400 tagged with "Compliance"
Navigate regulatory compliance and maintain audit-ready financial records
Form 8275: How a One-Page Disclosure Defeats the Section 6662 and 6694 Penalties
Form 8275 is a one-page disclosure statement that, when attached to a tax return, can neutralize the 20% Section 6662 accuracy-related penalty and the Section 6694 preparer penalty for gray-area positions that have a reasonable basis.
Form 8275 Disclosure Statement: Defeating the 20% Section 6662 Accuracy-Related Penalty
Form 8275 lets taxpayers disclose debatable tax positions with the IRS to defeat the 20% Section 6662 accuracy-related penalty when a position has at least a reasonable basis. Covers when to use Form 8275 versus Form 8275-R, what counts as adequate disclosure, timing rules, and Section 6694 preparer-penalty protection.
Form 911: Escalating Stalled Refunds, Wrongful Levies, and Identity Theft to the Taxpayer Advocate Service
Form 911 opens the door to the Taxpayer Advocate Service, an independent IRS office that intervenes in stalled refunds, wrongful levies, and identity-theft cases under IRC Section 7811. This guide explains the four hardship categories, how to file, and what to write so a case gets expedited rather than queued.
Functional Expense Allocation for Nonprofits: Form 990 Part IX, ASU 2016-14, and How to Defend Your Program Ratio
A practical guide to splitting nonprofit costs across program, management, and fundraising — covering ASU 2016-14 requirements, Form 990 Part IX, time studies, square-footage methods, the three-test joint cost rule, and the written cost allocation plan auditors expect to see.
Functional Expense Allocation for Nonprofits: A Practical Guide to the Statement of Functional Expenses and Form 990 Part IX
Nonprofits must report expenses by both nature and function under FASB ASU 2016-14. This guide explains the three functional categories, audit-accepted allocation methods like time-and-effort and square footage, and how to feed both the statement of functional expenses and Form 990 Part IX from one consistent system.
IOLTA and Client Trust Accounting: Three-Way Reconciliation, Earned vs. Unearned Fees, and the Mistakes That End Careers
How law firms run IOLTA accounts under ABA Model Rule 1.15 — separating earned from unearned fees, matching the bank statement to the master ledger and per-client sub-ledgers in a three-way reconciliation, and avoiding the four commingling mistakes (firm money in trust, firm expenses from trust, earned fees left in trust, one client's funds covering another's disbursement) that drive most bar discipline cases.
The Three-Way Reconciliation: How Law Firms Keep Client Trust Money Separate and Stay Off the Disciplinary Docket
A three-way reconciliation ties the bank statement, the trust ledger, and the sum of every client sub-ledger into one agreeing number. This guide explains how it works, how to keep earned and unearned fees separate, and which bookkeeping mistakes quietly build into a bar disciplinary complaint.
Sales Tax Economic Nexus After Wayfair: A Compliance Guide for Online Sellers
A 2026 guide to U.S. sales tax economic nexus — how the $100,000 threshold works after Wayfair, which states still count transactions, how marketplace facilitator laws affect your nexus math, and what to do when you should have registered months ago.
Section 105(h): The Self-Insured Health Plan Rule That Can Quietly Tax Your Best People
Section 105(h) requires self-insured health plans, including ICHRAs and HRAs, to pass an eligibility test and a benefits test each year. Fail, and a portion of a highly compensated individual's reimbursements becomes taxable W-2 income — calculated as the excess reimbursement.
Section 119 Meals and Lodging for the Convenience of the Employer: How Hospitality, Hospital, and Caretaker Employers Keep On-Premises Housing and Cafeteria Meals Out of Wages
Section 119 lets employers exclude on-premises meals and required-residence lodging from employee wages, with no FICA and no income tax withholding. This guide walks through the convenience-of-the-employer test, the "more than half" safe harbor, qualified campus lodging, the Kowalski cash rule, and what the 2026 Section 274(o) deduction sunset does and does not change.
Section 119: How Employers Give Workers Tax-Free Meals and Housing on the Business Premises
Section 119 lets employers furnish meals and lodging tax-free when they are on the business premises and for the employer's convenience — and lodging must also be a condition of employment. Qualifying value is also excluded from FICA and FUTA wages.
Section 199A Rental Real Estate Safe Harbor: How Landlords Log 250 Hours, Avoid the Triple Net Lease Trap, and Lock In the 20% QBI Deduction
Revenue Procedure 2019-38 lets landlords treat rental real estate as a trade or business for the 20% QBI deduction if they log 250 hours of qualifying services, keep contemporaneous records, avoid triple net leases, and file a signed election — now permanent under the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act.