#tax-credits
Federal and state tax credits to reduce your tax bill dollar for dollar
Section 44 gives eligible small businesses a 50% credit up to $5,000 on Form 8826 for ADA access spending — plus a $15,000 Section 190 deduction.
IRS-certified VITA and TCE volunteers file federal returns for $0 — VITA at roughly $69,000 income or less, TCE at age 60+ with no income cap.
Medicaid waiver payments under IRS Notice 2014-7 are excludable difficulty-of-care income when the recipient lives in your home — but the W-2 still arrives.
Section 45Z pays $0.20–$1.00 per gallon (pre-inflation) on fuel produced after 2025, but only if your Form 637 registration predates production, the feedstock is North American, and you use that year's emissions table.
Missouri's SALT Parity Act lets partnerships and S corps pay tax at the 4.7% top individual rate on Form MO-PTE, moving the deduction past the federal SALT cap. Here are the 2026 rules, deadlines, and filing traps.
A disallowed Employee Retention Credit starts a two-year statute under Section 6532(a) that appealing does not pause. Since April 2026, taxpayers with six months or less remaining can submit Form 907 through the IRS Document Upload Tool to extend it — who qualifies, how to file, and the five mistakes that still forfeit the refund.
IRS Notice CP87A means two returns claimed the same dependent's Social Security number. It is not an audit and not a bill — if you are entitled to the claim, the IRS says do nothing. This guide covers the five qualifying-child tests, the tie-breaker ladder, why a divorce decree loses to overnight counts without a signed Form 8332, the 2025 IP PIN fix for e-file rejections, and when to amend with Form 1040-X.
The Section 45P credit equals 20% of up to $20,000 in differential wage payments per qualified employee—a maximum of $4,000 each—when an employer keeps paying civilian wages during active-duty military service over 30 days. Learn the 91-day employee test, how Form 8932 flows to Form 3800, why the payments skip Social Security and FUTA but not income-tax withholding, and a bookkeeping system that keeps the calculation auditable.
An ICHRA lets employers reimburse employees tax-free for individual health insurance instead of buying a group plan. Covers the 2026 affordability threshold of 9.96%, QSEHRA vs ICHRA rules, the 11 allowable employee classes, required notices, and how to book reimbursements without losing the tax advantage.
The enhanced ACA subsidies expired December 31, 2025, so in 2026 a single filer one dollar above roughly $63,840 in MAGI loses the entire premium tax credit while Marketplace rates rise a median 18%. Deductible SEP IRA, solo 401(k), traditional IRA and HSA contributions are above-the-line, so they lower the MAGI the credit uses — and the repayment cap on excess advance credits is gone for tax years after 2025, making every dollar of the excess repayable.
Wind and solar had to begin construction by July 4, 2026 — but a facility placed in service by December 31, 2027 still qualifies for 45Y/48E, a vacated IRS notice restored the 5% safe harbor, and storage, geothermal, and fuel cells remain eligible through 2033.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act ended the Section 45W Qualified Commercial Clean Vehicle Credit — the lesser of 15% of basis (30% for pure EVs) or incremental cost, capped at $7,500 under 14,000 lbs GVWR and $40,000 at or above — for vehicles acquired after September 30, 2025, along with the 30D and 25E credits. Only the Section 30C refueling-property credit survives, for property placed in service through June 30, 2026. Covers the acquisition-date and written-binding-contract tests that decide whether a vehicle you ordered still qualifies, how a fleet EV pencils out on total cost of ownership without federal money, and the Section 179, bonus depreciation, and per-VIN asset records that replace it.
