#payroll

Payroll

Payroll management, processing, and compliance for businesses of all sizes

551 postsView all tags Back to All Posts

May 15, 202616 min read

Section 119 Meals and Lodging for the Convenience of the Employer: How Hospitality, Hospital, and Caretaker Employers Keep On-Premises Housing and Cafeteria Meals Out of Wages

Section 119 lets employers exclude on-premises meals and required-residence lodging from employee wages, with no FICA and no income tax withholding. This guide walks through the convenience-of-the-employer test, the "more than half" safe harbor, qualified campus lodging, the Kowalski cash rule, and what the 2026 Section 274(o) deduction sunset does and does not change.

Mike Thrift

taxtax-planningtax-compliance

May 15, 202610 min read

Section 119: How Employers Give Workers Tax-Free Meals and Housing on the Business Premises

Section 119 of the IRS code allows tax-free meals and lodging furnished by employers on business premises, for employer convenience, and lodging as a condition

Mike Thrift

taxemployee-benefitspayroll

May 15, 202611 min read

Weekly Prime Cost Tracking for Restaurants: Hit the 55–65% Benchmark and Catch Margin Leaks Before Month-End

A working operator's guide to calculating restaurant prime cost every seven days, the 55–65% benchmark by service segment, the five leaks weekly tracking surfaces first, and the bookkeeping setup the cadence requires.

Mike Thrift

restaurantcost-of-goods-soldprofit-margins

May 14, 202611 min read

DOL Independent Contractor Final Rule: The Six-Factor Economic Realities Test and What Small Businesses Must Document in 2026

The 2024 DOL Independent Contractor Final Rule and its six-factor economic realities test still govern FLSA worker classification in private lawsuits despite the May 2025 enforcement pause. Small businesses that misclassify employees face back wages of two to three years, liquidated damages, civil penalties above $2,300 per violation, and IRS payroll tax exposure—risks that clean bookkeeping and contemporaneous documentation are built to defend against.

Mike Thrift

independent-contractorcompliancesmall-business

May 14, 202612 min read

Employee Retention Credit Compliance in 2026: Audit Defense Under the OBBBA Six-Year Statute

A practical 2026 guide for businesses with ERC exposure — the closed voluntary disclosure window, the OBBBA six-year statute on Q3/Q4 2021 claims, the categorical disallowance of late filings after January 31 2024, the promoter penalties reaching back to March 12 2020, and the audit file examiners actually request.

Mike Thrift

tax-compliancetax-creditsaudit

May 14, 202611 min read

After ERC Voluntary Disclosure Program 2.0: How Small Businesses Can Still Fix Improper Claims in 2026

With the second ERC Voluntary Disclosure Program closed since November 2024, small businesses with overstated Employee Retention Credit claims still have three remedies in 2026: claim withdrawal, self-amendment via Form 941-X, or responding to an IRS recapture letter. The IRS has a six-year audit window open through April 15, 2027 for Q3 and Q4 2021 claims, plus a 20% accuracy-related penalty for erroneous refunds.

Mike Thrift

tax-compliancesmall-businesspayroll

May 14, 202612 min read

Form 1095-C and Section 4980H: 2026 ACA Employer Penalties and Safe Harbors

For 2026, ALEs face a $3,340 per-employee 4980H(a) penalty and a $5,010 per-employee 4980H(b) penalty, with affordability set at 9.96 percent of pay. This guide covers the FPL, W-2, and rate-of-pay safe harbors, line-by-line Form 1095-C coding, and the errors that drive Letter 226-J assessments.

Mike Thrift

tax-compliancepayrollhealth-insurance

May 14, 202613 min read

Form 3800 General Business Credit: Stacking R&D, WOTC, FICA Tip, and Childcare Credits Under the 25/75 TMT Limit

How Form 3800 aggregates 40-plus business tax credits into one limitation, why the 25/75 tentative minimum tax floor matters, and how eligible small businesses (≤$50M gross receipts) can offset AMT with R&D, WOTC, FICA Tip, and other specified credits.

Mike Thrift

tax-creditstax-planningtax-compliance

May 14, 202612 min read

PEO vs CPEO vs ASO vs EOR: 2026 Small Business HR Outsourcing Guide

How small businesses should choose between a PEO, CPEO, ASO, or EOR—covering co-employment mechanics, the FICA wage base restart trap that doubles Social Security tax on a mid-year switch, joint-employer lawsuits under the FLSA and Title VII, and the contract terms to verify before signing.

Mike Thrift

payrollsmall-businesscompliance

May 14, 202611 min read

Pooled Employer Plans (PEPs): How Small Businesses Share a 401(k) and Cut Costs Under SECURE Act 2.0

Pooled Employer Plans let unrelated small businesses share a single 401(k) under SECURE Act 2.0, cutting all-in fees from roughly 0.80% to 0.35% and shifting plan-document, investment, and Form 5500 duties to a Pooled Plan Provider while leaving employers with a narrow duty to prudently select and monitor the PPP.

Mike Thrift

retirement-planssmall-businesstax-credits

May 14, 202611 min read

Section 45B FICA Tip Credit on Form 8846: The Quiet Six-Figure Tax Break Most Restaurant Owners Miss

How restaurant, bar, and hospitality employers compute the Section 45B FICA tip credit on Form 8846, using the frozen $5.15 minimum wage floor and the 7.65 percent multiplier — including the 280C add-back, common audit pitfalls around service charges, and how to recover up to three years of unclaimed credit through amended returns.

Mike Thrift

tax-creditsrestaurantpayroll

May 14, 202613 min read

Section 4960: The 21% Excise Tax on Nonprofit Executive Pay After OBBBA's 2026 Expansion

Section 4960 imposes a 21% excise tax when a tax-exempt organization pays a covered employee more than $1 million. The 2025 OBBBA expansion redefines "covered employee" as anyone employed since 2017, widening the tax base for hospitals, universities, and foundations filing Form 4720 in 2026.

Mike Thrift

taxtax-compliancenonprofit

Start Free→Documentation