Articles

Lessons Learned from the Tax Court: What’s at Stake?

Leave a Comment / By Matt Metras, EA

Astute readers of this publication may recognize that I frequently write on Cryptocurrency and also on Tax Court cases. It feels like Christmas to me to be able to write about a tax court case about crypto. This is only the Third Tax court case to even mention crypto, and the first to look at the underlying principles of taxation. (The other two were about including crypto assets in a CDP hearing and a frivolous tax protester argument). Today’s case, Paschall v. Commissioner, is about the taxation of staking income.

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What’s New With Hobby Loss: Recent Developments in Section 183

Leave a Comment / By Peter J Reilly CPA

Recent developments in the Section 183 (Hobby loss) area have not led me to change my basic conclusions. Taxpayers who have a sincere objective of ultimately making a profit should not hesitate to claim losses from the underlying activities. That is so even if you believe that profits are improbable. It is critical that they meet the standard of behaving in a businesslike manner. The other regulatory factors should not be ignored, but often there is not that much you can do about them. Reilly’s 18th Law of Tax Planning – Honest objective trumps realistic expectation.

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The Art of Income Shifting: Powerful Planning Strategies That Stand Up to Scrutiny

Leave a Comment / By Kim Larsen

Income shifting strategies address taxation at its most fundamental level by directing income to taxpayers in lower brackets or with offsetting deductions. Unlike many tax strategies that merely time recognition or enhance deductions, effective income shifting can permanently reduce the tax burden on a given dollar of income—often creating tax savings that compound year after year. In this article, we’ll explore systematic approaches to income shifting that create extraordinary value for clients while maintaining impeccable compliance.

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The Capacity Problem: Why Your Firm Can’t Grow Until You Fix Delivery

Leave a Comment / By Marie Torossian, CPA

We’ve all said it: “Once busy season ends, we’ll fix this.” But the pressure never leaves, it just shifts. Extensions, quarter-end, planning season, and year-end come one after another. When a firm wants to grow, the real challenge is not, “Can we get more clients?” but, “Can we deliver quality service at scale without overburdening our team or diminishing client experience?” This is the true capacity problem behind growth.

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2026 Changes to Form 2441 and Dependent Care Benefits

Leave a Comment / By Jason Dinesen, CPA

The credit for dependent-care expenses (such as daycare costs) has long been stuck at 20% for “average” taxpayers. It finally gets a permanent boost in 2026 (for returns filed in 2027). Also, the amount of money a taxpayer can put into a dependent care assistance program is increasing by $2,500 for 2026. This change presents a chance for taxpayers and tax pros to reevaluate which is better – claiming the credit or using a flex plan.

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Turning Intellectual Property into Interest Deduction Capacity: Use of an IP Holdco After the OBBBA

Leave a Comment / By Ted Stotzer

Many taxpayers have lived with a frustrating mismatch since the Section 163(j) limitation tightened after 2021 – the business may generate plenty of cash, yet its interest deductions are limited because adjusted taxable income (“ATI”) is too low, e.g., due to capex. The 2025 restoration of depreciation and amortization addbacks makes ATI planning relevant again, especially for groups that own valuable intangible property (“IP”), and the choice of legal entity to house group IP may have very different tax consequences as discussed in this article.

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Do You Know U.S. Tax History?

Leave a Comment / By Annette Nellen, CPA, CGMA, Esq.

In recognition of the 250th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, let’s review 250 years of tax history. Our nation’s tax systems have evolved over two and a half centuries as ways of doing business and living have changed. Also, expectations of services the public wants and needs from the government have grown, resulting in tax changes to generate increasing amounts of tax revenue. Along the way, lawmakers have considered principles of simplification, equity, fairness, economic growth and effective tax administration that have shaped our tax laws. This article offers questions and answers to cover a range of interesting aspects of our federal tax history.

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