Resources
Tools, checklists and straight answers
Everything on this page is free and requires no email address. If something here saves you a phone call, that is the point of it.
Tax calendar
Every federal and Florida deadline from now through the 2026 filing cycle, filterable by entity type.
Tax FAQ
Eighteen questions we are asked most often, answered without the hedging.
Insights blog
Practical notes on planning, compliance and internal controls from our managing partner.
Entity selection checklist
The questions that actually determine whether an S-election is worth making.
Year-end planning checklist
What can still be done in Q4, and what closed on 31 December.
IRS notice decoder
What the common notice codes mean and how long you have to respond.
Checklist 01
Entity selection: the eight questions that matter
“Should I be an S-corp?” has no general answer. It has eight specific ones. Work through these before anyone quotes you a saving.
- What is your net profit after paying yourself?Below roughly $80,000–$100,000 the extra cost of an S-corp (payroll, a separate return, higher preparation fees) frequently exceeds the self-employment tax saved.
- What would you have to pay someone else to do your job?That is your reasonable compensation floor. If the honest answer absorbs most of the profit, there is little left to distribute and little to save.
- Do you have employees, and what is the payroll?W-2 wages feed the Section 199A limitation at higher income levels. Entity choice changes the wage base, which can decide whether the QBI deduction survives.
- Are you profitable, or generating losses?Losses behave very differently. S-corp basis rules are stricter than partnership rules, and a loss you cannot deduct this year has a real cost.
- How many owners, and are any of them entities or non-residents?S-corps have hard eligibility limits: 100 shareholders, one class of stock, no corporate or non-resident alien shareholders. Failing one of these ends the election.
- Will the business hold appreciating assets?Real estate inside an S-corp is difficult to remove without triggering gain. A partnership or LLC is usually the better home for appreciating property.
- When do you expect to sell, and to whom?Buyers usually want an asset purchase; sellers usually want stock. Entity form drives which is available and what it costs. Section 1202 requires C-corporation status from issuance.
- Which states will you operate in?Some states do not recognize the S-election, or impose entity-level taxes on pass-throughs. A structure that is efficient in Florida can be poor in California or New York City.
Checklist 02
Year-end planning: still open, already closed
The value of Q4 planning is knowing which list an item is on. Working on something from the second list is wasted effort.
Still open in Q4
- Place assets in service before 31 December to claim depreciation this year: delivery is not enough, they must be ready and available for use
- Establish and fund a qualified retirement plan; some plan types must be adopted by year-end even if funded later
- Review accounts receivable and write off genuinely uncollectible balances
- Accelerate deductible expenses or defer income where the rate arithmetic supports it
- Harvest capital losses to offset realized gains, watching the wash sale rules
- Make charitable contributions, using appreciated securities rather than cash where possible
- Confirm shareholder basis before taking a distribution that could otherwise be taxable
- Pay accrued bonuses to non-related parties within the permitted window after year-end
- Take required minimum distributions if you have reached the applicable age
- Reconcile reasonable compensation and run a final payroll adjustment if needed
Already closed by then
- Most entity elections for the current year: Form 2553 has a 15 March deadline for the year in progress
- Retirement plan adoption for certain plan types that require establishment during the year
- Section 83(b) elections, which run 30 days from grant and cannot be extended
- 1031 exchange identification, which is 45 days from the relinquished-property closing
- Anything requiring a transaction to have occurred: the tax year is a hard boundary
Dates shift. Deadlines move when they fall on a weekend or federal holiday, and the IRS postpones them in declared disaster areas, which affects Florida more often than most states. Check the current date before you rely on it.
Checklist 03
IRS notice decoder
The code in the top-right corner tells you what the letter is and how long you have. Response windows on the last two cannot be extended.
| Notice | What it is | Window | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| CP14 | Balance due, first notice | 21 days | The opening notice for an unpaid balance. Verify it before paying; it is frequently generated before a payment has been applied. |
| CP2000 | Proposed change from document matching | 30 days | An automated mismatch between your return and third-party forms. Often wrong. Responding on time preserves your right to dispute. |
| CP2501 | Earlier-stage document mismatch | 30 days | A softer precursor to a CP2000. Easier to resolve at this stage than after a proposal is issued. |
| CP161 | Balance due, business | 10 days | The business equivalent of a CP14, typically following an underpaid return. |
| CP136 | Deposit schedule change | n/a | Notifies a change to your Form 941 deposit frequency based on the lookback period. Ignoring it causes deposit penalties. |
| CP504 | Notice of intent to levy | 30 days | A serious escalation. The IRS may levy state refunds and is signalling further collection action. |
| LT11 / Letter 1058 | Final notice of intent to levy | 30 days | Triggers your right to a Collection Due Process hearing. Requesting one suspends collection. This deadline matters enormously. |
| Letter 525 / 692 | Examination report | 30 days | The examiner's proposed adjustments. Thirty days to agree or to protest to Appeals. |
| Letter 3219 / CP3219A | Statutory notice of deficiency | 90 days | The 90-day letter. The only route to Tax Court, and the window cannot be extended for any reason. |