Fair market value (FMV) is the price that property would sell for on the open market. It is the price that would be agreed on between a willing buyer and a willing seller, with neither being required to act, and both having reasonable knowledge of the relevant facts.

Source: IRS Publication 561

This definition is the standard the IRS uses to determine if an item sold or donated by you is valued properly for income tax purposes. It's also a definition that's open to interpretation. If the IRS decides your FMV opinion is incorrect, you're not only subject to more taxes, but also penalties to boot.

Here are some tips to help defend your FMV in case of an audit.

Most of us go through life without being concerned with, or ever checking on, our Social Security records. We assume the money deducted each payday and an equal amount paid in by our employer is applied properly to this valuable retirement benefit.

Ignoring is problematic:

The Social Security Administration (SSA) is being inundated with fraudulent W-2s and 1099s, and doesn't have the ability to catch them all. This is creating a high degree of reporting errors, even when a tax return is not filed by identity thieves! In addition, the SSA and your employer occasionally have their own errors. Unfortunately, the only way these problems are caught is if YOU catch them. Waiting until retirement may be too late to correct an error made 10 or 20 years back. Common problems created by these errors and their impact are:

Incorrect amounts:

If the SSA does not receive a W-2 wage statement from an employer, you will not see credit for these earnings. Since your Social Security retirement check amount averages your lifetime earnings, if you have earnings that are missing, your retirement check will be permanently lower!

Missing the correct length of time:

In addition to receiving credit for earnings, you also need to work 40 quarters or 10 years to be fully eligible for retirement benefits. These missing earnings reports reduce your number of working quarters. Mess up here and you may not qualify for benefits at all!

The Social Security Administration announced a 2.8% boost to monthly Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for 2026, another rate drop versus last year's increase of 3.2%. The increase is based on the rise in the Consumer Price Index over the past 12 months ending in September 2025.

For those contributing to Social Security through wages, the potential maximum income subject to Social Security taxes is increasing to $184,500. This represents a 4.8% increase in your Social Security taxes. What's of interest here is the continued practice of raising the income subject to Social Security well beyond the annual Consumer Price Index. Here's a recap of the key dollar amounts:

🚨 California Expands Retirement Plan Mandate — Action needed by December 31, 2025

California has expanded its retirement mandate to the smallest employers. If you have even one W-2 employee (other than the owner or owner’s spouse) and do not sponsor a qualified plan, you must either (a) adopt a private plan (e.g., 401(k), SIMPLE IRA) or (b) register for CalSavers by December 31, 2025.

Penalties for non-compliance: $250 per eligible employee if you remain non-compliant 90+ days after notice, plus an additional $500 per eligible employee at 180+ days. Those add up quickly.

With the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB Act) many who took a standard deduction may now need to consider a potential change to itemizing. If this could be you, it is better to know this now, when you can still take tax advantage of your situation.

The Change:

In 2024 you could only take a maximum of $10,000 as an itemized deduction on Schedule A for taxes of any kind. To make matters worse, this limit was the same for single filers and married filing joint taxpayers, making it one of the most severe marriage penalties in the tax code. So many taxpayers who typically itemized deductions, often found themselves taking the standard deduction.

But effective for tax years 2025 thru 2029, this limit of tax deductions is increasing to $40,000. This will result in many individuals once again itemizing their deductions.

The One Big, Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) was signed into law on July 4, 2025, and with it comes many new tax provisions that may directly affect you.

There are many tax provisions contained in OBBBA beyond the ones we have highlighted here.

As you or your family members approach retirement years, it's important to have a basic understanding of the IRS gift giving rules. With this understanding, there are opportunities to leverage this tax law without creating a tax problem.

The rules

• You may give up to $19,000 to any individual (donee) in 2025 and avoid any gift tax filing requirements.

• If married, you and your spouse may transfer up to $38,000 per donee.

• If you provide a gift to your spouse who is not a U.S. citizen, the annual exclusion amount is $190,000.

• Gifts in excess of this annual amount trigger the need to file a gift tax form with your individual tax return. The excess gift amounts are then added to your estate for potential estate taxation.
• The estate tax currently has a maximum rate of 40% and the donor of the gift (or their estate) is responsible for paying the tax. 

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) permanently extended a harsh TCJA rule: no deduction for “miscellaneous itemized deductions,” including hobby expenses. That’s brutal for dog breeders, because the IRS often labels breeding as a hobby. Translation: income gets taxed, expenses don’t. Hobby income is reported separately on Schedule 1, but most related costs are simply nondeductible.

October 2025

If you’re age 70½ or older, you can transfer money directly from an IRA to qualifying charities. Those transfers are Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs). Thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), QCDs now protect even more tax benefits by keeping AGI/MAGI low while still satisfying charitable goals.

Below is the upgraded, precise version you can publish.

October 2025

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) didn’t just keep Opportunity Zones alive. It made the program permanent, tightened zone eligibility, and changes investor incentives starting January 1, 2027. Below is the upgraded, client-ready explainer with a now-vs-later comparison, a timeline, and the fine print sophisticated readers expect.

Missed your quarterly estimates this year? You’re not alone. The IRS underpayment charge is nondeductible, compounds daily, and snowballs fast. Writing a big check today will stop new penalty accrual from this point forward, but it won’t erase the penalties tied to the quarters you already missed.

There is, however, a lawful way to make it as if you paid each quarter on time. It relies on how the tax code treats withholding from retirement distributions.

There's still time to act!

At the end of each year there are a number of things to consider that may have a positive impact on your tax obligation. Here is a list of ideas that may be worth a quick review while there is still time. And especially this year with recent tax law changes.

We often receive questions about record retention, so let's take a moment to clarify what you need to know.

Overall, the Federal law requires you to maintain copies of your tax returns and supporting documents for three years. This 'three-year law' leads many to believe that this 3-year period is set in stone and all-inclusive, but it is NOT.

The IRS doesn’t care how exciting your rodeo belt buckle is — they care whether you’re engaged in the activity with the actual intent to make a profit.

If it’s a business, losses are deductible.

If it’s a hobby, deductions are limited and can’t create a net loss against other income.

Key Test:

• Can you demonstrate a profit motive?
• The IRS presumes a profit motive exists if you make a profit in 3 out of 5 consecutive years (or 2 out of 7 for horse-related activities, including breeding, racing, and showing — and yes, rodeo counts if horses are integral to the activity).