Roland Fink & Co, CPA

𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗺 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗮𝘅 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝘆 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝗜'𝗺 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝘆 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱?

You can claim these education tax breaks across different family members on the same return. While you can't claim two credits for the same student in a single year, you can claim the American Opportunity Tax Credit for your undergraduate child while simultaneously claiming the Lifetime Learning Credit for an older child in graduate school.

Just make sure you avoid 529 plan double-dipping. The IRS strictly prohibits using the exact same dollar of tuition to justify both a tax-free 529 distribution and the Lifetime Learning Credit.

To get the full value of both incentives, follow this setup:
• Pay up to $10,000 in qualified graduate-school expenses with funds other than a 529 distribution to secure the 20% tax credit.
• Use tax-free 529 funds for other qualified expenses that aren’t being used to claim the credit.
• Avoid using 529 funds for every dollar of qualified tuition, or you may have no remaining expenses available to claim the credit.

Do you currently use a 529 plan to save for your family's higher education expenses?

Succession Planning Best Practices to Maximize Your NoHo Arts District Business's Final Valuation

Succession Planning Best Practices to Maximize Your NoHo Arts District Business’s Final Valuation Discover vital succession planning best practices to reduce owner dependence, clean your books, and maximize your net after-tax payout.

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗜 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗺 𝗜 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗮𝘅𝗲𝘀?

The short answer is that the deal structure matters just as much as the final sticker price.

If a buyer pushes you into an asset sale, they are trying to buy your equipment and inventory to secure tax write-offs for themselves. The trap for you is that depreciation recapture rules can hit those gains at much higher ordinary income rates.

With a stock sale, they buy your corporate equity instead. If you've held it for over a year, that gain qualifies for long-term capital gains rates, capping the federal hit at 20% plus the 3.8% net investment income tax.

If a buyer forces an asset sale to get their deductions, you can counter by calculating a tax "gross-up." This forces them to raise the purchase price by the exact amount needed to make sure your net, after-tax payout matches what you would have kept in a stock sale.

𝘋𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦?

Hiring humans to make 𝘼𝙄 more effective? Ford is onto something.

Have you experienced problems with AI tools in your business?

https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/ford-realized-ai-wasn-t-172058677.html

𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝘅 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗲 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗜 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝗽𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀?

You can use the Lifetime Learning Credit to lower your federal tax bill even if you aren't enrolled in a full degree program. This credit offsets 20% of your first $10,000 in qualified tuition and enrollment fees.

To max out the $2,000 cap, you can group your expenses into a single tax year. IRS rules state you can claim tuition paid now for an academic term that starts within the first three months of the following calendar year.

If you haven't hit the $10,000 qualified expense limit by mid-December, pay your upcoming Spring semester tuition before December 31st.

Prepaying your tuition keeps you from splitting expenses across two separate years and diluting your annual credit. Just make sure your course is hosted by an eligible institution that issues Form 1098-T.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘱𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴?

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄?

📊 Spreadsheet
📱 Budgeting app
🔔 Relying on bank alerts
🙈 "What budget?"

Drop the emoji below that matches your approach.

𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗜 𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝟭𝟳𝟵 𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝗼𝗻𝘂𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘀𝗲𝘀?

One strategy is to apply Section 179 first to erase your active business income down to zero. Then, apply 100% Bonus Depreciation to any remaining asset basis if you want to strategically generate a tax loss.

Here is why: you can't use Section 179 to create a tax loss because it is strictly limited to your net business taxable income. On the flip side, 100% Bonus Depreciation doesn't care about your net income.

For example, if your net income is $100,000 and you buy a $150,000 machine:

• 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 179: You can only deduct $100,000 this year. The remaining $50,000 carries forward to next year.
• 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘉𝘰𝘯𝘶𝘴 𝘋𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯: The purchase pushes your business into a $50,000 Net Operating Loss, which can potentially offset other income.

This distinction gives you more control over your tax outcome. You can decide whether it makes more sense to wipe out your current business tax bill or intentionally create a loss to offset other income.

When you look at your financial goals for this year, is your priority clearing out your active business income, or are you looking for ways to offset other income sources?

If you're within 10 years of retirement, dialing your savings in is key. We can definitely help you with #4: https://www.schwab.com/learn/story/6-things-to-do-if-youre-nearing-retirement

𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗜 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝘅 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲-𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗶𝗳 𝗜 𝗯𝘂𝘆 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀?

Yes, both Section 179 and the permanently restored 100% Bonus Depreciation rules apply to new and used equipment. If the asset is new to your business, you can deduct up to 100% of the purchase price in 2026.

For example, a three-year-old commercial oven bought from a closed restaurant is considered new to your business. It qualifies for a 100% immediate write-off this year.

But you can't claim the write-off if the equipment is acquired through:
• Gifts or inheritance
• Purchases from an immediate family member
• Shifts between business entities or LLCs you already own

So yes, buying used equipment can still come with a valuable tax benefit. You just need to make sure the purchase qualifies.

When you add equipment to your business, do you prefer buying brand new or finding good used deals?

𝗗𝗶𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗮 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗽𝗼𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗸𝗶𝗱?

Wouldn't we all love to receive a guaranteed $200 check just for walking around the block every morning, or patch up a sudden cash flow crunch by handing someone a tiny deed to our Baltic Avenue? Turns out the actual rules of that game don't translate very well to running a business.

Sustainable growth takes a lot more strategy than just rolling the dice. Financial control is about building clean bookkeeping systems, tracking your actual margins, and managing your cash flow with real data.

If you are ready to stop guessing and want a clear, data-driven strategy to manage your business cash flow, reach out to us today. Let’s get your systems dialed in.