Golden Spike Tax & Advisory

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Golden Spike Tax & Advisory Tax strategy for professional service firm owners. It’s all part of the plan.

10/15/2026

Ever heard of the Augusta Rule? ⛳

If you rent your home out 14 days or fewer a year, that income generally isn't taxable. Some business owners rent their home to their own company for legitimate meetings or planning days, and the business deducts the rent.

It only holds up with real business use, fair market rent, and documentation for every day.

Save this and talk to your tax pro before you try it.

10/13/2026

The HSA is the only account with a triple tax advantage. Your contributions are deductible, the money grows tax free, and withdrawals for qualified medical expenses are tax free too.

The strategy most people miss... if you can afford to, pay current medical bills out of pocket and invest your HSA instead. Unused funds roll over every year, so the account can grow for decades and cover medical costs later in life, when they're typically highest.

To contribute, you need to be enrolled in a qualifying high deductible health plan.

Follow for more tax strategy that actually makes sense 💡

Taking a client to dinner is 50% deductible. Taking them to the game is 0%.Since 2018, entertainment isn’t deductible at...
10/10/2026

Taking a client to dinner is 50% deductible. Taking them to the game is 0%.

Since 2018, entertainment isn’t deductible at all.

Tickets, golf, and box seats included.

Business meals still count at 50%, as long as you’re there, it’s with a client or business contact, and it isn’t lavish. Food bought separately at an entertainment event can still count too.

Keep the receipt and a quick note on who you met and why.

10/08/2026

If your firm pays rent...
who's your landlord? 🏢

A lot of firm owners eventually buy the building they work out of.

But how it's held matters.

Put the property in its own entity...
have the firm pay it fair market rent...
and that rent becomes a business deduction.

Depreciation can offset much of the rental income.
A cost segregation study can front load those deductions.

Plus it helps with liability and keeps your options open if you ever sell the firm.

Structure it before you sign, not after.

10/07/2026

It's a write off…
doesn't mean it's free.

A deduction lowers your taxable income, not your tax bill dollar for dollar.

In the top federal bracket, a $10,000 business expense saves you about $3,700 in federal tax.
You're still out the other $6,300.

Great trade when it's something the business actually needs.
Bad trade when the tax savings were the only reason to buy it.

Save this for the next time someone tells you to buy something for a write off 📌

10/06/2026

Paying your estimated taxes and owing nothing in April…
are two very different things.

If your AGI was over $150K last year, the IRS safe harbor says prepaying 110% of last year's tax generally protects you from underpayment penalties.

That's it.
It protects you from penalties… not from the bill.

Had a bigger year this year?
You can hit the safe harbor perfectly and still owe a large balance in April.

Safe harbor is the minimum.
Planning is knowing your real number ahead of time.

10/05/2026

Two paychecks… both under $200K.
Feels safe, right?

The Additional Medicare Tax is 0.9% on wages over $250K for married couples filing jointly.

But employers only withhold once ONE person's wages pass $200K.

So if you each earn $180K…
neither employer withholds it.
And your household still owes about $990 in April.

Two income household? Check your withholding now, not at tax time.

10/02/2026

Ever notice your paycheck gets bigger toward the end of the year? 👀

Social Security tax is 6.2% of your wages...
but only up to a cap.

For 2026 that cap is around $184,000.

Pass it and the 6.2% stops until January.

Changed jobs and both employers withheld?
The extra comes back as a credit on your return.

Own an S Corp?
Every dollar of salary under the cap gets taxed on both the employee and employer side.

Save this one 📌

10/01/2026

There’s a 3.8% tax on investment income...
and the threshold hasn’t moved since 2013.

It’s called the Net Investment Income Tax.

Interest. Dividends. Capital gains.
Rental income. Passive business income.

Once your MAGI passes $250K married or $200K single... it kicks in.

More households cross that line every year 📈

Knowing it’s there changes how you time gains and where you hold investments.

09/30/2026

50 or older and earned over $150K in wages last year? 👀

Your 401(k) catch-up rules just changed...

Those extra contributions now have to go in as Roth.

No deduction now...
but it grows tax free.

Paying yourself W2 wages through your own S corp?
This likely applies to you too.

And if your plan doesn't offer Roth...
you may not be able to make catch-up contributions at all.

Check your plan before year end.

Address

777 W 12th Street
Ogden, UT
84404

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