Business Taxes and more

Selling vs Trading vs Donating Business Vehicles for Deductions When Filing Business Tax Return

There are three ways that small business tax and accounting services clients can replace their business autos.  Most businesses filing business tax returns know that they can sell, trade or donate their vehicles to the charity for a tax write off. Our tax return services for businesses clients almost always trade or sell their business vehicles when they want to get a new automobile and have fully depreciated their existing business vehicles.  Whether you are filing federal corporate tax return, receiving business tax consulting services, or have a tax return for LLC you probably want to get the maximum tax benefits when you file business tax return.  Therefore, you as a small business accounting and tax services client need to compare tax benefits for trading vs selling or donating your business vehicle to a charity.  At Business Taxes and More, we almost always recommend that our tax return services for businesses clients trade or sell their business vehicles.  We have been filing business tax returns for years and seldom recommend that our clients for tax services for business donate their business vehicle or business property which has been depreciated to a charity.  At Business Taxes and More we frequently donate our assets to various charities and take a tax deduction when we file business tax return for our own organization. Making donations are a great thing and good deeds that many more people should do.  However, we guide and help oursmall business tax and accounting services clients to donate and take the maximum tax benefits when they file LLC tax return.  Our clients’ interests are our number one priority for all of our accounting and tax services for small business taxpayers.  Besides, we at Business Taxes and More have minimum standards and commitments to our tax services for business clients and providing high value is one of our thirteen principals. You may read more about them by clicking here for Top Reasons to Hire New Accountant. Plus, we believe that small business tax preparation services clients should not leave a donation to the government by losing their tax deductions and paying a higher taxes.  After all, lower taxes for a corporate tax return mean more opportunities for growth and extra money to be donated to a great charity.

Trade vs Sell vs Donations of Vehicles for Deductions When Filing Business Tax Return

In order for a tax preparation services for small business client to determine if they have more tax deduction benefits if they trade vs sell their vehicle, the business owner who is filing business tax return must determine their adjusted basis.  The adjusted basis is calculated by this formula; your vehicle acquisition costs plus any major improvements such as a new transmission or engine minus any depreciations taken.  Let us assume a small business owner filing business tax returns owns a vehicle with a cost of $30,000 and they have taken a $20,000 depreciation tax deductions on their LLC tax return so far.  This would mean the businesses that file LLC tax return has an adjusted basis (tax adjusted basis) of $10,000 (30,000 cost less 20,000 depreciation deduction).  Suppose this income tax return for small business client was able to sell the business vehicle for $15,000.  Now this business who file business tax return will have a tax gain of $5,000 and if they sell their vehicle for less than $10,000, they would have a loss.  If there is tax loss then for most corporate tax returns, Scorporation tax return, or any of our small business clients who file business tax return we advise that they could sell or trade their vehicle.  However, if they have a tax gain then they would be better off by selling the vehicle.  All business tax consulting services taxpayers should know that they still have to pay taxes on the gain and the like kind exchanges are not allowed.  Selling of the business vehicle could provide the extra cash needed to pay the taxes on the gain as opposed to trading the vehicle which would not provide the cash. Also, prior to The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) if for example an S corporation income tax return client filing business tax returns traded an auto, they could prevent their gain.  However, if they traded their vehicles with a tax loss they would not be able to deduct that loss.  This was a real problem that even many small business federal corporate income tax return clients did not know and threw their moneys and tax deductions away.  This is yet another great reason for those searching tax return services for businesses to consider Business Taxes and More when looking for tax services for business.  Under the TCJA any business auto trade-in is considered a sale even though a business did not get any cash. Submit Your Business Tax Accounting Inquiry Today by clicking here and start increasing your bottom line today.

Why Trading or Selling a Business Vehicle May Be Better Deal than Donating to a Charity for Tax Deductions

Business Taxes and More has learned from our business tax consulting services that most other tax return services for businesses providers are not informed or do not spend the time to explain the full consequences of donating a business vehicles or any depreciated property to a charity.  Most small business tax and accounting services clients have only the part of the charity deduction story.  They know that when they donate a vehicle to a qualified charity they can deduct the amount that the charity sells for.  As a result, if a charity sells a donated vehicle for $7,500 then the taxpayer filing business tax return can deduct that amount. But wait there is more to this story. 

Trade vs Sell vs Donations

Most other small business tax preparation servicesclients do not know that when you file business tax return, you take the amount, the price that the charity sold the donated vehicle for, in this example $7,500 and reduce that amount by any gain that would not be a long-term gain.  What this comes down to is that you must reduce this amount by the depreciation taken on your vehicle.   If a tax services for business client has taken a $7,500 or more of depreciation on the donated vehicle than this donation does not yield any charity deduction amount.  This is why when we are doing accounting and tax services for small business we discourage donating a business vehicle or any asset that has been depreciated already.  Instead, the business could be in better financial position by selling or trading a vehicle and donating other asset or cash to their favorite charity.  In the end we are committed to all of our small business accounting and tax services clients to first save their money which they could put in better use and make better donations as well if they want.

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