There is a wealth of business wisdom in a fairly unlikely area. All the businesses involved lost money, sometimes enormous sums. The source is the litigation and regulation around Code Section 183 of the Internal Revenue Code – Activities not engaged in for profit. In order to deduct those losses against other income, taxpayers need to convince the IRS or the court that they had an honest objective of making a profit. The determination of whether an activity is carried on for profit is made by reference to objective standards. Is it possible that following those standards might contribute to you being profitable? It’s worth thinking about.

There are new insights and old unresolved questions in this month's instalment. There's always the old and new.

Think Outside the Tax Box proudly presents the 2025 Winter Education Series! This October through December, we are bringing our loyal subscribers five webinars featuring some of the brightest minds in tax. Each high quality webinar is filled with engaging content, actionable insights for your clients, and they all come with continuing education credits for those who qualify. All of this is included in your regular subscription! Check out what we've got in store for you!

After my second busy season as a solo practitioner, I made a terrible mistake within my firm. I hired my first employee. As a matter of fact, I hired someone who also had tax and accounting experience. You may be thinking, “What? Hiring is the solution if you were feeling overwhelmed.” That is true, if you are assuming that I had the proper systems in place. The mistake I made was hiring an employee before I was ready. The money was there and ready. The work was there and ready. It only took a few weeks to realize that I didn’t have a capacity issue. I had a systems and processes issue. I am not suggesting that you should work yourself to full capacity, absolutely not. I am suggesting that before you attempt to pass along a task to someone else or put in place automation that you have a written-out process.

In every tax Facebook group or conference session, there's always that one pro excitedly talking about the latest app they've added to their "tech stack." But here's the dirty little secret: most of us aren't running integrated tech stacks. We're juggling a mix of disconnected tools that may or may not play nicely together. Let's stop pretending we're all building perfectly integrated ecosystems. What we really need is a tech portfolio—a curated collection of tools that serve our actual needs, reflect how we really work, and support the kind of client experience we want to deliver. A portfolio recognizes reality: tools don’t have to talk to each other perfectly. They just need to work for you. So let’s explore how to build a smart, efficient, and secure tech portfolio that helps you thrive whether you’re a solo professional or managing a growing team.

As CPAs, we were trained to work with precision, accuracy, and strategy in everything we do. However, business development has not been part of our standard training; therefore, many accounting professionals not only struggle with business development tactics but also shy away from tracking and measuring the impact of their efforts. But here's the truth: Just as we track and measure other financial data, it is essential to measure business development efforts in order to improve. You can unlock significant growth in your firm by understanding which key performance indicators (KPIs) to track, how you manage your practice, how you acquire new clients, and how to increase your revenue.

The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act became Law on July 18, 2025. It “establishes a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins,” which are defined in the legislation as “digital assets which an issuer must redeem for a fixed value.”

On July 4, 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) became law, representing the most significant reform of the QOZ program since its inception. It made the program permanent, tightened eligibility rules, introduced a rural-focused investment vehicle, and imposed robust reporting requirements. For tax professionals and investors, understanding these changes isn’t just about compliance – it’s also about strategy.