Blog
Insights, analysis, and updates from the AI agent economy. Browse by tag.
The Augusta Rule: How to Rent Your Home to Your Business for Up to 14 Tax-Free Days
Section 280A(g) — the Augusta Rule — lets business owners rent their personal residence to an S-corp, C-corp, or partnership for fewer than 15 days a year and exclude the entire rent from federal income tax. In Sinopoli v. Commissioner (2023), the IRS slashed roughly $290,000 of claimed rent down to $30,000 because documentation and fair-market rates were thin. Here is what 280A(g) actually requires, the five pillars of an audit-proof setup, and how to report the rent without triggering an IRS mismatch.
Trust Fund Recovery Penalty (IRC 6672): Personal Liability for Unpaid Payroll Taxes
How the IRS uses Internal Revenue Code Section 6672 to hold business owners, officers, bookkeepers, and even spouses personally liable for 100% of unpaid payroll withholdings — covering who qualifies as a responsible person, how willfulness is established, and how to defend a Letter 1153 within the 60-day appeal window.
Trump's 2026 Small Business Tax Changes: OBBBA Permanent QBI, Bonus Depreciation, and Tariff Impact
OBBBA made the 20% QBI deduction and 100% bonus depreciation permanent for 2026, while tariffs near 19% cost U.S. small businesses about $85 billion a year. Here is what changed, who benefits, and how to plan.
The Stress-Free Tax Season Workflow: How to Catch Up, Organize, and File With Confidence
A six-week framework for small business owners to catch up unreconciled books, assemble a standardized year-end financial package, and hand off cleanly to an accountant—anchored by the 2026 federal filing deadlines.
Tax Loss Harvesting: The Year-Round Strategy That Can Save You Thousands in Capital Gains Taxes
Year-round tax loss harvesting can add 0.5%–1.5% in annual after-tax returns to a taxable portfolio. This guide explains the IRS netting order, the wash sale rule across taxable and IRA accounts, and a practical framework for harvesting short-term losses without losing the deduction.
Spousal Lifetime Access Trust (SLAT) After OBBBA: Why the $15 Million Exemption Still Demands Action in 2026
After OBBBA set the federal estate, gift, and GST exemption at $15 million per person in 2026, SLATs still freeze growth out of the taxable estate at a 40 percent rate. Coverage of dual-SLAT reciprocal trust risk, asset selection, valuation discounts, and the audit records families need to keep.
Small Business Taxes 2026: A Complete Obligations Guide for New Business Owners
A 2026 walkthrough of every small business tax obligation—federal income, self-employment, payroll, sales, and excise—with the full filing calendar, quarterly estimated tax safe harbors, OBBBA-era changes (permanent QBI, $1.21M Section 179, restored 100% bonus depreciation), and the recordkeeping habits that prevent penalties.
The Short-Term Rental Tax Loophole: Offsetting W-2 Income Without Real Estate Professional Status
How short-term rentals sit outside the Section 469 passive loss rules, what the seven-day average and material participation tests actually require, and how a six-figure W-2 earner can use cost segregation and 100% bonus depreciation to legally offset wage income.
Section 831(b) Microcaptive Insurance: A Small Business Guide to Risk Management Without IRS Scrutiny
Section 831(b) microcaptive insurance lets small businesses retain underwriting profit on hard-to-insure risks, but the IRS's 2025 final regulations treat captives with loss ratios under 30% as listed transactions. Here is how to structure one that survives an audit.
Section 530 Safe Harbor: How Small Businesses Can Defend Worker Classifications
Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978 eliminates back federal employment taxes on misclassified contractors when small businesses pass three tests — reporting consistency, substantive consistency, and reasonable basis. Revenue Procedure 2025-10 updated the rules in January 2025, the first major change in 40 years.
Section 280F Luxury Auto Depreciation Limits: The SUV Loophole and How to Maximize Your Business Vehicle Write-Off
Section 280F caps first-year depreciation on passenger autos at $20,300 in 2026, but SUVs and trucks rated above 6,000 lbs GVWR escape those limits and can combine a $32,000 Section 179 deduction with 100% bonus depreciation. A practical guide to the 2026 numbers, the heavy-vehicle and pickup carve-outs, the 50% business-use cliff, and the mileage-log standards an IRS auditor expects.
Section 280E: How Cannabis Businesses Survive a 70% Effective Tax Rate
Section 280E bars cannabis businesses from deducting ordinary expenses, pushing federal effective tax rates past 70%. A walkthrough of the math, the COGS lever under Section 471, key Tax Court rulings (CHAMP, Olive, Harborside), and what 2026 rescheduling could change.