Your Q4 2026 Tax-Planning Checklist: 10 Moves to Make Before December 31
Ten IRS-smart moves before December 31: place equipment in service, max out 401(k)s, bunch charitable gifts, and prep 1099s under the new $2,000 rule.
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Tax Planning
Strategic tax planning to minimize liability and maximize savings
Selling Your Home After a Home Office: The Depreciation Recapture Tax
Section 121 won't shield home-office depreciation: the IRS taxes it as unrecaptured Section 1250 gain at up to 25%, even if you never claimed it.
2027 Tax Brackets Projected 3.2% Higher: Withholding, Estimates, and Year-End Moves
Federal 2027 tax brackets and standard deduction are projected 3.2% higher ($33,200 joint). Here's how to adjust W-4 withholding and estimates now.
Building Your 2027 CapEx Budget: How Small Businesses Plan Capital Spending, Rank Projects, and Time Purchases for Maximum Tax Value
A 2027 CapEx budget turns equipment failures into scheduled buys: inventory assets, rank projects by payback and NPV, and time purchases around Section 179.
Farm Succession Planning: How to Pass the Land, the Equipment, and the Management to the Next Generation Without Splitting the Family
Only 23% of family farms have a succession plan. Transfer management first, use LLC interests plus IRS Sections 2032A and 6166, and keep the farm intact.
FSA Open Enrollment: The $680 Carryover vs. the 2.5-Month Grace Period
IRS rules let your health FSA carry over $680 or offer a 2.5-month grace period — never both. The run-out deadline decides what you actually keep.
Donating Your Car Before Year-End? How Form 1098-C, the $500 Threshold, and Gross-Proceeds Rules Decide Your Deduction
The IRS usually limits car-donation deductions to the charity's sale price — Form 1098-C, the $500 threshold, and three FMV exceptions decide yours.
Selling a Rental? How Your Suspended Passive Losses Finally Get Freed
Under IRS Section 469(g), a fully taxable sale of your entire rental to an unrelated buyer frees every suspended passive loss against wages and other income.
Why Your Ski Shop's Book Value Isn't What Last Season's Rental Skis Are Worth
Rental skis lose value faster than 7-year MACRS assumes; keep a management schedule, and plan for IRS Section 1245 recapture on spring demo sales.
Still Working Past 73? How to Legally Delay Your 401(k) RMDs Until You Retire
The IRS still-working exception lets non-5% owners delay 401(k) RMDs past 73 until retirement — but only from a current employer plan that allows it.
Who Paid the Premium Decides Who Pays the Tax: Disability Insurance Taxation for Employers and Employees
IRS rule: pre-tax disability premiums mean taxable benefits; after-tax premiums mean tax-free ones. Gross-up premiums into W-2 wages to protect employees.
MYGAs, Explained: The CD Alternative Paying More With Tax Deferral
A MYGA is a CD from an insurer: ~1 point higher fixed yield, tax-deferred growth, but surrender charges, no FDIC, and a 10% IRS penalty before 59½.