I handle this in Zoho Expense by creating a recurring expense for my cell phone. I upload the full bill but then enter only 50% of my line's cost as the expense amount. In the notes section, I document my calculation (total bill, my portion, business percentage). This approach has worked well for me for 3 years and survived a small business audit. The key is consistency and documentation.

Has anyone used Zoho Analytics alongside Expense for tracking these split business/personal costs over time? I'm trying to see patterns in my business usage but finding it cumbersome to track the splits.

Another thing nobody mentioned yet is that sometimes these ultra-wealthy people use their company perks to reduce personal expenses, which is another form of tax avoidance. Like when a company pays for "business travel" on a private jet, security personnel, housing for "business purposes," etc. These are business expenses for the company (tax deductible) but provide personal benefit to the executive without counting as taxable income. Musk for example has used company resources for personal security and travel - completely legal if structured properly, but effectively gives him benefits that would otherwise require taxable income.

Just to add another layer to this conversation - one thing the "buy, borrow, die" strategy relies on is the stepped-up basis rule at death. This means that when someone inherits assets, the cost basis resets to the market value at the time of inheritance. Example: If Musk bought Tesla stock at $10 and it's worth $1000 when he dies, normally selling would trigger capital gains tax on the $990 profit. But his heirs get a stepped-up basis to $1000, so if they sell at $1000, they pay ZERO capital gains tax on all that appreciation. This is why super wealthy people can borrow against assets their whole lives, never sell, and then pass enormous wealth to the next generation without anyone ever paying capital gains tax on decades of appreciation. It's completely legal but definitely a huge advantage that most average people can't access.

10 This might be industry-specific, but in construction you should absolutely be deducting those hotel expenses for your crew at 100%. I've been in commercial construction for 20+ years and my accountant confirmed this is standard practice and fully allowed. For the international expansion, make sure you're keeping VERY detailed records. Note who you met with, what was discussed, take photos of potential sites, etc. The more documentation you have that this was a legitimate business exploration and not a vacation, the better position you'll be in if audited.

23 Has anyone used TurboTax Self-Employed for their construction business? I'm wondering if it would flag these types of deductions or help document them properly.

Besides watching those income thresholds, don't forget about Roth conversions as a potential strategy. If your mom has traditional IRAs or 401ks, you might want to strategically convert some to Roth during lower-income years. While this creates taxable income in the year of conversion, it reduces future Required Minimum Distributions that could push her over the Social Security taxation thresholds in coming years. This is especially valuable if she's not yet 73 (when RMDs must start) as you have a window of opportunity before those mandatory withdrawals kick in.

Has anyone used any specific tax software that handles this Social Security Tax Torpedo situation well? I've used TurboTax for years but it doesn't seem to provide much guidance on how to avoid SS taxation for next year.

I went through this exact situation with my LLC last year. One thing to watch out for - if you ever had ANY kind of tax election for your LLC (like S-Corp status), you might need to formally revoke that election when closing the EIN. My accountant didn't catch this, and I ended up getting a notice about "missing returns" a year after I thought everything was closed. Turns out I needed to file Form 8832 to change my entity classification back before closing. Might not apply to your situation since you were always a partnership, but something to be aware of!

Simple question - did you have a business bank account for this LLC? If so, make sure that's properly closed too before finalizing the EIN closure. I made the mistake of closing my EIN while my business checking account was still open, and it caused a real mess with the bank later on since they required an active EIN for business accounts.