August 2026
Twitchco: This Court Case Gives Your ERC Protective Claim Teeth
In our July article, we told you to report your 2026 ERC refund as income, pay the tax, and file a protective refund claim. Now meet Twitchco, a court case holding that the IRS cannot use the tax benefit rule to tax a deduction that was wrong in a year the statute of limitations has closed. Twitchco gives your protective claim real teeth—if your facts match.
Sell Now, Pay the IRS Later: Defer Capital Gains for Decades
The moment you sell your valuable asset, the IRS comes to dinner. And they bring a very large appetite. But there’s a little-known trust strategy that can legally postpone that tax hit for years—even decades. Most sellers never hear about it until after the closing, which is exactly when it’s too late.
How to Find Your 2026 Section 199A Deduction with Multiple Businesses
Calculating your Section 199A deduction with one business is complicated. With multiple businesses—including businesses with losses—it gets trickier still. This article explains the rules for multiple businesses, shows how aggregation can rescue or enlarge your deduction, and cautions you to enter each business separately in the 2026 Section 199A calculator when you don’t elect aggregation.
Protect Your Home-Office Deduction from Spouse, Second Business
With one business use of the home office and no personal use, you qualify for the home-office deduction. Add a second business, a W-2 job, or a spouse and every use of that office must qualify on its own—or you lose the deduction. Now that tax law permanently denies employees the home-office deduction, the stakes are higher than ever.
S Corp. Owners: Don’t Lose 2026 Dental, Vision, Medicare Breaks
Here’s a follow-up to our 2026 S corporation health insurance update: your dental insurance, your vision insurance, and your Medicare premiums all qualify for the exact same treatment as your major medical coverage—the same three-step W-2 method, the same Schedule 1 deduction, and the same two hurdles. See the proof, straight from the tax code and the IRS.
Dealer or Investor? Deducting the Loss on Your First Flip
Your first fix-and-flip just sold at a loss, and your accountant says you can deduct only $3,000 a year—but that is not necessarily true. If you qualify as a real estate dealer, you deduct the entire loss this year against ordinary income—and trim your self-employment tax in the bargain.
When Your Spouse Dies: Avoid Surprise Tax and Medicare Hikes
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How to Get the IRS to Pay Your Attorney Fees
Even if you beat the IRS, getting it to pay your attorney fees is anything but automatic. Learn the seven legal hurdles you must clear, the costly traps that can derail your claim, and the strategies that can dramatically improve your odds of recovering your fees and costs.
Tax Plan: Buy $500,000 of Goods on December 20 and Expense Them
Buy $500,000 of goods on December 20 and deduct them this year? A reader challenged our advice, pointing to IRS Publication 334’s warning that small-business tax accounting must still “clearly reflect income.” This follow-up explains why the deduction survives that language—and the one bookkeeping detail that makes or breaks it.
July 2026
ERC Refund in 2026: One Great Way to Handle It
If you get your Employee Retention Credit (ERC) refund now, it’s likely too late to amend your 2020 and 2021 tax returns to reduce those wage deductions for the ERC refund. If you can’t amend, you are looking at a double benefit. The IRS says no double benefit, but that may not be true.
Tool for Your Use: Updated 2026 Section 199A Calculator
When planning your Section 199A tax deduction, avoid difficult calculations and save time by using the updated 2026 Section 199A Deduction Calculator. In this article, you’ll find the rules you need to know to find your QBI, Section 199A wages, and Section 199A property that can figure into your Section 199A deduction possibilities.
2026 Health Insurance for S Corporation Owners: A Complete Update
Here’s the 2026 update on the health insurance deduction for S corporation owners: the three-step W-2 method, the box 5 “earned income” trap, the Section 318 family attribution surprise, the QSEHRA/ICHRA options for rank-and-file employees, and the expired enhanced premium tax credit.
The Home-Office Deduction for Three Square Feet
Have you ruled out taking the home-office deduction because you believe your home is too small? You should think again. Don’t skip this article. A workspace no larger than a single file cabinet can be enough to qualify.
Tax Deduction for Classic or Antique Cars Used in Business
How does the tax law treat the classic or antique car when you use it for business? Can you deduct it just as you would any car you use in business? Learn how some tax law changes enabled the classic or antique car as a business asset, much to the IRS’s chagrin, and why that can work to your advantage.
Four Tactics That Turn Suspended Passive Losses into Tax Deductions
When you finally sell a rental property, the tax law hands you a gift: the passive losses it denied you in earlier years—technically, your “suspended” passive losses—are released for deduction. But hidden traps can delay or destroy those deductions, and as of 2017 a second limit now stands between you and the full write-off. Learn the right way to sell, gift, or die. The dying part is so you can pass on rental property to your heirs without losing the suspended losses.
Myth: Rent Furniture to Your Corporation and Save on Taxes
Renting furniture to your corporation is supposed to be the savvy way to get money out of the corporation. We ran the math on a $100,000 purchase and the “savvy” move turns out to be a myth—here’s the proof.
How to Avoid Penalties on Late IRA RMDs
Missing an IRA required minimum distribution (RMD) can trigger steep IRS penalties—but many taxpayers don’t realize those penalties can often be reduced or even eliminated. Learn the key deadlines, correction rules, and waiver strategies that can help you avoid costly mistakes and keep more of your retirement savings.
How Small Businesses Can Expense Inventory Costs
Small businesses may have more flexibility with inventory deductions than many owners realize. This article explains when inventory costs can be deducted sooner—and the tax traps that can cause a business to lose this valuable treatment.
June 2026
Eight Answers on Augusta Rule Home Rentals to Your Corporation or Partnership
Think the Augusta Rule sounds too good to be true? This article answers eight of the most common real-world questions business owners ask about renting their home to their corporation or partnership to create tax-free income. Learn how to stay compliant, document the arrangement properly, and maximize the tax benefits.
You May Be Owed an IRS Refund—Action Needed Now
A little-known court ruling could mean money back from the IRS for taxpayers hit with penalties or interest during the pandemic. The Court of Federal Claims says a COVID-era law may have extended key tax filing and payment deadlines through July 11, 2023—and the clock is now ticking to protect potential refund rights. Taxpayers have until July 10, 2026, to file protective refund claims while the case heads to appeal.
Claim Your R&E Tax Windfall, Perhaps Before the July 6 Deadline
If your business spent money on research and experimentation (R&E) between 2022 and 2024, you may be sitting on a refund check the size of a year’s profit. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act trapped R&E behind a five-year amortization schedule. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act opened the escape hatch. The IRS released the road map. You may have to act fast. One upcoming deadline is July 6, 2026.
Pay Your PCORI Fee If You Have a 105-HRA, a QSEHRA, or an ICHRA
Business owners who have established Section 105 Health Reimbursement Arrangements (105-HRAs), Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangements (QSEHRAs), and Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Accounts (ICHRAs) to reimburse their employees for medical expenses need to pay an annual fee to help support the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).
How to Define, Deduct, and Benefit from Unreimbursed Partner Expenses
Are you paying out of pocket for partnership expenses? Learn which costs are deductible, how to report them on Schedule E, and how to avoid costly IRS mistakes. Make sure your home office and client-related expenses work for you, not against you.
Pathway to Deducting Non-Cash Gifts over $5,000
Donating property (appreciated or not) to charity can generate valuable tax deductions—but the IRS imposes strict rules when a single item or multiple similar items exceed $5,000 in value. Learn when a qualified appraisal is required, what documentation you need, and how to avoid costly mistakes that could cause the IRS to deny your deduction altogether.
How to Handle the Costs of Exploring and Launching a Business
Thinking about starting or buying a business? Before you spend money, learn which start-up costs are deductible, which must be capitalized, and when your business officially begins for tax purposes. This article explains the key IRS rules that can save new business owners money and prevent costly mistakes.
IRS Freezes Refunds Over Missing Bank Information
The IRS is no longer automatically mailing paper refund checks to taxpayers with missing or rejected bank information. Instead, it is freezing refunds and sending CP53E notices that can delay payments for weeks. Learn how the new policy works, who is affected, and what taxpayers must do to avoid lengthy refund delays.
May 2026
Claim Motor Home Deductions Right—or Lose Like Jackson
If you use a motor home for business, this article shows you how to secure large, legitimate tax deductions—and avoid the costly mistake made in the Jackson case. It explains how to properly classify, document, and position the motor home under the tax code so the IRS can’t deny your write-offs. With the right setup, you could unlock substantial first-year deductions—and keep them.
Make Church and Charity Gifts Business Write-offs
Most business owners give to their church or favorite charity the “old way,” missing out on a far better deduction hiding in plain sight. In 2026, you can often turn those church and charity dollars into fully deductible business expenses that cut both income and self-employment or payroll tax. Learn the specific structures and examples that make the IRS agree.
How the Augusta Rule Turns Home Rental into Tax-Free Income
Do you operate your business as an S or C corporation? If so, have you considered renting your home to your corporation for corporate meetings and perhaps the annual holiday party for employees? You should. Why? If you do the rental right, you create tax-free income.
Helicopter View of 2026 Meals and Entertainment after OBBBA
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is now in the rearview mirror, and we are well into 2026. That means it’s time for a new helicopter view of business meals and entertainment, which you get in this article.
Lawmakers Punish Employers: Break-Room Coffee Not Deductible
Lawmakers quietly turned your break-room coffee into a non-deductible expense—and the change hits hard starting in 2026. This article explains the obscure TCJA provision that kills the deduction, why it’s blatantly unfair to employers, and how it could hurt productivity by driving employees to the nearest coffee shop instead of keeping them in the office.
One-Time Pay: 1099, Kiddie Tax, IRA—Get It Right, Now
Learn how to report one-time payments to family members or others on the correct Form 1099—and in the right box—while avoiding kiddie tax errors and unlocking IRA benefits. Follow the complete strategy to keep every dollar of tax savings without costly mistakes.
2026 Depreciation Desktop Reference—Download It Now
Depreciation decisions can have a major impact on your tax results. This at-a-glance 2026 desktop reference puts the key rules, methods, and limits at your fingertips.
How to Convert Your S Corporation into a Tax-Favored QSBC
Thinking about turning your S corporation into a powerful tax-saving vehicle? This article breaks down how QSBCs can unlock major capital gains exclusions—and the smart strategies you can use to qualify. Don’t miss the planning opportunities that could significantly reduce your future tax bill.