Practical updates on R&D credits, international tax, multi-state compliance, and founder tax — the questions founders actually ask, answered in plain English.
Contributing IP to a startup can increase a founder's potential QSBS tax exclusion, but a higher valuation comes with trade-offs. Here's what founders should know about Section 351, the 10x basis rule, and QSBS eligibility.
An S corporation can't issue QSBS, but restructuring may open a path to the federal gain exclusion. Explore F reorganizations, Section 351 exchanges, and the tax traps to avoid.
Does your startup need a U.S. Tax Residency Certificate in 2027? Learn who needs one, what it costs, and when to apply.
Choosing S corporation status can complicate future QSBS eligibility. Learn how LLC and C corporation structures affect tax benefits, holding periods, and gains at exit.
Colorado will generally tax SaaS and electronically delivered software starting in 2027. Learn how the $100,000 sales threshold, enterprise license exemptions, and new collection requirements could affect your company.
Not every software development expense qualifies for the R&D tax credit. See which activities count, which don't, and what founders should track in 2026.
California's new SaaS tax starts January 1, 2027. Contracts signed or prepaid in 2026 may still be taxable. Here's what software vendors and buyers need to know.
Engineering wages, founder compensation, contractors, and cloud computing can all affect your R&D tax credit. Here's what qualifies, what doesn't, and what software startups should document.
No revenue doesn't always mean no tax return. Learn when C corps, S corps, LLCs, and partnerships must file, why Forms 5471 and 5472 matter, and how missing returns can cause problems later.
Your accountant may be responsible for filing the return. You still need to know it was filed. Here’s what to check and what records to keep.
Using AI to write code does not automatically disqualify your R&D credit. But rapid AI-assisted development can make it much harder to show what was technically uncertain, what alternatives were tested, and who actually performed the qualified research.
Choosing a CPA for your startup takes more than comparing fees, credentials, and websites. Here are nine questions founders should ask about startup experience, communication, state and international tax, fees, and technology.
Skipping the R&D credit can be a rational decision. But for some startups, waiting can permanently close off valuable options, including the ability to use the credit against payroll taxes.
The IRS has a new app and increasingly useful online tools. But startup founders, especially those outside the U.S., may find that accessing their company's IRS account is more complicated than expected.
Sold a foreign subsidiary before year-end? New CFC rules mean income earned after closing can still affect the seller’s U.S. tax calculation.
A remote employee's move can trigger more than a payroll update. It may also raise state tax, business registration, and foreign qualification questions.
Registered with the Secretary of State? Registered for payroll? Incorporated there? Those facts can lead to very different state tax filing requirements.
Eight state registrations do not necessarily mean eight state tax returns. For growing startups, the registration map and tax filing map can diverge quickly.
The IRS's new automatic penalty relief can protect some late business returns, but Forms 5471 and 5472 are outside the program. Existing FTA-based relief procedures for some international penalties now face an uncertain future.
Your startup may have filed only in California for years, but a major transaction can expose income to other states. Here is why nexus, sourcing and apportionment deserve a fresh look when a big sale happens.
An LLC owner may work full time in the business and still not belong on payroll. The answer depends on how the LLC is taxed, and adding an OpCo underneath a partnership usually does not create a workaround.
The Augusta Rule may let a business rent an owner's home for legitimate company meetings while the owner excludes the rental income federally. But both sides of the transaction have to qualify.
AI can help you ask better tax questions, but too much AI-generated analysis can bury the facts, waste time, and even increase advisory costs.
Making the R&D payroll election is only the first step. Founders should confirm that the credit actually made it to payroll and is being used.
A foreign-owned U.S. LLC can have no revenue, customers, or operations and still need Form 5472. Founder funding, expenses, loans, and distributions can create a filing requirement.
The U.S. has stopped making pennies, but cash transactions still end in one-cent increments. Here is how cash rounding works, what Congress is considering, and why businesses need to pay attention to state-specific rules.
A Texas startup can owe $0 in franchise tax and still have an annual filing requirement. Missing the Texas Public Information Report can eventually cost the company its right to transact business in Texas, create personal-liability exposure, and surface at exactly the wrong time during financing or diligence.
Missed the normal U.S. tax deadline? Certain U.S. partnerships and domestic corporations with books, records, and in some cases business operations outside the U.S. may qualify for a special automatic extension.
Does the QSBS clock start when an investor funds a SAFE or when the SAFE converts into stock? There is no SAFE-specific IRS answer, and the 2025 QSBS changes made the distinction even more important.
Expanding internationally? Some countries now require invoices to be issued, transmitted, or received through structured electronic systems. Here is what U.S. founders should know before billing overseas.
UK founders are often surprised by how quickly U.S. partnership tax deadlines arrive. A calendar-year U.S. partnership may need to file Form 1065 by March 15, much earlier than founders accustomed to UK filing timelines may expect.
Texas changed its R&D franchise tax credit beginning with 2026 reports. The credit now starts with federal Form 6765, focuses on research actually conducted in Texas, and can be refundable for certain startups that owe no Texas franchise tax.
Florida recently mailed businesses a corporate tax update that has been showing up in startup payroll accounts. It is not a tax bill, but startups filing in Florida should pay attention to differences in R&D deductions, bonus depreciation, and other federal tax changes.
A federal tax bill does not necessarily have to be paid all at once. Businesses may qualify for an IRS payment plan, sometimes without providing detailed financial statements. The rules depend on how much the company owes and, importantly, whether the balance includes payroll taxes.
After more than two years of uncertainty, FinCEN has finalized the rules under the Corporate Transparency Act. U.S. companies and U.S. persons are no longer required to report beneficial ownership information (BOI), and FinCEN has announced it will delete previously reported information relating to U.S. persons.
Paying a founder in crypto, USDC, or a simple bank transfer does not automatically avoid payroll. If the payment is for CEO services, the IRS may still treat it as wages.
The IRS is making penalty relief automatic for many compliant taxpayers. Here's what the new program means for businesses and why you may still receive penalty notices during the transition.
California will begin taxing most SaaS subscriptions and prewritten software in 2027. Here's what startup founders should do now to prepare.
From January 2026, most employer-provided office meals stop being deductible — while client meals, entertainment, and company parties each follow a different rule. What changed, and what to track.
Employers can put up to $2,500 a year into an employee's child's account — deductible to the company, tax-free to the employee. When it beats a bonus, and how to set it up.
For founders with restricted stock or early-exercised options, a timely 83(b) election can move future gain from ordinary income to capital gain — and start the QSBS clock. The 30-day deadline, the common mistakes, and what to check.
Why exercising your ISOs can trigger a tax bill on stock you can't sell yet — the phantom-income problem, the 83(b) fix, staggering exercises, and the credit you recover later.
What to get right before you pay your first contractor — worker classification, the W-9 and 1099-NEC paperwork, foreign-contractor forms, and state nexus.
How to reimburse business expenses without creating payroll-tax problems — what an accountable plan is, and how to set one up.
Why C corporation founders usually need a W-2. The narrow exceptions, and how to stay clean.
When electing S corp status actually saves a sole proprietor money — the self-employment math, reasonable salary, QBI, the state curveballs, and the filing deadline.
Who qualifies for the IRS Business Tax Account portal, what you can do, and how access changes by entity type — officers, shareholders, partners, sole props, and LLCs.
When a foreign entity actually needs an EIN, who's eligible without an SSN, and how to apply on Form SS-4 — plus how it differs from an ITIN.
A refundable employment credit and a capital credit for investors. Who qualifies as a QETC — and what to check before you claim.
Permanent establishment, payroll registration, IR35. The questions we wish founders asked us before the offer letter went out — not after.
The five-year clock, the active-business test, the $50M asset cap. The small moves that cost millions at exit — and when we catch them.
Most software companies won't need to amend prior returns. The short list of situations where we'd actually change course — and how we tell the difference.
One question from a board observer, answered overnight: modeled both ways, with a one-page reply the founder could forward by morning. No deck, no fee.
Project descriptions, time tracking, contractor classification. The three things we ask for up front — and why reconstructing them later never holds.
Washington, Texas, Tennessee, and the slow drift toward taxing software. Where the rules moved this year, and where they're about to.
If something here raised a question about your own situation, get in touch.