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Just Good Business – Review Your Fixed Asset List for Hidden Deductions
Most businesses require the purchase of equipment or other property to help generate income. How you deduct the costs of these business assets depends on what it is and how long it will be useful (what are called asset classes and the Business Use Percentages (BUP)). In some situations, you can deduct the full cost of the asset the year you buy it, rather than depreciating it over time, but many times you are deducting a portion of what you paid for the property each year you have it. Fixed assets are assets that have a useful life of more than one year and/or are not expected to be converted to cash within a year (those types of assets are current assets). Land, buildings, furniture, and equipment (including vehicles) are the most common types of fixed assets for businesses. Fixed asset listings are records of the costs of business property and what tax deductions or improvements have been made over time. Unfortunately, these lists can get quite messy and confusing over time, especially the longer a business is in operation, and the more frequently you have changed tax professionals. What most business owners (and even their tax advisers) don’t know is that there are often thousands in tax savings contained on these lists, especially when they are messy or confusing. There are four savings opportunities buried in these records and what you do with them can result in less cash to the IRS. Continue reading to learn more.
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Tax Tales I Let Slip in 2025: From Whistleblowers to Easement Woes and Beyond
One of my greatest frustrations as a tax writer is that I just don’t have the time to cover everything that I notice. Early in my blogging career, when I was younger and had more energy, I set myself on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule like the college professors I envied. Even that did not keep up with everything I noticed, so periodically I would do a post that had short blurbs about interesting things I didn’t dig further on. Here is an example from 2010 of a post that covers an entity not considered a church by the IRS, S corp shareholder basis issues, definition of alimony and two Chief Counsel Advices on TEFRA issues. So here are some things for 2025, that I opened a file on but never managed to make an article with.

The IRS in 2025: A Snapshot of Reality
The IRS is not the same agency we dealt with a decade ago, or even three years ago. The pandemic accelerated operational strain, exposing long-standing infrastructure weaknesses while also prompting overdue investment and modernization. Some areas have improved meaningfully, including digital tools, faster account updates, and improved phone service during filing season. Other areas, however, feel frozen in time. Correspondence units remain slow, backlogs persist, and automated notices often fail to reflect what is actually happening on a taxpayer’s account. This article outlines the practical realities of working with the IRS in 2025, what strategies are working, what remains broken, and how to set clear, healthy expectations so you can deliver results without burning out.

The IRS in 2026: A Strategic Field Guide for Tax Professionals
As we head into the 2026 filing season, tax professionals are operating in an environment unlike any we have seen in recent memory: a smaller and more automated IRS, the new OBBBA, and rapid experimentation with AI-enabled tools inside the Service. This field guide is designed to separate what we know for sure from where the IRS is likely to move next, and to translate both into practical planning moves. It does not predict the future; instead, it offers a structured way to think about enforcement, documentation, and client strategy when the rules, the technology, and the politics are all in motion.
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Think Outside the Tax Box provides tax reduction strategies along with practical
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