#tax-compliance

Tax Compliance

Stay compliant with tax regulations and filing requirements

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May 12, 202612 min read

Section 280G Golden Parachute Payments: The 3× Trigger, 20% Excise Tax, and the Private Company Cleansing Vote

Section 280G disallows the corporate deduction and imposes a 20% Section 4999 excise tax once parachute payments to a disqualified individual reach three times the executive's five-year average W-2 compensation, with the penalty applying to everything above 1× the base amount. Private companies can eliminate the consequences entirely through a 75% disinterested shareholder vote paired with conditional waivers signed before closing.

Mike Thrift

taxtax-compliancetax-planning

May 12, 202611 min read

Section 4501 Stock Buyback Excise Tax in 2026: Computing the 1% Tax, Netting Issuances, and Filing Form 7208

How publicly traded U.S. corporations compute the 1% Section 4501 stock buyback excise tax in 2026, apply the netting rule, claim statutory exceptions, and file Form 7208 — including what the November 2025 final regulations changed and where Form 720-X refund opportunities apply.

Mike Thrift

taxtax-complianceequity-instruments

May 12, 202612 min read

Section 45X After OBBBA: A 2026 Guide to the Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit

A per-component breakdown of Section 45X credit rates, the OBBBA phase-out schedule for wind, solar, battery, and critical minerals, the new Prohibited Foreign Entity Material Assistance Cost Ratio test, and how to claim direct pay or transferability without losing the credit to documentation gaps.

Mike Thrift

tax-creditstax-compliancetax-planning

May 12, 202612 min read

Section 47 Historic Tax Credit: A 2026 Field Guide for Developers and Their CPAs

Section 47 of the Internal Revenue Code lets developers claim a 20 percent federal tax credit on qualified rehabilitation expenditures for certified historic structures, claimed ratably over five years since the TCJA. This guide walks through NPS three-part certification, the substantial rehabilitation test, what counts as a QRE, five-year recapture rules, and how syndication is structured under the Rev. Proc. 2014-12 safe harbor.

Mike Thrift

tax-creditsreal-estatetax-planning

May 12, 202613 min read

Section 531 Accumulated Earnings Tax: Justifying C-Corp Retained Earnings Above the $250,000 Bright Line

Section 531 imposes a 20% accumulated earnings tax on C-corps that retain profits beyond a $250,000 credit ($150,000 for personal service firms) without specific, feasible plans. This guide explains the Bardahl working-capital formula, the Section 534 burden-of-proof statement, and the contemporaneous documentation that defends an accumulation in IRS audit.

Mike Thrift

c-corporationtax-planningtax-compliance

May 12, 202614 min read

Section 6418: Selling Clean Energy Tax Credits to Cash Buyers

Section 6418 lets clean energy developers sell federal tax credits to unrelated corporate buyers for cash, typically at a 6 to 15 percent discount to face value. A practical guide to registration, pricing, recapture risk, the 20 percent excessive transfer penalty, and how the OBBBA preserved transferability through the rest of the decade.

Mike Thrift

tax-creditstax-planningtax-compliance

May 12, 202612 min read

The 65-Day Election: How Trustees Push Income to Beneficiaries and Escape the Brutal 37% Trust Bracket

A fiduciary guide to the Section 663(b) 65-day election and the Section 643(g) Form 1041-T allocation, with the March 6 deadline, DNI mechanics, a worked example saving roughly $11,776 in federal tax, and the procedural traps that void the election.

Mike Thrift

trusttax-planningestate-planning

May 12, 202612 min read

Section 79 Group-Term Life Insurance: The $50,000 Tax-Free Limit, IRS Table I, and W-2 Code C

How Section 79 actually works in 2026 — the $50,000 employer-paid group-term life exclusion, the IRS Table I rates (unchanged since 1999) that turn excess coverage into W-2 Box 12 Code C imputed income, plus the straddle rule, the $2,000 dependent de minimis, and the 2% S-corp shareholder trap.

Mike Thrift

taxpayrollemployee-benefits

May 12, 202615 min read

Section 83(b) Election: The 30-Day Window That Saves Founders From a Phantom Tax Bill

How the IRS Section 83(b) election converts phantom ordinary income on unvested startup stock into long-term capital gains, what the new Form 15620 online portal requires, and when filing is the wrong move.

Mike Thrift

tax-planningtax-complianceequity

May 12, 202615 min read

VCSP and Form 8952: Reclassify Contractors as Employees for About 1% of Back Payroll Taxes

The IRS Voluntary Classification Settlement Program lets eligible employers reclassify 1099 workers as W-2 employees for roughly 1.068% of last year's compensation, with no interest, no penalties, and no employment-tax audit of prior years on those workers.

Mike Thrift

tax-compliancepayrollindependent-contractor

May 12, 202614 min read

Wage Garnishment for Employers: How to Process Withholding Orders Without Becoming Personally Liable

A payroll operations guide to wage garnishment: how to calculate disposable earnings under the CCPA, apply the correct caps for creditor, child support, IRS, and student loan orders, prioritize multiple orders on one paycheck, and keep records that hold up under audit.

Mike Thrift

payrollcompliancelegal

May 11, 202613 min read

ACA Forms 1094-C and 1095-C: The 2026 Compliance Playbook for Applicable Large Employers

How Applicable Large Employers file Forms 1094-C and 1095-C for the 2025 reporting year. Covers the March 2 and March 31, 2026 deadlines, the post-2024 furnishing-on-request rule, the 2026 penalty amounts ($3,340 and $5,010 per employee), the new 90-day Letter 226-J response window, and the Line 14/16 coding errors that most often trigger IRS audits.

Mike Thrift

compliancetax-compliancepayroll

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