Life Playbooks
Step-by-step, plain-language guides for the moments taxes actually happen. Education only — personal situations route to a credentialed pro.
Home-Buying & Deductions Coach
Every deduction lowers the income the IRS taxes — and the income a mortgage lender sees. If you are buying a home in the next two years, start here before you file.
Open the coach →Hire Your Kids
The tax-free ceiling: a child with no other income can earn up to the single standard deduction — $15,750 in 2025 and $16,100 in 2026 — and owe no federal incom…
Read the playbook →Self-Employed Starter
You pay income tax AND self-employment tax (Social Security + Medicare) on net business profit, reported on Schedule C with Schedule SE.…
Read the playbook →Job + Business
Your W-2 withholding and your business income land on the same return. A profitable side business can create a surprise balance due — adjust your W-4 or pay est…
Read the playbook →Custody & Credits
Default rule: the CUSTODIAL parent — the one the child lived with for more nights in the year — claims the child.…
Read the playbook →Ministry & Faith Workers
Dual tax status: a minister is an EMPLOYEE for income tax but SELF-EMPLOYED for Social Security (SECA) — the most misunderstood status in the tax code.…
Read the playbook →Selling Your Home
The exclusion: up to $250,000 of gain if single, $500,000 married filing jointly — figures read from the tax-year tables — when you owned AND used the home for …
Read the playbook →Kinship & Foster Caregiver Guide
Difficulty-of-care payments for caring for an individual in your home are generally EXCLUDED from income (Notice 2014-7).…
Read the playbook →Sending Money Home
Money sent to family is a personal gift: not deductible, no credit (see Real or Myth for the full verdict and the Form 709 / 3520 reporting-only rules).…
Read the playbook →Immigration Costs & Your Taxes
For individuals: USCIS fees and personal immigration attorney / document-prep fees earn no credit and no deduction (26 USC §67 — see Real or Myth).…
Read the playbook →Schedule C Toolkit: Sorting, Home Office, Mileage & Software
Schedule C is where sole proprietors and single-member LLCs report business profit or loss. Four everyday systems decide whether that number is right: how you s…
Read the playbook →The 20% QBI Deduction (§199A)
Section 199A lets owners of pass-through businesses — sole proprietorships, partnerships, S-corporations, and most LLCs — deduct up to 20% of their qualified bu…
Read the playbook →Section 179 & Bonus Depreciation: Writing Off Equipment
Depreciation normally spreads the cost of equipment over years. Two provisions let a business take much or all of it in year one: the §179 election (you choose …
Read the playbook →Business Losses & NOL Carryforwards
When a business's deductions exceed its income, the excess can become a net operating loss (NOL) — a tax asset that shelters income in other years. A loss year …
Read the playbook →Pass-Through Entity (PTE) Tax Elections: The SALT-Cap Workaround
Since 2018, an individual's federal deduction for state and local taxes (SALT) has been capped — a real cost for business owners in high-tax states. Most income…
Read the playbook →S-Corp Salary vs. Distributions: Reasonable Compensation First
THE HEADLINE RULE, BEFORE ANY STRATEGY: an S-corporation owner who works in the business must take a REASONABLE SALARY — paid through payroll, as W-2 wages, wit…
Read the playbook →FSA vs. HSA: Two Different Accounts — There Is No Migration
CORRECTING A MYTH FIRST: there is no 'FSA-to-HSA migration.' No form, no rollover, and no conversion moves money from a Flexible Spending Account into a Health …
Read the playbook →The Work-Clothing Rule: Uniforms Yes, Wardrobe No
This deduction has TWO gates, and both must be passed. Miss either one and the answer is no — which is why work clothing is one of the most confidently claimed …
Read the playbook →Custody & Credits is above — and there is more
The Survivor Desk and Senior Money Desk have their own pages in the navigation: taxes after a death in the family, and Social Security / RMD / IRMAA for retirees.