Opscale Exchange

09/02/2026

It is Wellness Wednesday. This month we are talking with Joel Carter, founder and CEO of WellCore 360, about employee benefits.

First up: what is broken. Costs keep climbing, and high deductible plans leave a big number sitting between your employees and their actual benefits. There is a better conversation to have, and it starts before something goes wrong.

Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/JUgbZbMUMQI

09/01/2026

An estimated $64.8 billion in tax credits goes unclaimed every year. Tri Merit, 2025.

Not because businesses do not qualify. Because nobody at the table knew the program existed, or knew how to document it well enough to claim it.

Most of that money belongs to companies doing ordinary things. Improving a product. Buying a building. Running a kitchen with tipped staff.

If nobody has ever walked your books looking for this, it is worth an hour.

https://opscaleexchange.com/specialty-tax-desk/

08/31/2026

The August recap on IEEPA tariff refunds, in short:

$166 billion paid under tariffs the Supreme Court ruled unauthorized. More than half of importers still have not filed. The unclaimed money skews small business. Filed claims sit stronger than unfiled ones while the appeal plays out.

The window is open today. Comment REFUND or message us to find out where you stand. No cost to look.

08/28/2026

A retailer absorbs six figures in tariffs, then the Supreme Court rules those tariffs were never authorized. Now it is a refund claim.

The fork in the road: wait for the government to pay whenever it pays, or take an advance against the filed claim and fund the holiday inventory buy now.

Same refund either way. Very different year.

Comment ADVANCE or message us, whether you are at the filing stage or the waiting stage.

08/28/2026

The refund is often not the whole story.

Robert Shapiro of Thompson Coburn, on what importers tend to find once they finally look: goods misclassified under the wrong provision, valuation approaches that lower duty going forward, savings sitting in plain sight.

The IEEPA refund is the reason to open the file. It is rarely the only thing in it.

hub.opscaleexchange.com

08/27/2026

Did your business pay tariffs in 2025?

If you imported anything, you did.

$100 billion in tariff refunds has already gone out. About $66 billion is still owed, and a lot of it belongs to smaller businesses that don't know to file.

If you paid the duty, you're probably owed money back.

We'll tell you how much, free. Message us.

08/27/2026

"My grandfather was a customs broker. My father was a customs broker. My sisters are customs brokers. I was a customs broker before I decided to do something legal."

That is Robert Shapiro of Thompson Coburn, and it is the best answer we have heard to the question of why you would want a trade and customs attorney rather than a generalist.

There are not many people who do this work. There are about to be a lot more, for obvious reasons.

When you are choosing who to trust with your IEEPA refund, depth in the actual subject matter is not a nice to have.

Full conversation on our YouTube channel. hub.opscaleexchange.com

08/26/2026

New episode of the podcast. Joel Carter, founder and CEO of WellCore 360, walks through a benefits program that sits alongside your existing health plan and works inside the tax code.

The part worth your time: Ron asks him straight out what the IRS is warning about with Section 125 plans, and Joel answers it head on.

Watch the full conversation: https://youtu.be/JUgbZbMUMQI
Learn more: https://opscaleexchange.com/wellcore360/

Most owners think of health benefits as a cost that only goes up. R...

08/26/2026

Best line from our IEEPA conversation, and the most useful one:

"I believe in the Don Corleone method of compliance. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. I'm not saying the government is your enemy, but you're better off knowing who they are and them knowing who you are, and dealing with them straight."

A lot of small importers stay quiet because they are worried about what a closer look might turn up. Our guest, U.S. trade and customs attorney Robert Shapiro of Thompson Coburn, argues the opposite: the exposure is worse in the dark.

Straight dealing is also how you find the money you are owed.

Full episode on our YouTube channel.

08/26/2026

"Is there a deadline to file for my IEEPA tariff refund?"

Honest answer: no hard deadline has been announced. But the government is appealing the refund orders, and its position would narrow who gets paid. A filed, accepted claim is in a stronger position than an unfiled one, and that part is fully in your control.

If you have been meaning to look into this, this is the week. Comment REFUND or message us. No cost to find out.