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IRS AEP 2026: Automatic Penalty Relief and the Reasonable-Cause Tradeoff
The IRS Automatic Exemption from Penalty program can prevent certain filing, payment, and deposit penalties from being assessed for eligible taxpayers. Here is what small businesses should check.
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Hiring Seasonal or Part-Time Help? Do the Payroll Setup Before the First Shift.
IRS used the start of July to remind businesses that seasonal and part-time hiring still comes with payroll work. That point sounds basic until a busy restaurant, retailer, event company, lawn-care business, farm, or summer program starts putting people on the schedule before the tax setup is done. The short version: temporary does not mean…
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Hobby or Business? The IRS Nine-Factor Test, and Why the Answer Costs More Through 2025
Plenty of people earn a little money from something they enjoy. Selling on the side, flipping collectibles, renting out gear, monetizing a channel. The IRS draws a line between a hobby and a business, and where you land changes how the income gets taxed. Through the 2025 tax year, getting it wrong is more expensive…
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Small Business Cybersecurity in 2026: Five Numbers Owners Should Actually Use
Most small business owners do not need a 60-page threat report on cybersecurity. They need a short list of numbers that changes what they do Monday morning. The numbers below come from direct source reports: Verizon’s 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report, the FBI IC3 2025 Annual Report, CISA ransomware guidance, IRS Publication 4557, FTC Safeguards…
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TrumpIRA.gov Is Coming. The Federal Saver’s Match Is Already Here.
The April 30, 2026 Executive Order establishing TrumpIRA.gov is one of those policy actions that sounds bigger than it is and smaller than it could be. The site itself does not exist yet. The Federal Saver’s Match it promotes already does, and most BCA clients qualify or know someone who does. The 0.15% expense ratio…
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Five Recommendation Areas Small Businesses Should Watch from the 2025 TAP Report
The Taxpayer Advocacy Panel released its 2025 Annual Report in April 2026, with 188 recommendations to the IRS across six committees. The companion news post covered the headline numbers. This post answers the question that actually matters for small business operators: which of those 188 recommendations are worth watching for movement in 2026 or 2027,…
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Section 122 Tariffs: A Small Business Importer Checklist for the 10% Temporary Surcharge
If your business imports products, parts, packaging, ingredients, equipment, or inventory, the practical question is not “What do I think about tariffs?” The practical question is: did your broker apply HTSUS 9903.03.01 to your entry, and if so, did anyone check the exceptions? Proclamation 11012 imposed a temporary 10% import surcharge under Section 122 of…
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The New Geography of Tax Competition
For small and mid-sized business owners thinking about setting up a company in a lower-tax jurisdiction, 2026 is a different game than it was even five years ago. The traditional pitch was simple. Pick a country with zero or near-zero corporate tax, register a company there, route business through it, pay less. Cayman, the British…
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The 1099 Threshold Just Moved for the First Time Since 1954. What That Means for Your Vendor Files, Year-End Process, and Backup-Withholding Discipline.
The 1099 reporting threshold just changed for the first time in 71 years. From 1954 until December 31, 2025, the Form 1099-NEC and Form 1099-MISC reporting threshold was $600 per payee per year. Starting January 1, 2026, it is $2,000. The mechanical change is small: a single number in the tax code moved. The operational…
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OBBBA Raised the Employer Childcare Credit. Small Businesses Get the Biggest Bump.
Among the changes the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act made effective for tax year 2026, the expansion of the employer-provided childcare credit under Section 45F is one of the largest in dollar terms and one of the most underdiscussed for small business operators. The headline numbers are eye-catching: the maximum credit more than tripled for…
