A CPA paid himself $24,000 while taking $200,000 in S-Corp distributions, lost in the Eighth Circuit, and owed six figures in back payroll taxes and penalties. Here is how the IRS evaluates reasonable compensation, the audit red flags, and a defensible methodology for setting an S-Corp owner salary.
A 1099-C does not automatically mean a tax bill. This guide covers when canceled debt is taxable, the five Form 982 exclusions (bankruptcy, insolvency, qualified farm, real property business, principal residence), the 2026 expiration of the student loan and mortgage forgiveness exclusions, and the recordkeeping that proves insolvency to the IRS.
The 2026 Foreign Earned Income Exclusion lets qualifying Americans abroad exclude up to $132,900 of foreign-earned income on Form 2555. This guide details the physical presence and bona fide residence tests, the housing exclusion, FEIE vs. Foreign Tax Credit tradeoffs, and audit-ready documentation for expats and digital nomads.
A walkthrough of the IRS's four core tax debt relief programs — installment agreements, Offer in Compromise, Currently Not Collectible status, and penalty abatement — including the 2026 shift to automatic first-time abatement, the 21% OIC acceptance rate from the 2024 IRS Data Book, and how to spot Offer in Compromise mills flagged on the IRS Dirty Dozen list.
Net operating losses generated after 2021 carry forward indefinitely but can offset only 80% of future taxable income. This guide covers the calculation, the Section 461(l) excess business loss limit, Form 1045 vs. 1040-X, and the bookkeeping practices that keep an NOL defensible years later.
Section 469 makes rental losses passive by default, so most cannot offset W-2 income. This guide covers the $25,000 special allowance and its $100k–$150k MAGI phase-out, the 750-hour and 50% real estate professional tests, the 1.469-9(g) aggregation election, audit-tested time-log practices, and how suspended losses unlock on disposition.
Section 1031 lets real estate investors defer capital gains and depreciation recapture by swapping investment properties, but only when the 45-day identification window, 180-day closing deadline, qualified intermediary rules, and post-TCJA like-kind requirements are followed exactly.
A plain-English guide to FBAR and FATCA for U.S. taxpayers — who must file, the $10,000 aggregate threshold, Form 8938 tiers, post-Bittner penalties capped at $16,536 per form, and how the Streamlined Procedures fix years of missed filings without penalty.
Section 41 lets qualified small businesses offset up to $500,000 of annual payroll taxes with the federal R&D credit. This guide covers the four-part qualification test, qualifying wages and cloud spend, the QSB election on Form 6765, and what OBBBA changed for 2025 and 2026 filings.
A practical guide to changing state domicile for tax savings—covering the difference between residency and domicile, the nine no-income-tax states, the 183-day statutory residency trap, and how high-tax states reconstruct your year from cell tower pings, EZ-Pass records, and credit card data.
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