The OBBBA's new $6,000 senior bonus deduction (up to $12,000 per couple) phases out at 6% per dollar of MAGI above $75,000 single / $150,000 joint and disappears entirely at $175,000 / $250,000. Available for tax years 2025 through 2028, stackable with the standard deduction and itemized deductions for taxpayers 65 and older.
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.
How non-willful US taxpayers use the IRS Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures to catch up on FBAR, Form 8938, and three years of late returns—zero penalty under SFOP for taxpayers abroad, a one-time 5% miscellaneous offshore penalty under SDOP for domestic filers, plus what the non-willfulness certification must demonstrate.
Trump Accounts are a new tax-deferred children's savings vehicle created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Children born 2025–2028 receive a one-time $1,000 federal seed, families can contribute up to $5,000 per year, and employers can add $2,500 tax-free per employee — but the deposit requires filing Form 4547.
SECURE 2.0 lets families roll up to $35,000 of unused 529 funds into the beneficiary's Roth IRA tax-free. Here are the six rules every rollover must satisfy, the two mistakes that turn it taxable, the state-level traps, and the four strategies that make the rule genuinely useful.
Filing IRS Form 706 to elect portability lets a surviving spouse inherit up to $15 million of unused federal estate tax exemption (the DSUE), shielding combined estates of up to $30 million from the 40% federal estate tax in 2026. Miss the nine-month deadline and Rev. Proc. 2022-32 still allows a late election within five years of death.
Beginning January 1, 2026, SECURE 2.0 forces employees with prior-year FICA wages above $150,000 to make 401(k) catch-up contributions on a Roth basis—$8,000 standard, $11,250 for ages 60–63—with no pre-tax option. Here is exactly who is affected, what it costs in real dollars, and the steps to take before the first paycheck of 2026.
How household employers handle the 2026 nanny tax — $3,000 FICA and $1,000 quarterly FUTA thresholds, EIN setup, W-2 reporting, Schedule H filing, state SUI, and the 1099 misclassification trap that triggers back taxes with no statute of limitations.
A practitioner's guide to the tax mechanics of divorce — how a QDRO splits a 401(k) penalty-free, why alimony in agreements executed after 2018 is no longer deductible, how Section 1041 carryover basis can turn a 50/50 settlement into an unequal one, and how the Section 121 home-sale exclusion survives when one spouse moves out.
A record 6% of 401(k) participants took a hardship withdrawal in 2025. This guide compares hardship withdrawals, plan loans, and SECURE 2.0 penalty-free distributions—with the actual tax math, deemed-distribution traps, and a decision framework for when to tap retirement funds.
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