#tax
Tax
Tax strategies, planning, and compliance for individuals and businesses
Passive Activity Loss Rules: A Real Estate Investor's Guide to the $25,000 Allowance and the Real Estate Professional Election
Section 469 makes rental losses passive by default, so most cannot offset W-2 income. This guide covers the $25,000 special allowance and its $100k–$150k MAGI phase-out, the 750-hour and 50% real estate professional tests, the 1.469-9(g) aggregation election, audit-tested time-log practices, and how suspended losses unlock on disposition.
QSBS Section 1202 Exclusion: How Founders Can Save Millions in Capital Gains Tax
A 2026 guide to Section 1202 QSBS for founders, early employees, and angel investors — eligibility tests, the new $15M cap and tiered holding periods under OBBBA, stacking with non-grantor trusts, state conformity gaps in California and Pennsylvania, and how to claim the exclusion on Form 8949.
Section 1244 Stock: How Failed Startup Investors Can Deduct Up to $100,000 as Ordinary Loss
Section 1244 of the Internal Revenue Code lets qualifying small business stock losses be deducted as ordinary losses up to $50,000 per year for single filers and $100,000 for joint filers, bypassing the $3,000 annual cap on capital losses. This guide covers the corporate and shareholder requirements, how to claim the loss on Form 4797, and the documentation traps that disqualify ordinary-loss claims.
The Wash Sale Rule: How Active Investors and Crypto Traders Walk Into a Tax Trap
A plain-English guide to IRS Section 1091 — the 61-day window, what counts as "substantially identical," the IRA trap that destroys losses permanently, the current crypto exemption, and how to report a wash sale on Form 8949.
Cost Segregation Studies: How Real Estate Investors Turn a Building Into Five-Figure Tax Savings
A cost segregation study reclassifies a building's components into shorter MACRS lives, unlocking the 100% bonus depreciation permanently restored by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of July 2025. On a $1M residential rental, that swings first-year tax savings from roughly $10,700 to roughly $90,600—provided the investor clears IRC §469 passive activity loss limits.
FBAR and FATCA Decoded: The Foreign Account Reporting Rules That Cost Americans Billions
A plain-English guide to FBAR and FATCA for U.S. taxpayers — who must file, the $10,000 aggregate threshold, Form 8938 tiers, post-Bittner penalties capped at $16,536 per form, and how the Streamlined Procedures fix years of missed filings without penalty.
The QBI Deduction Decoded: How Section 199A Can Cut Your Tax Bill by 20%
Section 199A lets pass-through owners deduct up to 20% of qualified business income. This guide covers the 2026 thresholds, W-2 wage and UBIA limits, the SSTB trap, rental real estate safe harbor, the aggregation election, and the new $400 minimum deduction.
Cat Food, Body Oil, and Stage Costumes: Weird Tax Stories Every Business Owner Should Know
A walk through five tax-court rulings — Seacat's cat food, Wheir's body oil, ABBA's costumes, the Hess implants case, and Capone-style evasion — and the documentation, commingling, and "ordinary and necessary" rules they expose for small business owners.
Stimulus Checks and Tax Debt: What Happens If You Owe the IRS
Direct stimulus payments were protected from IRS tax debt offsets, but Recovery Rebate Credits claimed on tax returns followed normal refund offset rules. Here's how owing back taxes affected each of the three rounds of economic impact payments and what options remain for resolving outstanding IRS balances.
Tax Resolution Demystified: How to Settle IRS Debt Without Falling for Scams
A 2026 guide to the five legitimate IRS resolution programs—installment agreements, Offer in Compromise, Currently Not Collectible status, penalty abatement, and innocent spouse relief—plus the warning signs of OIC mill scams and the step-by-step process from a CP14 notice to a working agreement.
TCJA and OBBBA Explained: A Small Business Owner's Tax Guide for 2026
The OBBBA made the QBI deduction permanent and raised it to 23% in 2026, expanded SALT to $40,000 through 2029, and lifted the estate exemption to $15 million. Here is how small business owners running pass-through entities, S corps, and LLCs should plan around it.
Engaged in a Trade or Business: The IRS Test That Decides Your Tax Bill in 2026
The IRS uses a nine-factor test under Section 183 to decide whether your side income is a business or a hobby. After the OBBBA took effect in 2026, hobbyists report income in full but can deduct no expenses against it — making the classification more consequential than ever.