When gearing up for year-end client tax planning meetings, CPAs can no longer rely solely on heuristics or spreadsheets. With rapid legislative shifts (e.g. the new One Big Beautiful Bill changes) and intensifying client expectations, using advanced tools like Hive Tax AI research
Installment sale tax planning strategies
The default for qualifying sales is to report gain proportionally as payments are received under IRC §453. You can elect out and recognize all gain in the year of sale by reporting the sale on the original timely return (including extensions), e.g., on Form 4797/Schedule D, instead of Form 6252.
Like-kind exchange rules for business property
Only exchanges of real property held for productive use in a trade or business or for investment qualify for nonrecognition under section 1031. Personal property and most intangibles no longer qualify; exceptions are narrow (e.g., certain mutual ditch/reservoir/irrigation shares treated as real property under state law).
Alternative minimum tax implications under current law
The individual AMT is an extra 3-step computation: determine alternative minimum taxable income (AMTI) by adjusting regular taxable income for AMT preference items, subtract the AMT exemption, apply AMT rates (26%/28%) to get tentative minimum tax, and compare it to regular tax
Net investment income tax calculations for high-income clients
Individuals owe a 3.8% tax on the lesser of: (a) their net investment income (NII), or (b) the excess of modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) over the statutory threshold ($200,000 single, $250,000 MFJ, $125,000 MFS; not indexed).
Tax treatment of PPP loan forgiveness and related expenses
PPP loan forgiveness is excluded from gross income. Congress codified that no amount is included in income by reason of forgiveness of a PPP First Draw, Second Draw, or §1109 PPP loan. Further, no deduction is denied, no tax attribute is reduced, and no basis increase is denied because of this exclusion.
How to apply new depreciation rules to manufacturing facilities?
Section 179 expensing limits increased starting with tax years beginning after 12/31/2024: up to $2,500,000 immediate expensing, with phase-out starting at $4,000,000 of Section 179 property placed in service, and indexed for inflation thereafter.
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Optimizing Business Entity Structure: Q4 Tax Planning Strategies for CPAs
As the year winds down, CPAs need to sharpen their Q4 tax‐planning focus—especially on the structure of business entities. Choosing or changing your entity type in Q4 can unlock significant savings on taxes, compliance, and liability. In this post, we walk through...