Small Business

Fair market value (FMV) is the price at which the property would change hands between a buyer and a seller when both have reasonable knowledge of all the necessary facts and neither has to buy or sell.
If parties with adverse interests place a value on property in an arm's-length transaction, that is strong evidence of FMV.
If there is a stated price for services, this price is treated as the FMV unless there is evidence to the contrary.

When expensed property is sold or exchanged, gain is ordinary income up to the extent of the first year expense deduction plus MACRS deductions and bonus depreciation taken.
Expensing deductions are also subject to recapture if property placed in service after 1986 is not used more than 50% of the time for business use in any year before the end of the recovery period.

Generally, depreciable Real Property sold at a gain is considered either Section 1231 if depreciated post 1987or Section 1250 property if depreciated pre 1987 and reported on Form 4797
Bonus depreciation taken in years 2008 through the present year must be picked up as ordinary income
Gain attributable to depreciation pre 1987 is subject to recapture as ordinary income unless straight line method was used..
Gain on the disposition of Section 1250 property is treated as ordinary income to the extent of additional depreciation allowed or allowable on the property.
Depreciable Residential Rental Property sold at a loss is considered Section 1250 property reported on Form 4797 Part 1 if long term, and 4797 part 2 if short term.

Generally, if you exchange business or investment property solely for business or investment property of a like-kind, no gain or loss is recognized under Internal Revenue Code Section 1031.
If, as part of the exchange, you also receive other (not like-kind) property or money, gain is recognized to the extent of the other property and money received, but a loss is not recognized.
Section 1031 does not apply to exchanges of inventory, stocks, bonds, notes, other securities or evidence of indebtedness, or certain other assets.

Intangible property is any personal property that has value but cannot be seen or touched. It includes such items as the goodwill value of a business, patents, copyrights.
Gain or loss on the sale or exchange of amortizable or depreciable intangible property held longer than 1 year (other than an amount recaptured as ordinary income) is a section 1231 gain or loss.
Gain or loss on dispositions of other intangible property is ordinary or capital depending on whether the property is a capital asset or a noncapital asset.

The foreign earned income deduction rises to $97,600, an increase of $2,500 from the maximum deduction for tax year 2012.

The value of an employer-provided cell phone, provided primarily for noncompensatory business reasons, is excludable from an employee's income as a working condition fringe benefit.
Personal use of an employer-provided cell phone, provided primarily for noncompensatory business reasons, is excludable from an employee's income as a de minimis fringe benefit.
You provide a cell phone primarily for noncompensatory business purposes if there are substantial business reasons for providing the cell phone.
You cannot exclude from an employee's wages the value of a cell phone provided to promote goodwill of an employee, to attract a prospective employee, or as a means of providing additional compensation to an employee.

You must use the general valuation rule to determine the value of most fringe benefits. Under this rule, the value of a fringe benefit is its fair market value.
The fair market value (FMV) of a fringe benefit is the amount an employee would have to pay a third party in an arm's-length transaction to buy or lease the benefit.
Neither the amount the employee considers to be the value of the fringe benefit nor the cost you incur to provide the benefit determines its FMV.

The value of lodging is not taxable if as a condition of employement the employee must accept the lodging on the employer's business premises for the employer's convenience.
The exclusion does not apply if you allow your employee to choose to receive additional pay instead of lodging.