Many taxpayers wait until the April deadline to file their tax returns, assuming there is little benefit to getting started sooner. But filing early can make tax season easier, help you plan for a tax bill, and give you more time to resolve unexpected issues. Whether you expect a refund or owe
How to Reduce Your Risk of an IRS Audit
Whether you're expecting a refund or preparing to pay, there's one possibility most taxpayers would rather not think about: an IRS audit. An audit is a review of your tax return and supporting records to determine whether you've reported your income, deductions, credits, and tax liability
Why Do I Have to File a Tax Return If the IRS Already Takes Money From My Paycheck?
There's a perfectly reasonable question that comes up every tax season: My employer already took money out of every paycheck. They sent it to the IRS. The IRS knows how much I made. The IRS knows how much money was withheld. So...why can't the government just do the math? It's
Who Qualifies as a Dependent on Your Taxes?
These sound like straightforward questions. Unfortunately, the tax code has a tendency to turn “Who lives with whom?” into a surprisingly complicated series of tests involving relationship, age, residency, income, support, custody and sometimes even the number of nights a child spent in your
1099-K Forms: What you Need to Know about Online Payments
Tax season can feel overwhelming, especially when money moves through a growing number of online payment platforms and marketplaces. If you've been using services like PayPal, Venmo, eBay, or other payment apps to sell goods or provide services, you may encounter a Form 1099-K among your tax
537 Installment Sale Trusts for Commercial Real Estate: Strategy vs. Scrutiny
When commercial real estate property owners in the Seattle and Puget Sound area prepare for a major exit, capital gains taxes are often the biggest hurdle to preserving net proceeds. Between federal capital gains, depreciation recapture, and Washington’s local real estate excise taxes (REET), an
Understanding the Standard Deduction for 2026
The Standard Deduction is a cornerstone of the US tax system, designed to simplify the process of filing taxes and ensure that every taxpayer has a baseline amount of income that is not subject to federal income tax. For 2026, the Standard Deduction has increased to account for inflation, offering
Taxpayers’ Dilemma: Selling Assets to Pay Taxes?
It is one of the most frustrating catch-22s in financial planning: you face an outstanding tax liability, decide to liquidate an appreciated asset to generate liquidity, and suddenly trigger a brand-new wave of capital gains taxes. Liquidating capital to settle tax debt requires a careful approach