#tax-planning
Strategic tax planning to minimize liability and maximize savings
The Section 30C credit returns 30% of EV charger cost — up to $1,000 per port for homeowners and $100,000 per port for businesses — but sunsets after June 30, 2026. A line-by-line guide to census tract eligibility, prevailing wage and apprenticeship rules, depreciation interaction, recapture, and Form 8911.
Section 469's self-rental rule recharacterizes rent from your own building as active income while losses stay passive — a one-way street that traps small business owners. A timely grouping election under Reg. 1.469-4 defuses it; missing the first-return filing window usually means living with the asymmetry for good.
How California's Proposition 19 replaced Section 63.1 for parent-child transfers after February 16, 2021 — the family home and farm rules, the one-year occupancy requirement, the BOE-19-P and BOE-266 filings, the $1,044,586 value cap floor, and the step-up-basis trade-off that determines whether to gift during life or transfer at death.
Eight states tax remote workers as if they sat in the office. A 2026 guide to the convenience of the employer rule, the May 2025 Zelinsky decision, reciprocity agreements, resident credits, and what multi-state employers must withhold.
Section 107 lets ordained ministers exclude designated housing costs from federal income tax, but the allowance is still added back for SECA and only an in-advance written designation survives audit. A practical guide to the three-part cap, Form 4361's irrevocable opt-out, and the 403(b) designation that keeps a retired pastor's distribution income-tax-free for life.
Starting in 2026, taxpayers who take the standard deduction can deduct up to $1,000 ($2,000 for joint filers) of cash gifts to qualified public charities under new IRC Section 170(p) — cash only, no donor-advised funds, no carryforward, and the same $250 documentation rules as itemizers.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act locks the federal estate, gift, and GST exemption at $15 million per individual with no sunset. Here is what changes for SLATs, GRATs, dynasty trusts, GST allocation, and basis planning in 2026 — and what to actually do this year.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act made 100% bonus depreciation under Section 168(k) permanent for qualified property placed in service after January 19, 2025. This guide explains how small businesses coordinate Section 179, qualified improvement property, and the new Section 168(n) manufacturing deduction — and the acquisition-date rules that decide eligibility.
Section 199A is now permanent under OBBBA. Pass-through owners get a 20% deduction, wider SSTB phase-in ranges ($75K single / $150K joint above the 2026 threshold), a new $400 minimum for material participants, and the same W-2 wage and UBIA tests at the top of the band.
How the One Big Beautiful Bill Act made the doubled standard deduction permanent, raised the SALT cap to $40,000, added a 0.5% AGI charitable floor, and stacked a $6,000 senior bonus deduction — with concrete math for the 2026 itemize-versus-standard decision.
Section 1041 lets spouses transfer property tax-free during and after divorce, but carryover basis, the six-year window, QDROs, ISO conversions, and post-TCJA alimony rules quietly reshape every settlement. A working guide to what must be fixed before the decree is signed.
Section 1235 lets individual inventors and qualifying early investors treat a patent sale as long-term capital gain — even without a one-year holding period — if they transfer all substantial rights. This guide explains who qualifies as a holder, why the rule survived the TCJA carve-out for self-created intangibles, and how to draft the transfer so the IRS sees a sale rather than a royalty license.
