#tax
Tax strategies, planning, and compliance for individuals and businesses
Chapter 7 can erase income taxes when the return was due over 3 years ago, filed over 2 years ago, and assessed over 240 days ago, with no fraud or evasion — but trust fund taxes, unfiled returns, and recorded tax liens survive every discharge.
In a contract for deed, the seller keeps legal title until your last payment while you pay the taxes, insurance, and repairs. Since the CFPB's 2024 advisory opinion, covered sellers must assess ability to repay, disclose the APR, and face limits on balloon payments.
Germany's 2026 coalition reform package raises the basic tax-free allowance to €12,564 in 2027 and €12,900 in 2028, starts the 42% band at €70,601, adds a 47% rate above €280,000, and requires a doctor's certificate from the first day of sick leave — here is what each change means for a small employer's payroll desk, plus a dated checklist for January 1, 2027.
New Zealand's Budget 2026 proposes replacing FBT day-counting and vehicle logbooks with six private-use categories rated at 100%, 35%, 20%, or 0% for benefits provided after 1 April 2027 — here is how each category works and how to prepare your fleet.
22% of U.S. organizations now offer pet insurance, up from 14% in 2022, and under the voluntary model it costs the employer nothing in premiums. How the three program models differ, what employees pay (about $43/month for dogs, $23 for cats), why the deduction must be post-tax, and the four DOL conditions that keep the benefit outside ERISA.
From 1 July 2026 Tanzania's presumptive income tax regime covers turnover up to TZS 200 million at a 4% rate, up from TZS 100 million at 3.5%, and newly registered individual taxpayers with turnover of TZS 4M–200M get a 12-month income tax exemption dated from their TIN. Presumptive tax beats 30% self-assessment only above a net margin of roughly 13.3%.
Volunteer firefighters and EMTs are usually employees for federal tax purposes, so stipends and per-call pay are W-2 wages. Section 139B excludes up to $50 for each month of service ($600 a year) plus qualified state and local tax benefits; LOSAP awards accrue tax-deferred under an $8,000 cap for 2026 and are taxed as ordinary income on payout with no FICA; only accountable-plan reimbursements stay off the W-2.
Workday's Q2 FY2027 earnings — $2.649B revenue (+12.8%), 11.8% GAAP operating margin, and $2.57 diluted EPS that triples the year-ago $0.84 because of a $374M deferred-tax asset from an intra-entity IP transfer worth $1.52 per share. A double-entry Beancount breakdown that posts the one-off tax benefit on its own ledger line.
Affirm's fiscal Q4 2026 (ended June 30, 2026) posted $1.17 billion of revenue (+33%) and $14.1 billion of GMV (+36%), but the $4.62 GAAP EPS against a $0.85 consensus was driven by a roughly $1.5 billion non-cash valuation-allowance release — cash taxes paid were about $7 million. Full-year operating income turned positive at $417 million while the $9.0 billion net loan book runs on $9.8 billion of funding debt, modeled FY2022–FY2026 in a public Beancount ledger.
Bug bounty payouts from HackerOne and Bugcrowd are ordinary income from the first dollar, and for 2026 platforms only issue 1099s at $2,000 per researcher — but the income is taxable with or without a form. Covers W-9 setup, the hobby-versus-business test that decides whether tooling is deductible, self-employment tax, and quarterly estimates.
Chicago's amusement tax runs on three tracks in 2026 — 9% on live admissions, 10.25% on streaming and paid TV, 3% on registered ticket resales — plus a new 10.25% sports wagering tax and a $0.50 per-user monthly social media levy above 100,000 Chicago consumers. Here are the rates, the limits of the 1,500-seat exemption, the $100,000 remote-seller safe harbor, and the filing deadlines that trigger assessments.
OBBBA Section 70113 permanently repealed the moving expense deduction and the tax-free employer reimbursement for tax years beginning after December 31, 2025 — every relocation dollar, including payments made directly to vendors, is now supplemental wages, with exceptions only for active-duty military PCS moves and intelligence community personnel.
