Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978 eliminates back federal employment taxes on misclassified contractors when small businesses pass three tests — reporting consistency, substantive consistency, and reasonable basis. Revenue Procedure 2025-10 updated the rules in January 2025, the first major change in 40 years.
Section 831(b) microcaptive insurance lets small businesses retain underwriting profit on hard-to-insure risks, but the IRS's 2025 final regulations treat captives with loss ratios under 30% as listed transactions. Here is how to structure one that survives an audit.
How short-term rentals sit outside the Section 469 passive loss rules, what the seven-day average and material participation tests actually require, and how a six-figure W-2 earner can use cost segregation and 100% bonus depreciation to legally offset wage income.
A 2026 walkthrough of every small business tax obligation—federal income, self-employment, payroll, sales, and excise—with the full filing calendar, quarterly estimated tax safe harbors, OBBBA-era changes (permanent QBI, $1.21M Section 179, restored 100% bonus depreciation), and the recordkeeping habits that prevent penalties.
After OBBBA set the federal estate, gift, and GST exemption at $15 million per person in 2026, SLATs still freeze growth out of the taxable estate at a 40 percent rate. Coverage of dual-SLAT reciprocal trust risk, asset selection, valuation discounts, and the audit records families need to keep.
Year-round tax loss harvesting can add 0.5%–1.5% in annual after-tax returns to a taxable portfolio. This guide explains the IRS netting order, the wash sale rule across taxable and IRA accounts, and a practical framework for harvesting short-term losses without losing the deduction.
A six-week framework for small business owners to catch up unreconciled books, assemble a standardized year-end financial package, and hand off cleanly to an accountant—anchored by the 2026 federal filing deadlines.
OBBBA made the 20% QBI deduction and 100% bonus depreciation permanent for 2026, while tariffs near 19% cost U.S. small businesses about $85 billion a year. Here is what changed, who benefits, and how to plan.
How the IRS uses Internal Revenue Code Section 6672 to hold business owners, officers, bookkeepers, and even spouses personally liable for 100% of unpaid payroll withholdings — covering who qualifies as a responsible person, how willfulness is established, and how to defend a Letter 1153 within the 60-day appeal window.
