Starting a Business? Your Choice of Entity and Tax Year Matters

The ultimate success of a business often comes back to decisions made at its inception. If you’re planning to start a business, one key decision is choosing its structure, commonly sole proprietorship, C corporation, S corporation, partnership or limited liability company. In addition to owner liability variations, all have different tax requirements that can affect […]

FinCEN and IRS Increase Scrutiny on Payroll Tax Fraud and Off-the-Books Wages

The U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), in coordination with the IRS and other federal government agencies, is warning banks about “exploitation of the U.S. financial system by non-work authorized populations and their employers.” Banks are instructed to look for off-the-books payroll arrangements that might suggest an employer is hiring and concealing unauthorized workers […]

IRS issues final regulations on tips tax break

Last year, a new income tax deduction for qualified cash tips went into effect under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA). The break is scheduled to expire after 2028. In September 2025, the IRS released proposed regulations to provide guidance for taxpayers. The IRS has now published final regs that largely mirror the proposed regs […]

Don’t Panic if You Receive an IRS CP14 Notice After Paying Your Taxes

Would you know what to do if you received a CP14 notice from the IRS informing you that a tax balance is due when, in fact, you’ve paid your tax bill? According to the Taxpayer Advocate Service, the first step is to verify that the taxes were paid. If you have documentation proving that you […]

IRS Signals New Guidance on Tax-Exempt Executive Compensation Rules

The IRS has announced that it will issue proposed regulations addressing the excise tax on excessive compensation to employees of tax-exempt organizations. The tax generally applies to any applicable tax-exempt organization (ATEO) that pays a covered employee more than $1 million in a tax year or an excess parachute payment. Tax legislation signed into law […]

Fine-tune your tax withholding after filing your return

Many taxpayers discover at filing time that their tax payments during the year didn’t align with their actual liability — either too much or too little was withheld from their paychecks. A small difference is to be expected, but withholding that’s significantly off target can have negative consequences. Overwithholding reduces the amount available to you […]

Planning a Business Sale or Succession? Consider an F Reorganization

An F reorganization can help some companies restructure tax efficiently during succession planning or before a business sale. This type of restructuring is generally available only to businesses treated as corporations for federal income tax purposes, including C corporations and S corporations. F reorganizations may preserve tax attributes, support administrative continuity, and help balance buyer […]

Home Buying This Summer? Know What’s Tax Deductible

Thinking about buying a home this summer? Some costs may be deductible while others aren’t. To claim homeownership tax benefits, you must itemize deductions — which will save tax only if your total itemized deductions exceed your standard deduction. Deductible expenses generally include state and local property taxes and qualified mortgage interest (both subject to […]

Debt vs. equity: Classification counts when shareholders put money into their corporations

If you operate your business as a C corporation, how you put money into your company — and how you take it back out — can have a major impact on your tax bill. Payments from shareholders to fund the business can either be classified as capital contributions (equity) or shareholder loans (debt). That might sound […]

Not All Income Is Tax-Exempt: A Key Reminder for Religious Organizations

Religious organizations are generally exempt from federal income tax. However, like some other tax-exempt charities, these organizations can be subject to unrelated business income tax (UBIT). They usually can conduct income-producing activities that are related to their tax-exempt purpose (such as selling religious books) as long as the activities aren’t “substantial.” But income may be […]