Plain-text accounting insights, tutorials, and updates from the Beancount.io team.
Section 199A lets pass-through owners deduct up to 20% of qualified business income. This guide covers the 2026 thresholds, W-2 wage and UBIA limits, the SSTB trap, rental real estate safe harbor, the aggregation election, and the new $400 minimum deduction.
A plain-English guide to FBAR and FATCA for U.S. taxpayers — who must file, the $10,000 aggregate threshold, Form 8938 tiers, post-Bittner penalties capped at $16,536 per form, and how the Streamlined Procedures fix years of missed filings without penalty.
A cost segregation study reclassifies a building's components into shorter MACRS lives, unlocking the 100% bonus depreciation permanently restored by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of July 2025. On a $1M residential rental, that swings first-year tax savings from roughly $10,700 to roughly $90,600—provided the investor clears IRC §469 passive activity loss limits.
A practical guide to managing a startup cap table from incorporation to exit — covering SAFEs, priced rounds, option pool sizing, 409A valuations, vesting mechanics, dilution math, and the diligence-ready habits that prevent costly equity surprises.
A category-by-category comparison of the five real tax solutions small businesses use in 2026 — DIY software, professional-grade platforms, hybrid bookkeeping subscriptions, local CPAs, and in-person chains — with price ranges, fit criteria, and signs you've outgrown your current setup.
A step-by-step walkthrough of business tax filing by entity type — Schedule C for sole props, Form 1065 for partnerships, 1120-S for S-corps, and 1120 for C-corps — with 2026 deadlines, document checklists, audit triggers, and when DIY software stops being enough.
A walk through five tax-court rulings — Seacat's cat food, Wheir's body oil, ABBA's costumes, the Hess implants case, and Capone-style evasion — and the documentation, commingling, and "ordinary and necessary" rules they expose for small business owners.
How the CARES Act, Consolidated Appropriations Act, and American Rescue Plan reshaped small business taxes—covering PPP forgiveness, the Employee Retention Credit, EIDL loans, deferred payroll taxes, and the April 15, 2025 deadline for 2021 ERC claims.
The OBBBA made the QBI deduction permanent and raised it to 23% in 2026, expanded SALT to $40,000 through 2029, and lifted the estate exemption to $15 million. Here is how small business owners running pass-through entities, S corps, and LLCs should plan around it.
A practical week-by-week, quarter-by-quarter, and year-end tax preparation checklist for small business owners — covering 2026 IRS deadlines, estimated tax payments, deductions, 1099 filing, and the bookkeeping habits that turn April from a sprint into a routine handoff.
A 2026 guide to the five legitimate IRS resolution programs—installment agreements, Offer in Compromise, Currently Not Collectible status, penalty abatement, and innocent spouse relief—plus the warning signs of OIC mill scams and the step-by-step process from a CP14 notice to a working agreement.
Direct stimulus payments were protected from IRS tax debt offsets, but Recovery Rebate Credits claimed on tax returns followed normal refund offset rules. Here's how owing back taxes affected each of the three rounds of economic impact payments and what options remain for resolving outstanding IRS balances.
