Recently, a doctor called requesting help to solve her tax dilemma. She’d purchased a new sport utility vehicle (SUV) for practice use, but the dealership had titled the vehicle in her personal name. Her CPA informed her that her practice must own the vehicle to claim any tax breaks. When she looked into transferring ownership to her corporation, she discovered that she would owe thousands of dollars in sales tax and other transfer fees, as well as higher auto insurance premiums and interest rates. What should she do?

As a rule, the tax law requires that business car tax breaks be reserved for the owner. Fortunately, there are two exceptions which allow you to avoid the unnecessary costs of transferring ownership, while still permitting the practice to reap the tax benefits on your personally owned vehicle.