538 tagged with "Tax"
Tax strategies, planning, and compliance for individuals and businesses
Cash vs. Accrual Accounting: How to Choose the Right Method (and When the IRS Forces Your Hand)
Cash accounting records revenue when money is received and expenses when paid; accrual accounting records revenue when earned and expenses when incurred. IRS Section 448 mandates the accrual method once a business's three-year average gross receipts exceed the $32 million threshold for 2026, and changing methods later requires Form 3115 plus a Section 481(a) adjustment.
State Tax Residency Audit Defense After Moving to a No-Tax State
A practical guide to surviving California FTB and New York residency audits after moving to Florida, Texas, or Nevada — the domicile and statutory residency tests, day-count documentation, equity compensation traps, and the convenience-of-the-employer rule.
OBBBA SALT Cap and PTET: A Four-Year Window for Pass-Through Owners
OBBBA raises the federal SALT cap to $40,400 for 2026 with a 30-cent-per-dollar phase-out above $505,000 MAGI, then reverts to $10,000 in 2030. PTET elections in 36 states remain uncapped and still beat the cap for most high-income pass-through owners. State deadlines, bunching priorities, and the 2030 cliff explained.
Section 1202 QSBS After the One Big Beautiful Bill Act: Tiered Holding Periods, the $15 Million Cap, and Trust Stacking
How the One Big Beautiful Bill Act rewrote Section 1202 QSBS — a tiered 50/75/100% gain exclusion at three, four, and five years; a $15 million per-issuer cap; a $75 million gross asset threshold at issuance; and non-grantor trust stacking that can lift a founder's combined exclusion well past the single-taxpayer limit.
Section 280F Luxury Auto Caps Meet 100% Bonus Depreciation: A 2026 Vehicle Tax Playbook for Small Business Owners
Section 280F caps 2026 first-year passenger auto depreciation at $20,300 with bonus, while heavy SUVs over 6,000 lb GVWR can deduct the full purchase price via the $31,300 Section 179 cap plus 100% bonus depreciation restored under OBBBA. This guide covers the math, the listed-property substantiation rules, and the recapture trap that catches owners whose business use drops below 50%.
2026 W-2 Box 12 Code TT and Code TP: The Employer's Guide to No Tax on Tips and No Tax on Overtime Reporting
A configuration and compliance guide for payroll teams on the new 2026 W-2 Box 12 Code TT (qualified overtime premium) and Code TP (qualified tips), the Box 14b Treasury Tipped Occupation Code (TTOC), the redesigned Step 4(b) on Form W-4, and the OBBBA 2025–2028 sunset window for the No Tax on Tips and No Tax on Overtime federal income tax deductions.
Antique Dealer and Consignment Mall Bookkeeping: ASC 606, Bailee Inventory, and the Section 1221 Trap
Antique dealers handle per-piece tax classifications, principal-versus-agent revenue questions, and marketplace facilitator sales tax obligations that off-the-shelf retail systems mishandle. This guide explains how to book direct purchases, consignments, and multi-dealer mall sales under ASC 606, the Section 1221 capital-gain trap, and the collectibles 28 percent rate.
Commercial Honey Producer and Beekeeping Operation Bookkeeping: Schedule F, the Section 263A(d) Pre-Productive Period Election, Multi-State Pollination Revenue, and Pounds-Per-Hive KPIs
How commercial honey producers and pollination apiarists structure books for Schedule F, elect out of Section 263A pre-productive period capitalization, depreciate bees as 7-year livestock, source pollination revenue across state lines, comply with FDA honey labeling, and track pounds-per-colony and revenue-per-hive KPIs at a 1,000-hive scale.
Form 5471 in 2026: How the OBBBA Rewrites CFC Reporting, NCTI Replaces GILTI, and What Every 10% U.S. Shareholder Needs to File This Year
A 2026 walkthrough of Form 5471 after the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — QBAI is repealed, GILTI becomes NCTI, the Section 250 deduction drops to 40%, the FTC haircut tightens to 10%, and the pro rata share rule moves to daily ownership. Covers all five filer categories, Schedules J/M/P/Q, Form 8992 and 1118 coordination, Section 989 currency translation, and $10,000-per-CFC penalties.
Custom Home Builder Bookkeeping: Section 460, Job Costing, Retainage, and NAHB Benchmarks
How independent residential GCs and custom home builders should structure their books — Section 460 method election, phase-level job cost categories, deposit and retainage handling, mechanics lien waiver discipline, warranty reserves, and the NAHB KPIs that matter.
Section 1202 QSBS Exclusion: A Founder's Guide to $15 Million in Tax-Free Gains
Section 1202 lets founders, early employees, and angel investors exclude up to $15 million of capital gains from federal tax. This guide covers the OBBBA changes, the five eligibility gates, the new 3/4/5-year tiered holding period, Section 1045 rollovers, and stacking strategies that multiply the per-issuer cap across family members and non-grantor trusts.
The Augusta Rule: How Business Owners Rent Their Home to Their S-Corp for 14 Days a Year Tax-Free
Internal Revenue Code Section 280A(g) lets a business owner rent a personal residence to their own S-corporation for up to 14 days a year and exclude every dollar from personal gross income while the business deducts the rent under Section 162. The Sinopoli case shows what survives an audit and what does not.