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Plain-text accounting insights, tutorials, and updates from the Beancount.io team.

May 12, 202612 min read

Section 47 Historic Tax Credit: A 2026 Field Guide for Developers and Their CPAs

Section 47 of the Internal Revenue Code lets developers claim a 20 percent federal tax credit on qualified rehabilitation expenditures for certified historic structures, claimed ratably over five years since the TCJA. This guide walks through NPS three-part certification, the substantial rehabilitation test, what counts as a QRE, five-year recapture rules, and how syndication is structured under the Rev. Proc. 2014-12 safe harbor.

Mike Thrift

tax-creditsreal-estatetax-planning

May 12, 202612 min read

Section 45X After OBBBA: A 2026 Guide to the Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit

A per-component breakdown of Section 45X credit rates, the OBBBA phase-out schedule for wind, solar, battery, and critical minerals, the new Prohibited Foreign Entity Material Assistance Cost Ratio test, and how to claim direct pay or transferability without losing the credit to documentation gaps.

Mike Thrift

tax-creditstax-compliancetax-planning

May 12, 202611 min read

Section 4501 Stock Buyback Excise Tax in 2026: Computing the 1% Tax, Netting Issuances, and Filing Form 7208

How publicly traded U.S. corporations compute the 1% Section 4501 stock buyback excise tax in 2026, apply the netting rule, claim statutory exceptions, and file Form 7208 — including what the November 2025 final regulations changed and where Form 720-X refund opportunities apply.

Mike Thrift

taxtax-complianceequity-instruments

May 12, 202612 min read

Section 280G Golden Parachute Payments: The 3× Trigger, 20% Excise Tax, and the Private Company Cleansing Vote

Section 280G disallows the corporate deduction and imposes a 20% Section 4999 excise tax once parachute payments to a disqualified individual reach three times the executive's five-year average W-2 compensation, with the penalty applying to everything above 1× the base amount. Private companies can eliminate the consequences entirely through a 75% disinterested shareholder vote paired with conditional waivers signed before closing.

Mike Thrift

taxtax-compliancetax-planning

May 12, 202612 min read

Section 174A Restored: How Small Businesses Reclaim R&D Tax Refunds Before July 6, 2026

Section 174A restores immediate domestic R&E expensing and lets small businesses with $31 million or less in average annual gross receipts amend 2022, 2023, and 2024 returns for refunds — but the retroactive election must be filed by July 6, 2026.

Mike Thrift

taxtax-planningtax-deductions

May 12, 202616 min read

Section 162(a)(2): How the Tax Home Rule and One-Year Test Decide Whether Your Travel Is Deductible

A 2026 field guide to Section 162(a)(2) travel deductions — how the tax home rule, the temporary-vs-indefinite test, and the one-year rule determine whether consultants, traveling nurses, and other mobile workers can deduct lodging, meals, and per diem.

Mike Thrift

taxtax-deductionstravel

May 12, 202614 min read

Schedule UTP: How Corporations Disclose Uncertain Tax Positions Without Handing the IRS a Roadmap

Schedule UTP requires corporations with $10M+ in assets and an ASC 740-10 reserve to disclose uncertain tax positions on Form 1120. This guide covers who must file, how to rank major tax positions, what the concise description must include, the columns added for tax year 2022, and the drafting mistakes that trigger IRS Letter 5191.

Mike Thrift

taxtax-compliancefinancial-reporting

May 12, 202612 min read

Schedule M-1 and M-3 Book-Tax Reconciliation: From GAAP Net Income to Form 1120 Taxable Income

Schedule M-3 kicks in at $10 million of year-end total assets and demands four-column detail on every book-tax difference; M-1 stays single-page below that line. A CFO walkthrough of how the reconciliation works, the recurring permanent and temporary differences, and the habits that keep the schedule clean.

Mike Thrift

taxtax-compliancec-corp

May 12, 202613 min read

Saver's Credit 2026: The Last $1,000 Tax Credit Before SECURE 2.0's Saver's Match

Tax year 2026 is the final year for the Saver's Credit, a nonrefundable credit worth up to $1,000 per person ($2,000 MFJ) for IRA and 401(k) contributions. This guide covers the 2026 AGI brackets, Form 8880 line by line, and what changes when the Saver's Match arrives in 2027.

Mike Thrift

taxtax-creditsretirement-savings

May 12, 202610 min read

New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC): How CDEs, Investors, and Local Businesses Stack a 39% Federal Credit Over Seven Years

A practical walkthrough of the New Markets Tax Credit — how the 39% federal credit flows from a CDE to investors and projects over seven years, who plays which role, what continuous compliance requires, and where deals most often break.

Mike Thrift

tax-creditscommunity-developmentreal-estate

May 12, 202612 min read

Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) Section 42: How Developers Use 9% and 4% Credits to Finance Affordable Housing Projects

A 2026 LIHTC field guide for developers — how the 9% and 4% credits differ, how qualified basis and the 70%/30% present-value subsidies are calculated, the three overlapping compliance clocks, the IRS forms (8609, 8609-A, 8586, 8611), syndication mechanics, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act changes that cut the bond financing test from 50% to 25%.

Mike Thrift

real-estatetax-creditstax-compliance

May 12, 202615 min read

Form I-9 and E-Verify Compliance: ICE's March 2026 Fact Sheet and the New Penalty Math

ICE's March 16, 2026 fact sheet reclassifies common Form I-9 errors as substantive violations with no cure period. Paperwork penalties now run $288 to $2,861 per form, and a 500-employee company with a 40% error rate faces six-figure exposure. This guide covers the timing rules, retention windows, E-Verify mandates in eleven states, the alternative procedure for remote verification, and how to run a defensive self-audit.

Mike Thrift

compliancehiringpayroll

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