A majority of businesses are organized as pass-through entities that transfer their income and tax liability to the individual owners. Those businesses will need to combine individual tax planning for the owners at the same time they do yearend planning for their business.

Here are some things to consider in your planning:

# Make purchases of certain tangible personal property that qualifies for the Section 179 deduction and deduct the full purchase amount up to $250,000 total (this deduction phases out with total purchases in excess of $800,00 for the year).

# Set up a retirement plan if you don’t already have one and make the maximum contribution permitted.

# Every company that has employees paying for all or a portion of their health insurance should have a Section 125 Cafeteria Plan. Under a Section 125 plan, the portion of health insurance paid by the employee is not subject to FICA tax or income tax, benefiting both the company and the employee.

# Consider establishing a medical and/or dependent care reimbursement plan for your employees (a Flexible Spending Account). Again, this portion of wages is not subject to FICA tax or income tax.

# Accrual-basis taxpayers should make sure to record all accounts payable items as of the end of the year — bills that relate to the current year even if not paid until the next year. Also, charges on credit cards can be deducted in the year of charge even if the credit card bill isn’t paid until the following year.

# For certain property placed in service in 2008, the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 allows eligible taxpayers to claim an additional first-year bonus depreciation allowance equal to 50 percent of the adjusted basis of the property.

# Accelerated depreciation for qualified leasehold and restaurant improvements has been extended through Dec. 31, 2009, allowing for a shortened recovery period of 15 years rather than 39 years (must follow certain guidelines).

# Take an accurate count of inventory at year end to determine if items should be expensed to cost of goods sold.

# Reimburse employees and owners for business mileage on their personal vehicles up to $0.505 per mile for travel made from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2008. For travel between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2008, the rate is $0.585 per mile.

# Start planning your exit strategy. It’s never too early to plan for the future and there may be certain tax advantages to early planning.

# Abby Dupree is the tax partner with the full-service public accounting firm Carroll & Company CPAs and a past president of the Tallahassee Chapter of the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Contact her at adupree@ccrcpa.com.