Articles
Plain-English explainers for each deduction, organised by topic. Every rule stated traces to the IRS source named on the page.
The 1099-K Threshold Now: Over $20,000 AND Over 200 Transactions
The restored 1099-K rule, why the $600 articles are wrong, the payment card exception, and why your income is taxable either way.
2026-10-18 · 1099 Forms
1099-K vs 1099-NEC vs 1099-MISC: Which Form Covers Your Payment
Platform payments, direct client payments and card payments side by side: who issues which form, at what threshold, and what lands where.
2026-10-18 · 1099 Forms
The 1099-NEC Threshold: $600 Through 2025, $2,000 From 2026
The year split is the whole story: which threshold applies to contractor and business payments depends on when the payment was made.
2026-10-18 · 1099 Forms
How to Check Where Your Car Was Finally Assembled
The two IRS-recognised routes: the Monroney label and the NHTSA VIN decoder, plus a worked walkthrough with a fictional VIN.
2026-10-18 · Car Loan
Car Loan Interest Deduction Examples, Worked by Hand
The register check at MAGI $124,200, the one-dollar-over case, a business offset, and how fast the round-up phase-out reaches zero.
2026-10-18 · Car Loan
Car Loan Interest Deduction: Every Qualification in Plain English
New vehicle, US final assembly, loan after 2024, first lien, personal use: the five tests, plus the two points buyers get wrong.
2026-10-18 · Car Loan
Deduction vs Tax Credit: What a Deduction Is Actually Worth to You
Why a $3,000 deduction is not $3,000 off your tax, how marginal rates decide the saving, and why this site asks for your rate instead of assuming one.
2026-10-18 · Guides
Employer Overtime and Tips Reporting for 2026: What Payroll Must Do
Mandatory W-2 reporting from 2026: Box 12 codes TT and TP, Box 14b occupation codes, the W-2c correction duty and the rare 1099 cases.
2026-10-18 · W-2 Forms
No Tax on Overtime: Who Qualifies and What Actually Counts
The overtime deduction covers only the FLSA premium over your regular rate. Who qualifies, what counts, the caps, and the mistakes that inflate the number.
2026-10-18 · Overtime
No Tax on Tips: Who Qualifies, What Counts and the $25,000 Cap
The tips deduction explained: the before-2025 occupation test, voluntary tips, reporting, the per-return cap, phase-out and joint filing rule.
2026-10-18 · Tips
OBBBA Deductions FAQ: Quick Answers Across All Four Changes
Short answers to the questions that do not belong to one deduction: years, AGI, refunds, state rules and how much a deduction saves.
2026-10-18 · Guides
The New OBBBA Deductions, Explained in Plain English
All four new Schedule 1-A changes in one guide: overtime premium, tips, car loan interest and the 1099 thresholds, who each covers and where each number comes from.
2026-10-18 · Guides
Overtime on Your W-2: Why 2025 and 2026 Are Different
2025 was a transition year with paystub relief under Notices 2025-62 and 2025-69. From 2026, Box 12 code TT reporting is mandatory and controls the claim.
2026-10-18 · Overtime
Overtime Paystub Guide: Finding the Premium When Your Stub Shows One Total
The divide-by-3 method for time-and-a-half totals, divide-by-4 for double time, separate premium lines, and the 2025 paystub rules from Notice 2025-69.
2026-10-18 · Overtime
Overtime Deduction Examples, Worked by Hand
Four worked examples: the $30-an-hour canary case, a paystub total, a double-time case and a phase-out case, each following Schedule 1-A Part III.
2026-10-18 · Overtime
W-2 Box 12 Codes TT and TP, and Box 14b: What the New Entries Mean
Code TT is qualified overtime, code TP is qualified tips, and Box 14b carries your Treasury Tipped Occupation Code. Where each number goes on Schedule 1-A.
2026-10-18 · W-2 Forms
Schedule 1-A Guide: How to Claim the New Deductions, Part by Part
What each part of Schedule 1-A does, where each number comes from, and where the total lands on Form 1040.
2026-10-18 · Guides
Your Code TT Figure Does Not Match Your Paystub: What to Do
Run the divide-by-3 check first, understand the common employer-side causes, and follow the W-2c correction route when the W-2 is wrong.
2026-10-18 · W-2 Forms
Tips Deduction Examples, Worked by Hand
A server near the cap, two earners on one return, a phase-out case and a service-charge case where the answer is zero.
2026-10-18 · Tips
What Counts as a Qualified Tip (and What Does Not)
Service charges, auto-gratuities, tip pools, card tips, digital assets and recharacterised wages: the edge cases of the tips deduction, one by one.
2026-10-18 · Tips