  • Processing non-disaster relief transcripts, income verification express service/return and income verification services
  • Processing 1040X, amended returns
  • All audit functions, examination of returns and processing of non-electronic tax returns that do not include remittances
  • Non-automated collections
  • Legal counsel
  • Taxpayer services such as responding to taxpayer questions (call sites)

This short, interesting article from MarketWatch outlines some of the unfortunate results of furloughing so many IRS employees: 3 unfortunate ways the government shutdown will impact you – MarketWatch

QuickBooks Software, Software, Tips

List of State Payroll Tax Returns Filed by Gusto

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Just a quick post — courtesy of a conversation I had with Gusto support yesterday. For those of you using Gusto for your payroll needs (and I highly recommend them — far superior to any payroll company I’ve ever used, and their integration with QuickBooks Online is seamless and available at no extra charge), it turns out there’s a comprehensive list of the state tax returns they file on behalf of their payroll clients.

I (and my clients) have often received payroll documents from various state and local tax agencies and wondered, “is this something I’m supposed to be filling out or does Gusto handle it for me?” In the past I’ve emailed their support team to ask, but at some point apparently they came up with a list, so I don’t have to take that extra step anymore. I figured I’d post it here so that other Gusto users can now do the same thing when that confusing notice arrives at your place of business.

And if you’re not already using Gusto and are interested, use my referral link to get the first month of your subscription free.

Source: State taxes filed by Gusto

Education, IRS, Tips

Hobby Loss Rules – You Can’t Deduct Your Expenses If You Aren’t In It To Make A Profit

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My favorite tax writer has done it again — Tony Nitti does an amazing job in this article of explaining the nine factors the IRS takes into consideration when deciding whether an activity is a business or a hobby.

Where I see this come up most frequently is when someone loves a product (or service) — some examples I’ve seen are essential oils, diet supplements, a brand of clothing, or even a coaching method — and they realize that if they become a reseller of that product or service, they get deep discounts on the products. Bam! All of a sudden they have a business, right? Wrong. If the reason they enter into the activity is to get a personal discount on personal products, that’s not a business. There are specific guidelines and definitions about what constitutes a business, and that’s not one of them.

However, if they engage in that same activity in a businesslike manner and with an intent to make a profit, then it is possible that it might be treated as a business and therefore the expenses can be deducted against the income.

I’ll quote the master to explain further, since he does such a good job with it; but ultimately what I want you to do if you’re in this area (or have a friend claiming they can deduct everything related to their part-time hobby) is to just read the article. I promise, it’s both entertaining and educational.

Some excerpts:

Many activities are not entered into “with the intent of making a profit.” And when that happens, the activity is a hobby rather than a business.

The ramifications of being categorized as a hobby are severe: while a business can generate a loss, when you’re conducting a hobby, you may only deduct your expenses to the extent of your income. But here’s the rub: these hobby expenses have historically been deducted as other miscellaneous itemized deductions on Schedule A. That makes a hobby classification particularly painful in 2018, because as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, there are no more “other miscellaneous itemized deductions.” So you get the idea: from 2017 on, if you’re conducting a hobby, and not a business, you have to include all of the income, but can’t deduct any of the expenses.

The case history surrounding the hobby loss rules extends FAR beyond 2018. There are countless decisions covering everything from horse breeding to rental activities to cattle ranching to motocross racing… a common theme would quickly emerge: if you don’t take your business seriously, then the IRS and the courts won’t either. Thus, it is absolutely imperative that you conduct your activity in a businesslike manner, and a good start would be to do the following:

  • have a mission statement,
  • maintain a separate bank account,
  • keep separate, accurate, books and records,
  • use those books and records to manage the business; i.e., if a business line isn’t profitable, perhaps you should consider abandoning it,
  • consult with people in the industry to see what has worked for them,
  • make efforts to cut costs if losses are continuing to mount.

In sum, it’s not enough to keep a QuickBooks account. You have to show that you’re really trying to generate a profit, and that means you have to actually, you know… use the information contained within those books and records to try and turn a loss into a profit.

Source: The Top Tax Court Cases of 2018: Reunited With The Hobby Loss Rules And It Feels So Good

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