Grass Roots Taxes

Grass Roots Taxes Taxes, Bookkeeping, and Tax Resolution for small businesses and individuals.

09/02/2026

Tick tock, business owners.

S-corp and partnership extension returns are due September 15.

That means this is not the week to “circle back later” with your accountant.

Gather the bank statements, payroll reports, bookkeeping, K-1 info, and whatever else your preparer has been asking for.

After the deadline, penalties and interest can start.

Get it handled before the sand runs out.

09/02/2026

Using your spouse’s car for your small business?

Yes, you can deduct the mileage if you document it.

You have 2 clean options:

1. Add your spouse’s vehicle to the list of business vehicles on your tax return and track that mileage separately.

Not a big deal.

2. Reimburse your spouse at the current IRS mileage rate. Write a check, send a Venmo, or use something that makes a paper trail. Then deduct the mileage reimbursement as a business expense.

Same idea if you borrow a friend’s car for business. Pay them at the current mileage rate and document it.

Now pay attention:

Do not include rental cars in mileage. Ever.

Rental cars, vans, and trucks use actual rental expenses: rental cost, gas, insurance, fees, deposits, and the rest of the rental charges.

And the 2026 mileage rate changed midyear.

January through June: 72.5 cents per mile.
July through December: 76 cents per mile.

That is a big jump.

You’re going to have to split your mileage by date. Do not split the annual total in half.

You got to give me real numbers.

Check your mileage.

09/01/2026

Itemizers, your charity deduction just got a haircut.

Starting in 2026, people who itemize federal deductions face a new 0.5% floor on charitable giving.

Plain English:

If you make $150,000, 0.5% is $750.

That means the first $750 of charitable giving no longer counts toward your itemized charitable deduction.

This is different from Part 1.

Standard deduction taxpayers gain a small cash charitable deduction in 2026.

Itemizers lose a little charitable deduction because of this floor.

And no, you cannot take the $1,000 standard-deduction charity write-off and also itemize.

You cannot do that.

You are either itemizing or you are not itemizing.

Giving to charity and church is about giving from the heart, not just tax deductions.

Do your good deeds, keep the receipts, bring everything to tax time.

Share this with your rich friends.

09/01/2026

The clock is running out.

If your business files as an S-corp or partnership and you filed an extension, your deadline is September 15.

After September 15, penalties and interest start.

If you have not filed yet, get your information together and get it to your accountant now. Not after the sand runs out.

General education reminder only. Ask your tax professional about your specific situation.

08/31/2026

Good news if you take the standard deduction.

Starting in 2026, cash charitable donations can count in addition to the standard deduction.

That means up to $1,000 per taxpayer, or up to $2,000 if you are married filing jointly.

But listen carefully:

Cash giving counts.
Goodwill receipts do not count for this specific deduction.

Church giving, charity cash donations, $5 school donations, and register roundups can count if you have proof.

This is not automatic.

The IRS does not care what you say. They care what you can prove.

Keep the receipt. Keep the church giving statement. Keep the charity statement.

This video is for people who take the standard deduction. If you normally itemize federally, Part 2 is for you.

Share this with someone who gives to church or charity and needs to start saving receipts.

08/28/2026

Brokerage statements can be rude.

You may have dividends coming in.
You may have interest coming in.
You may still feel like your account balance is going nowhere.

Sometimes the missing piece is fees.

Diane had a client bring in a brokerage statement because he felt like he was not making money. When she looked closer, the account had a lot of fees.

He asked, “Aren’t my fees deductible?”

Generally, no.

For many individual taxpayers, regular brokerage, advisor, account, and investment management fees are generally not deductible under current rules.

Those old miscellaneous itemized deductions disappeared for individuals with a lot of other deductions starting in 2018.

Trade costs connected to buying and selling may already be built into the sale price, proceeds, basis, or gain/loss reporting. The brokerage usually handles that in the reporting.

But separate fees for managing money, holding money, making trades, printing statements, or account maintenance? Generally not deductible.

And yes, you still have to report the brokerage income.

Dividends. Interest. Gains. All of it.

Bring every page of the brokerage statement to your tax preparer.

Not a screenshot and a hopeful smile.

All the pages.

Share this with someone who has a brokerage account and thinks fees automatically create deductions.

08/27/2026

The case of the overconfident software.

Tax-time story.

A new entrepreneur came in to file his side hustle for the first time. He was using bookkeeping software, which is great.

I love organized numbers.

However.

The software decided he needed quarterly estimated payments.

Why?

Because he entered sales.

Only sales.

No expenses. No deductions. No full tax picture.

Quarter after quarter, the software insisted he send money to the IRS. So he did.

Meanwhile, his cash flow was struggling, and he had to borrow money to pay things off.

Then he filed his taxes and got a big refund.

Why?

The software was wrong because the information he put in was wrong.

Garbage in, garbage out.

Quarterly estimated payments are not bad. They can be necessary and helpful when calculated correctly.

But don’t always trust the computer.

Estimated payments should consider income, expenses, deductions, prior-year tax, withholding, credits if relevant, and safe harbor rules.

If you’re an entrepreneur making money, talk to a tax professional and find out whether you should be paying quarterly estimates.

Share this with a side hustler or new business owner using bookkeeping software.

08/26/2026

Asked for a W-9?

It usually means someone is going to pay you.

A Form W-9 gives the payer your tax information so they can keep good records and figure out whether they may need to send you a 1099 at the end of the year.

It asks for your name, address, tax ID number, EIN if you have one, Social Security number if you do not, and your entity type.

That entity type matters.

Sole proprietor? LLC? Corporation? S corp?

Corporations generally do not get 1099s in many common contractor situations. Individuals and many small business owners do.

That is why you do not send a 1099 to the electric company.

Also, sign the form.

By signing, you are certifying information under penalties of perjury, including backup withholding status.

And please remember:

A W-9 is not an employment form.
It is not a promise of employment.
It is not filed with the IRS.
It is kept in the payer’s records.

This is why they need an actual W-9 and not a bar napkin.

Share this with someone who freelances, side hustles, pays contractors, or keeps asking, “Why do they need my W-9?”

08/26/2026

More vacation highlights - now in Philly! A few highlights from last part of vacation. Good food, good views, lots of walking, and yes — I’m back because it is always tax time.

08/25/2026

The case of the child nobody claimed.

Tax-time story.

Mom and dad had been using Diane for years. Probably a decade.

Mom claimed the child as a dependent. Dad claimed head of household. In some situations, parents can do that if the rules are met.

Then Diane filed mom’s return.

Rejected.

Somebody already claimed the kid.

Was it grandma? No.
Was it the child with a summer job? No.
Was it dad? They thought he had not filed yet.

Then they found out dad had filed a paper return with “a friend” because he wanted to file for free.

Dad did not mean to claim the child as a dependent.

But the friend put the child’s name and Social Security number in the dependency section instead of the head-of-household section.

That was enough to reject mom’s return.

Dad ended up paying Diane anyway, extra, to fix the mess.

Mom and dad had drama.

Moral of the story: if you have kids with another person and you are not married, please use the same tax preparer every year.

If you can’t agree on anything else, agree on one tax preparer.

Share this with a co-parent before tax time gets dramatic.

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