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w w w . i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m J u n e 2 0 19 • I NSIGH T | 43 Sarah likes knowing her employees have choices. That's why she chooses a health plan with one of the largest networks in Wisconsin. So her employees can choose the doctors they trust. If you're like Sarah, you'll like UnitedHealthcare. Visit uhc.com/WI Plan benefi ts and programs may vary. Insurance coverage provided by or through UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company or its affi liates. Health Plan coverage provided by or through UnitedHealthcare of Wisconsin, Inc. 8372025.0 3/19 ©2019 United HealthCare Services, Inc. 18-10762-A Charitable giving e days of people donating to a nonprofit in December so they can be in a better tax position are over, Laughlin says. "Giving a charitable gi so you can claim a deduction on your income — just doing that does nothing," he says. "ere are steps, however, that people can take to benefit nonprofits and help their taxes." One idea that has gained traction with Laughlin's clients is creating a donor-advised fund at one of the area's community foundations. ey can make a $25,000 gi, for example, to create a donor-advised fund and then over a period of five years give out $5,000 a year from the fund to different charities. "e person gains the tax benefit in that first year with the $25,000 gi. For the right client, this is a good vehicle, especially if they have a good idea of how much they want to donate annually," he says. "It can only be done once every five years." Donating something other than cash, such as real estate or stocks, to the donor- advised fund is another smart tax move, Laughlin says. "Donate that property to the donor- advised fund and you don't need to worry about capital gains, and you get assets in that fund to make donations from," he says. For clients over the age of 70-and-a-half, Heling says one idea is to take their required IRA distribution and have it go directly to a charity. "It's a win-win. A nonprofit receives the donation and the person doesn't have to pay taxes on the additional income," he says. Changes for businesses e 2017 tax law also included several changes for corporate and business returns. One of the biggest changes is how meal and entertainment expenses are tracked. Taxpayers can deduct up to 50 percent of the cost of business meals if the owner or an employee is present at the meal. If entertainment is involved, the meal costs must be separated out, and only those can be deducted, Heling says. "ere's a lot more recordkeeping that needs to go on now," he says. "For example, if you're consuming food and beverages during an entertainment event, that is deductible, but you'll need to have a separate receipt or invoice instead of placing it all together on one — the tickets and food. Some rules may change or be further defined by the IRS, so keep good documentation." ere's also a new qualified business income deduction on the books for businesses. e deduction has two parts: Taxpayers can deduct up to 20 percent of their qualified business income from a domestic business, and eligible taxpayers may be entitled to deduct 20 percent of their combined real estate investment trust dividends and income from a qualified publicly traded partnership. e sum of the two amounts is called the combined qualified business income. "It's going to be a new balancing act for business owners between owner compensation and qualified business income," Heling says.