Emerald Tax & Accounting

10/16/2026

𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝘆 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗺𝘂𝗺 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗮𝘅𝗲𝘀?

It can lower your taxable income for one year, but delaying that first RMD can leave you taking two required distributions the following year.

When you reach RMD age, you get a one-time option to delay your first distribution until April 1 of the following year.

But your second RMD still has to be taken by December 31 of that same year.

That means you could have two RMDs reported on one tax return.

That extra income could push some of your income into a higher tax bracket. It could also increase your income enough to trigger higher Medicare Part B and Part D premiums two years later.

Before choosing the April 1 delay, take time to estimate your income both ways: 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘙𝘔𝘋 𝘣𝘺 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 31 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘙𝘔𝘋𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳.

If you want help running those numbers before you make the decision, don’t hesitate to contact us. We can look at both years and see how each option affects your tax bracket and Medicare income thresholds.

10/16/2026

10/15/2026

Married homeowners may be able to exclude up to $500,000 in capital gains when selling their primary residence, even when the spouses have different ownership histories.

Discover the IRS requirements, important exceptions and planning considerations that could affect your tax outcome.

If you are married and plan to sell your home, you may be able to exclude up to $500,000 of gain from tax.

10/15/2026

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗲?

Your business can show a profit on paper even when you haven't actually collected all of that money from your customers.

If you use accrual-basis accounting, revenue gets recorded when you issue an invoice, not when the customer actually pays you.

That means your Profit & Loss statement can include revenue you haven't collected yet.

So you might see a healthy profit number while a chunk of that money is still sitting in Accounts Receivable.

This is why your P&L and bank balance tell you different things about your business.

Your P&L shows financial performance based on your accounting method. Your bank account shows the cash you actually have available.

If there's a big gap between the two, pull your Accounts Receivable aging report and look at how much of your revenue is tied up in unpaid invoices, especially those that are 90+ days past due.

𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘴?
DM us if you want clearer visibility into your true cash position.

10/14/2026

Top financial moves in the last few months of the year...GO

10/13/2026

𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗜𝗥𝗔 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝘅𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲?

Yes, IRA withdrawals can increase what the IRS calls your provisional income, which determines how much of your Social Security benefits become taxable.

The IRS calculates provisional income using:
• Your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI)
• Tax-exempt interest
• 50% of your Social Security benefits

Depending on that total, your Social Security falls into one of three ranges: none of your benefits are taxable, up to 50% can be taxable, or up to 85% can be taxable.

But that doesn't mean you're paying an 85% tax rate on Social Security. Instead, up to 85% of the benefits you received could be included in your taxable income and then taxed at your ordinary income tax rate.

𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘭: Even tax-exempt interest counts in this calculation.

For example, interest from municipal bonds may not be taxable itself, but the IRS still adds it when calculating your provisional income. That additional income could push you across a threshold where a larger portion of your Social Security becomes taxable.

The same thing can happen when you take additional taxable withdrawals from a Traditional IRA. A larger withdrawal raises your AGI, which can raise your provisional income and potentially make more of your Social Security taxable too.

𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦?