A practical walkthrough of how Revenue Procedure 2013-30 lets businesses cure a missed Form 2553 S-corp election within three years and 75 days — no $3,500+ private letter ruling fee, no negotiation, just a checklist and a well-written statement.
A practical guide to Section 469(c)(7) Real Estate Professional Status — the 750-hour and more-than-half tests, the spousal rule, material participation and the grouping election, common audit failures, and how 100% bonus depreciation in 2026 makes REPS worth the documentation cost.
Below-market loans under IRC Section 7872 generate imputed interest at the Applicable Federal Rate, recharacterized as gifts, wages, or dividends depending on the relationship — here's how the $10,000 floor, the $100,000 cap for gift loans, and a written note at AFR keep intra-family, employer-employee, and shareholder loans out of the tax trap.
A 409A valuation is the IRS-recognized appraisal that sets the strike price on every option grant. Without one, founders risk 20% federal excise penalties, premium interest, and California's 5% piggyback tax — all falling on the employee.
Form 7203 forces S-corp shareholders to prove their stock and debt basis on Form 1040. Misapplying the ordering rules or treating loan guarantees as debt basis can disallow loss deductions, reclassify distributions as capital gains, and trigger 20% accuracy penalties.
A CPA paid himself $24,000 while taking $200,000 in S-Corp distributions, lost in the Eighth Circuit, and owed six figures in back payroll taxes and penalties. Here is how the IRS evaluates reasonable compensation, the audit red flags, and a defensible methodology for setting an S-Corp owner salary.
A Section 83(b) election lets founders and early employees pay ordinary income tax on the grant-date value of restricted stock instead of on each vesting tranche, shifting future appreciation into long-term capital gains. The 30-day filing window is absolute and starts on the actual transfer date.
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.
The IRS uses a nine-factor test under Section 183 to decide whether your side income is a business or a hobby. After the OBBBA took effect in 2026, hobbyists report income in full but can deduct no expenses against it — making the classification more consequential than ever.
A 2026 guide to the six most common IRS penalties—their rates, calculations, and the three relief paths that can reduce or remove them, including the newly automatic First-Time Abatement.
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