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Tax
Tax strategies, planning, and compliance for individuals and businesses
Do You Need an ABN? The Sole Trader Tax Basics Every Australian Freelancer Should Know
Australian sole traders who invoice without an ABN lose 47% of each payment to mandatory withholding. This guide covers free same-day ABN registration, the $75,000 rolling 12-month GST threshold, quarterly BAS due dates, individual marginal tax rates for 2026-27, deductible super contributions, and the ATO's five-year record-keeping rule.
Freelancing in Switzerland: How Cantonal Taxes, AHV, and the CHF 100,000 VAT Line Actually Work
A Swiss freelancer's tax bill stacks federal (up to 11.5%), cantonal, and communal layers — roughly CHF 15,000–18,000 on CHF 100,000 of profit in Zug versus about CHF 28,000 in Geneva. This guide covers AHV self-employed status (three criteria, ~10% of net profit, CHF 2,300 registration threshold), the CHF 100,000 VAT and Commercial Register line, 8.1% standard VAT, Pillar 3a deductions up to CHF 36,288, and when a GmbH beats a sole proprietorship.
Idaho HB 559: Why 100% Bonus Depreciation Won't Apply on Your State Return
Idaho's HB 559, signed February 10, 2026, conforms to the OBBBA's expanded $2.5 million Section 179 cap but decouples from 100% bonus depreciation under Section 168(k), new Section 168(n) qualified production property expensing, and R&E transition relief — a divergence projected to cost Idaho businesses about $151 million in 2026. Here's who it hits and how the Form DBDA addback works.
The Enrolled Agent Exam's 2026 Overhaul: PSI Replaces Prometric, and the Total Cost Rises to $317 Per Part
The IRS cut its Enrolled Agent exam fee from $99 to $66 per part in 2026, but new vendor PSI charges $251 versus Prometric's $168 — raising the total to $317 per part. The switch also brings a March–June testing blackout, a 200–800 scoring scale, and first-time remote proctoring for U.S. candidates.
Maine's 2% Millionaire Surtax and the New PTET Election: What Business Owners Owe in 2026
Maine's 2% surtax on taxable income above $1 million ($1.5 million joint) took effect January 1, 2026, alongside a new pass-through entity tax election at 7.15% with a 90% refundable owner credit. Here's who owes the surtax, how the PTET election interacts with it, and why the two must be modeled together.
Colorado HB26-1289: Worldwide Combined Reporting Becomes the C Corp Default in 2027
Starting with tax years beginning January 1, 2027, Colorado's HB26-1289 makes worldwide combined reporting the default for unitary C corporation groups — foreign subsidiaries included. The water's-edge election that avoids it binds for ten consecutive years, and a tax-haven blacklist (Hong Kong, Ireland, the Netherlands, Singapore) pulls listed entities back in regardless. Here's who is affected and what records you need.
Colorado's Retail Delivery Fee Rises to $0.31 in 2026: What Online Sellers Need to Know
Colorado's retail delivery fee rose from $0.28 to $0.31 per transaction on July 1, 2026 — its fifth increase since 2022. Here's who must collect it, how the $500,000 small-seller exemption works, how to report it on Form DR 1786, and which states are considering similar fees.
Goatscaping Bookkeeping: How to Account for a Targeted Grazing Business
A working goat herd is livestock the IRS lets you treat as either inventory or depreciable business property — an election that's hard to reverse. How targeted grazing operators should handle herd cost basis, diversified revenue streams, equipment costs, and the May-to-September seasonal cash-flow cliff.
Malta's New VAT-Inclusive Pricing Rule: What Freelancers and Small Businesses Need to Know
Malta's 2026 Budget Implementation Act makes displayed prices presumed VAT-inclusive by law, with only two carve-outs. The domestic small-enterprise exemption holds at €35,000 turnover, new Articles 11A/11B open a €100,000 EU-wide cross-border SME scheme with quarterly declarations, and mandatory e-invoicing is coming as Malta targets its 24.2% VAT gap.
Private-Label Electronics NRE: How to Capitalize Tooling and Amortize It Per Unit
Non-recurring engineering (NRE) for a private-label electronics run commonly costs $50,000–$200,000. This guide explains why GAAP requires capitalizing molds and tooling instead of expensing them, how units-of-production amortization flows cost into COGS per unit ($100,000 tooling rated for 500,000 units = $0.20/unit), and why firmware follows different tax rules under IRC Section 174.
QDOT Rules, Rewritten: What Treasury Decision 10050 Means for Business Owners with Non-Citizen Spouses
Treasury Decision 10050, effective July 10, 2026, delivers the first substantial update to Qualified Domestic Trust (QDOT) regulations in three decades. Here is why the unlimited marital deduction excludes non-citizen spouses, what a QDOT requires — a U.S. trustee, an affirmative Form 706 election, and security for trusts over $2 million — and which four procedural fixes the new rules make for business owners' estates.
Bookkeeping for Reptile and Exotic Pet Breeders: Breeding Stock, Clutch Valuation, and the Hobby-Loss Trap
How reptile and exotic pet breeders should handle taxes and bookkeeping — the IRS nine-factor hobby-loss test, the one-time depreciate-vs-inventory election for breeding stock, why unhatched eggs aren't inventory, the unit-livestock-price method for hatchlings, and why a die-off of self-raised animals usually isn't deductible.