Plain-text accounting insights, tutorials, and updates from the Beancount.io team.
For the self-employed, a Solo 401(k) often shelters more than double what a SEP-IRA does at the same income — a $90,000 earner can contribute $47,000 vs. $22,500 in 2026. This guide covers the limits, the Roth option, the pro-rata rule, and the December 31 deferral deadline.
The median fraud at a company with fewer than 100 employees costs $141,000. This guide explains how to apply segregation of duties — separating authorization, custody, recordkeeping, and reconciliation — and use compensating controls when you have only three employees.
A Section 83(b) election lets founders and early employees pay ordinary income tax today on the full value of restricted stock instead of at each vest. Filed within 30 days on IRS Form 15620, it can convert millions of phantom ordinary income into long-term capital gain and start the QSBS holding clock on day one.
A practical walkthrough of IRC Section 7701(b) for globally mobile founders — the 31-day floor, the weighted three-year 183-day formula, exempt-individual rules, the closer connection exception (Form 8840), and treaty tie-breakers (Form 8833) — with a worked example showing how 130 U.S. days in 2026 can trigger worldwide taxation.
Section 7463 lets a taxpayer challenge an IRS deficiency of $50,000 or less in U.S. Tax Court without a lawyer for a $60 filing fee, using a simplified Form 2 petition and informal trial — in exchange for giving up the right to appeal and the ability to set precedent.
Section 7345 lets the IRS certify a "seriously delinquent" tax debt — roughly $66,000 in 2026 — to the State Department, which can deny, refuse to renew, or revoke a U.S. passport. This guide explains how the CP508C notice works, the five practical paths to decertification, the expedited procedures for imminent travel, and what the courts have recently said.
Beneficiaries of taxable estates can claim a Section 691(c) income tax deduction for federal estate tax already paid on inherited IRAs and other IRD assets. This guide covers eligibility, the with-and-without calculation, where to claim it on Schedule A, and the errors that cost families six figures.
Section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code defines disqualified persons and the six categories of forbidden transactions with self-directed IRAs and Solo 401(k)s. Violations trigger a 15 percent annual excise tax — and, for IRAs, deemed distribution of the entire account back to January 1.
For tax year 2026, businesses with a three-year average of gross receipts at or below $32 million can elect Section 471(c) to skip UNICAP, treat inventory as non-incidental materials and supplies, and file Form 3115 — often producing a one-time Section 481(a) deduction in the year of change.
A practical guide to Section 469 for real estate investors and side-business owners — the seven material participation tests, the $25,000 active-rental allowance, the real estate professional carve-out, the short-term rental angle, and the disposition rules that release suspended losses.
Section 451(c) lets accrual-method SaaS businesses defer advance payments — annual subscriptions, gift cards, prepaid services — by one tax year. Here is how the AFS deferral method interacts with ASC 606, how to elect it on Form 3115, and where the timing traps lurk.
Section 409A taxes noncompliant deferred compensation in the year of vesting and adds a flat 20% federal penalty plus interest. This guide explains the short-term deferral and separation pay exceptions, the six recognized payout triggers, the six-month delay for specified employees, and how to structure bonuses, severance, RSUs, phantom stock, and discounted stock options so founders avoid the penalty.
