Reeder’s Digest: Our Running Commentary on Tax Law

Reeder’s Digest is where we write down what we think about the tax changes that actually reach our clients. Each entry is dated, plain-spoken, and tied to a real bill, a real ruling, or a real number. We do not chase every headline. We write when something moves the math on a return we file, and we tell you what we are doing about it.

What This Is

Tax law changes faster than most people want to track, and a lot of what gets published about it is either a press release in disguise or a panic piece. Reeder’s Digest is our attempt to cut through that. When a deduction percentage shifts, when a reporting regime gets repealed, when a state walks back a credit, we put a short note here with our read on it and the practical answer for the people we work with. Dates matter, so every post carries one. If we change our view later because the law or the guidance changed, we say so rather than quietly editing the old take.

The voice is the same one you get on a call with us. We are not writing for other tax professionals to admire. We are writing for the founder, the fund principal, the real estate owner, and the household that wants to know whether a given change costs them money or saves them money this year. That means we name the IRC section or the bill number, work a quick dollar example where it helps, and stop before it turns into a lecture.

How to Use It

Read it the way you would read a digest. Skim the recent commentary below, open the posts that touch your situation, and skip the ones that do not. A note about the 199A pass-through deduction matters to you if you run a flow-through business and does not if you only have W-2 income. A note about New York City PTET matters to you if you have a New York entity and does not if you file in Texas. We tag each post with the kind of taxpayer it affects so you can triage quickly.

Reeder’s Digest folds in what used to live on our separate Tax News blog. We were running two streams that said similar things, so we consolidated. Every post worth keeping moved here under a clean URL, and new commentary lands here from now on rather than in two places. If you had the old Tax News page bookmarked, this is its replacement, and the archive is reachable from the posts below.

None of this replaces a conversation about your own return. A blog post has to generalize, and your facts are specific. Use these entries to spot what might apply to you, then bring it to us so we can run it against your actual numbers. You can start that on our new client inquiry page.

Recent Commentary

Related Services from The Reed Corporation

Opportunity Zone Funds Face a Tough New Reporting RegimeTreasury proposed a reporting regime for Qualified Opportunity Funds: Form 8996 becomes an annual return, backed by daily penalties. Proposed, not final yet. The Car Loan Interest Deduction Is FinalThe IRS finalized the OBBBA car loan interest deduction. Who gets the $10,000 break, why the income phaseout leaves many out, and the new Form 1098-VLI reporting. The IRS Made OBBBA Research Expensing Easier to ClaimRev. Proc. 2026-32 puts the switch to OBBBA’s restored research expensing on the automatic list, so you file one form with no user fee or advance approval. The IRS Is Ramping Up Nonfiler EnforcementA 2026 watchdog report pushed the IRS to coordinate how it pursues people who never file, and the IRS agreed to all six recommendations. What to do if a year slipped. Texas: Data Processing Sales Tax Under ReviewThe Texas Comptroller signaled a review of the state’s data processing services sales tax after a September roundtable. What businesses with Texas exposure should watch. Austin: Annual Property Reappraisal Is HereTravis County’s appraisal district adopted a plan to reappraise all Austin-area property every year, and the homestead cap is the only thing that softens it. Chicago: A Budget Gap and a Property Tax QuestionChicago’s 2027 budget forecast opens with an $882 million gap, and the mayor won’t rule out a property tax hike. How the city closes it reaches owners either way. The Civil Fraud Penalty: When Expertise BackfiresA 2026 Tax Court decision upheld the 75% civil fraud penalty and treated the taxpayer’s own tax knowledge as proof of intent. What it means for owners. The IRS Is Retiring FIRE: 1099 Filers Move to IRISThe IRS will shut off its FIRE e-file system on November 19. Businesses that file 1099s must switch to IRIS for the 2027 season, and the setup takes lead time. Chicago: Cook County Tax Bills Due October 1Cook County’s second-installment property tax bills for 2025 mail September 1 and are due October 1. The window is tight, so check the bill before you pay. The 90-Day Tax Court Deadline Just Got Riskier to MissA federal appeals court ruled the deadline to petition the Tax Court can’t be extended for hardship or a late notice, splitting from other circuits. Why a disputed IRS bill is a date to guard.Chicago: Storm Damage Can Lower a 2027 Cook County Tax BillCook County opened prefiling appeals for storm-damaged property. This year’s damage can cut a 2027 bill if you document it, and the first townships close September 1.IRS Moves to Drop a Trust Filing Most Trustees ForgetProposed rules would end the Form 1041-A filing for trusts whose only charitable deduction flows up from a partnership or S corporation K-1. Comments run to October 16.Florida: Amendment 3 Homestead Break Comes With a WaitThe November ballot measure would raise Florida’s homestead exemption to $250,000, but new and out-of-state owners wait years, while the 5% non-homestead cap helps sooner.Employers Can Now Fund Trump Accounts, With a CatchProposed IRS rules let a business put up to $2,500 a year, tax free, into an employee’s Trump Account. A nondiscrimination test stops owners from funding only their own kids.IRS Publishes Standard Retirement Rollover FormsNotice 2026-49 offers optional sample forms to standardize direct rollovers between plans and IRAs under SECURE 2.0. The fix only helps where a plan sponsor chooses to adopt it.Paid Leave Credit Made Permanent and Premium-BasedNotice 2026-28 makes the Section 45S paid family and medical leave credit permanent, widens who counts, and lets employers claim it on insurance premiums, not just wages.No Tax on Overtime: The W-2 Box That Controls the DeductionUpdated IRS FAQs (FS-2026-13) set the caps and phaseout for the overtime deduction and make it hinge on W-2 box 12, code TT. If the box is blank, the deduction is gone.When Company-Paid Personal Expenses Become Tax FraudA closely held owner ran 400 personal expense checks through his C corp and kept two sets of books. The Tax Court sustained the 75% civil fraud penalty.ERC Partial Suspension Just Got Harder to PleadThe Court of Federal Claims says operating at reduced capacity is not a suspension. An ERC refund complaint now has to name a part of the business that stopped.Austin: See Your FY2027 Property Tax Before It’s SetTravis County’s truth in taxation database is live. Look up your parcel and see the proposed FY2027 tax from every taxing unit before the August hearings.ERC Clawback Interest Runs From 2021, Not From the PayoutThe Tax Court denied interest abatement in Matto. An ERC-driven amendment carries interest from the original due date and a phone call from the IRS does not help.Ending a QTIP Trust Cost Two Children $35 Million EachThe Tax Court held state law beats the section 7520 tables and cut the gift by the avoided section 2207A reimbursement obligation.Chicago: Cook County Appeal Season Opens July 27Filing is free and windows close township by township. You can appeal in an off year, and out of state owners are the ones who miss it.Three New Information Returns Land on the IRS’s 2026 ListRev. Proc. 2026-18 adds Forms 1098-VLI, 1099-LPS and 5498-TA, drops 1099-H, and restates the ten-return electronic filing threshold.Florida: The Impact Window Break Is a $500 Refund, Not an ExemptionFlorida’s home-hardening sales tax break is refund-only, requires a homestead exemption, caps at $500, and excludes homes above $700,000 of just value.Austin: Travis County Makes the Flood Disaster List, 105-Day Clock RunningTexas posted disaster tax relief covering Travis County. The property tax exemption has a hard deadline and state filing extensions happen only on request.Tax Court Cuts a $42 Million Easement Deduction to $800,000Piton Holdings lost the valuation, the allocation, and the penalty fight. Disclosure and reasonable cause do not save a gross valuation misstatement.NYC: Pied-à-Terre Rules Are Final, and the Lien Follows the ApartmentDOF adopted the pied-à-terre surcharge rules effective July 14. Notices arrive by August 30, appeals run 30 days, and the lien stays with the apartment.IRS Raises the Mileage Rate to 76 Cents Mid-YearThe IRS bumped the business mileage rate to 76 cents effective July 1, a rare mid-year change. What the split year means for your deduction.Austin: Proposed Budget Pushes the Tax Rate to Its CapAustin’s FY2027 budget raises the property tax rate to 57.953 cents, the most it can levy without an election. What Austin owners should know.IRS: Certain CRAT Deals Are Now a Listed TransactionThe IRS finalized rules naming a charitable remainder annuity trust tax shelter a listed transaction. What it means if you used one.IRS: Automatic Penalty Relief Replaces First Time AbateThe IRS will waive failure-to-file, pay, and deposit penalties automatically for taxpayers with a clean record. What it means for you.Austin: Travis County’s Disaster Property-Tax Suit AdvancesA Travis County judge let the challenge to the county’s 9.12% disaster property tax proceed to discovery. What Austin owners should watch.NJ: Corporate Loss Deduction Cap in the FY2027 BudgetNew Jersey’s FY2027 budget caps Corporation Business Tax NOL deductions at $1 million for 2026 through 2028 and raises the Child Tax Credit.CA — SaaS and Software Sales Tax Starts 2027California’s $351.7B budget extends sales tax to SaaS and prewritten software from January 1, 2027, and tightens business credit limits.NJ FY2027 Budget: $4.2B Property Tax ReliefA $60.7B deal with record rebates, no new income tax, and a $250k cap that leaves high earners out.The 199A Pass-Through Deduction at 23 PercentWhat the higher deduction rate means for flow-through owners and how to size the benefit on your own return.The CTA Repeal Bill, H.R. 425Where the Corporate Transparency Act beneficial ownership reporting stands and what entities should do while it plays out.NYC PTET: Hochul Rejects the Credit CutThe pass-through entity tax credit survives intact, and what that means for New York business owners this filing year.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Reeder’s Digest?

Reeder’s Digest is the firm’s running commentary on tax law changes. It is one place where we post dated, plain-spoken notes about the federal and state tax developments that affect the people we work with. Each entry ties to a specific bill, ruling, or figure, gives our read on what it means, and points to the practical answer for a real return.

It also replaces our old Tax News blog. We used to run that as a separate stream, and we consolidated everything worth keeping into this single hub so there is one feed to follow rather than two. The posts above are the most recent, and older commentary is reachable from there.

How often is it updated?

We post when something actually changes the math on a return, not on a fixed schedule. In a quiet stretch that might mean a couple of entries a month. Around a major bill, a budget season, or a filing deadline it picks up because there is more to say. Tax news roundup posts, like the May 2026 one above, gather the smaller items so a slow week does not leave gaps.

We would rather publish less and have each post be worth your time than fill a calendar. If you want to be told when a new entry lands instead of checking back, mention it when you reach out and we will keep you on the list.

Is anything here tax advice for my situation?

No. Everything in Reeder’s Digest is general commentary written for a broad audience, and it cannot account for your specific facts. A post has to generalize to be readable, and tax outcomes turn on the details, your entity type, your state, your income mix, and the timing of what you did. Two people can read the same entry and get opposite answers once we run their actual numbers.

Treat these posts as a way to spot what might apply to you, then talk to us about your situation before you act on any of it. We will take the general point and check it against your real return. You can start that conversation on our new client inquiry page, and we will tell you whether the change in question helps you, costs you, or does not reach you at all.