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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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When the Tax Preparer Is the Fraud: A Las Vegas Case and What It Means for the Client
A Las Vegas tax preparer and her son pleaded guilty this spring to a scheme that sought more than $5 million in fraudulent refunds from the IRS. The case is a useful reminder of something most taxpayers never think about: when a preparer cheats, the client is rarely the one who walks away clean. What…
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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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Got IRS Mail? Open It, Match It, Calendar It, Then Decide Whether to Respond.
IRS mail is not a verdict. It is a workflow. That distinction matters because many taxpayers make the same mistake: they let the envelope sit unopened, then deal with the problem only after penalties, interest, or collection notices have already escalated. IRS Tax Tip 2026-39 is a basic reminder, but it is a good one.…
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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…
