United States · Income Tax

Tier 2 US federal content skill for preparing Form 1040 — the standard individual income tax return for non-freelance taxpayers (W-2 employees, retirees, investors, families). Covers tax year 2025 under OBBBA including the $40k SALT cap, the $15,750/$31,500/$23,625 standard deduction, capital gains brackets (0/15/20%), the §1411 3.8% NIIT, AMT post-TCJA, Schedule 1/2/3 walkthrough, dependents and filing status, kiddie tax §1(g), and itemized deduction Schedule A. Distinct from us-federal-return-assembly which orchestrates Schedule C freelance returns. Federal only.

Tier 2 content skill for determining which contractor payments made by a US sole proprietor or single-member LLC require issuing Form 1099-NEC and producing the information returns for tax year 2025. Covers the §6041A $600 reporting threshold (rising to $600 for electronic payments after repeated deferrals of the §6050W $600 threshold), the corporate exception under Treas. Reg. §1.6041-3(p), the attorney exception under §6045(f), the medical/health care exception under §6041A(a)(2), the Form W-9 collection requirement, backup withholding at 24% under §3406, the January 31 filing deadline under §6071(c), e-filing requirements under §6011(e) and the 2025 threshold of 10 forms, penalties for failure to file under §6721 and failure to furnish under §6722, TIN matching and B-notice procedures, and state filing requirements. MUST be loaded alongside us-tax-workflow-base v0.1+. Federal only.

Layer-2 content skill for computing the §199A Qualified Business Income deduction for US sole proprietors and single-member LLCs disregarded for federal tax purposes. Covers tax year 2025 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21, July 4 2025), which made the §199A deduction permanent at 20% — the 23% rate in the House-passed bill was NOT enacted. For tax years beginning after December 31, 2025, OBBBA widens the phase-in ranges to $75,000/$150,000 and adds a $400 minimum deduction for taxpayers with at least $1,000 of QBI from active trades or businesses. Handles the QBI calculation from Schedule C net profit, the deductible SE tax and SE health insurance adjustments, the taxable income thresholds ($197,300 single / $394,600 MFJ for 2025), phase-in ranges for SSTB and W-2/UBIA limitations, the specified service trade or business (SSTB) classification, W-2 wage and UBIA of qualified property limitations, the interaction with retirement contributions, and Forms 8995 (simplified) and 8995-A (detailed). Consumes net profit from us-schedule-c-and-se-computation and SE health insurance / retirement from companion skills. MUST be loaded alongside us-tax-workflow-base v0.1 or later. Federal only. No state tax.

Use this skill whenever asked about US federal quarterly estimated income tax payments for sole proprietors and single-member LLCs. Trigger on phrases like "1040-ES", "estimated tax", "quarterly tax", "safe harbor", "underpayment penalty", "Form 2210", "annualized income", or any question about federal estimated tax requirements. Covers the $1,000 threshold, 100%/110% prior-year safe harbor, 90% current-year method, quarterly due dates, annualized income instalment method, Form 2210 penalty computation, and withholding strategies. MUST be loaded alongside us-tax-workflow-base v0.1+. Federal only.

Tier 2 content skill for evaluating whether a US sole proprietor or single-member LLC should elect S-corporation status under IRC §1362 via Form 2553. Covers the SE tax savings analysis (salary subject to FICA, distributions not), the reasonable salary requirement under IRC §3121 and IRS audit scrutiny, the break-even analysis where SE tax savings exceed incremental costs, the QBI deduction interaction under §199A (W-2 wages increase QBI limitation room), state-specific disadvantages (California $800 franchise tax + 1.5% S-corp tax, New York City UBT elimination, etc.), the Form 2553 election deadline (March 15 or within 75 days of formation), late election relief under Rev. Proc. 2013-30, payroll processing and Form 1120-S filing costs, and the decision framework for when NOT to elect. Tax year 2025. MUST be loaded alongside us-tax-workflow-base v0.1+. Federal only; state issues flagged but not computed.

Tier 2 content skill for computing Schedule C bottom line, Form 8829 home office (actual method), and Schedule SE self-employment tax for US sole proprietors and single-member LLCs disregarded for federal tax. Covers tax year 2025 with the 2025 Social Security wage base of $176,100, the 92.35% net SE earnings adjustment under IRC 1402(a)(12), the 12.4% OASDI rate, the 2.9% Medicare rate, and the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax thresholds. Handles Schedule C Lines 1-32, the 280A home office gross income limitation and carryover, Form 8829 indirect expense allocation, the 1402 net SE earnings computation, the optional methods under 1402(a)(15) and 1402(l), the deductible half of SE tax under 164(f), and the at-risk indicators on Line 32. Consumes classified transactions from us-sole-prop-bookkeeping. Defers QBI, retirement, SE health insurance, and quarterly estimated tax to companion skills. MUST be loaded alongside us-tax-workflow-base v0.1+. Federal only. ALWAYS read this skill before computing Schedule C, SE tax, or home office deductions.

Tier 2 content skill for computing the self-employed health insurance deduction under IRC §162(l) for US sole proprietors and single-member LLCs disregarded for federal tax purposes. Covers tax year 2025 rules including the 100% deduction for medical, dental, vision, and qualified long-term care premiums, the age-based long-term care premium limits, the net SE earnings limitation, the employer-sponsored plan eligibility bar, the Medicare premium eligibility rules (Parts A voluntary, B, D, Medigap), COBRA continuation premiums, ACA Marketplace interaction with the Premium Tax Credit, the month-by-month coverage calculation, and the Schedule 1 Line 17 reporting position. Consumes Schedule C net profit and SE tax from us-schedule-c-and-se-computation. Feeds QBI computation in us-qbi-deduction. MUST be loaded alongside us-tax-workflow-base v0.1 or later. Federal only. No state tax.

Tier 2 content skill for computing the self-employed retirement contribution deduction for US sole proprietors and single-member LLCs disregarded for federal tax purposes. Covers tax year 2025 SEP-IRA, Solo 401(k), SIMPLE IRA, and traditional/Roth IRA options with SECURE 2.0 super catch-up provisions. Handles the net SE earnings calculation, the 92.35% adjustment, the employer contribution formula (20% effective rate for sole props), employee deferral limits ($23,500), catch-up and super catch-up contributions, the SEP-IRA 25% limit ($70,000 cap), SIMPLE IRA rules, traditional and Roth IRA income limits and deductibility phase-outs, and establishment/contribution deadlines. Consumes Schedule C net profit and SE tax from us-schedule-c-and-se-computation. Feeds QBI computation in us-qbi-deduction. MUST be loaded alongside us-tax-workflow-base v0.1 or later. Federal only. No state tax.

US federal capital gains tax for residents: short-term vs long-term rates, 2025 0%/15%/20% LTCG brackets by filing status, 3.8% NIIT thresholds and Form 8960 computation, §1202 QSBS including post-OBBBA issuance-date rules, §1031 like-kind exchange, installment sales, wash sale rule, Schedule D, and state-tax caveats. Trigger on: "US capital gains tax", "long-term capital gains US", "Schedule D", "LTCG rate US", "NIIT net investment income tax", "QSBS exclusion", "1031 exchange", "sell US shares tax", "US CGT resident", "capital loss carryforward US". For non-residents see us-nonresident-cgt.

US expatriation tax for citizens renouncing and long-term green-card holders abandoning status: the covered-expatriate tests (IRC §877A/§877), the mark-to-market exit tax, the special rules for deferred compensation, tax-deferred accounts and non-grantor trust interests, the dual-citizen and minor exceptions, Form 8854, and the §2801 tax on US recipients of gifts from covered expatriates. Produces a working paper and a reviewer brief — not a filed return. MUST load alongside cross-border-tax-workflow-base.

Tier 2 US federal-level reference skill providing the 50-state matrix of estimated tax safe-harbor rules for individuals and corporations. Covers tax year 2025 including California's unique 30/40/0/30 installment schedule under R&TC §19136 (which differs from the federal 25/25/25/25 equal-installment rule), New York's corporate Mandatory First Installment (MFI) of 25% or 40% based on prior-year liability, state-by-state safe-harbor percentages (most mirror federal 100%/110% but some require 90% current-year only), underpayment penalty rates, annualized income method availability under §6654(d)(2)-equivalent state rules, and PTE election estimated payment schedules separate from corporate estimates.

Tier 2 US federal content skill for Public Law 86-272 (15 USC §§381-384) — the federal statute that prevents states from imposing income tax on out-of-state sellers whose only activity is solicitation of tangible personal property orders shipped from out of state. Covers the 2021/2024 MTC revised statement that erodes P.L. 86-272 protection for nearly all internet-era activities (customer accounts, live chat, online reviews, post-sale service), California's FTB Legal Rulings 2022-01/02, New York's 2023 adoption, the Wisconsin v. Wrigley solicitation safe harbor, the factor-presence economic nexus model ($50k payroll, $500k receipts), and voluntary disclosure agreement processes. Tax year 2025.

Tier 2 US federal content skill for Form 1099-K reporting under IRC §6050W for tax year 2025. Covers the current federal TPSO threshold restored by OBBBA/P.L. 119-21 §70432: more than $20,000 and more than 200 transactions, payment-card reporting with no de minimis threshold, reconciliation between gross 1099-K amounts and Schedule C / Schedule 1 / Schedule D reporting, personal-item loss reporting, hobby vs business §183 determination, platform categorization, double-form scenarios, 1099-DA transition, and IRS CP2000 matching defense.

Tier 2 orchestrator skill that assembles the complete federal income tax return package for US freelance software developers filing as sole proprietors or single-member LLCs disregarded for federal tax. Sequences the upstream content skills (bookkeeping, SE computation, retirement, SE health insurance, QBI, estimated tax) in dependency order, resolves circular computations between SE health insurance and retirement contributions, produces Form 1040 with all required schedules (Schedule 1, Schedule 2, Schedule 3, Schedule C, Schedule SE, Schedule D if needed, Form 8829, Form 4562, Form 8995 or 8995-A, Form 8962 if marketplace coverage, Form 2210 if penalty, Form 7206), performs cross-form reconciliation checks, and produces the final reviewer package. Does not itself compute tax amounts — delegates to upstream content skills. MUST be loaded alongside us-tax-workflow-base v0.2 or later and all content skills it orchestrates. Federal only.

Tier 1 workflow base for US federal income tax skills serving sole proprietors and single-member LLCs disregarded for federal tax. Contains the workflow runbook, conservative defaults principle, structured intake form, reviewer-oriented output spec, self-checks, global refusal catalogue, citation discipline, and content skill slot contract. Workflow architecture only — no tax content, no rates, no thresholds, no form line references, no year-specific figures. MUST be loaded alongside at least one content skill (e.g., us-sole-prop-bookkeeping, us-schedule-c-and-se-computation, us-form-1040-self-employed-positions, us-quarterly-estimated-tax) that provides actual federal tax rules and current-year figures. Assumes a human reviewer credentialed under Circular 230 (Enrolled Agent, CPA, or attorney) reviews and signs off on every output before it reaches the taxpayer or the IRS. Federal-only in scope. State income tax skills may load it for workflow scaffolding but the base does not address state tax.