Tag Archives: tax deductions

Gifts for Clients and Tax Deductions: What you Need to Know

Tax deductions for client giftsYou foster strong relationships with your customers through exceptional service and value. But a thank-you gift never hurts. In addition to the goodwill you earn as a gift-giver, you also earn a small tax deduction from the IRS.

A very small tax deduction, which is limited to a maximum of $25 for each client. The amount may seem miserly but it was generous when it was set more than 50 years ago. Here are a few things you should know about the tax benefits of your gifts:

  • One customer, one deduction. The IRS allows only one deduction to a customer. So if you give gifts to a customer, the customer’s spouse and each of their children, it’s still capped at $25. Also, you and your spouse are treated as one taxpayer for that client, even if you have independent business relationships with the client and work for different companies.
  • The IRS doesn’t consider incidental costs to be part of the gift, and so those costs are not capped. The service says incidental costs include packaging, gift-wrapping, shipping and personalized engraving on pens or jewelry.
  • Small-value giveaway items are not considered gifts for the purpose of the $25 limit. Anything that costs less than $4 per unit, has the name of your business on it, and is widely distributed is considered a promotional item. Those can be written off as a business expense.
  • Always document your gifts completely. Your records should include the description of the gift and the receipt to verify its cost, the purchase date, the business purpose and the relationship between the gift giver and the client.

Some items fall into a hazy area between gift and entertainment, such as concert, theater or sporting event tickets. If you give these items to a client, they are subject to the $25 limit. However, if you attend the event with the client, the tickets become an entertainment expense, and 50 percent of the face value is deductible.

For example, if you give a client two $15 theater tickets, it could be a $25 gift expense or a $15 entertainment expense. If the two tickets cost $200, you get the $25 deduction if you don’t attend, and a $100 deduction if you do.

Check out the full IRS chapter on the gift deduction.

Health Savings Accounts

Health Savings AccountsHealth Savings Accounts are one of my favorite investment vehicles. There are many advantages, as you will see. With most Americans having high-deductible health plans, and not able to take medical deductions on Schedule A (itemized deductions), HSAs are the way to go!

A health savings account (HSA) is an account created exclusively for the purpose of paying the qualified medical expenses of an account beneficiary. In other words, an HSA is a tax-advantaged savings account that is owned by an employee or self-employed person.

An HSA is available to taxpayers who have a high-deductible medical insurance plan. A high-deductible plan is one with an annual deductible of not less than $1,300 for self-only coverage (2015 and 2016) and $2,600 (2015 and 2016) for family coverage. Annual out of pocket expenses cannot exceed $6,550 in 2016 for self-only plans and $13,100 for 2016 for family plans.

Contributions to an HSA may be made by an individual, by an individual’s employer, or both. If contributions are made by an individual, they are deductible on the tax return. Contributions made by an employer are excluded from the employee’s income.

The maximum amounts for 2016 are $6,750 for a family and $3,350 for an individual. At age 55 you can make catch up contributions in the amount of $1,000 per year.

Individual Who Cannot Contribute:

  • Enrolled in Medicare Part A or B
  • Received medical benefits through the Dept. of Veterans Affairs within the previous three months.

Penalties for Excess Contributions are subject to a 6% tax on the value of the account.

An HSA allows account owners to pay for current health care expenses and save for those in the future. Its first advantage is that contributions are tax-deductible, or if made through a payroll deduction, they are pretax. Second, the interest earned is tax-free. Third, account owners may make tax-free withdrawals for qualified medical expenses.

As employers try to shift health care costs away from the company and onto workers, high-deductible plans are becoming more common. That means more Americans are becoming eligible for HSAs.