Guides
General explanations of the rules that come up most often. Every piece carries the date it was last reviewed, because tax content goes stale.
Business meals, travel, and vehicles: what survives an audit
Business meals are generally 50 percent deductible, entertainment is not, and vehicle use needs a log. What survives an audit is a record written at the time.
FBAR and Form 8938: two filings people confuse
The FBAR goes to FinCEN once foreign accounts pass 10,000 dollars in total. Form 8938 goes with your tax return at higher thresholds. Many people need to file both.
Foreign income after you become a US resident
As a US tax resident, your income from every country is taxable here, even if it never leaves home. Tax paid abroad usually becomes a credit, not an exemption.
What an S corporation election actually does, on Form 2553
Form 2553 does not create a company. It changes how an existing corporation or LLC is taxed, from a date you choose, provided it is filed on time with every consent.
Filing in two states without paying twice
When two states tax the same income, your home state usually gives a credit for tax paid to the other. It works only if both returns are filed in the right order.
Choosing between an LLC, an S corporation, and a C corporation
An LLC is a legal form, not a tax choice. The real question is how the business is taxed: on your return, as an S corporation, or as a C corporation paying its own.
What happens to your return when you move states mid year
A mid year move usually means two part year state returns, one for each state, split at the date you moved. The date needs evidence behind it, not memory.
Paying what you owe: installment agreements and the options
If you cannot pay the IRS in full, file anyway, then choose between a short term plan, an installment agreement, and in rare cases an offer in compromise.
Selling stock: what your broker reports and what it leaves out
A 1099-B shows what you sold for, not always what you paid. Equity pay, old shares and wash sales are where the basis goes missing and a gain is overstated.
What an IRS notice means, and which ones need an answer
Most IRS notices are proposals, not verdicts. Read one before you pay it, answer a CP2000 on its own response form, and never let the reply date pass.
Penalty abatement: first time abatement and reasonable cause
The IRS applies first time abate before it looks at reasonable cause, which can spend a one time waiver on a year that did not need it. Order matters.
What it costs to miss a deadline outright
The penalty is the only part of the bill with a ceiling. Interest, a forfeited refund and an assessment clock that never starts have no ceiling at all.
October 15: the last day for an extended individual return
Missing the October extension does not make a return one day late. The failure to file penalty is then computed from April 15, and charged per month.
Payroll for a one person S corporation
One employee still means real payroll: quarterly returns, an annual return, deposits on a schedule, and a W-2 by January 31. Each carries its own penalty.
Capital gains holding period: short term vs long term
Long term means held more than one year, counted from the day after you bought. One day short puts the whole gain at ordinary rates. Wash sales span 61 days.
Estimated tax due dates and the safe harbor rule
Estimated tax is due April 15, June 15, September 15 and January 15. Each period is penalized on its own, so a late catch up payment cannot cure an early shortfall.
S corp owner salary: what counts as reasonable compensation
There is no safe percentage for an S corp owner's salary. How the IRS weighs reasonable compensation, what a low figure risks, and how to document the number.
What an extension buys you, and what it does not
Filing late costs ten times what paying late costs. An extension removes the larger penalty entirely and does nothing at all about the smaller one.
The September 15 deadline for extended business returns
The penalty runs per owner per month, up to twelve months, and it applies when the entity owes no tax at all. One missed filing delays every owner.
Reading your K-1, and what to do with it
You are taxed on your share of the profit whether or not any of it was paid out to you. The basis figures decide whether a loss is usable at all.
Depreciation on a rental, and why it matters when you sell
Skipping depreciation does not avoid the bill at sale. Recapture is calculated on what was allowable, not on what you actually claimed, so it is charged anyway.
F-1 to H-1B: the year your status changes
An H-1B carries no exemption from counting days, and the exempt years an F-1 already used stay used. That combination decides the year, not the start date.
Rental property on Schedule E, line by line
Most rental returns go wrong in one place: an improvement entered as a repair. The distinction has a three part test, and it decides the whole year.
Form 8833, and when a treaty position must be disclosed
The penalty for not disclosing a treaty position is charged even when the position was right. Several exceptions cover ordinary student and teacher claims.
Tax treaties: how a treaty position is actually claimed
A treaty never applies automatically. It is claimed on a named article, the conditions have to be met, and it has to be claimed again each year.
What the standard deduction replaced, and when itemizing still wins
Two new rules land on charitable giving in 2026, one for itemizers and one for everybody else. Both change the calculation people made last year.
The FICA refund: Form 843 and Form 8316 for students
Social security and Medicare tax is often withheld from students who are exempt from it. The refund is recoverable, and the employer is asked first.
1040-NR vs 1040: which one you file, and fixing the wrong one
Residency, not your visa, decides between 1040 and 1040-NR. How the two differ on income, deductions and deadlines, and how to fix a 1040 filed by mistake.
The home office deduction, and who really qualifies
Exclusive use is the test most claims fail, and employees are out entirely. There is a simplified method, and there is a cost that lands when you sell.
What an ITIN is, and how to apply with Form W-7
An ITIN exists only so a person who cannot get a social security number can file. The application is refused most often on the identity documents.
1099-NEC, 1099-K, and what each one means for your return
The 1099-NEC threshold moved to 2,000 dollars for 2026, after seventy years at 600. Fewer forms will arrive, and the income is reportable either way.
Quarterly estimated payments, and how to size them
Tax on self employment income is due through the year, not with the return. The safe harbor removes the penalty by using a number you already know.
Which expenses a self employed person can actually deduct
The test is not whether an expense was real. It is whether it was ordinary, necessary, and recorded at the time, and whether the personal share was taken out.
Resident, nonresident, or dual status in your first year
Your visa does not decide whether you are a US tax resident. The substantial presence test does, and it can put two people on the same visa on opposite sides.
What a Schedule C actually asks you for
Schedule C reports self employment income and the cost of earning it. What the form asks, which expenses survive, and what it does to the rest of your return.