#small-business
Small Business
Financial management strategies and tools for small business owners
Section 199A QBI Aggregation Election Under Reg 1.199A-4: How Pass-Through Owners Combine Commonly Controlled Trades or Businesses to Beat the W-2 Wage and UBIA Limits
The Section 199A aggregation election under Reg 1.199A-4 lets pass-through owners combine commonly controlled trades or businesses before applying the W-2 wage and UBIA of qualified property limitation. This guide walks through the five eligibility tests, the Form 8995-A Schedule B disclosure, the irrevocable consistency rule, and when pooling QBI across an operating-and-leasing or multi-entity structure actually unlocks more deduction.
Section 274(n) and 274(o) in 2026: The 50% Business Meal Rule, the New Office-Snacks Cliff, and Audit-Proof Documentation
The OBBBA's new Section 274(o) eliminates the deduction for employer-provided office meals starting January 1, 2026, while Section 274(n)'s 50% rule still covers client and travel meals. Here is the full 50%/100%/0% map, the documentation auditors expect, and the four-account bookkeeping setup that keeps year-end clean.
Section 45B FICA Tip Credit on Form 8846: The Quiet Six-Figure Tax Break Most Restaurant Owners Miss
How restaurant, bar, and hospitality employers compute the Section 45B FICA tip credit on Form 8846, using the frozen $5.15 minimum wage floor and the 7.65 percent multiplier — including the 280C add-back, common audit pitfalls around service charges, and how to recover up to three years of unclaimed credit through amended returns.
SECURE 2.0 Section 101: Mandatory Auto-Enrollment for New 401(k) and 403(b) Plans (2026 Compliance Guide)
SECURE 2.0 Section 101 requires new 401(k) and 403(b) plans established after December 29, 2022 to auto-enroll employees at a 3-10% default deferral with 1% annual escalation. A 2026 compliance guide covering EACA notices, the four exemptions, QDIA selection, the 90-day permissible withdrawal, and the December 31, 2026 plan amendment deadline.
State PFML Programs in 2026: A Multi-State Employer's Guide to Withholding, Private Plans, and the Section 45S Credit
Sixteen US jurisdictions run mandatory paid family and medical leave programs in 2026, with new benefits live in Minnesota, Maine, and Delaware, a 23% Washington premium hike to 1.13%, and a permanent Section 45S federal credit. This guide covers which states require withholding, how private plan exemptions work, how PFML coordinates with FMLA and ADA, and the W-2 Box 14 codes that break payroll when miscoded.
Surety Bonds for Construction Contractors: Miller Act, SBA Guarantees, and the Books That Build Bonding Capacity
How bid, performance, and payment bonds work in 2026 for small construction contractors — the Miller Act's $35K and $150K federal thresholds, the SBA's 80–90% guarantee covering contracts up to $14 million, and the working-capital and WIP discipline that decides which builders get bonded for the largest jobs.
Surety Bonds for Construction Contractors: How the Miller Act and SBA Guarantee Program Open Public Works to Small Builders
Public construction contracts above the FAR $150,000 threshold require performance and payment bonds under the Miller Act, with state Little Miller Acts setting thresholds from $25,000 to $500,000. The SBA Surety Bond Guarantee Program—which guaranteed $10.6 billion in bonds for 2,200+ small businesses in FY2025—lets approved sureties write bonds for small contractors by absorbing 80–90% of loss risk.
AI Bookkeeping for Small Business in 2026: Where Generative AI Wins and Where It Fails
AI bookkeeping tools now hit 85–95% categorization accuracy and shrink month-end close from days to under two hours, but the 2–5% confidently wrong residual is where audit risk hides. A practical workflow for small businesses covering daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly review steps.
Form 8995 vs. Form 8995-A: Choosing the Right QBI Form for 2026
Form 8995 is a one-page worksheet; Form 8995-A is a four-part return with four schedules. The line between them in 2026 is $403,500 for joint filers and $201,750 for everyone else — and crossing it adds W-2 wage limits, SSTB phase-outs, and aggregation math to the return.
Form 8995 vs. Form 8995-A: Which QBI Deduction Form to File in 2026 (And Why Your Income Threshold Decides)
For 2026, taxable income under $201,750 (single) or $403,500 (MFJ) qualifies you for the one-page Form 8995. Above those thresholds, Form 8995-A applies W-2 wage, UBIA, and SSTB phase-in limits to the 20% QBI deduction.
The IC-DISC: How Closely Held Exporters Cut Federal Tax on Export Profits to 23.8%
The IC-DISC is the only permanent federal tax incentive dedicated to U.S. exporters that is available to pass-through entities. It routes export commissions through a tax-exempt paper corporation and back out as qualified dividends, cutting the effective federal rate on export profits from roughly 40% to 23.8% for closely held manufacturers, distributors, software vendors, and engineering firms.
The IC-DISC Export Tax Strategy: How Closely-Held U.S. Exporters Cut Their Tax Rate on Foreign Sales to 20 Percent
An IC-DISC is a paper-only U.S. C corporation authorized by IRC Sections 991–997 that lets closely-held manufacturers, distributors, and growers convert qualifying export profit from ordinary income rates (up to 37%) into qualified dividend rates (20–23.8%), with typical setups producing $50,000+ in annual federal tax savings on $5M of qualifying export sales after Section 199A's 2026 sunset widened the rate spread.