#tax-credits
Federal and state tax credits to reduce your tax bill dollar for dollar
How partnerships and S corporations in 36+ states use the Pass-Through Entity Tax election under IRS Notice 2020-75 to deduct state income tax at the entity level and bypass the federal SALT cap — with a worked example, resident-credit mechanics, and 2026 election deadlines.
OBBBA's new Section 174A restores immediate expensing for domestic R&D in tax years after December 31, 2024, and qualifying small businesses can amend 2022–2024 returns by July 6, 2026 to recover overpaid tax. A guide to the three coexisting Section 174 regimes, the Section 41 credit add-back, foreign 15-year amortization, and the statement in lieu of Form 3115.
Form 8850 must be signed on or before the job offer date and submitted to the state workforce agency within 28 calendar days of the employee's start date — miss either deadline and the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, worth up to $9,600 per qualifying hire across ten targeted groups, is permanently forfeited.
For 2026, the federal Adoption Tax Credit is worth up to $17,670 per child, with $5,120 now refundable. A field guide to Form 8839, qualified expenses, the special-needs rule, failed adoptions, the MAGI phase-out, and the five-year carryforward.
For tax year 2026, the federal Adoption Tax Credit caps at $17,670 per eligible child, with up to $5,120 refundable and a five-year carryforward on the nonrefundable remainder. This guide explains Form 8839, the timing rules for domestic, foreign, special needs, and failed adoptions, MAGI phase-out between $265,080 and $305,080, and how to coordinate with employer-provided adoption assistance under Section 137.
A practical 2026 guide for businesses with ERC exposure — the closed voluntary disclosure window, the OBBBA six-year statute on Q3/Q4 2021 claims, the categorical disallowance of late filings after January 31 2024, the promoter penalties reaching back to March 12 2020, and the audit file examiners actually request.
With the second ERC Voluntary Disclosure Program closed since November 2024, small businesses with overstated Employee Retention Credit claims still have three remedies in 2026: claim withdrawal, self-amendment via Form 941-X, or responding to an IRS recapture letter. The IRS has a six-year audit window open through April 15, 2027 for Q3 and Q4 2021 claims, plus a 20% accuracy-related penalty for erroneous refunds.
How Form 3800 aggregates 40-plus business tax credits into one limitation, why the 25/75 tentative minimum tax floor matters, and how eligible small businesses (≤$50M gross receipts) can offset AMT with R&D, WOTC, FICA Tip, and other specified credits.
Pooled Employer Plans let unrelated small businesses share a single 401(k) under SECURE Act 2.0, cutting all-in fees from roughly 0.80% to 0.35% and shifting plan-document, investment, and Form 5500 duties to a Pooled Plan Provider while leaving employers with a narrow duty to prudently select and monitor the PPP.
The federal $7,500 clean vehicle credit ended September 30, 2025 under the OBBBA—seven years early. Section 30D's binding contract exception, dealer transfer recapture risk, Form 8936 filing for 2025 acquirers, state replacement programs, and what 2026 EV buyers should expect.
The Section 30D EV tax credit ended September 30, 2025, seven years early under OBBBA. Buyers with a written binding contract and nominal payment before that date can still claim up to $7,500 on a 2026 delivery. This guide covers the acquisition rule, Form 8936 filing, point-of-sale transfer recapture risk, and what survives for used (25E), commercial (45W), and charging-infrastructure (30C) credits.
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.
