Federal Tax Rule Guides

Find the Rule Before You Use the Strategy

AE Tax Advisors' tax-rule guides explain the federal requirements behind commonly discussed planning strategies. Each guide identifies the governing rule, the facts that change the result, the records to keep, and the point where individualized advice becomes necessary.

Use this page as a topic map. It connects detailed articles on entity taxation, real estate, depreciation, return corrections, and IRS compliance so you can move from a broad question to the exact rule that controls it.

Business Entity and Owner Tax Rules

Start with the rules that determine how business income is classified, reported, and paid to owners.

• Qualified Business Income Deduction
  Section 199A eligibility, 2026 thresholds, limitations, and planning decisions.
• Disregarded Entity Rules
  How a single-member LLC is treated for income, payroll, and excise-tax purposes.
• S Corporation Reasonable Compensation
  What the IRS looks for when an owner is both a shareholder and an employee.
• Partnership Distributions and Section 731
  When cash and property distributions can create recognized gain.

Real Estate and Passive Activity Rules

These guides explain when rental losses are passive, when an exception may apply, and which records support the position.

• Real Estate Professional Status
  The 750-hour test, more-than-half test, material participation, and grouping.
• Passive Activity Loss Rules
  How Section 469 limits rental and business losses and when suspended losses are released.
• Short-Term Rental Tax Rules
  Average rental period, material participation, depreciation, and the limits of the strategy.
• 1031 Exchange Timeline
  The 45-day identification deadline, 180-day exchange period, and return-date limit.
• Augusta Rule
  The fewer-than-15-day residence rental rule, fair-market pricing, business purpose, and documentation.

Depreciation and Cost Recovery Rules

Use these resources to identify the right recovery period, method, convention, and election for business or rental property.

• MACRS Depreciation Tables
  Recovery periods, methods, conventions, and commonly used percentage tables.
• Cost Segregation Studies
  How building components can be classified into shorter federal recovery periods.
• Bonus Depreciation
  Current-year eligibility, placed-in-service timing, and interaction with other deductions.
• Section 179 vs. Bonus Depreciation
  The practical differences in limits, eligible property, and ordering.
• Form 3115 Lookback
  How an accounting-method change can address missed depreciation without amending every prior return.

Corrections, Deadlines, and IRS Compliance

These guides help owners understand the path for correcting returns and responding to common compliance problems.

• Amended Tax Returns
  When an amendment is appropriate, what changes, and what supporting records matter.
• Amended Business Returns
  Corrections for business filings and the related owner-level effects.
• IRS Penalty Abatement
  Common relief paths, evidence to gather, and how reasonable cause is evaluated.
• Tax Compliance and IRS Representation
  Support for notices, examinations, filings, and unresolved tax accounts.

How to Use These Guides

1. Start with classification. Determine the taxpayer, entity, activity, and property involved.
2. Check timing. Many tax results depend on when an election is made, property is placed in service, or a transaction closes.
3. Document the facts. Time logs, invoices, agreements, valuations, and proof of business purpose often determine whether a position can be defended.
4. Model the full return. A deduction can affect basis, passive losses, payroll, state taxes, and future gain.

These pages provide general education, not advice for a specific return. Review the full facts with a qualified tax professional before implementing a strategy.

More AE Tax Resources

• Tax Strategy Pillar Guides
• Tax Glossary
• Tax Planning Blog
• Tax Planning Case Studies