Supporting a charity can be good for your community and your business. But writing the check from the company account does not automatically create a business deduction. Learn when a charitable payment may qualify as advertising or promotion, and what documentation you need before claiming it.

Business owners may be able to deduct reasonable compensation paid to a child for legitimate work. Before making the payment, consider worker classification, payroll and reporting requirements, documentation, entity type, and the opportunity to fund an IRA.

If your household MAGI exceeds 400 percent of the federal poverty level--even slightly--you lose eligibility entirely and must repay 100 percent of the advance credit you received during the year.

Many charitably minded individual retirement account (IRA) owners use qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) to satisfy required minimum distributions while avoiding income tax. One simple mistake, however, can turn an otherwise tax-free QCD into fully taxable income.

A recent Tax Court case is a good reminder that charitable deductions can be denied entirely because of poor documentation, even when the donations themselves were legitimate.

Family relationships and overlapping ownership can quietly sabotage well-intentioned tax planning. Internal Revenue Code Section 267 often causes the damage.

If you give money or property, you may be legally required to file a gift tax return with the IRS—even if you owe no gift tax.

When you skip depreciation, the IRS applies the allowed-versus-allowable rule. The depreciation you claimed counts as the “allowed” amount. The depreciation you should have claimed counts as the “allowable” amount. If you claimed zero depreciation but should have claimed $5,000, the tax law treats those amounts as different. That difference creates two problems.