#tax-compliance
Tax Compliance
Stay compliant with tax regulations and filing requirements
IFTA Fuel Tax: A Quarterly Filing Guide for Owner-Operators
IFTA returns are due four times a year, and two consecutive missed filings can get an owner-operator's fuel tax license revoked. This guide covers the quarterly deadlines, the $50-or-10% late penalty, the four-year record retention rule, the audit triggers auditors actually look for, and the recordkeeping habits that keep filings painless.
Illinois Just Killed the 200-Transaction Sales Tax Rule: What Online Sellers Need to Know
Illinois eliminated its 200-transaction economic nexus threshold under HB 2755 effective January 1, 2026, leaving a single $100,000 revenue test and offering a limited amnesty window from August 1 to October 31, 2026 for unregistered remote sellers.
The IRS's 10-Return E-File Mandate Is Catching Small Businesses Off Guard
The IRS now requires e-filing once a business issues 10 or more information returns combined — W-2s, 1099-NECs, 1099-MISCs and more, all counted together. Here's how to count correctly, the $340-per-return penalty for 2026-year returns, when a Form 8508 hardship waiver actually applies, and how to e-file free through IRIS.
IRS Small Business Penalty Overhaul for 2026: New Rates and Automatic Relief
For 2025 tax year returns filed in 2026, the IRS charges partnerships and S-corps $255 per partner or shareholder per month for late Forms 1065 and 1120-S, plus $330 per late Schedule K-1, while a new automatic relief program forgives first-time penalties for taxpayers with three years of clean compliance history.
NIL Income Taxes: What College Athletes Actually Owe the IRS in 2026
NIL income is self-employment income subject to a 15.3% self-employment tax on top of ordinary income tax, and college athletes owe tax on any net NIL earnings over $400 even without a 1099, a form now only required above the 2026 threshold of $2,000.
Natural vs. Functional Expense Classification: How Nonprofits Build the Form 990 Statement of Functional Expenses
Since ASU 2016-14, every nonprofit filing a full Form 990 must allocate expenses across program, management and general, and fundraising using a reasonable, consistent methodology — here's how time studies, square footage, and headcount allocation actually work, and the five mistakes that draw auditor scrutiny.
Owner's Draw vs. Salary: How S-Corp Owners Set Reasonable Compensation
The "60/40 rule" for splitting S-corp salary and distributions has never appeared in any IRS regulation. What the IRS actually applies is a facts-and-circumstances test — the one that reclassified a CPA's $24,000 salary to $91,044 and cost him $23,000 in back payroll taxes. Here's how to set a defensible number.
Paying Employees in Cryptocurrency: Payroll Withholding, W-2 Reporting, and State Law Compliance
The IRS treats crypto wages as property valued at fair market value on the date of receipt — fully subject to income tax withholding, FICA, and FUTA, and reported on Form W-2. Here's how to value payments defensibly, avoid state minimum-wage violations, and prepare for Form 1099-DA cross-referencing in 2026.
The New 1% Remittance Tax: What Small Business Owners Sending Money Abroad Need to Know
A 1% federal excise tax applies to cash-funded international money transfers starting January 1, 2026, but bank, debit, and credit card transfers are exempt — here's how small businesses can avoid it.
San Francisco's Commercial Vacancy Tax: Filing Rules, Rates, and Exemptions for Storefront Owners
San Francisco's Commercial Vacancy Tax charges $250 to $1,000 per linear foot of street frontage for ground-floor storefronts vacant more than 182 days a year in named neighborhood commercial districts. Every owner and tenant of a covered space must file an annual return even if fully occupied — and the separate $1,850 DBI vacant storefront registration is a second obligation entirely.
Scrap Metal Recycling Center Bookkeeping: Cash Purchases, Seller IDs, and Form 8300 Compliance
Forty-five states require scrap yards to keep seller-ID records, cash caps run as low as $30 (Washington), and IRS Form 8300 is due within 15 days on cash over $10,000. A practical guide to building a purchase ledger that survives police, state regulator, and IRS scrutiny.
Section 125 Cafeteria Plan Nondiscrimination Testing: A 2026 Guide for Small Businesses
Section 125 cafeteria plans must pass three IRS nondiscrimination tests each year — eligibility, benefits and contributions, and the 25% key employee concentration test. This guide covers the 2026 thresholds ($220,000 officer and $160,000 HCI compensation, $3,400 FSA and $7,500 DCAP limits), what a failed test costs your top earners, and when a Simple Cafeteria Plan under Section 125(j) lets employers with 100 or fewer employees skip testing entirely.