How do major life events affect my tax filing? Marriage, a new child, divorce, and the death of a loved one can all change your life events tax filing — from your filing status and withholding to the credits and deductions you can claim. Handling each event with the IRS the same year it happens…
What is the Coca-Cola transfer pricing case, and why should other US companies care? The Coca-Cola transfer pricing case is a dispute over how a US parent must price transactions with its foreign affiliates under IRC §482. The Tax Court sided with the IRS in 2020 and the appeal is now before the Eleventh Circuit…
What changed for California employers on July 1, 2026? A stack of rules landed on the same day. California minimum wage 2026 updates cover healthcare workers, San Diego hospitality staff, and more than a dozen city and county rates — plus new California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) rules that will bite by 2027. If you…
How do major life events affect my taxes? Marriage, a new child, divorce, and the death of a spouse each change your filing status, your withholding, and the credits you can claim. The life events tax impact shows up on next year’s return — but the paperwork you need to update is due now, not…
Is the pass through entity tax election still worth it after the higher SALT cap? For many owners of profitable pass-throughs in high-tax states, the answer is still yes — but the analysis is now owner-level, state-specific, and no longer automatic. The pass through entity tax (PTET) survived the 2025 SALT cap increase; the decision…
Can a nonprofit still claim the direct-pay clean energy credits if it needs more time to file? Yes — but only if it files Form 8868 for a 990 T elective payment extension by the original due date. Miss the deadline and the election is lost for tax year 2025. Since the enactment of the…
What records do I actually need to deduct my charitable donations? The IRS requires charitable donation records for every gift you claim — a bank record or written communication for cash, a written acknowledgment for anything $250 or more, and Form 8283 for larger noncash gifts. And beginning in 2026, non-itemizers can also deduct up…
What should newlyweds do about their taxes after the wedding? Follow a short newlywed tax checklist: update your name with the Social Security Administration, file a change of address with the IRS if you moved, give your employer a new Form W-4 within 10 days, pick a filing status, and combine your records — the…
Who can still elect the IAS 28 fair value option after the IASB’s 2026 amendments? The updated IAS 28 fair value option extends the FVTPL election beyond classic investment funds to any entity whose main business is investing in associates, joint ventures, unconsolidated subsidiaries, cash and cash equivalents, or other independently-returning assets — aligned to…
Who can measure associates and joint ventures at fair value under IFRS? The IAS 28 fair value option is an exemption from the equity method — and on 26 June 2026 the IASB issued narrow amendments that finally pin down which entities qualify, using the ‘specified main business activities’ concept from IFRS 18. If your…
How do I get an EIN verification letter without calling the IRS? Designated officials on your IRS Business Tax Account can now log in and download an EIN verification letter instantly — no more calling and waiting weeks for Letter 147c in the mail. If you have ever tried to open a business bank account,…
How do foreign entities e-file 1042-S and 1099 forms after FIRE is retired? Through the new IRS Foreign Filer TCC Registration System. It gives foreign filers whose authorized users have no U.S. SSN or ITIN a way to obtain a Transmitter Control Code and transmit information returns electronically through IDES. The way U.S. information returns…
How do central organizations report their subordinates to the IRS in 2026? With new IRS Form 15644. Under Revenue Procedure 2026-8, every central organization that holds a group exemption letter must file Form 15644 each year, at least 30 but not more than 90 days before the close of its annual accounting period. If your…
Are all Charitable Remainder Annuity Trusts still safe to use? Yes — but a specific subset just became a reportable tax shelter. On July 8, 2026, Treasury and the IRS issued final regulations naming certain CRAT listed transactions, requiring participants and material advisors to disclose them or face penalties. Charitable Remainder Annuity Trusts have long…
Do I have to ask the IRS for penalty relief anymore? Not for the most common relief. Starting summer 2026, the IRS is replacing First Time Abate with automatic penalty relief — the new Automatic Exemption from Penalty (AEP) will waive failure-to-file, failure-to-pay, and failure-to-deposit penalties for eligible taxpayers during return processing, with no request…
Does the new Opportunity Zone regime just extend the old rules? No. The IRS Opportunity Zone transition rules in Notice 2026-40 keep the December 31, 2026 deferred-gain date, but reinvested QOF gains restart the 10-year clock and ongoing projects now need a written working-capital plan in place by year-end. The IRS has finally drawn a…
Do seasonal and part-time workers change my payroll tax obligations? No — hiring seasonal employees does not create a lighter set of federal payroll rules. Wages paid to summer, holiday, and part-time help are subject to the same federal income tax withholding, Social Security, and Medicare taxes as wages paid to your full-time staff. The…
What is a Trump Account and how do I open one for my child? A Trump Account is a new federally authorized investment account for children, created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act as IRC Section 530A. The Trump Accounts guide below walks families through the $1,000 federal seed deposit, $5,000 annual contribution cap,…
What tax steps should newlyweds take after the wedding? Update your name with Social Security, file a fresh Form W-4 with each employer, tell the IRS if you moved, and model your return under both joint and separate filing status. This newlywed tax checklist walks through each step so next spring is calm, not chaotic….
Who can claim the new Federal Scholarship Tax Credit? Starting January 1, 2027, individual taxpayers can claim the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit — a federal credit of up to $1,700 for cash donations to Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs) in a participating state. Twenty-eight states have already opted in. Beginning next year, a new line item…
Update — September 26, 2026: SB 122 was signed on June 29, 2026 (Stats. 2026, ch. 23), and the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) confirmed in Special Notice L-1036 (September 2026) that sales and use tax applies to digital products, including SaaS, beginning January 1, 2027. The original article below, published July…
Do I have to file a gift tax return for money I put in a Trump Account? In most cases, no. Under IRS Rev. Proc. 2026-25, the Trump Account gift tax safe harbor treats qualifying cash contributions as current-interest gifts within the $19,000 annual exclusion, so most families skip Form 709 entirely. The launch of…
Who qualifies for the new $25,000 federal tip deduction? The tip deduction 2026 is an above-the-line deduction for workers in customarily tipped jobs — waiters, bartenders, stylists, rideshare drivers and roughly 70 other IRS-listed occupations — worth up to $25,000 of qualified tips for tax years 2025 through 2028, subject to income phaseouts. For decades,…
When is a California resident beneficiary of a discretionary trust actually taxed on trust income? Only when the trustee decides to distribute. In its new Legal Ruling 2026-01, the FTB confirmed that California discretionary trust tax under R&TC section 17742 hinges on whether the beneficiary’s interest is “contingent” — and while the trustee holds sole…
Does my state follow the new federal OBBBA tax breaks? Not automatically. OBBBA state conformity varies widely — some states adopt the new federal rules on R&D expensing, bonus depreciation, and Section 179, while others decouple. A deduction you claim on your federal return may be added right back on your state return. The One…
What are the 2026 retirement plan limits? The 401(k) elective deferral limit rises to $24,500, the age-50 catch-up to $8,000, and a new “super catch-up” lets employees aged 60–63 add $11,250. The 2026 retirement plan limits also bring a major SECURE 2.0 change: high earners must now make catch-up contributions as Roth. If you sponsor…
What are the new 2026 tips and overtime deduction rules for employers? For tax years 2025 through 2028, employees can deduct up to $25,000 of qualified tips and up to $12,500 of qualified overtime pay ($25,000 for joint filers). The tips and overtime deduction is claimed on the employee’s return, but it creates new payroll…
What do the new DOL opinion letters say about wage-and-hour rules? On May 28, 2026, the Department of Labor issued four FLSA opinion letters answering when meal breaks and clock-in lines must be paid, whether a salaried exempt employee can take a second hourly role, and how percentage-of-earnings bonuses satisfy overtime rules. If you run…
Do you owe tax when you rent out your vacation home? It depends on how many days. Understanding vacation home rental tax starts with one number: 14. Rent the place 14 days or fewer a year and the income is tax-free; rent it more and the income is taxable — but you can deduct expenses,…
What is the FASB changing about hedge accounting in 2026? On June 17, 2026, the FASB issued a proposed hedge accounting update to Topic 815 with three targeted changes: hedging interest rate risk on held-to-maturity securities, using any tenor of SOFR, and expanding eligible net investment hedging instruments. Comments are due August 17, 2026. If…
