#small-business
Financial management strategies and tools for small business owners
Personal goodwill, anchored in the Martin Ice Cream and Norwalk Tax Court decisions, lets closely held C corporation owners shift a portion of an asset-sale price out of the corporate tax layer and onto the shareholder as long-term capital gain. This guide explains the doctrine, when it works, the documentation that survives an IRS audit, and the mistakes that have sunk allocations.
Section 541 layers a 20% federal surtax on closely-held C corporations that fail both the stock ownership and 60% passive income tests. This guide walks through Schedule PH mechanics, the dividends-paid deduction, and four ways — cash, throwback, consent, and deficiency dividends — to zero out the tax before it hits.
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.
Schedule F farm tax elections explained — crop insurance deferral under Section 451(f), weather-forced livestock replacement under Section 1033(e), Section 175 conservation deductions, the Section 464 prepaid-supply cap, the March 1 estimated-tax rule, and Schedule J three-year income averaging — with rules, deadlines, and worked examples.
A practical walkthrough of Schedule F for farmers and ranchers, covering crop insurance deferral under Section 451, weather-related livestock relief (Section 451(g) and 1033(e)), Section 175 soil and water conservation deductions capped at 25% of farm gross income, Section 179 and bonus depreciation, and Schedule J income averaging using elected farm income across three base years.
Section 165(i) lets disaster-affected taxpayers deduct a current-year casualty loss on the prior year's return, turning an 8-to-16-week refund into rebuild cash. A practical guide to Form 4684, the six-month election deadline, the 2026 OBBBA changes, and the recordkeeping that holds up under IRS audit.
How Section 165(i) lets taxpayers in federally declared disaster areas deduct casualty losses on the prior year's return via Form 4684 and Form 1040-X — election mechanics, the six-month deadline, safe-harbor valuations, and when the prior-year election actually beats waiting.
The Section 199A aggregation election under Reg 1.199A-4 lets pass-through owners combine commonly controlled trades or businesses before applying the W-2 wage and UBIA of qualified property limitation. This guide walks through the five eligibility tests, the Form 8995-A Schedule B disclosure, the irrevocable consistency rule, and when pooling QBI across an operating-and-leasing or multi-entity structure actually unlocks more deduction.
The OBBBA's new Section 274(o) eliminates the deduction for employer-provided office meals starting January 1, 2026, while Section 274(n)'s 50% rule still covers client and travel meals. Here is the full 50%/100%/0% map, the documentation auditors expect, and the four-account bookkeeping setup that keeps year-end clean.
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.
SECURE 2.0 Section 101 requires new 401(k) and 403(b) plans established after December 29, 2022 to auto-enroll employees at a 3-10% default deferral with 1% annual escalation. A 2026 compliance guide covering EACA notices, the four exemptions, QDIA selection, the 90-day permissible withdrawal, and the December 31, 2026 plan amendment deadline.
Sixteen US jurisdictions run mandatory paid family and medical leave programs in 2026, with new benefits live in Minnesota, Maine, and Delaware, a 23% Washington premium hike to 1.13%, and a permanent Section 45S federal credit. This guide covers which states require withholding, how private plan exemptions work, how PFML coordinates with FMLA and ADA, and the W-2 Box 14 codes that break payroll when miscoded.
