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Tax

Tax strategies, planning, and compliance for individuals and businesses

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Are Your Lawsuit Settlement Proceeds Taxable? What the IRS Says About Every Dollar

Whether lawsuit settlement money is taxable depends on what the payment replaces. Compensatory damages for physical injury or sickness are tax-free under IRC Section 104(a)(2), while punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, back pay, and emotional-distress awards without physical harm are taxable. Learn how the attorney-fee gross-income trap, W-2 versus 1099-MISC reporting, and settlement-agreement allocation decide how much of the check you keep.

mike

taxlegaltax-planning

North Carolina Raised Its Sports Betting Tax to 23%: What Betting-Adjacent Small Businesses Must Track Now

North Carolina's 2026 budget raised the sportsbook tax from 18% to 23% of gross wagering revenue, added a 6% prediction-market tax effective January 1, 2027, and requires operators to report every bettor who wins more than $2,000 a year. Here is what bars, affiliates, vendors, employers, and bettors in the state need to record, reconcile, and calendar.

mike

gamblingtaxtax-compliance

Quebec Just Cut Your Small Business Tax Rate to 2.2%: What Incorporated Owners Must Do Before Year-End

Quebec's Information Bulletin 2026-3 cuts the provincial small business rate from 3.2% to 2.2% for taxation years beginning after April 29, 2026, lowering the combined rate on the first $500,000 of active business income to 11.2% and saving a qualifying CCPC up to $5,000 a year. Calendar-year corporations wait until 2027, the 5,500 remunerated-hours test still applies, and a matching increase in non-eligible dividend tax changes the salary-versus-dividend math.

mike

taxsmall-businesstax-planning

How Real Estate Syndication Waterfalls Actually Pay You: Preferred Returns, Capital Calls, and Reading the K-1

A real estate syndication waterfall pays limited partners in four tiers — return of capital, a 6–10% preferred return, a sponsor catch-up, then a 70/30 or 80/20 residual split. This guide works the math on a $100,000 investment, explains capital-call dilution, why a K-1 can show a loss while you received cash, and lists ten questions to confirm before wiring money.

mike

real-estatepartnershipscarried-interest

ASC 718 Nonemployee Share-Based Payments: A Startup Guide to Consultant, Advisor, and Contractor Equity

Under ASC 718 as amended by ASU 2018-07, startup equity granted to consultants, advisors, and contractors is measured at grant-date fair value and expensed as services are received — not when cash moves. This guide covers scope decisions, option-pricing inputs and nonpublic-company practical expedients, service vs. performance vs. market vesting conditions, keeping book expense separate from tax reporting, a three-record monthly reconciliation, and the ASU 2025-04 change for customer awards effective after December 15, 2026.

mike

accountingstartupequity-instruments

Supplemental Wages in 2026: A Small Employer's Guide to 22% Withholding on Bonuses, Commissions, and Overtime

For 2026, the federal flat withholding rate on separately identified supplemental wages is 22%, with a mandatory 37% rate on amounts over $1 million. Learn when small employers may use the flat method versus the aggregate method for bonuses, commissions, and overtime, why Social Security, Medicare, and FUTA still apply, how deposit timing and Form 941 fit in, and how to track W-2 box 12 code TT for qualified overtime.

mike

payrolltax-compliancesmall-business

Working Condition Fringe Benefits: How to Make Job Tools, Software, and Education Tax-Free in 2026

Under IRC Section 132(d), employers can exclude job tools, software, and job-related education from employee wages as working condition fringe benefits when the cost would have been deductible if the employee paid it. This guide covers the deduction test, the substantiation rules for cash reimbursements, how Section 127's $5,250 educational assistance limit differs, and a bookkeeping workflow that keeps qualifying benefits out of taxable payroll.

mike

employee-benefitstaxpayroll

Australia's Dynamic PAYG Instalments: How to Prepare for More Responsive Tax Payments in 2027

Australia's 2026–27 Federal Budget expands the ATO's Dynamic PAYG instalments pilot, targeting broader accounting-software adoption from July 2027 alongside an announced — but not yet legislated — monthly payment option. This guide separates confirmed changes from proposals, explains why bookkeeping quality decides whether software-calculated instalments help, and lays out the monthly close, tax-reserve forecast, and variation evidence trail small businesses can build now.

mike

taxsmall-businesscash-flow

Czech Flat-Rate Tax in 2026: How Self-Employed People Choose a Paušální Režim Band

The Czech paušální režim bundles income tax, pension, and health insurance into one monthly payment — CZK 9,162, CZK 16,745, or CZK 27,139 in 2026. This guide covers how the 75% activity-composition test assigns your band, the retroactive Band I reduction from July 2026, the 12 January entry deadline, and the records OSVČ should keep even without an annual return.

mike

taxself-employmentfreelance

New Zealand Tax-Debt Credit Reporting: What an Overdue GST, PAYE, or Income-Tax Balance Means for Your Business

Inland Revenue can report significant unpaid business tax to a credit reporting agency — GST, PAYE, or income-tax debt over NZ$150,000 that is 90+ days overdue, or debt unpaid for more than 12 months equal to at least 30% of assessable income. Here is how the 30-day Notice of Intent works from 1 April 2026, and the myIR review and reconciliation controls that keep a balance off your credit file.

mike

tax-compliancetaxsmall-business
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