#tax
Tax strategies, planning, and compliance for individuals and businesses
OBBBA raised the SALT deduction cap to $40,400 for 2026, but a 30-cent-per-dollar MAGI phase-down between $505,000 and $606,333 creates a roughly 45% effective marginal rate — the "SALT torpedo." Here is how to decide whether to re-itemize.
The OBBBA raised the Section 1202 QSBS cap to $15 million, lifted the gross-asset ceiling to $75 million, and replaced the five-year cliff with a tiered 50/75/100 percent exclusion at three, four, and five years — but only for stock issued after July 4, 2025.
Personal use of a company car is taxable wages. This guide compares the three IRS valuation methods — Annual Lease Value, cents-per-mile (72.5¢ for 2026), and the $1.50 commuting rule — with worked examples and W-2 reporting steps.
A working guide to how the IRS computes boot in a Section 1031 exchange — cash boot, mortgage boot, the four netting rules, depreciation recapture at 25%, carryover basis, and Form 8824 reporting — with a worked example showing how $200K of fresh equity can wipe out $200K of mortgage boot.
Section 1341 lets a taxpayer who repays more than $3,000 of previously taxed income recover the tax cost—via a deduction or a credit, whichever is lower—on the repayment-year return rather than by amending the old one.
The Section 1375 sting tax hits an S corporation with a 21% corporate-level tax when it has C-corporation E&P and passive investment income above 25% of gross receipts; three consecutive years of that combination terminates the S election. This guide shows who is exposed, how excess net passive income is calculated, and how to defuse the trap.
Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978 bars the IRS from collecting back employment taxes on misclassified contractors if a business met three tests—reporting consistency, substantive consistency, and a reasonable basis for treating the workers as 1099 contractors.
Section 6751(b) requires a real IRS supervisor to personally approve penalties in writing before assessment. A working guide to using Chai, the Graev trilogy, and the December 2024 final regulations to defeat accuracy-related, fraud, and information-return penalties — which penalties qualify, what documents to demand, and how to raise the argument at Appeals before paying for Tax Court.
A disguised sale under Section 707(a)(2)(B) collapses a partnership contribution and a related cash distribution into a taxable sale. Transfers within two years are presumed a sale; the deemed-sale fraction equals consideration received divided by property FMV.
Section 707(a)(2)(B) recharacterizes paired property contributions and cash distributions to LLC members as taxable sales when they occur within two years. A walkthrough of the two-prong test, the rebuttable two-year presumption, the four regulatory exceptions, debt-financed distribution mechanics, and the Form 8275 disclosure that keeps partners out of audit trouble.
Section 7508A lets the IRS postpone almost any tax-related deadline by up to one year after a federally declared disaster. This guide explains who qualifies as an affected taxpayer, how postponement interacts with Form 4868, what happens to penalties already accruing, and when to elect a prior-year casualty loss under Section 165(i).
Section 7508A lets the IRS postpone tax deadlines up to one year for taxpayers in federally declared disaster counties—usually automatically by address. A Section 165(i) election can also move a casualty loss to the prior year's return for a faster refund.
