Author: Erica Ortsman (page 3)

A new tax-advantaged way to help children build up savings for the future was created by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA): Trump Accounts (TAs). Under a pilot program, you can make an election to set up a TA for your U.S. citizen child born in 2025 through 2028 and the federal government will fund the account with $1,000 of free money. But older children also are eligible for TAs as long as they have a Social Security number and are under 18 at the end of the tax year; they just aren’t eligible for the $1,000 government contribution.

Does your family business keep its strategic decisions within the family? It’s common for family businesses to assign relatives to positions of authority and require other employees to defer to them. But “common” doesn’t necessarily mean “good.” Not only is outside input recommended, but it can help reduce the risk of certain problems (such as unaccountability and fraud) and promote long-term financial health. Here’s how your family business might benefit from an advisory board made up primarily of nonfamily members.

If your business has employees or uses independent contractors, you have associated annual information reporting obligations. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) makes changes impacting these rules, but not for the 2025 tax year.

The IRS is opening the filing season for 2025 individual income tax returns on January 26. This is about the same time as when the agency began accepting and processing 2024 tax year returns last year, despite IRS staffing having been significantly reduced since then. Here are answers to some FAQs about filing.

Payroll fraud schemes can be costly — and for small businesses, devastating. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) has found that the median loss from payroll fraud schemes is $50,000. However, some long-term payroll frauds, particularly when perpetrated by upper management, have produced losses in the millions of dollars. Can your company afford that? Probably not.

Interest paid or accrued by a business is generally deductible for federal tax purposes. But limitations apply. Now some changes under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) will result in larger deductions for affected taxpayers.

If you had significant medical expenses last year, you may be wondering what you can deduct on your 2025 income tax return. Income-based thresholds and other rules can make it hard to claim the medical expense deduction. At the same time, more types of expenses may be eligible than you might expect.

Admit it, you’ve Googled your own name once or twice. The question is, how frequently do you Google your company’s name? Regularly checking online information about your business can help you manage any negative accounts and dispute false or misleading data.

Year-round tax planning generally produces the best results, but there are some steps you can still take in December to lower your 2025 taxes. Here are six to consider:

1. Postpone invoicing. If your business uses the cash method of accounting and it would benefit from deferring income to next year, wait until early 2026 to send invoices.

Every year, severe storms, flooding, wildfires and other disasters affect millions of taxpayers. Many experience casualty losses from damage to their homes or personal property. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed into law last year, generally made permanent the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) limitation on the personal casualty loss tax deduction. But it also expanded the deduction in one way.