#tax-planning
Strategic tax planning to minimize liability and maximize savings
OBBBA made the Section 199A pass-through deduction permanent and widened the 2026 phase-in to $201,750 single / $403,500 MFJ. Here is how the 20% QBI deduction, the W-2 wages and UBIA caps, the SSTB phase-out, the new $400 minimum, and Form 8995-A aggregation actually work for S-corps, LLCs, and partnerships.
OBBBA restored immediate Section 174 domestic R&E expensing in 2026 and gives small businesses until July 6, 2026 to amend 2022–2024 returns. A practical guide to the Section 41 four-part test, the 14% Alternative Simplified Credit, the Section 280C reduced-credit election, and the $500,000 payroll tax offset for qualified small businesses.
Compare the 2026 Solo 401(k) and SEP-IRA limits side by side — when each plan wins, how the SECURE 2.0 super catch-up adds $11,250 for ages 60–63, the mega-backdoor Roth strategy for after-tax conversions, the 20% versus 25% Schedule C calculation, and the Form 5500-EZ filing required once plan assets cross $250,000.
How retail garden centers and wholesale nurseries should value live-plant inventory, set mortality reserves by category, decide whether to elect out of Section 263A under the two-year preproductive rule, treat greenhouse heat and labor as direct COGS, and forecast cash through a spring-heavy revenue cycle.
A practical tax playbook for startup employees holding ISOs or NSOs — covering AMT exposure via Form 6251 line 2i, the 30-day Section 83(b) deadline, the two-year-and-one-year qualifying disposition rule, the $100,000 first-exercisable ISO cap, and the 1099-B cost basis error that causes double taxation.
Section 736 splits liquidating payments to a retiring partner into 736(b) property payments (capital gain, no firm deduction) and 736(a) income or guaranteed payments (ordinary income with self-employment tax, deductible by the firm). The service-partnership carve-out, Section 751 hot assets, and Section 754 election together determine whether six- or seven-figure tax dollars land on the retiree or the firm.
How small businesses should book prepaid insurance, rent, software, and retainers — the initial entry, monthly amortization schedule, IRS 12-month rule, and a written de minimis policy that keeps monthly profit comparable and unlocks year-end tax deductions.
A cash balance plan lets a 55-year-old business owner deduct roughly $230,000 a year in retirement contributions — far above the 401(k) ceiling — because a defined benefit pension caps the retirement benefit, not the annual deposit, so limits scale with age rather than income.
Starting in 2026, OBBBA imposes a 0.5% AGI floor on itemized charitable contributions and caps top-bracket deductions at 35 cents per dollar. Bunching gifts, funding a donor-advised fund, and making qualified charitable distributions from an IRA recover most of the lost benefit for typical itemizing donors.
Section 1033 lets non-farm businesses defer gain on property that is destroyed, stolen, or condemned if the proceeds are reinvested in qualifying replacement property within 2, 3, or 4 years. This guide covers the election mechanics on Form 4797, the similar-or-related-in-service-or-use vs. like-kind tests, the carryover-basis recapture trap, and the bookkeeping needed to survive an IRS look-back.
Section 1059 reduces a corporate shareholder's stock basis by the nontaxed portion of an extraordinary dividend — 5% threshold for preferred, 10% for common — when received within two years of acquisition, with excess immediately taxed as capital gain. This guide covers the thresholds, the 85-day and 365-day aggregation rules, the FMV election, the non-pro-rata redemption exceptions, and the lot-level bookkeeping that keeps corporate finance teams out of audit trouble.
Section 1239 converts capital gain to ordinary income on sales of depreciable property between related parties — including a controlling owner and their own corporation, partnership, or trust. The constructive ownership rules under Section 267(c) make the more-than-50% threshold easier to cross than family business owners expect.
