We Do Books™ Blog

  The IRS Did Not Kill Lunch. It Just Made the Menu More Annoying. Business owners love the phrase “tax deductible.” The IRS loves the phrase “not so fast.” Somewhere between those two phrases sits the current mess known as the meals and entertainment deduction rules. For 2026, the rules are especially important because the old days of casuall

 1099 Reporting Just Changed for 2026 The IRS Raised the Threshold to $2,000. Here’s What Business Owners Need to Know. For years, business owners have been trained like Pavlov’s accountant: “Pay someone over $600? Issue a 1099.” That rule became so embedded into bookkeeping and tax workflows that many businesses treated it like gravity. Not necessarily because they understood it, but because fighting gravity usually ends badly. Now, beginning with payments made in 2026, the federal reporting threshold for many Forms 1099 increases from $600 to $2,000. At first glance, this sounds like welcome relief: Fewer forms Less administrative work Lower compliance burden Fewer January panic attacks involving missing W-9s But as with most tax changes, the surface simplicity hides several traps underneath. Let’s break down what changed, what did not change, and why businesses should still proceed carefully.

Paying Family Without Payroll Taxes: A SharpCFO-Level Strategy Most Advisors Miss Precision at speed. This is one of those plays that works beautifully… right up until it doesn’t. The Idea Everyone Knows… and the Part They Miss Most advisors stop at the obvious: “Put your kid on payroll.” Fine. Basic. Safe. Boring. That works great if: You’re a Schedule C Your child is under 18 You’re okay running full payroll But here’s the part almost nobody leans into: You can often pay family members — including older children — without payroll taxes at all… if structured correctly. And that’s where things go from “tax tip” to strategic tax engineering.

Can You Deduct a Motorhome as a Business Expense or Second Home?The tax rules, the traps, and the records you better keep Motorhomes are expensive. So naturally, many taxpayers eventually ask the sacred tax-season question: “Can I write this thing off?” The answer is: maybe.Here is a reasonably detail 4,000+ word article to help you undetand the nuances of this question... A motorhome can potentially qualify as a second home for mortgage interest purposes. It can also potentially be used as a business asset. But those are two very different tax positions, with very different rules. The IRS does not care that the RV has a desk, a logo decal, and a Wi-Fi hotspot powerful enough to make it feel like a regional office. The IRS cares about use, allocation, substantiation, and whether the tax law actually allows the deduction. This is where many taxpayers drift from tax planning into tax cosplay. Let’s break down the two common approaches.  

529 Plans: The Education Savings Tool Everyone Talks About… But Few Fully Understand Let’s be honest. Saving for education has turned into its own little maze. Tax rules here, contribution limits there, and somewhere in the middle is a well-meaning parent just trying not to get steamrolled by tuition. Enter the 529 plan. The fan favorite. The one everyone’s heard of… and half understand. Let’s fix that. Here is a SIMPLIFIED, easy to understand overview of all you need to know...