Campfire Wisdom Blog

Has God blessed you with a more than comfortable estate of $15 million or more? The bad news is that Uncle Sam stands to be an uninvited heir unless you do some planning. Estate tax on any estate over that current $15 million threshold is 40%. Ouch! Even if your estate is under that $15 million amount, but you have still got enough that you feel comfortable giving some of it away, here are some thoughts to consider. In 2026, you can give up to $19,000 per individual to

Can you believe it? October already! In less than three months, we’ll be welcoming in 2027. Ok! Don’t panic yet. There is still time to do some good tax planning. Here are some thoughts to consider. You now have ¾ of 2026 to look at. How does it compare to the same point in 2025? Do you have some areas that you can do some concentrated planning with? Do you have a retirement plan? Look at your contributions so far. Can you max them out before December 31st. Lo

For all you real hard-core procrastinators out there, you still have plenty of time before you need to file your 2025 tax return. Go ahead and put off preparing your tax return until Wednesday night October 14th or even Thursday October 15th. Here are some tips on making sure you prepared your return correctly. First, check the social security numbers on your W-2s, W-2Gs, 1099s, and schedule K-1s. If your social security number is incorrect, the IRS computer will not be

Probably one of the most often asked questions I get, has to do with auto related expense deductions. Let’s get the number one decision point out of the way. Are you an employee using your vehicle on behalf of your employer and not being fully reimbursed for your costs? BAD NEWS. After 2017, the “employee business expense” deduction as a part of Miscellaneous Itemized Deductions is gone. You don’t get any tax deduction. BEST, have your employer reimburse you by the cur

Back in April, I discussed alternative options for helping children save during their growing up years. Section 529 accounts for direct college savings, IRAs and ROTH IRAs, and the new Trump Accounts. Trump Accounts were created a year ago in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. They didn’t start being active until July 4, 2026. A Trump Account resembles a traditional IRA mixed up with a Section 529 education savings plan account. Annual contributions (currently maxed at $5

This credit has been around for a while, but the maximum credit originally was usually not enough to get employer’s attention. Recently, the OBBBA (One Big Beautiful Bill Act) increased the maximum credit from $150,000 to $500,000. So, if you employ workers with young children and have been considering employer-sponsored childcare as a recruiting or retention tool, this is the year to make that happen. Basically, under Internal Revenue Code 45F, employers can claim a t

The IRS requires most taxpayers to pay taxes as they earn income through withholding or quarterly estimated payments. If you pay too little, the IRS imposes an underpayment penalty calculated at the federal short-term rate plus 3%, which is currently at 7% for 2026. That rate is applied to the underpaid amount for each day it remains outstanding. There are some ways to avoid that penalty. The first is to pay 90% of your 2026 liability. Kinda hard to do, since you haven’t

Every once in a while, the Congress comes up with a crazy idea that they want to reward with tax breaks in order to encourage certain behavior. In this case, Congress wants to see more folks go out and start small businesses. Currently, small businesses make up almost exactly half of the US economy. For once, I agree with Congress in their efforts to encourage the creation of more small businesses. This particular tax break, the QSBS (which stands for Qualified Small Bus

Filing a tax return as “married filing joint” has many tax benefits. Lower overall tax rates, maximized income tax deductions and credits, etc. In a community property state, like Nevada, unless you had a pre-nuptial agreement, the rules require reporting everything 50/50, just taxed at a higher tax rate. Thus, the tax savings alone could be the overriding reason to file a joint tax return. Problem with married filing joint status, each spouse assumes 100% of the liabili

Food! I love food. In fact, some could say, “Food is my best friend! It’s there when I’m down to console me. It’s there to help me celebrate stuff. And when there is nothing to do, it’s there.” First time I heard the term “Cafeteria Plan” years ago, I immediately thought it was about companies that offered a food service option on site as part of working there. Its about offering a “menu” of fringe benefits for employees to pick and choose from. (Disability Insuranc

Well, thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), there are provisions for deducting certain Tip and Overtime pay from taxable income. The maximum deduction for Tip income is $25,000 with a MAGI phase-out starting at $150,000 single or $300,000 for marrieds. Maximum Overtime deduction is $12,500 single and $25,000 for marrieds with the same MAGI phase-out rules. The challenge, is how to compute the correct amounts. For the 2025 tax year, some employers took the tro

Yippy Kai Yai Yay! (That’s cowboy for hooray! One of my dad’s favorite sayings.) Taxpayers across the fruited plains are celebrating this fantastic news. Turns out that Congress reduced the IRS budget recently by 9% compared to the prior year. The House is already making noise to slash the IRS budget further in 2027. The IRS has lost over 20% of its workers since Trump took office, through voluntary deferred resignations and layoffs with more departures expected later

Hidden inside the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA for short) that passed a year ago, is a quirky little thing called the Federal Scholarship Tax Credit (FSTC). Nobody has talked much about it since it doesn’t kick in until the 2027 tax year. (That’s tax returns filed in 2028.) It is a non-refundable federal tax credit of up to $1,700 for individuals who donate cash (not property) to qualifying organizations that are created to provide scholarships to K-12 students. It

Congress created it. Their intent was to prevent folks from letting their retirement savings continue to accumulate when somebody reaches retirement age. Once again, Congress seems to know definitively when everyone should retire. RMD stands for Required Minimum Distribution. The Internal Revenue Code (written by Congress) requires a taxpayer to begin taking withdrawals from their traditional IRA, SIMPLE IRA, SEP IRA or retirement plan account when they reach 73 years ol

What comes to your mind when you think of Independence Day 1776 and Taxes? The Boston Tea Party right? Well, you need to know the background story. The British Empire was quite far reaching and expensive to maintain back then. After a painfully costly war with France in 1763, King George was literally bankrupt, so Parliament passed a bunch of tax acts, levied against outlying colonies, including America. Most were rejected rather quickly, like the Stamp Act, the Townshe

Do you own a business? Is your spouse currently unemployed? Do you need another employee? Why not hire your spouse? One last question. Would having your spouse work with you cause stress and trouble in your marriage? If so, then forget the rest of this article, don’t hire your spouse. It’s not worth ruining your marriage over. There are some tax and financial benefits when you hire your spouse. First benefit is having your spouse salt away the maximum contribution

Just about everybody makes donations to charity. Rounding up on a fast-food purchase, giving old stuff to The Salvation Army (or other similar charities like Goodwill, FISH, Classy Seconds, etc.). Buying Girl Scout cookies. Dropping a few bucks at the request of various charities standing outside Wal-Mart. Etc. Americans are quite generous people. It used to be a given that they could also deduct that generosity on their tax return. Way back in 2018, most folks lost t

One of my favorite magazines is called “Nevada Business.” It does originate in Southern Nevada, but they do a great job of giving great information on businesses in all of Nevada. Every year, they do a poll of decision makers – executives and business owners – across the entire state of Nevada. Most of the respondents are long termers…having been in business in Nevada for 20 or more years. I wanted to share just a few interesting observations. If you want to read the e

Now the title of this article might get some folks riled up. There is a process called “eminent domain” where the government can end up taking some or all your land. Usually for roads, but sometimes for utility access, conservation, wildlife habitat, etc. When the government condemns your land under the eminent domain process, you get paid the fair market value of the land. Then, you might end up having to pay capital gains tax depending on your cost basis. There is a

Surprise! Surprise! (Famous quote from Gomer Pile) When it comes to understanding the ins and outs of education tax credits, most folks get it all wrong American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) is a maximum annual $2,500 credit to be used for up to four years of study for every student in the family. (That includes mom and dad.) That is potentially $10,000 spread out over at least the first 4 years. Not bad! To qualify, a student must be enrolled in pursuing a degree in