All Articles - Think Outside the Tax Box

CURRENT EDITION

By Dominique Molina, CPA MST CTS

What Happens If You Can’t Use All Your Clean Energy Tax Credits This Year?

Clean energy tax credits have a lot going for them. Clients buy them at a discount, apply them dollar-for-dollar against federal tax liability, and walk away paying less to the IRS. That alone makes them worth a serious look. But here's what often gets overlooked and what makes these investments genuinely remarkable compared to almost anything else in your tax planning toolkit: the flexibility built into how and when the credits can be used. Can't absorb the full credit this year? Carry it back up to three years and trigger refunds on taxes your client already paid. Think about that for a second. There are very few places in the tax code where you can go back in time and rewrite last year's tax bill. This is one of them. Still have excess after the carryback? Carry it forward for up to 22 years. That's not a typo. Two decades of runway to put those credits to work as your client's passive income grows. And if circumstances change and the credits simply aren't needed? An emerging secondary market means there may even be an option to sell them. No other common tax planning strategy offers this combination a guaranteed discount on purchase, dollar-for-dollar offset of tax liability, the ability to look backward and forward, and a potential exit if plans change. Understanding how each of these features works is what separates a good credit investment from a great one.

READ MORE

The End of the Green Road? The One Big Beautiful Bill and Energy Credits

Just when many believed green tax incentives were firmly established, the One Big Beautiful Bill (OB3), formally designated as Public Law 119-21 and enacted on July 4, 2025, delivers a sudden and sweeping rollback of key energy tax credits. Affecting everything from electric vehicles to rooftop solar, OB3 significantly alters the tax landscape with abrupt cutoffs and a glaring absence of transition relief.

Read More
Client Alert

OBBBA Rundown: Provisions Affecting Individuals for 2025

Enacted into law on July 4, 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is the biggest set of tax law changes since the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). The provisions discussed in this article impact individual taxpayers for tax year 2025 and must be considered immediately for proactive tax planning purposes, future tax withholding, and estimated tax payment calculations. Clients have questions, and we can generally give them the answers they seek; however, some will require future IRS guidance for complete clarity.

Read More

OBBBA Rundown: Provisions Affecting Businesses for 2025

Enacted into law on July 4, 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is the biggest set of tax law changes since the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). The provisions discussed in this article impact business taxpayers for tax year 2025 and must be considered immediately for proactive tax planning purposes, future tax withholding, and estimated tax payment calculations. Clients have questions, and we can generally give them the answers they seek; however, some will require future IRS guidance for complete clarity.

Read More

Big, Beautiful, and Oh So Salty: SALT and the OBBBA

The SALT cap has been one of the most argued pieces of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act as it has been making its way toward passage. Actually, tax professionals and politicians have been talking about the SALT cap (and looking for ways around it) since it was enacted as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. As most of you are aware, most TCJA provisions were set to expire at the end of 2025, including the SALT cap. We take a look at where they stand now.

Read More

Campaign Promises and the OBBBA: Always Read the Fine Print

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act makes good on several promises President Trump made on the campaign trail. Of course, tax legislation, unlike campaign sloganeering, rarely lends itself to sound bites. It is the opposite of pithy and the opposite of memorable. Even the bill’s title pushes the boundaries of memorability. If you’re looking for the tax promises section of the OBBBA it is in Title VII–Finance, Subtitle A–Tax, Chapter 2–Delivering on Presidential Priorities To Provide New Middle-Class Tax Relief. We take a closer look in this article.

Read More

TAX COURT ROUNDUP – July 2025

Something old, something new, is the usual product of Tax Court, and this month is no exception. New: Equitable tolling is applied to out-of-country petitioners (maybe), an abandoned corporate merger escapes Section 1234A capital loss treatment of a break-up fee, the discounted cash flow method of valuation is rejected for valuing conservation easements, and the S.E.C. v. Jarkesy Eighth Amendment controversy continues. Old: Erroneously addressed Notices of Deficiency, witness testifying remotely, sealing witness testimony, CDP is a snapshot, and debt-vs-equity.

Read More

Summertime Marketing in Your Tax & Accounting Firm

Tax season is prosperous, summer is dry until extension season. Do you find yourself in that cycle? Clients are “easy” to get during tax season when taxes are top of mind. Then the direct deposits go dry by June, and you are looking for what’s next. Stop the search, you don’t have to add another service. You need better marketing to highlight the service that you offer and specialize in. This will allow you to have a predictable client pipeline. You can do tax preparation, planning, and or representation all year long.

Read More

Observations on the House-Passed OBBB

This article focuses on the OBBB from the House offering a variety of observations to help understand the range of changes, relevance to compliance and planning, process considerations and some unexpected provisions. While the final OBBB will not include all of the House provisions or will modify some of them, there are lessons to learn to understand the tax legislation process and results now and in the future.

Read More
1 11 12 13 14 15 71
  • NOT A MEMBER YET?

    SUBSCRIBE TO GET ALL OF OUR
    GREAT ARTICLES AND RESOURCES!

  • Scroll to Top

    turn new laws into new opportunities download our FREE ebook

     

    Download Our FREE Magazine!

    Download Our FREE Magazine!

    Thank you for subscribing to Tax Law Pro

    You are granted a non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use Tax Law Pro by Think Outside the Tax Box, Inc., strictly according to these terms of use.