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Small Business

Financial management strategies and tools for small business owners

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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

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, 202615 min read

VCSP and Form 8952: Reclassify Contractors as Employees for About 1% of Back Payroll Taxes

The IRS Voluntary Classification Settlement Program lets eligible employers reclassify 1099 workers as W-2 employees for roughly 1.068% of last year's compensation, with no interest, no penalties, and no employment-tax audit of prior years on those workers.

Mike Thrift

tax-compliancepayrollindependent-contractor

May 11, 202611 min read

Accountable Plan Reimbursements: The Tax-Free Way S-Corp Owners Get Paid Back for Home Office, Mileage, and Travel

An accountable plan lets an S-corp reimburse shareholder-employees tax-free for home office, mileage, internet, and travel — but only when the written plan, 60-day substantiation, and 120-day excess-return rules are followed.

Mike Thrift

s-corptax-deductionstax-planning

May 11, 202612 min read

COBRA Notice Deadlines for Employers: The Five Windows That Decide Whether You Owe Excise Taxes

COBRA's notice scheme runs on five deadlines — 90, 30, 14, 60, and 45 days. Miss any one and a group health plan can face a $100-per-day Section 4980B excise tax, up to $110-per-day ERISA penalties, and private lawsuits. A practical guide for plan sponsors and HR teams.

Mike Thrift

compliancehealth-insuranceemployee-benefits

May 11, 202610 min read

Customer Concentration Risk: The 10% Rule That Quietly Drains Valuation, Credit, and Leverage

Customer concentration above 10% triggers GAAP disclosure and can cut business valuation by 20–35%.

Mike Thrift

business-valuationrisk-managementmergers-and-acquisitions

May 11, 202611 min read

Drop Shipping Sales Tax in 2026: Three-Party Transactions, Resale Certificates, and Marketplace Facilitators

Drop shipping treats one shipment as two sales for tax purposes, and depending on nexus, resale certificate rules, and marketplace facilitator laws, an ecommerce operator can owe tax in states they never set foot in. A 2026 field guide to who actually collects, the ten strict resale states, and the nexus thresholds — including transaction-trigger drops — that decide your exposure.

Mike Thrift

ecommercesales-taxtax-compliance

May 11, 202614 min read

Embedded Finance and BaaS for SMB Software: How Vertical SaaS Adds Payments, Lending, and Issued Cards

Vertical SaaS platforms are layering payments, lending, and issued cards on top of their software using sponsor banks and BaaS middleware. A practical guide to the 2026 stack, realistic economics, the right sequencing, and the compliance traps that freeze programs.

Mike Thrift

fintechbankingpayments

May 11, 202616 min read

ERISA Fiduciary Duties for 401(k) Plan Sponsors: Personal Liability and the 3(38) Investment Manager

ERISA Section 409 imposes personal liability on 401(k) plan fiduciaries, and the corporate veil does not shield small business owners. This guide explains the prudent-expert standard, the Tibble v. Edison duty to monitor, and how hiring a Section 3(38) investment manager shifts investment discretion — and most related liability — away from the plan sponsor.

Mike Thrift

retirement-plansemployee-benefitssmall-business

May 11, 202611 min read

First-Time Penalty Abatement Goes Automatic in 2026: Clean-Compliance IRS Relief for Failure-to-File, Pay, and Deposit Penalties

Starting filing season 2026, the IRS will apply First-Time Penalty Abatement automatically for taxpayers with a clean three-year compliance record — wiping Failure-to-File, Failure-to-Pay, and Failure-to-Deposit penalties without a phone call or Form 843. Here is how the rollout works, who qualifies, and when reasonable cause is the smarter move.

Mike Thrift

tax-complianceirs-reportingtax-planning

May 11, 202616 min read

Form 2553 Late S-Corp Election: How Rev. Proc. 2013-30 Cures Missed Deadlines Without PLR Fees

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.

Mike Thrift

s-corptax-compliancesmall-business

May 11, 202614 min read

Form 8829 Home Office Deduction: Why Picking the Wrong Method Could Cost You $3,000 a Year

A side-by-side comparison of the simplified $5-per-square-foot method and Form 8829's actual expense method for the 2026 home office deduction, with worked examples, depreciation recapture math, carryover rules, and a decision framework for self-employed filers.

Mike Thrift

tax-deductionsself-employmentsmall-business

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