Tax Guru – Ker$tetter Letter

From WSJ’s free Startup Journal:

The Benefits Of Incorporation – Would anyone want to work with a CPA who would make the following bone-headed comment?

That said, don’t fool yourself into thinking you’ll reap any major tax benefits from incorporating, says Robert Caplan, a certified public accountant in Foster City, Calif. Tax liabilities for corporations are generally the same, and sometimes even much higher, than those of a sole proprietor or partnership. “I hear people all the time talk about tax benefits of incorporating, but they’re just not there,” Mr. Caplan says.

Formalizing Loans From Relatives, Friends – It really helps to support the deduction for an unpaid loan if there is proper documentation.  Otherwise, IRS likes to consider it a nondeductible gift, which is their beginning assumption for any money given between friends and family members.

Avoiding Pitfalls When Partnering with a Friend – Just like a pre-nup with marriages, terms of a business relationship should be well documented while everyone is on good terms.  To skip that step is just asking for an expensive mess later on.