Category: Tax Planning

If you’ve been researching retirement planning, you’ve probably come across the term Backdoor Roth IRA. It sounds complicated—almost like a secret tax strategy—but it really isn’t. A Backdoor Roth IRA isn’t a special type of retirement account, a tax loophole, or a hidden IRS program. It’s simply a series of transactions that use existing retirement…

Tactical. Practical. Efficient. At Fortitude Tax & Accounting, these three words guide nearly everything we do. As business owners ourselves, we understand that time, cash flow, and attention are limited resources. Our clients don’t need more reports, more meetings, or more complexity. They need clear guidance, practical recommendations, and enough time to take meaningful action….

If you only think about taxes once a year — usually in April — you may be missing some of the biggest opportunities to save money, avoid IRS penalties, and protect your cash flow with tax planning. Tax planning isn’t just for the ultra-wealthy or giant corporations. It’s for business owners, consultants, and professionals who…

Starting a new business is exciting — but nothing takes the wind out of your sails like your first unexpected tax bill. Many first-year business owners who find themselves profitable are caught off guard by the self-employment tax. As a W-2 employee, your employer handled payroll taxes and you simply lived on your take-home pay….

If you’ve heard of estimated tax payments, you probably think of self-employed business owners and retirees with no tax withholding. But the truth is, there are many situations where you might need to make estimated payments — even if you have a W-2 job or your income seems predictable. Miss these situations, and you could…

If you’ve ever worried about underpayment penalties, the IRS safe harbor rules can be your best friend. These rules give you a clear target for how much to pay in estimated taxes so you can avoid penalties — even if your actual tax bill ends up higher. Yet, many business owners (and even some accountants)…

Many old-school accountants love to pull out their calculators every quarter and make your tax planning feel more complicated (and stressful) than it needs to be. The truth? The IRS doesn’t require you to recalculate every quarter unless you want to — and for most business owners, there’s a better, simpler way. Let’s look at…

If tax time feels like déjà vu every year—scrambling for documents, dreading the bill, and wondering how you’ll cover it—you’re probably stuck in what I call the Tax Time Hamster Wheel. It’s exhausting. You’re working hard, but every April you feel like you’re in the exact same place as last year. The bill’s still a…

If you’re making estimated tax payments, you’re already ahead of the game compared to most business owners. But here’s the catch: doing them wrong can still leave you with penalties, cash flow headaches, or a double whammy at tax time. It can also keep you stuck on what we call the Tax Time Hamster Wheel—where…

What Self-Employment Tax Covers Self-employment tax (SE tax) is how you pay into Social Security and Medicare when you work for yourself: Social Security: 12.4% Medicare: 2.9% Total: 15.3% When you work for yourself, one of the most common surprises for new entrepreneurs is the size of their first tax bill. I can’t tell you…