#tax-deductions
Maximize tax deductions and reduce your tax liability legally
The OBBBA's one-time retroactive Section 174 election for 2022–2024 R&D amortization closed July 6, 2026, but the standard three-year R&D credit window and permanent 2025+ immediate expensing under Section 174A remain available to small businesses.
Claude, GitHub Copilot, and Cursor subscriptions are fully deductible under IRC Section 162 as ordinary business expenses, while Section 174 R&D amortization only applies to labor and compute tied to genuine new product development — and the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act restored immediate deduction for domestic R&E costs.
How infrared sauna studios should handle the three bookkeeping issues that decide profitability — recording $150–$250/month memberships as deferred revenue rather than same-day income, classifying a $30,000–$250,000 buildout for Section 179 versus leasehold-improvement depreciation, and tracking utility costs of $0.30–$1.50 per session before they erode margins.
The IRS standard mileage rate rises to 72.5 cents per mile for 2026. Here's how it compares with the actual expense method, why your first-year choice can be irreversible, and what a mileage log needs to survive an IRS audit under Section 274(d).
TikTok Shop affiliates receive a 1099-NEC already net of the platform's ~13% cut, owe 15.3% self-employment tax once net earnings pass $400, and must report all income even under the new $2,000 per-payer reporting threshold. Here's how commission clawbacks, free PR products, and quarterly estimated payments actually work — and the monthly close that keeps the numbers right.
A cost-by-cost breakdown of trade show exhibitor bookkeeping — how to categorize booth fees, drayage (typically $100-$200+ per hundred pounds), travel, and collateral, when to accrue the expense, and how to calculate cost-per-lead so a show's ROI shows up in the numbers instead of a gut feeling.
Online ordination doesn't make you IRS clergy — officiant fees are ordinary Schedule C income subject to 15.3% self-employment tax. This guide covers where online ordinations face county-level recognition problems (Tennessee, Virginia), what celebrants actually charge ($300–$1,000+), and why booking deposits belong on your books as liabilities until the ceremony happens.
Subscription platforms report gross earnings on Form 1099-NEC even though they keep roughly 20% as a platform fee, and adult content businesses see chargeback rates of 3-5% — well above the 1% threshold that triggers card network monitoring — making separate bookkeeping for fees, taxes, and disputes essential from day one.
How dog boarding and pet sitting businesses should track revenue by service line, reconcile Rover and Wag payouts against the $20,000/200-transaction 1099-K threshold, file 1099-NECs for sub-sitters paid $600 or more, and apply the strict exclusive-use home-office rule — the childcare daycare exception does not extend to pet care.
Franchisees must capitalize the initial franchise fee as a Section 197 intangible asset and amortize it straight-line over 15 years (180 months), calculate royalties against the FDD's exact gross sales definition, and record advertising fund contributions as a pass-through liability rather than a discretionary marketing expense.
NIL income is self-employment income subject to a 15.3% self-employment tax on top of ordinary income tax, and college athletes owe tax on any net NIL earnings over $400 even without a 1099, a form now only required above the 2026 threshold of $2,000.
Powerboat and pontoon rental income is reported on Schedule C, not Schedule E, which subjects net profit to the full 15.3% self-employment tax — a distinction that shapes how these seasonal businesses should handle depreciation, off-season cash reserves, and an eventual S-corp election.
