For 2026, the business standard mileage rate is 72.5 cents per mile. Vehicle weight, business use, depreciation elections, and documentation determine whether mileage, actual costs, Section 179, or bonus depreciation is available.

Section 179 and 100% bonus depreciation can accelerate deductions for food trucks and mobile-vendor equipment, but vehicle classification, business use, income limits, and placed-in-service rules determine what is actually available.

The de minimis safe harbor can let a business expense qualifying small-dollar purchases instead of tracking them on multi-year depreciation schedules—but the accounting procedure and annual election requirements matter.

An asset purchase and a stock or equity purchase can produce very different basis, tax-character, liability, contract, and reporting results. LLC interest sales require separate entity-classification analysis.

Cash and accrual methods determine when income and deductions are recognized for federal tax purposes. Once a method is adopted, changing it may require Form 3115 and a Section 481(a) adjustment.

An LLC receives a default federal tax classification based largely on the number and type of owners unless a valid corporate election is made. The state-law entity and federal tax classification are separate issues.

By July, you're past the halfway point of the calendar year. The tax return you just filed—or the extension you're working under—covers 2024. But the return you're building right now is 2025 (or 2026, depending on when you're reading this), and the decisions you make between now and December 31 will determine what that return looks like. Year-end tax planning is reactive. Mid-year planning is proactive—and it almost always produces better outcomes because you still have time

Ask most business owners what tax rate they pay and they'll give you their top bracket—37%, 32%, 24%, whatever it is. That number is their marginal rate, and while it matters for decision-making at the margin, it's not the rate they actually pay on all of their income. The effective tax rate—the percentage of total income actually paid in federal taxes—is almost always lower, sometimes significantly so. Understanding the distinction between these two concepts isn't just an ac

The Qualified Business Income deduction under IRC §199A allows eligible pass-through business owners to deduct up to 20% of qualified business income. OBBBA made the deduction permanent and expanded the phase-in range for higher-income taxpayers beginning in 2026. But for owners above the taxable income threshold, the deduction is not always a simple 20%. Two additional limitations may apply: one based on W-2 wages paid by the business, and one based on the unadjusted basis o

Self-employed business owners who choose a High-Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) gain access to one of the most tax-advantaged savings vehicles in the Internal Revenue Code: the Health Savings Account (HSA). The HSA is not an employer benefit—it's an individual account that you own, control, and take with you regardless of business changes. The combination of three separate tax advantages makes it unique among savings tools, and the ability to invest HSA funds creates a long-ter

Short-term rental platforms like Airbnb, VRBO, and Hipcamp have made it easy to turn a spare room or vacation property into income. What they haven't made easy is understanding the tax consequences. Short-term rental income doesn't fit neatly into a single tax category—depending on how many days you rent and how much time you spend managing the property, it can be treated as passive rental income, active business income, or even excluded from gross income entirely. Getting th

Small business owners who want to help employees pay for health insurance but cannot afford, or do not want to manage, a traditional group health plan may have two alternatives to consider: the Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangement, or QSEHRA, and the Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement, or ICHRA. Both arrangements can allow employers to reimburse eligible employees for individual health insurance premiums and qualified medical expenses on

If your business carries debt—whether a line of credit, equipment loans, commercial real estate financing, or acquisition debt—you may be affected by the Section 163(j) limitation on the business interest expense deduction. Before 2018, interest on legitimate business debt was generally fully deductible. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act capped that deduction for larger businesses and introduced a formula that limits deductible interest based on a percentage of a metric called Adjust

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act introduced a limitation that surprises many business owners who have a large loss year: the excess business loss limitation under IRC §461(l). In plain English, this rule can stop you from using all of your business loss against other income in the current year. That does not mean the loss disappears. It means part of the deduction may be delayed and carried forward. This is one of the reasons tax planning across years matters. A loss year is not jus

Pass-through losses from an S-Corp or partnership flow through to your personal return on Schedule K-1. But a K-1 loss doesn't automatically translate into a deduction. Multiple limitation systems — including basis, at-risk, and passive activity loss rules — can block or defer that deduction, sometimes for years. Understanding how these work prevents surprises on your return and helps you plan around them. Basis Limitations In an S-Corp or partnership, your ability to deduct

If you're self-employed and paying for your own health insurance, you may be entitled to deduct 100% of your premiums without itemizing. It's one of the few above-the-line deductions that directly reduces your adjusted gross income, which can ripple through your entire return—affecting other calculations on the return, including QBI in some cases, eligibility for certain credits, and ultimately your tax bill. Many business owners either miss this entirely or set it up incorre

Starting a business often means losing money before making it. The IRS actually accounts for this. The Net Operating Loss (NOL) rules allow you to offset future profitable years with losses from less profitable ones—which is one of the reasons tax planning across years matters more than looking at any single year in isolation. What Is an NOL? A Net Operating Loss can occur when allowable deductions exceed income for the year, after the NOL rules make specific adjustments. Not

Starting a business costs money before you make any. Market research, legal fees, training, licenses, state filing fees—all of this happens before you open. The IRS has specific rules for how these pre-opening costs are treated, and a lot of new business owners either miss the deduction entirely or get the timing wrong. Here's how it actually works. What Are Startup Costs? Startup costs are amounts paid or incurred to investigate the creation of an active business or to creat

Retirement planning is one of the few areas where the tax code is genuinely trying to help you. As a self-employed business owner, you have access to retirement vehicles that allow you to contribute significantly more than a traditional employee—and, in many cases, deduct contributions within IRS limits. The three most common options for small business owners are the SEP-IRA, the Solo 401(k), and the SIMPLE IRA. Each one fits a different situation. SEP-IRA (Simplified Employe

The Section 199A qualified business income deduction is now permanent. For pass-through business owners — sole proprietors, S-corps, partnerships — it's worth up to 20% of qualified business income. It's one of the most valuable deductions available to small business owners. It's also one of the most commonly miscalculated. Let's put a number on what a planning error here actually costs over time. How the Deduction Works (Briefly) QBI is the net income from a qualified trade