Gift splitting lets a married couple treat one spouse's gift as made half by each, giving one recipient two $19,000 annual exclusions in 2026. The election covers every third-party gift that year and often requires two separate Forms 709.
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A job move can unlock a partial IRC §121 exclusion before you have owned and lived in the home for two years. The clean safe harbor requires the new workplace to be at least 50 miles farther from the home, then prorates up to $250,000 per spouse.
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The S corp loss basis limit stops at the shareholder's stock basis plus loans made directly to the corporation. A bank guarantee adds nothing until the shareholder actually pays it, and Form 7203 carries the unused loss forward.
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An RMD cannot be converted to a Roth IRA. In 2026, the required amount must leave the traditional IRA first; only the dollars above it can move to Roth, even in the year the first RMD is due.
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The rental property de minimis safe harbor lets most landlords deduct qualifying items costing $2,500 or less instead of depreciating them. The catch is a book policy and an annual return election, not Form 3115.
Read postNIIT on rental income disappears only when the activity is nonpassive and the rent comes from an actual trade or business. Real estate professional status clears the first gate, not both; the 500-hour safe harbor can clear the second.
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IRC §1402(a)(1) excludes rental income from self-employment tax no matter how short the stays, but hotel-style services put you on the wrong side of the line: about $5,652 of extra tax on $40,000 of 2026 profit. Where CCA 202151005 draws it.
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Section 422(a)(2) gives you three months after employment ends before an ISO exercise is taxed as an NSO. On a $200,000 spread in 2026 that swap costs about $27,000 of extra tax. How the window works, and the disability, death, and extended-window exceptions.
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Between $505,000 and about $606,333 of MAGI, the $40,400 SALT cap shrinks 30 cents per dollar, so every extra dollar is taxed at 45.5%, not 35%. How the 2026 phase-down works, and the moves that keep income out of the band.
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Starting with 2026 returns, itemizers deduct charitable gifts only above 0.5% of adjusted gross income, and top-bracket donors keep 35 cents per dollar instead of 37. What the two new haircuts cost, and the giving patterns that still work.
Read postAn Airbnb with average guest stays under 30 days is nonresidential real property: 39-year depreciation, not 27.5. The 80% test that decides it, what misclassifying costs each year, and the Form 3115 fix if you have been doing it wrong.
Read postContribute to a Roth IRA in a year your income ends up over the limit and a 6% excise tax runs every year the money stays put. Removed or recharacterized by October 15 of the following year, the mistake costs almost nothing.
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