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Preview version: the tax rules are still being reviewed by a CPA. This is education, not tax advice.

YEWO — Year-End Write-Offs, pronounced YEE-woh

Demo preview: sample data only.

Harbor & Pine CPAs

Sam Ortiz

Sam's prints. Status: in progress. Sample firm branding for this preview. Not a real firm.

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Accountant intake

Documents

Demo, files not saved. Marking a row only changes this preview.

  • Prior-year tax return
  • W-2s and 1099s
  • K-1s
  • 1098 and property tax
  • Charitable receipts
  • Health insurance Form 1095
  • Bank statements or profit and loss
  • Vehicle log

Show my savings

$3,000–$4,100

This range includes items that can stand together. A SEP and a Solo 401(k) for the same business are not both included. A shared home office, one phone bill, and one child's wages are counted once. Vehicle miles stay with the business that logged them. Pending CPA review.

3 items are in this range. 2 were left out so the same dollar is not counted twice.

The card shows only the savings range. It has no name and no income figures.

If you were set up as…, you could potentially…

These examples describe a different setup. They are not added to the tax picture, and they do not repeat a savings number from the setup comparison. This is not a recommendation. Ask your CPA.

Lee Goods · Current setup

If you were set up as a sole proprietorship or single-member LLC

This is the setup you entered. The notes below describe that setup. They do not add a second deduction.

  • Profit goes on the owner's return. Self-employment tax applies to the net earnings.
  • A spouse who is a real employee can be part of a section 105 plan that reimburses family medical costs. That path is not available through an S corporation.
  • Wages paid to the owner's child under 18 for real work can be free of Social Security and Medicare tax when the only owners are the parents. Those wages stay on the hiring-children card. They are not counted again here.
  • There is no salary-and-distribution split, and no corporate board.
  • This is not a recommendation. Ask your CPA. Pending CPA review.

Lee Goods · Hypothetical

If you were set up as a partnership or multi-member LLC

This is a hypothetical. Nothing on this card is added to the tax picture.

  • The partnership files its own return. Each owner reports a share on a Schedule K-1.
  • A section 707(c) payment is pay a partner receives without regard to profits. It is ordinary income to that partner and is generally subject to self-employment tax. It is not a child's FICA exemption and it is not an S-corp wage.
  • Hiring a child under 18 is FICA-free only when the partners are that child's parents. A partner who is not a parent changes that. Ask your CPA.
  • The section 105 spouse plan used by a sole proprietorship is not the same arrangement inside a partnership with outside partners.
  • This is not a recommendation. Ask your CPA. Pending CPA review.

Lee Goods · Hypothetical

If you were set up as an S corporation

This is a hypothetical. Nothing on this card is added to the tax picture.

  • An owner who works in the business is discussed as taking wages, with the rest of the profit as a distribution. This card does not pick a salary. Any illustration stays on the setup card and is not added again here.
  • A person who owns more than 2% does not get the same health-insurance exclusion as other employees. Premiums generally have to be on the owner W-2 before a deduction is discussed.
  • Employee 401(k) deferrals go through payroll by December 31. They share the same deferral limit as any other 401(k).
  • The under-18 FICA exemption for a parent's sole proprietorship does not apply to an S corporation.
  • This is not a recommendation. Ask your CPA. Pending CPA review.

Lee Goods · Hypothetical

If you were set up as a C corporation

This is a hypothetical. Nothing on this card is added to the tax picture.

  • A C corporation can have a board of directors. Paying someone still requires real services, a reasonable amount, and records. Director fees for a family trip are not allowed.
  • Some health reimbursement arrangements under section 105, and some fringe benefits under section 132, are discussed for C corporation employees. Each benefit has its own test. This card does not price any of them.
  • Profit is taxed to the corporation. Dividends can be taxed again on the personal return. That 21% illustration, when profit is entered, stays on the C corporation strategy card and is not repeated as a savings number here.
  • An S election is a different path, with its own eligibility limits.
  • This is not a recommendation. Ask your CPA. Pending CPA review.

Lee Goods · Hypothetical

If you were set up with a holding company

This is a hypothetical. Nothing on this card is added to the tax picture.

  • An LLC owned by another company is not the same as a single-member LLC owned by a person.
  • An S corporation cannot be owned by a partnership or by a corporation. A chain of LLCs is a CPA question before any election.
  • No savings number is shown for a holding-company structure.
  • This is not a recommendation. Ask your CPA. Pending CPA review.

2026 topics

Each amount stays on its own card. A shared dollar, such as a car used for business, a Wisconsin credit given up for the retirement subtraction, childcare paid from a dependent-care FSA, or plan costs covered by a credit, is not added a second time. Pending CPA review.

No extra 2026 topic was marked. The full list is on the 2026 topics step and in the Tax Reference Guide.

Optional tax moves: if you did this, here's what it could mean.

These are hypothetical. Nothing in this section is added to the tax picture, so it cannot be counted twice. This is not a recommendation. Ask your CPA.

Legit

If you bought an investment property

Depreciation, cost segregation, a short-term rental, and real estate professional status are separate tests.

  • If you bought an investment property and placed it in service, the building can be depreciated. Land is not depreciated.
  • A cost-segregation study can move some of the cost into shorter-life property. For property acquired after January 19, 2025, the draft bonus rate is 100% of that shorter-life part. Pending CPA review.
  • A short-term rental with an average stay of 7 days or less, plus material participation, is sometimes nonpassive. Real estate professional status is a separate hours test, generally more than half of working time and more than 750 hours.
  • Rental losses that stay passive are limited. The draft active-participation allowance is $25,000, phasing out between $100,000 and $150,000 of modified AGI. Pending CPA review.
  • No purchase price was entered, so there is no dollar illustration. This is not a recommendation. Ask your CPA.

Legit

If you used a 1031 exchange

This defers gain on real property. It does not shelter business income.

  • A like-kind exchange defers gain on a sale of real property. It does not reduce ordinary business income.
  • The usual timing is 45 days to name replacement property and 180 days to close, using a qualified intermediary. Cash or other property taken out, called boot, is taxed in the year of the sale.
  • Wisconsin follows section 1031 and taxes only 70% of long-term capital gain that is recognized. Pending CPA review.
  • Enter a sale price and adjusted basis for a dollar illustration. This is not a recommendation. Ask your CPA.

Legit

If you deferred gain in an Opportunity Zone

The deferral is for capital gain, not for profit from the business.

  • An Opportunity Zone investment defers eligible capital gain. It does not defer ordinary business income.
  • Gain deferred under the old rules is recognized on December 31, 2026. New zone designations start January 1, 2027.
  • Wisconsin has not adopted the newer Opportunity Zone changes. Ask your CPA before relying on a Wisconsin subtraction. Pending CPA review.
  • Rural Opportunity Zones use a 50% substantial-improvement test. That line is part of this card, not a second deferral.

Legit

If you sold on an installment plan

Gain is taxed as payments are collected. Recapture does not wait.

  • An installment sale under section 453 spreads profit on a sale as payments come in. It is a real method, not a scheme.
  • Depreciation recapture is generally recognized in the year of sale, even when the rest of the gain waits.
  • A sale to a related person who resells within two years can pull the gain back into the first year.
  • Enter the sale and the number of years for a dollar illustration. This is not a recommendation. Ask your CPA.

Avoid

Deferred sales trusts, monetized installment sales, and abusive trusts

These are promoter patterns. This check does not estimate a tax benefit for them.

  • A deferred sales trust is not the same as a normal installment sale. Treat it as high risk until your own CPA reviews the papers.
  • The IRS has warned that monetized installment sales are abusive. Cash now plus a long tax deferral is the pattern to walk away from.
  • Abusive trusts, including some charitable remainder trusts sold as a way to get cash tax-free, are on the schemes list.
  • No dollar savings are shown. This is not a recommendation. Ask your CPA.

Gray

A family board and director fees

An LLC does not have a board of directors unless the documents create one.

  • Paying a family member director fees so the business can deduct a trip is not allowed.
  • A fee still has to be for real services, at a reasonable amount, with records.
  • No deduction is estimated. This is not a recommendation. Ask your CPA.

Itemized deductions or the standard deduction

One comparison. The tax picture uses the larger amount and does not stack them.

Legit

Itemizing or the standard deduction

Itemizing may not benefit you.

  • Homeowner's insurance and HOA dues on a personal home are not deductible.
  • Mortgage interest, property tax, state income tax, charity, and medical bills were not entered, so this draft keeps the standard deduction. Pending CPA review.

Health insurance

Eligibility decides whether a premium is in the tax picture.

Legit

Health insurance eligibility

The self-employed health insurance deduction is blocked in this draft.

  • No self-employed health insurance deduction is estimated because a premium paid by the household was not entered.
  • An after-tax premium that is not allowed here can still be a medical expense on Schedule A, above 7.5% of AGI, if you itemize. It is not also a self-employed health insurance deduction.
  • Wisconsin has a medical-insurance subtraction on Schedule SB. The same premium is not subtracted twice. The 2025 instructions are the source until 2026 is confirmed. Pending CPA review.
  • Hiring a spouse in a sole proprietorship and reimbursing family health costs under section 105 is a CPA question. That path is not available through an S corporation, because a spouse's ownership is attributed to the other spouse.
  • An HSA still requires a qualifying high-deductible plan. From 2026, bronze and catastrophic plans and direct primary care can be HSA-compatible, and pre-deductible telehealth is allowed. The HSA card is the only place that contribution is counted.
  • The premium in the tax picture uses this eligibility result once. This is not a recommendation. Ask your CPA.
  • If your 2026 income ends up above 400% of the federal poverty level, you may have to pay back all advance premium tax credit. Starting in 2026 there is no cap on repaying excess advance credit. Whether any later extension of the enhanced credit became law is unverified, confirm with CPA.

Qualified business income

The deduction in the tax picture already reflects this.

Legit

Qualified business income, 2026

The tax picture already includes a draft QBI deduction. Bonus depreciation and section 179 reduce that base.

  • A sole proprietorship, partnership, or S corporation with profit can be eligible. A C corporation is not. Specified-service businesses phase out above the income threshold.
  • The draft threshold is $403,500 joint and $201,750 for other statuses. The phase-in width is $150,000 joint and $75,000 otherwise.
  • If the deduction would be smaller than $400 and active QBI is at least $1,000, the draft uses the minimum. Material participation is not tested.
  • Form 8995 is the short form at or under the threshold. Form 8995-A is the longer form above it. This app does not file either form.
  • Equipment of $4,000 was entered. When that purchase is in the tax picture, profit is lower, so the QBI base is lower. The same purchase is not deducted a second time.
  • Wisconsin has no QBI deduction. This is not a recommendation. Ask your CPA.

Did you know

Pointers to amounts that are already entered somewhere else.

Legit

Did you know: advertising and marketing

A website, ads, cards, and a sponsorship can be ordinary business costs.

  • Advertising is Schedule C line 8. Enter it in the advertising list once. Do not also type it as equipment or as a prepaid bill.
  • A personal hobby post or a gift over the gift limit is not advertising.
  • No advertising dollars were entered, so nothing is in the tax picture.
  • This is not a recommendation. Ask your CPA.

Legit

Did you know: one-offs people miss

These already have their own cards or lines. This list does not add a second deduction.

  • An accountable plan is how a corporation repays an owner's business costs. See that card. Do not also deduct the same receipt on a personal return.
  • Paying a child for real work, the 14-day home rental, the home office, and the vehicle each have one card. The same miles, room, or wages are not priced twice.
  • Business meals are generally 50%. That rate is already on the everyday-expenses card.
  • Startup costs and the de minimis safe harbor are their own strategies. A purchase is one or the other, not both.
  • The saver's credit, an HSA, and Trump Accounts each have a narrow eligibility test. The HSA and Trump Account cards are the only dollar places.
  • Prepaying a bill the business already needs can be deductible under the 12-month rule. It is not a reason to buy something extra. The prepaid line is the only place that amount is counted.
  • A dependent care FSA has a draft 2026 household limit of $7,500. Enter it once on the tax step. Pending CPA review.
  • A return can often be amended for about three years. That is a CPA question, not a new deduction.
  • Retirement, side by side, pending CPA review: a SEP is often opened and funded by the return due date, including extensions. A SIMPLE employee deferral is $17,000, plus $4,000 at age 50, and the plan is generally opened by October 1. A Solo 401(k) for a sole proprietor with no employees can be opened after December 31, up to the original due date without extensions, for the first year of deferrals. S corporation deferrals still go through payroll by December 31. A defined benefit or cash balance plan uses an actuary. The draft annual benefit limit is $290,000.
  • A spouse on the business payroll does not save Social Security tax. FICA still applies. There is no FUTA on a spouse. The spouse's employee 401(k) deferral shares the same limit as a W-2 job.
  • This is not a recommendation. Ask your CPA.

Strategies

Startup and organizational costs

Lee Goods · $1,050–$1,450

Costs to investigate and open a business, before it is running, can sometimes be partly deducted in the first year. The rest is spread over 180 months. Startup costs and organizational costs are figured separately, each with its own first-year amount.

Records: Low

This area is usually a smaller recordkeeping item when the amount is ordinary.

Records to keep

  • Invoices and dates, with a note of whether the business was open yet
  • The month the business started serving customers

This meter is an estimate of how often this area draws questions. It is not a prediction of an audit. Pending CPA review.

    Section 179 and bonus depreciation

    Lee Goods · $800–$1,100

    A business that buys equipment, machinery, computers, software, or a qualifying vehicle and has it ready to use by December 31 may be able to deduct a large share of the cost in the year it is placed in service. Section 179 is limited by business income. Bonus depreciation can create a loss. Wisconsin may not follow the federal bonus rules.

    Records: High

    This area is often questioned when the records are thin.

    Records to keep

    • Invoice, proof of payment, and the delivery or in-service date
    • A short note of the business use percentage
    • For a vehicle: the gross vehicle weight and a mileage or use log

    This meter is an estimate of how often this area draws questions. It is not a prediction of an audit. Pending CPA review.

      Solo 401(k)

      Lee Goods · $1,150–$1,550

      An owner-only 401(k) can allow an employee deferral plus an employer contribution. The deferral limit is per person across every 401(k), including a day job and a spouse's plan. A sole proprietor with no employees can open a first-year plan after December 31, up to the original return due date without extensions, for that year's deferrals. S corporation deferrals still go through payroll by December 31. A business with employees other than the owner and spouse generally cannot use a solo plan. Contributions do not reduce self-employment tax in this draft.

      Records: Medium

      This area needs a clear file, and a few facts are still open or the rules are easy to mix up.

      Records to keep

      • Day-job 401(k) contributions year to date, for each person
      • Plan adoption paperwork and the payroll or funding records
      • Ages, because catch-up contributions depend on age

      This meter is an estimate of how often this area draws questions. It is not a prediction of an audit. Pending CPA review.

        SEP-IRA

        Lee Goods · $250–$300

        A SEP-IRA lets a profitable business set aside retirement money, often up until the tax return due date including extensions. For a sole proprietor the draft math uses about 20% of net earnings after half of the self-employment tax. Contributions do not reduce self-employment tax in this draft.

        Records: Medium

        This area needs a clear file, and a few facts are still open or the rules are easy to mix up.

        Records to keep

        • The profit figure used for the contribution
        • A list of employees and their eligibility
        • Records of contributions already made

        This meter is an estimate of how often this area draws questions. It is not a prediction of an audit. Pending CPA review.

          SEP-IRA and Solo 401(k), side by side

          Household · Not estimated

          A SEP is an employer contribution based on that business's earnings. It does not use the W-2 401(k) or 403(b) deferral limit, and it can often be opened and funded by the return due date, including extensions. A Solo 401(k) adds an employee deferral. That deferral is per person across every 401(k), including a day job and a spouse on payroll. A first-year sole proprietor with no employees can open the plan after December 31, up to the original due date without extensions. A SIMPLE plan has its own lower deferral and is generally opened by October 1. A defined benefit or cash balance plan is set by an actuary. Each unrelated employer's annual-additions limit is separate. This card does not tell anyone to switch plans.

          Records: Medium

          This area needs a clear file, and a few facts are still open or the rules are easy to mix up.

          Records to keep

          • Year-to-date W-2 401(k) or 403(b) deferrals and any employer match
          • Business retirement plan type and contributions already made
          • A list of which person owns each business

          This meter is an estimate of how often this area draws questions. It is not a prediction of an audit. Pending CPA review.

            Client review · YEWO