#tax
Tax strategies, planning, and compliance for individuals and businesses
The IRS can levy bank accounts and wages without a court order under Section 6331, but must send a Final Notice (LT11/Letter 1058) and offer a 30-day Collection Due Process hearing under Section 6330. Banks must hold levied funds 21 days under Section 6332(c), giving owners time to prove hardship or propose an alternative.
For tax years starting in 2026, OBBBA makes the 20% qualified business income deduction permanent, widens the married-joint phase-in range to $394,600–$544,600, and adds a $400 minimum for taxpayers with more than $1,000 of QBI — so a $1,500 profit yields $400 instead of $300.
Starting July 1, 2026, QuickBooks Workforce and QuickBooks Online Payroll will automatically pay and file every payroll tax you have set up — 941, 940, state withholding and SUTA — with no option to turn off automated taxes. Learn which deposits and forms are affected, how bank-debit timing hits cash flow, why the one-time July 1 FUTA catch-up matters, and the double-entry bookkeeping that keeps liabilities matched to debits and filed returns.
The 10% Section 122 surcharge expired July 24, 2026 after 150 days and was replaced by 10-12.5% Section 301 duties; CBP's CAPE portal has already paid $23.7 billion of an estimated $166 billion in IEEPA refunds — learn how to re-model landed cost per SKU, track entry-level recoveries, and avoid booking refunds as income too early.
Canada repealed its 3% Digital Services Tax and the CRA is returning about CAD $647 million — $289 million in cash and $358 million offset against other tax debts. Direct filers get automatic refunds with interest; Amazon and Etsy sellers who paid the DST pass-through surcharge get no CRA claim and must reconcile and reclassify those fees themselves.
Under IRS Publication 463 and Section 274(d), a business mileage deduction requires a contemporaneous log recording the date, destination, miles, and business purpose of every trip — the Cohan rule cannot rescue inadequate records. Here is how to build a log that survives an audit at the 2026 rate of 72.5 cents per mile.
Hit one estimated-tax safe harbor and the IRS underpayment penalty disappears — pay 90% of this year's tax or 100% of last year's (110% if prior-year AGI topped $150,000) through timely quarterly payments. Covers the 2026 penalty rate (7% Q1/Q3, 6% Q2, compounded daily), the four due dates, and a bookkeeping system that keeps you penalty-free.
South African freelancers pay provisional tax in two IRP6 installments — 31 August and 28/29 February — by estimating full-year taxable income themselves; missing a deadline or estimating below 90% of actual income triggers a 10% late-payment penalty, a 20% underestimation penalty, and interest from the effective date.
When you sell depreciated business equipment or a vehicle, Section 1245 recharacterizes gain up to the depreciation you took as ordinary income — reported on Form 4797, not Schedule D or Schedule C. This guide walks basis, adjusted basis, amount realized, and the recapture math with plain-text bookkeeping examples.
Section 139 lets employers reimburse employees' unreimbursed disaster expenses with no income tax, no FICA/FUTA, and no W-2 reporting — while keeping the deduction. Covers what qualifies, what doesn't (lost wages, insured costs), the minimal documentation needed, and how to book payments outside payroll.
Starting July 1, 2026, Virginia charges data centers $0.011 per kWh of electricity consumed — the first per-kWh data center tax in the U.S. Here is how the pass-through reaches your colocation or cloud bill, how to estimate your exposure, and how to track it in your books.
Under GAAP's ASC 330, inventory must be carried at the lower of cost or net realizable value. This guide shows small businesses how to calculate NRV, book the write-down, document it for the IRS, and avoid the book-tax timing trap.
