Entries by IslerNW

,

When Borrowing Gets More Expensive: How Rising Interest Rates Are Impacting Small Businesses

For a period of time, borrowing felt manageable. Financing was easier to justify. Lines of credit were relatively affordable. Growth decisions made sense on paper. Then things began to shift. Not all at once. Gradually. Payments started to increase. New financing came with higher costs. Decisions that once felt straightforward now require a second look. […]

It’s Hard to Believe: But Found Money Is Taxable

Article Highlights: Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 61 Ill-Gotten Gains Exclusions from Income The Real Cost of Winning Game Show Prizes Picture this: you’re taking a stroll through the park, and you spot a five-dollar bill on the ground. Exciting, isn’t it? You look around to see if someone nearby may have dropped it. Seeing […]

, , , , , , ,

Behind on Payroll Taxes? This Is the Most Dangerous Tax Debt Your Business Can Have

A slow quarter? You can recover from that. A late income tax payment? There are payment plans. Vendor pressure? Negotiable. But payroll tax debt? That’s different. If your business is behind on payroll taxes, you’re in one of the most aggressively enforced areas of IRS collections. And the longer it goes unresolved, the more personal […]

, , , , , ,

Estimated Tax Payments Are Not Just for the Self-Employed

Article Highlights: Employees Self-Employed Individuals Periodic Payments Underpayment Penalty Safe Harbor Payments Unlike employees, who have income, Social Security, and Medicare taxes withheld from their wages, self-employed individuals must prepay their taxes by making periodic estimated tax payments. These are referred to as estimated tax payments because the self-employed individual must estimate his or her […]

, , , ,

Avoid the Postal Service Drop Boxes, Your Tax Return Might Not Get Postmarked by April 15th

Article Highlights: The “Mailbox Rule” Has Changed The New 2025 USPS Postmark Rule How to Secure Proof of Mailing Obtaining a Manual Postmark (Hand-Cancel) Best Practices for Time-Sensitive Mailings For decades, taxpayers have relied on a simple principle known as the “Mailbox Rule.” Formally enshrined in Internal Revenue Code Section 7502, this rule states that “timely […]