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Tax Compliance

Everything About Tax Compliance

239 articles

ICHRA Explained: How Small Businesses Reimburse Employees Tax-Free for Health Insurance in 2026

An Individual Coverage HRA lets small employers reimburse workers tax-free for individual ACA plans with no contribution cap, 11 employee classes, and a 9.96% affordability threshold for 2026. Here is how the mechanics, tax treatment, bookkeeping, and 90-day rollout actually work.

Inherited IRA 10-Year Rule: How Non-Spouse Beneficiaries Avoid the 25% Penalty

Non-spouse IRA beneficiaries must empty inherited accounts within 10 years, and annual RMDs become mandatory in 2025 if the original owner died on or after their required beginning date. A missed RMD triggers a 25% excise tax. Only surviving spouses, minor children, disabled or chronically ill individuals, and beneficiaries within 10 years of the deceased's age keep the old stretch treatment.

The PFIC Form 8621 Tax Trap: Why US Investors Get Punished for Owning Foreign Mutual Funds and ETFs

PFICs (foreign mutual funds, UCITS ETFs) trigger Section 1291 tax for US investors — gains allocated across the holding period, taxed at top ordinary rates, plus compounded interest charges. This guide covers Form 8621, the QEF and mark-to-market elections, the $25k/$50k de minimis filing exception, and how to escape the trap.

Reverse 1031 Exchange: How to Buy Your Replacement Property Before Selling the Old One

A reverse 1031 exchange lets a real estate investor close on a replacement property before selling the relinquished one by parking title with an Exchange Accommodation Titleholder under Revenue Procedure 2000-37's safe harbor. The taxpayer must identify the relinquished property within 45 days and complete the swap within 180 days, with no extensions. EAT fees typically run $5,000 to $15,000 above a forward exchange, so the deferred gain needs to be large enough to justify the cost.

ROBS Rollover for Business Startups: How to Use Retirement Funds to Finance a Small Business Without Tax or Penalty

A working guide to Rollover as Business Startup (ROBS) arrangements — the five required steps, why only a C corporation qualifies, the Form 5500 and prohibited-transaction rules, IRS-documented failure rates, and when alternatives like SBA loans or 401(k) participant loans make more sense.

Schedule M-1 and M-3: Reconciling GAAP Book Income to Taxable Income

Schedule M-1 and M-3 reconcile a corporation's GAAP book income to taxable income. This guide explains the $10M and $50M asset thresholds, permanent versus temporary differences, and the recurring reconciling items — depreciation, meals, federal tax expense, bad debt reserves, and stock-based compensation — that draw IRS scrutiny.

Section 530 Safe Harbor: How Small Businesses Can Defend Worker Classifications

Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978 eliminates back federal employment taxes on misclassified contractors when small businesses pass three tests — reporting consistency, substantive consistency, and reasonable basis. Revenue Procedure 2025-10 updated the rules in January 2025, the first major change in 40 years.