June 2025
Your Retirement Plan Exposes You to a $150,000 Penalty
You will need to file at least one IRS Form 5500-EZ if you have a one-participant retirement plan such as a solo 401(k)—that is, a qualified plan that covers only a business owner (and spouse), whether or not that business is incorporated, or covers only partners (and their spouses) in a business partnership.
Turn Your Corporate Vehicle into a Tax-Smart Asset
If your corporation owns the vehicle you drive, using it the right way can put real money back in your pocket. This article shows how proper handling of personal use, reimbursements, and deductions can help you avoid IRS pitfalls—and keep more of your hard-earned cash.
Year-End 1099-NECs Are Often Wrong—And How to Correct Them
Don’t let someone else’s mistake raise your tax bill. Incorrect 1099-NEC forms can cost you real money and potentially trigger an IRS audit—especially if they overstate your income. This article explains why these errors happen so frequently at year-end and gives you a step-by-step plan to correct the problem.
Vehicle Used for Business Can Produce a Big Surprise Deduction
If you’ve been using the IRS standard mileage rate to deduct or get reimbursed for business use of your personal vehicle, you may be sitting on a hidden tax break. That’s because the mileage rate includes embedded depreciation—which reduces your vehicle’s tax basis. When it’s time to sell or trade in your vehicle, this can translate into a surprisingly large and fully deductible business loss under Section 1231.
Why Landlords Should File Form 1099-NEC
Filing 1099-NECs can help you qualify for powerful tax breaks such as the 20 percent Section 199A deduction and immediate write-offs for repairs. Here’s why even small landlords should think twice before opting out.
Test Your Tax IQ: Tax-Deductible Cruise Ship Travel
You may deduct your costs of business travel. But what happens to your deductions when you travel by cruise ship? Do the rules change? Do the rules vary by business destination? The answer is that the tax-deduction rules change for cruise ship travel and they change depending on the business destination.
Life Insurance: You Don’t Have to Die to Collect
Think life insurance only pays out when you die? Think again. Discover how certain policies can offer living benefits—like tax-free cash—while you’re still around to enjoy it.
Pay Your PCORI Fee If You Have a 105-HRA, QSEHRA, or ICHRA
Business owners who have established 105-HRAs, Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangements (QSEHRAs), and Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Accounts (ICHRAs) to reimburse their employees for medical expenses need to pay an annual fee to help support the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).
Day Traders (Part 1 of 2)
Stock traders can qualify as day traders who are in the business of selling securities if they frequently buy and sell securities to profit from daily market movements. Unlike stock investors, day traders can take business deductions for their expenses and can elect to use mark-to-market accounting. To qualify as a day trader, your trading activity must be substantial, continuous, and regular.
May 2025
IRS Makes It Harder to Use the Section 530 Safe Harbor
Hiring firms can avoid paying back taxes and IRS penalties for misclassifying workers as independent contractors for employment tax purposes, by qualifying for the Section 530 safe harbor. But new guidance allows the IRS to consider non-tax treatment of the workers involved as well as whether the hiring firm used temporary employees, making it harder for hiring firms to qualify for Section 530 relief.
Protect Yourself: Digitize Tax Receipts
Protect yourself and your receipts by digitizing them. You will like the results. Without digitization, some of your receipts will disappear. Digitized receipts make the IRS smile, and of course, that makes you smile too.
Avoid Unwanted Partnership Tax Status: Elect Out
Think you’re just co-owning a property or project? The IRS might see it as a partnership—with tax headaches to match—unless you take one smart step to opt out.
Greed or Goodwill: Your Motive Makes a Scam Loss Deductible
If you’ve been scammed, the IRS might let you deduct your losses—but only if greed, not love or generosity, drove your actions. Learn the surprising rules around theft loss deductions and how the law draws a harsh line between profit-seeking victims and those just trying to help others.
Using Section 179 Deductions for Commercial Rental Properties
As bonus depreciation phases out, savvy commercial property owners are turning to Section 179 deductions to boost their tax savings. This strategy can allow for immediate expensing of qualifying real property improvements such as HVAC, roofs, and interior renovations.
Is the Professional Association a Tax Problem?
How does the professional association or the professional corporation compare with the regular C corporation and the S corporation?
QCD with IRA Checking Account—Easy, but Beware
Looking for a smart way to reduce your taxable income and support your favorite charities? Learn how using an IRA checking account can make qualified charitable distributions (QCDs) easier—just make sure you avoid a few common pitfalls.
Navigating Excess Business Loss Limits: What You Need to Know
The “excess business loss” rule limits how much business loss individual taxpayers can deduct each year, with any excess converted into a net operating loss (NOL) for future use. This restriction, in place through 2028, can delay tax benefits and impact planning for those with substantial non-business income.
April 2025
Alert: CA, IL, and NY Laws Require Written Freelance Agreements
California, Illinois, and New York have all adopted new laws requiring companies that hire freelance workers (independent contractors) to enter into written agreements with them containing certain minimum provisions, including a description of their services and payment provisions. Firms that fail to pay freelancers can be sued in court and ordered to pay twice the amount owed plus attorney fees. Failure to provide a contract alone can result in an award of damages.
Tax Code–Defined Statutory Employees Are Hybrid Self-Employed
Some types of workers that you would ordinarily classify as independent contractors for tax purposes under normal IRS tests must be classified as statutory employees for tax purposes. These include corporate officers, home workers, drivers who distribute certain products, life insurance salespeople, and traveling salespeople.
Beat the Estimated Tax Penalty with Strategic Withholding
Missed an estimated tax deadline? Discover how you can use strategic withholding from IRAs and W-2s—even late in the year—to wipe out penalties.
Backdoor Roth IRA Conversions: Smart Move or Hidden Tax Trap?
Want to boost your retirement savings with tax-free growth, even if you earn too much for a Roth IRA contribution? Learn how a backdoor Roth conversion can help—but be sure to avoid a costly tax surprise!
Solo Biz Owner? No Employees? Is the Mega Backdoor Roth for You?
If you’re a solo business owner with no employees, the mega backdoor Roth allows you to contribute up to $70,000 ($77,500 if age 50 or older) to a Roth account—far more than the standard backdoor Roth. This strategy lets you maximize tax-free growth and avoid required minimum distributions, making it a powerful tool for long-term wealth building.
Boost Tax Planning with the 2025 Phaseouts Desktop Reference
Understanding phaseouts helps you create tax planning strategies that are more efficient, as they provide crucial information on the income limits for various tax benefits based on your filing status. With this knowledge, you can make informed decisions on how to allocate your income and investments to minimize your tax liability and maximize your after-tax benefits.
Beat the Taxman: Use the Tax Code–Created QCD to Kill Your RMD
If you’re paying taxes on required minimum distributions (RMDs) from your traditional IRAs and you also donate to your church, school, or other qualified 501(c)(3) charities, the tax code offers a tax-advantaged solution: qualified charitable distributions (QCDs). This approach allows you to direct your IRA funds to charitable organizations while satisfying your RMD requirements and reducing your tax burden.
Avoiding the NIIT on a Rental Property Sale
Here’s the question: How do I avoid the net investment income tax (NIIT) on the sale of a rental property for a $1 million profit? I owned the property for 10 years and was the only person who worked on the property.
CTA BOI Reporting Is Over Except for Foreign Companies
The U.S. Treasury will not require U.S. corporations, limited liability companies, or other U.S. business entities to comply with the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). This means you as a U.S. citizen and your U.S.-formed reporting companies will not have to file beneficial ownership reports with the Department of the Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Foreign companies are still subject to the filing requirement.
March 2025
Regulatory Alert: FinCEN Delays March 21, 2025, BOI Deadline
FinCEN announced a temporary enforcement pause on Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) report filings under the Corporate Transparency Act, delaying penalties beyond the current March 21, 2025, deadline.
Deducting Disaster Losses for Individuals: Navigating the Rules
Suppose personal non-business property, such as your home, personal belongings, or personal car, is damaged or destroyed in a fire, flood, earthquake, hurricane, or similar event. In that case, you may qualify for a casualty loss deduction if the event was a federally declared disaster. But insurance recoveries and special casualty loss limitations may whittle away your deduction.
Download Now: Your Must-Have 2025 Tax Resource Guide
Stay ahead of tax season with our comprehensive 2025 Tax Resource Guide, putting essential tax rates, limits, and deductions at your fingertips. This downloadable desktop reference eliminates endless searching, giving you instant access to critical tax information, including updated Social Security ceilings, mileage rates, and retirement plan limits.
IRS Incorrectly Disallows $120,000 Tesla Model X Tax Write-Off
Think you can use bonus depreciation and Section 179 expensing to write off the business cost of a $120,000 Tesla Model X? The IRS says no—incorrectly. The tax code tells a different story. If this happens to you, you may have to fight to ensure your proper deduction.
The Best Sole Proprietorship Retirement Plans to Reduce Your 2024 Tax Bill
Self-employed with no retirement plan? Discover the best options to slash your 2024 tax bill while securing your future with easy-to-set-up plans such as a SEP, Keogh, SIMPLE IRA, or solo 401(k).
The Right Way to Ask Your C or S Corporation for Travel Reimbursements
When you operate your business as an S corporation or a C corporation, you must first remember that the corporation is a separate legal entity. If you incur travel expenses on behalf of the corporation, those are corporate expenses. You need an agreement either saying that you can deduct the expenses personally or saying that you will submit the expenses for reimbursement. One of these two choices is really bad.
It’s Tax Filing Season Again—Avoid the Post Office
If you have to file a paper document with the IRS, what happens if that document never reaches the intended recipient? You have, as they say on the farm, stepped in it. Here’s how to make sure you don’t suffer that fate.
Wildfires, Floods, Hurricanes: How the IRS Has Your Back
Victims of federally declared disasters benefit from various tax relief measures, including the postponement of tax filing deadlines, penalty-free distributions of retirement funds, and tax-free treatment of disaster relief monies. Insurance recoveries are also tax-free up to strict limits.
Best Retirement Plan Options for a Solo-Owned C or S Corporation
Setting up a retirement plan can provide major tax advantages and long-term savings if you operate a solely owned C or S corporation with no employees. This article explores key options—including SEP-IRA, solo 401(k), SIMPLE IRA, and profit-sharing plans—helping you choose the best fit based on salary, contribution limits, and flexibility.
Download Your 2025 Small Business Tax Calendar Now
Don’t miss critical tax deadlines. Download the 2025 Federal Tax Calendar for Small Business and Self-Employed professionals.