Corrections and audit log

Policy last updated 2026-09-08. Log entries are generated at every build, from the data files and from the record of corrections to page copy.

Every data file keeps dated notes of what was checked and what was changed, and corrections to the written pages are recorded here alongside them. This page lists all of them, newest first — including the errors this site's own audits found and fixed. Entries marked correction changed a published or draft figure or statement; audit entries confirmed figures without changing them; update entries added a rule or a year.

How to report a wrong figure

Email support@clearselftax.com with the page address (the "Copy link to this result" button keeps your inputs), the figure you expected, and the official document it comes from. A report is checked against the primary document; when it is right, the data file is corrected, the fix is dated in the file's notes, the tests are updated to pin the corrected figure, and the entry appears here at the next build. Reports are usually answered within a few days. Nothing is changed on the strength of a third-party summary alone.

Log (95 entries, 47 corrections)

2026-09-18

correction Alabama 2025 — the self-employed health insurance premium and SEP-IRA / solo 401(k) contributions were refused, although Form 40 Part II takes both as adjustments to income: line 2 'Payments to a Keogh retirement plan and self-employment SEP deduction' (booklet p.16: self-employed individuals may deduct contributions to a Keogh plan from gross income, including qualified SEP contributions) and line 7 'Self-employed health insurance deduction … to the same extent as allowed for federal purposes' (booklet pp.8 and 16). A one-participant 401(k) is a qualified plan covering a self-employed individual, which is what Publication 560 calls a Keogh (H.R. 10) plan, so it is taken on line 2. Both come off before Alabama AGI (line 10), so the sliding standard deduction and the dependent tiers see them; the filing thresholds stay gross-income tests. Found by the 2026-09-17 audit's follow-up.
correction Alabama 2026 — the self-employed health insurance premium and SEP-IRA / solo 401(k) contributions were refused, although Form 40 Part II takes both as adjustments to income: line 2 'Payments to a Keogh retirement plan and self-employment SEP deduction' (booklet p.16: self-employed individuals may deduct contributions to a Keogh plan from gross income, including qualified SEP contributions) and line 7 'Self-employed health insurance deduction … to the same extent as allowed for federal purposes' (booklet pp.8 and 16). A one-participant 401(k) is a qualified plan covering a self-employed individual, which is what Publication 560 calls a Keogh (H.R. 10) plan, so it is taken on line 2. Both come off before Alabama AGI (line 10), so the sliding standard deduction and the dependent tiers see them; the filing thresholds stay gross-income tests. Found by the 2026-09-17 audit's follow-up.
correction California state page — the three-level table was headed "(2025)" although its federal column is the 2026 estimate; only California's own parameters are 2025 while the state's 2026 figures are unpublished. Where a state's parameters lag, the heading and the column headers now name both years. Found by an external review on 2026-09-18.
correction Massachusetts 2025 — the self-employed health insurance premium was refused along with the retirement contributions. Massachusetts allows it: Schedule Y line 7 takes the amount from U.S. Schedule 1 line 17 (2025 Form 1 instructions), and the Department's medical-deductions page states the §162(l) deduction from Massachusetts gross income, limited to earned income from the business. Schedule Y lines 1–10 are subtracted in reaching Massachusetts AGI, so the premium also counts for No Tax Status and the Limited Income Credit. SEP-IRA and solo 401(k) contributions remain refused: the Department's non-government pensions page says §404 deductions for contributions on behalf of owners of sole proprietorships are not allowed (including a sole proprietorship's 401(k)) and Keogh contributions are made with after-tax dollars. Found by the 2026-09-17 audit's follow-up.
correction Massachusetts 2026 — the self-employed health insurance premium was refused along with the retirement contributions. Massachusetts allows it: Schedule Y line 7 takes the amount from U.S. Schedule 1 line 17 (2025 Form 1 instructions), and the Department's medical-deductions page states the §162(l) deduction from Massachusetts gross income, limited to earned income from the business. Schedule Y lines 1–10 are subtracted in reaching Massachusetts AGI, so the premium also counts for No Tax Status and the Limited Income Credit. SEP-IRA and solo 401(k) contributions remain refused: the Department's non-government pensions page says §404 deductions for contributions on behalf of owners of sole proprietorships are not allowed (including a sole proprietorship's 401(k)) and Keogh contributions are made with after-tax dollars. Found by the 2026-09-17 audit's follow-up.
correction Methodology page, home page and both calculators — the childless earned income credit was described as requiring the filer and the spouse to be aged 25 to 64. The IRS rule is that on a joint return at least one spouse must meet the age test ("Who qualifies for the EITC"). The checkbox label, its hint, the methodology and the home page now say so; the calculation itself only ever took the box as the answer. Found by an external review on 2026-09-18.
correction Minnesota state page — the page said Minnesota's standard deduction ($15,300 single for 2026) is a little above the federal one; the federal amount is $16,100, so it is below (as it was in 2025: $14,950 against $15,750). The comparison on every state page is now computed from the two data files rather than typed. Found by an external review on 2026-09-18.
audit Pennsylvania 2025 — the refusal of the self-employed health insurance deduction and of SEP-IRA / solo 401(k) contributions confirmed against the Department's own texts. The PIT Guide's Deductions and Credits chapter lists both federal adjustments as 'No provision' (with one-half of self-employment tax) and names the only four deductions Pennsylvania allows (MSA, HSA, §529 and §529A contributions). The Net Income (Loss) from the Operation of a Business chapter adds that contributions by a self-employed individual to his own pension plan (IRA, Keogh or welfare benefit program) are neither deductible as a business expense nor otherwise excludable, that a sole proprietor cannot deduct his own pension or profit-sharing contributions, and that contributions to benefit plans established for sole proprietors cannot be deducted. adjustmentsAllowed now states this explicitly; the engine's behaviour is unchanged.
correction Self-employed health insurance deduction guide — the guide said two states do not take the deduction, and that New Jersey treats a self-employed filer's premiums as a medical expense above a 2% floor instead. New Jersey has its own line for it: the self-employed health insurance deduction is line 5 of the NJ-1040 medical expenses Worksheet F, outside the 2% floor that applies to other medical expenses. The calculator's New Jersey figures were corrected on 2026-09-17 and have taken the deduction since; this sentence was left behind. Of the states the calculator models with their own rules, only Pennsylvania has no provision for the deduction. The sentence is now generated from the state data, so it cannot disagree with the calculator again.
update US federal 2026 — two inputs added after an external review. A spouse's W-2 wages on a joint return now count in AGI, in earned income for the credits, towards the Additional Medicare Tax threshold (Form 8959 combines both spouses' wages) and in state income, but not against the filer's own Social Security wage base, which is per person; before, the only wages box was the filer's, so a spouse's wages either went unentered or wrongly used up the filer's base (up to $11,451.40 of self-employment tax in 2026). And children aged 17 to 23 who qualify for the earned income credit (under 19, a full-time student under 24, or disabled) can now be counted for it; before, only the under-17 count fed the credit. Both are inputs the calculator did not have rather than figures it got wrong.

2026-09-17

correction All four calculators with a state input — when a state's rate file failed to load (a dropped connection, a blocked script), the calculators kept showing the previous state's figures under the new state's name — Texas's total beside "California income tax" — and went on doing so as inputs changed, with only a "Loading…" note at the foot of the page. A failed load is now reported as such, no figures are shown until it succeeds, and a reload button keeps the inputs; while a load is in flight the page says which state's figures it is still showing. Found by an external review on 2026-09-17.
correction Home page and methodology page — both pages called the calculator's figure a conservative estimate because the deductions and credits it leaves out would lower the tax. That is only half the list: the city, county and school-district income taxes it also leaves out would raise it, so the figure can be too low as well as too high. Both pages now say so. Found by an external review on 2026-09-17.
correction New Jersey 2025 — the self-employed health insurance premium and self-employed 401(k) contributions were refused along with everything else the engine's single conformity switch covers, although this file's own note said New Jersey allows both. The Division of Taxation's income-tax pages state it: Schedule NJ-BUS-1 net profit is after "qualified contributions to a self-employed 401(k) Plan" (contributions above the federal limits are not deductible), and the self-employed health insurance deduction is line 5 of the NJ-1040 medical expenses Worksheet F, outside the 2% floor; SEP-IRA, Keogh and IRA contributions remain non-deductible. adjustmentsAllowed now says so. A single filer with $100,000 of profit and $10,000 of premiums was charged $4,180.05 instead of $3,543.05; with a $20,000 solo 401(k) contribution, $4,180.05 instead of $2,906.05; a SEP-IRA contribution was, correctly, still refused. The premium is deducted after gross income, so it does not count towards the $10,000 / $20,000 no-tax threshold; the 401(k) contribution, inside net profit, does. Found by an external review on 2026-09-17.
correction New Jersey 2026 — the self-employed health insurance premium and self-employed 401(k) contributions were refused along with everything else the engine's single conformity switch covers, although this file's own note said New Jersey allows both. The Division of Taxation's income-tax pages state it: Schedule NJ-BUS-1 net profit is after "qualified contributions to a self-employed 401(k) Plan" (contributions above the federal limits are not deductible), and the self-employed health insurance deduction is line 5 of the NJ-1040 medical expenses Worksheet F, outside the 2% floor; SEP-IRA, Keogh and IRA contributions remain non-deductible. adjustmentsAllowed now says so. A single filer with $100,000 of profit and $10,000 of premiums was charged $4,180.05 instead of $3,543.05; with a $20,000 solo 401(k) contribution, $4,180.05 instead of $2,906.05; a SEP-IRA contribution was, correctly, still refused. The premium is deducted after gross income, so it does not count towards the $10,000 / $20,000 no-tax threshold; the 401(k) contribution, inside net profit, does. Found by an external review on 2026-09-17.
correction New Jersey state page — the page said the 25% increase in New Jersey's child tax credit for 2026–2028 (P.L.2026, c.26) was not yet reflected in the 2026 estimate. It had been, since the 2026 data file was added on 2026-09-08; the sentence was written before that and never updated. Found by an external review on 2026-09-17.
correction Pennsylvania 2025 — Philadelphia's resident rate was given as 3.75%, the 2024 figure. The city's net profits tax page lists 3.74% for tax year 2025 (3.43% non-resident), and its 2026-06-11 notice sets 3.735% (3.425%) for tax year 2026. The rate is outside this model and only quoted; the quote is now by year.
correction Pennsylvania state page — Philadelphia's tax on residents' net profits was given as 3.75%, the 2024 rate. The city's net profits tax page lists 3.74% for 2025, and its notice of 11 June 2026 sets 3.735% for 2026. The page now quotes the rate by year. Found by an external review on 2026-09-17.
correction US federal 2025 — the §199A deduction applied the 20%-of-taxable-income cap before the phase-in reduction (20% × min(QBI, taxable income) × phase factor) instead of after it (min(20% × QBI × phase factor, 20% × taxable income)), the order §199A(a)(2) and (b)(3)(B) prescribe and Form 8995-A works in Parts III and IV. Every sole proprietor with no other income whose taxable income fell inside the phase-in range was shown too small a deduction and too much tax: for a single filer with $250,000 of profit and nothing else, $24,036.25 became $25,757.15 and the income tax fell by $413.02. The engine test that pinned the old order was corrected, and a line-by-line Form 8995-A implementation now checks 17 hand-worked cases and a grid across both years and all four statuses. The methodology page described the wrong order in the same words and was rewritten. Found by an external review on 2026-09-17.
correction US federal 2025 — the Additional Medicare Tax on W-2 wages above the filing-status threshold (Form 8959 Part I, 0.9%) was left out of the federal total; only the part on net earnings from self-employment (Part II) was counted, although the methodology page said both were. A single filer with $300,000 of wages and no profit was shown $0 of Additional Medicare Tax instead of $900; with $100,000 of profit as well, $831.15 instead of $1,731.15. The 1099 vs W-2 comparison understated the W-2 side's payroll tax by the same amount. The engine now returns the wage part separately, the federal total and the comparison include it, and the breakdown shows it as its own line (the employer withholds it, so a filer who enters the tax withheld from wages already has it covered). Found by an external review on 2026-09-17.
correction US federal 2025 — the estimated tax underpayment charge kept accruing past the return's due date. §6654(b)(2) runs each underpayment from its installment date to the earlier of the date paid and the 15th day of the fourth month after the year ends, so for a 2026 underpayment nothing accrues after 15 April 2027; the engine used today's date without that ceiling, and a link dated later showed a larger figure ($744.26 on 15 May 2027 against $661.41 on 15 April, on $16,000 of unpaid tax). The charge now stops on that day, the per-day figure is zero from then, and the quarterly and penalty pages say that interest and the late-payment penalty on the unpaid tax take over, which they do not estimate. Found by an external review on 2026-09-17.
correction US federal 2026 — the §199A deduction applied the 20%-of-taxable-income cap before the phase-in reduction (20% × min(QBI, taxable income) × phase factor) instead of after it (min(20% × QBI × phase factor, 20% × taxable income)), the order §199A(a)(2) and (b)(3)(B) prescribe and Form 8995-A works in Parts III and IV. Every sole proprietor with no other income whose taxable income fell inside the phase-in range was shown too small a deduction and too much tax: for a single filer with $250,000 of profit and nothing else, $33,677.24 became $36,151.78 and the income tax fell by $593.89. The engine test that pinned the old order was corrected, and a line-by-line Form 8995-A implementation now checks 17 hand-worked cases and a grid across both years and all four statuses. The methodology page described the wrong order in the same words and was rewritten. Found by an external review on 2026-09-17.
correction US federal 2026 — the Additional Medicare Tax on W-2 wages above the filing-status threshold (Form 8959 Part I, 0.9%) was left out of the federal total; only the part on net earnings from self-employment (Part II) was counted, although the methodology page said both were. A single filer with $300,000 of wages and no profit was shown $0 of Additional Medicare Tax instead of $900; with $100,000 of profit as well, $831.15 instead of $1,731.15. The 1099 vs W-2 comparison understated the W-2 side's payroll tax by the same amount. The engine now returns the wage part separately, the federal total and the comparison include it, and the breakdown shows it as its own line (the employer withholds it, so a filer who enters the tax withheld from wages already has it covered). Found by an external review on 2026-09-17.
correction US federal 2026 — the estimated tax underpayment charge kept accruing past the return's due date. §6654(b)(2) runs each underpayment from its installment date to the earlier of the date paid and the 15th day of the fourth month after the year ends, so for a 2026 underpayment nothing accrues after 15 April 2027; the engine used today's date without that ceiling, and a link dated later showed a larger figure ($744.26 on 15 May 2027 against $661.41 on 15 April, on $16,000 of unpaid tax). The charge now stops on that day, the per-day figure is zero from then, and the quarterly and penalty pages say that interest and the late-payment penalty on the unpaid tax take over, which they do not estimate. Found by an external review on 2026-09-17.

2026-09-15

update Missouri 2025 — the capital-gain subtraction noted above is RSMo §143.121.3(14)(a), read directly: "For all tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2025, one hundred percent of all income reported as a capital gain for federal income tax purposes by an individual subject to tax pursuant to section 143.011". Paragraph (14)(b) extends it to entities under §143.071 only once the top rate reaches a statutory trigger, and §143.121.3(15) adds gain on the sale or exchange of specie (§408.010) for tax years beginning on or after 1 January 2026. Missouri effectively does not tax individual capital gains from 2025. This calculator takes no capital-gain input, so no figure it reports is affected.
update Missouri 2026 — the capital-gain subtraction noted above is RSMo §143.121.3(14)(a), read directly: "For all tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2025, one hundred percent of all income reported as a capital gain for federal income tax purposes by an individual subject to tax pursuant to section 143.011". Paragraph (14)(b) extends it to entities under §143.071 only once the top rate reaches a statutory trigger, and §143.121.3(15) adds gain on the sale or exchange of specie (§408.010) for tax years beginning on or after 1 January 2026. Missouri effectively does not tax individual capital gains from 2025. This calculator takes no capital-gain input, so no figure it reports is affected.
update Ohio 2026 — Ohio's own 2026 estimated-tax instructions contradict the statute, and this engine follows the statute. R.C. 5747.02(A)(3)(c), as amended by H.B. 96 (effective 30 September 2025), reads "For taxable years beginning in 2026 and thereafter, $332.00 plus 2.75% of the amount in excess of $26,050" — one bracket, no step at $100,000. The Department of Taxation's 2026 Ohio Estimated Income Tax Instructions (ites-instructions-fi.pdf, last modified 4 May 2026) still print the 2025 table: "$26,050 – $100,000 $342.00 plus 2.750%" and "$100,000 – $2,394.32 plus 3.125%". On $200,000 of nonbusiness income the statute gives $5,115.63 and the worksheet $5,519.32, a difference of $403.69; on $500,000, $13,365.63 against $14,894.32, a difference of $1,528.69. Both documents were read directly and the arithmetic recomputed here. Re-check against the 2026 IT 1040 booklet when it is published (usually December).
update South Carolina 2025 — not modeled — S.C. Code §12-6-1150(A), the 44% net capital gain deduction: "Individuals, estates, and trusts are allowed a deduction from South Carolina taxable income equal to forty-four percent of net capital gain recognized in this State during a taxable year", with net capital gain "as defined in Internal Revenue Code, Section 1222 and related sections" (§12-6-1150(B)(2)). Act 110 of 2026 does not amend it, so it survives the move to a federal-AGI base. This calculator takes no capital-gain input, so the omission changes no figure it reports; it would have to be modeled before any capital gain enters the base. Note that SC1040 line i describes it more loosely as "44% of net capital gains held for more than one year", which omits the netting against short-term losses that §1222(11) requires.
update South Carolina 2026 — not modeled — S.C. Code §12-6-1150(A), the 44% net capital gain deduction: "Individuals, estates, and trusts are allowed a deduction from South Carolina taxable income equal to forty-four percent of net capital gain recognized in this State during a taxable year", with net capital gain "as defined in Internal Revenue Code, Section 1222 and related sections" (§12-6-1150(B)(2)). Act 110 of 2026 does not amend it, so it survives the move to a federal-AGI base. This calculator takes no capital-gain input, so the omission changes no figure it reports; it would have to be modeled before any capital gain enters the base. Note that SC1040 line i describes it more loosely as "44% of net capital gains held for more than one year", which omits the netting against short-term losses that §1222(11) requires.

2026-09-10

update US federal 2026 — the aged additional standard deduction and the 2025–2028 senior deduction added for the retirement withdrawal calculator. Two independent reads (a red-team agent and the lead, both from rp-25-32 and the enrolled text of P.L. 119-21) agree on every figure; the senior deduction is taken per qualified individual and each individual's $6,000 is reduced by the same 6% of the excess MAGI, which Schedule 1-A (2025) lines 35–37 confirm; it reduces taxable income below AGI, so it does not enter the §86 computation.

2026-09-09

correction New Hampshire state page — the Business Enterprise Tax threshold was described as $298,000 of gross business income, the same measure as the Business Profits Tax. RSA 77-E:2 applies it to gross business receipts or to the enterprise value tax base — compensation, interest and dividends paid out — whichever is met first. A business can be inside the BET on the second test while nowhere near the first.
correction Tennessee state page — the business tax was described as applying to receipts of more than $100,000. The Department of Revenue states the test as $100,000 or more, and applies it per in-state location rather than statewide, so county and city are measured separately. A business at exactly $100,000 at one location was on the wrong side of the line as the page had it.
correction US federal 2025 — the solo 401(k) maximum ignored the §415(c)(1)(B) 100%-of-compensation limit, which for a self-employed person makes each dollar of employer contribution cost two dollars of headroom (compensation is net earnings less the employer contribution, with elective deferrals added back). Between about $26,400 and $43,900 of net profit the old figure was too high — at about $32,300 of profit it allowed about $30,000 where Pub. 560's worksheet allows about $27,250 (2026 limits; the exact figures depend on the self-employment tax). The engine now follows the worksheet: deferral, then employer ≤ (net earnings − deferral) ÷ 2, then catch-up ≤ compensation − deferrals; the ceiling is reported as three components that add to the total. Two independent primary-source reads (Pub. 560 worksheet steps 11–13 and the §415/§404/§414 text) agreed on the rule. §401(a)(17) compensation limit added for the employer 25%-of-capped-compensation ceiling.
update US federal 2025 — (red team): two further corrections to the same worksheet. Each component is now settled to the cent as it is computed, so the catch-up sees the cent released by flooring the employer contribution (at $40,000 of profit with a catch-up it is $6,337.05, not $6,337.04) and the three parts add to the total exactly. And catch-up contributions made in another employer's plan now reduce what is left here: the §414(v) amount is one per individual across employers (Treas. Reg. §1.402(g)-2). An adversarial pass recomputed all 79 combinations of profit, age band and prior deferrals by hand from the worksheet; the remaining differences from a hand-worked Form 1040 are that the worksheet's inputs are whole dollars where this engine keeps cents, and that the ceiling assumes an entirely pre-tax contribution (designated Roth amounts count against it without being deductible). Both are stated on the methodology page.
correction US federal 2025 — the underpayment-penalty estimate was reported even where the statute removes the addition to tax outright — §6654(e)(1) (tax under $1,000 after withholding) and §6654(e)(2) (a full twelve-month prior year with no tax). It is now omitted in both cases, so a page can no longer show an accrued penalty and the reason it cannot arise at the same time.
correction US federal 2025 — the $1,000 floor was treated as a defence against the penalty only, so a filer expecting to owe less than that after withholding was still shown a required annual payment, installments marked short and advice to catch up — while being told no penalty could arise. Form 1040-ES's General Rule makes it a condition of the requirement itself ('you must pay estimated tax if BOTH of the following apply: 1. you expect to owe at least $1,000 after subtracting your withholding and refundable credits'), so the requirement and the whole schedule are now zero, as they already were for the §6654(e)(2) prior-year exception. Estimated payments already made do not count towards the test; only withholding and refundable credits do.
correction US federal 2026 — the solo 401(k) maximum ignored the §415(c)(1)(B) 100%-of-compensation limit, which for a self-employed person makes each dollar of employer contribution cost two dollars of headroom (compensation is net earnings less the employer contribution, with elective deferrals added back). Between about $26,400 and $43,900 of net profit the old figure was too high — at about $32,300 of profit it allowed about $30,000 where Pub. 560's worksheet allows about $27,250 (2026 limits; the exact figures depend on the self-employment tax). The engine now follows the worksheet: deferral, then employer ≤ (net earnings − deferral) ÷ 2, then catch-up ≤ compensation − deferrals; the ceiling is reported as three components that add to the total. Two independent primary-source reads (Pub. 560 worksheet steps 11–13 and the §415/§404/§414 text) agreed on the rule. §401(a)(17) compensation limit added for the employer 25%-of-capped-compensation ceiling.
update US federal 2026 — (red team): two further corrections to the same worksheet. Each component is now settled to the cent as it is computed, so the catch-up sees the cent released by flooring the employer contribution (at $40,000 of profit with a catch-up it is $6,337.05, not $6,337.04) and the three parts add to the total exactly. And catch-up contributions made in another employer's plan now reduce what is left here: the §414(v) amount is one per individual across employers (Treas. Reg. §1.402(g)-2). An adversarial pass recomputed all 79 combinations of profit, age band and prior deferrals by hand from the worksheet; the remaining differences from a hand-worked Form 1040 are that the worksheet's inputs are whole dollars where this engine keeps cents, and that the ceiling assumes an entirely pre-tax contribution (designated Roth amounts count against it without being deductible). Both are stated on the methodology page.
correction US federal 2026 — the underpayment-penalty estimate was reported even where the statute removes the addition to tax outright — §6654(e)(1) (tax under $1,000 after withholding) and §6654(e)(2) (a full twelve-month prior year with no tax). It is now omitted in both cases, so a page can no longer show an accrued penalty and the reason it cannot arise at the same time.
correction US federal 2026 — the $1,000 floor was treated as a defence against the penalty only, so a filer expecting to owe less than that after withholding was still shown a required annual payment, installments marked short and advice to catch up — while being told no penalty could arise. Form 1040-ES's General Rule makes it a condition of the requirement itself ('you must pay estimated tax if BOTH of the following apply: 1. you expect to owe at least $1,000 after subtracting your withholding and refundable credits'), so the requirement and the whole schedule are now zero, as they already were for the §6654(e)(2) prior-year exception. Estimated payments already made do not count towards the test; only withholding and refundable credits do.
correction Washington state page — the list of services that became retail sales on 1 October 2025 included "live online or in-person workshops with real-time interaction" with no exclusions attached, which was wrong for two groups of readers. The Department of Revenue has never treated one-on-one tutoring or consulting as a live presentation, and from 1 July 2026 it excludes music lessons regardless of the number of participants, presentations given by a 501(c) nonprofit, before and after school care provided on-site by elementary schools, and instruction incidental to a performance. A presentation that is merely part of delivering a broader service to a client is also outside. Teaching now has its own paragraph rather than a clause.
correction Washington state page — the page said Washington's B&O has no threshold and that the return is due regardless, and it treated freelance services as outside retail sales tax. Three fixes. RCW 82.32.030(2) excuses registration when gross from all B&O activities and from public utility activities are each under $12,000, nothing else is owed to the department and no state licence is needed. A business under $125,000 of B&O gross that collects no retail sales tax can request active non-reporting status and then files nothing. And from 1 October 2025, under ESSB 5814, advertising, IT support and consulting, custom website development, custom software, data processing and live online workshops are retail sales — services this site's readers sell every day.
correction Washington state page — the capital gains excise tax was described as a flat 7% above a threshold of about $270,000. It is tiered — 7% on the first $1 million of Washington capital gains in a year and 9.9% above that — over a standard deduction of $278,000 for 2025. The Business & Occupation service rate was given as 1.75%, or 1.5% under $1 million of gross income, which omits the 2.1% tier that applies at $5 million and above from 1 October 2025. Corrected against the Department of Revenue's rate tables and RCW 82.04.290.
correction Wyoming state page — the page said a photographer who delivers downloadable images may be selling a taxable specified digital product, and that a photographer billing for time on site sells nothing Wyoming's sales tax reaches. Both were wrong, in opposite directions. W.S. 39-15-101(a)(xliii) defines specified digital products as exactly three things — digital audio-visual works, digital audio works and digital books — and a still photograph is none of them. But 011-2 Wyo. Code R. § 2-12(u) taxes the sales price paid for photographs, photography, photo developing and printing directly, so photography is taxable by a different route and a sitting fee is not a way around it. The worked example now turns on the statutory audio-visual test instead.

2026-09-08

update California 2025 — added the 30/40/0/30 installment split so quarterly figures stop assuming four equal California payments. The split has been unchanged since 2010 (R&TC §19136.1); the $500 ($250 married filing separately) threshold and the FTB's own due dates are described on the page, not computed.
update Michigan 2025 — conformsToFederalAdjustments set: the MI-1040 starts from federal AGI and Schedule 1 adds back only the deduction for self-employment tax, not the retirement-plan or self-employed health insurance deductions (2025 MI-1040 Instruction Book, Schedule 1 additions). Read once; confirm against Schedule 1 line list at the next audit.
correction Texas state page — the franchise tax no-tax-due threshold was published as $2.47 million, which was the figure for the 2024 and 2025 report years. The Comptroller sets it at $2,650,000 for the 2026 and 2027 report years. The page also said an entity below the threshold no longer files anything, conflating the discontinued No Tax Due report with the annual information report, which is still required of an LLC. Both corrected against the Comptroller's franchise tax pages.
update US federal 2025 — retirement-plan limits added for the SEP-IRA / solo 401(k) input (two documents: the IRS notice and the IRS limits page for the year). The self-employed health insurance and retirement deductions reduce AGI and qualified business income but not self-employment tax or the earned income used for the child and earned income credits; the health insurance deduction is capped at net earnings less the retirement deduction (§162(l)(2)(A)); the retirement deduction is capped at the lesser of the §415(c) limit and net earnings after ½ SE tax — the calculator does not know the filer's age or plan type, so catch-up limits and the SEP-only 20% cap are described on the page rather than enforced.
update US federal 2025 — annualized-installment parameters (statutory percentages, form factors), the standard mileage rate and the home office safe harbor added for the guides; the mileage and safe-harbor rates are described on the guide pages and are not inputs to the calculators.
correction US federal 2025 — the retirement-plan deduction had been capped only at the lesser of the §415(c) limit and net earnings, so an entry above a plan's real ceiling was accepted (an external review entered $100,000 on $72,000 of profit and got a $66,913 deduction). The calculator now distinguishes SEP-IRA and solo 401(k), applies the 20% self-employed rate, the §402(g) deferral less deferrals made in another employer's plan, the §415(c) cap and the age-based catch-ups, and reduces an excess entry to the plan-specific maximum with a note. Earlier text in this file saying age and plan type were not collected no longer applies.
correction US federal 2025 — the quarterly calculator had taken one 'paid so far' figure, which could not show whether past installments were met and treated withholding and estimated payments alike; the §6654(e)(1) $1,000 test also subtracted estimated payments, which the statute does not. It now credits withholding one quarter per due date (§6654(g)), each estimated payment on its date to the oldest unpaid installment (§6654(b)(3)), reports each installment's status, and estimates the penalty accrued at the §6621 rates; the $1,000 test uses withholding only.
update US federal 2026 — retirement-plan limits added for the SEP-IRA / solo 401(k) input (two documents: the IRS notice and the IRS limits page for the year). The self-employed health insurance and retirement deductions reduce AGI and qualified business income but not self-employment tax or the earned income used for the child and earned income credits; the health insurance deduction is capped at net earnings less the retirement deduction (§162(l)(2)(A)); the retirement deduction is capped at the lesser of the §415(c) limit and net earnings after ½ SE tax — the calculator does not know the filer's age or plan type, so catch-up limits and the SEP-only 20% cap are described on the page rather than enforced.
update US federal 2026 — annualized-installment parameters (statutory percentages, form factors), the standard mileage rate and the home office safe harbor added for the guides; the mileage and safe-harbor rates are described on the guide pages and are not inputs to the calculators.
correction US federal 2026 — the retirement-plan deduction had been capped only at the lesser of the §415(c) limit and net earnings, so an entry above a plan's real ceiling was accepted (an external review entered $100,000 on $72,000 of profit and got a $66,913 deduction). The calculator now distinguishes SEP-IRA and solo 401(k), applies the 20% self-employed rate, the §402(g) deferral less deferrals made in another employer's plan, the §415(c) cap and the age-based catch-ups, and reduces an excess entry to the plan-specific maximum with a note. Earlier text in this file saying age and plan type were not collected no longer applies.
correction US federal 2026 — the quarterly calculator had taken one 'paid so far' figure, which could not show whether past installments were met and treated withholding and estimated payments alike; the §6654(e)(1) $1,000 test also subtracted estimated payments, which the statute does not. It now credits withholding one quarter per due date (§6654(g)), each estimated payment on its date to the oldest unpaid installment (§6654(b)(3)), reports each installment's status, and estimates the penalty accrued at the §6621 rates; the $1,000 test uses withholding only.

2026-09-07

audit Alabama 2025 — rates, deduction chart, exemptions and the federal income tax deduction worksheet confirmed by both readers; the draft had every figure right. H.B. 389 of 2025 (which would have raised the standard deduction and dependent tiers) was not enacted — the 2026 act restates the 2022 amounts.
update Alabama 2026 — identical to 2025 by statute; H.B. 527 of 2026 restates §40-18-15(b) with the same amounts. The 2026 booklet's tax table and over-$100,000 worksheet are expected to repeat the 2025 constants.
correction Colorado 2025 — the 4.4% rate (not the temporary 4.25% of 2024), the starting point and both addbacks confirmed by both readers; a web-search summary offering $250,000 / $500,000 QBI thresholds was wrong.
audit Colorado 2026 — the 2026 rate confirmed from the Department 2026 forms and the June 2026 forecast; the next TABOR-triggered cut is projected for 2028.
correction Georgia 2026 — H.B. 463 (signed 2026-05-11) cut the rate straight to 4.99% for 2026 instead of the 5.09% that the earlier trigger schedule would have allowed (the 2026 trigger was in fact not met). The Department's guide applies the higher standard deductions and the $5,000 dependent deduction to tax year 2026 as well; one legislative summary (GBPI) places the deduction increases in 2027 — the Department's published guidance is followed here. Later step-ups ($375 / $750 a year on the standard deduction, $125 on the dependent deduction, 0.125 points on the rate) start no earlier than 2027 and depend on revenue triggers; none is assumed.
audit Indiana 2025 — rate, exemptions and the starting point confirmed by both readers.
audit Indiana 2026 — the 2.95% rate confirmed from Departmental Notice #1, the rates page and the Tax Chapter; exemptions unchanged.
audit Louisiana 2025 — rate, standard deduction by filing status and the repeal of the exemptions confirmed by both readers.
update Louisiana 2026 — the first CPI-U indexation raises the standard deduction from $12,500 / $25,000 to $12,875 / $25,750; the rate stays 3%.
correction Maryland 2025 — both readers agree on every rate, threshold and amount. Chapter 604 of 2025 added the 6.25% ($500,001–$1,000,000 single; $600,001–$1,200,000 joint) and 6.5% brackets and replaced the 15%-of-AGI standard deduction (min/max) with flat $3,350 / $6,700 for 2025. The booklet's worksheet 17A misprints the 6.25% row's lower bound as $250,001; the schedule on p.22 and the statute say $500,001.
audit Massachusetts 2025 — rate, surtax threshold, exemptions, the line 11 cap and both low-income provisions confirmed by both readers.
audit Massachusetts 2026 — the 2026 surtax threshold ($1,107,750) confirmed from two Department publications; every other figure is unindexed statute and carried from 2025.
audit Minnesota 2025 — brackets, standard deduction, dependent exemption and both phase-out rules confirmed by both readers. A web-search summary offered 2024 figures as 2026 — the primary documents settle it.
audit Minnesota 2026 — all indexed 2026 amounts confirmed from three Department publications; mechanics unchanged. A web-search summary offered 2024 figures as 2026 — the primary documents settle it.
audit Missouri 2025 — the 2025 chart, the 20% business income deduction and the federal tax deduction tiers confirmed by both readers. Contrary to the research brief's premise, the $1,200 dependent deduction and the personal exemption are not available: RSMo 143.151 and 143.161 tie them to the federal §151 amount, which is zero, and the return has no line for them. The only exemption is the $1,400 head-of-household / qualifying surviving spouse amount (line 15).
audit Missouri 2026 — the 2026 chart (indexed steps, top rate still 4.7% because the SB 3 revenue trigger did not fire) confirmed from the 2026 MO-1040ES and the withholding formula; deduction mechanics unchanged. Contrary to the research brief's premise, the $1,200 dependent deduction and the personal exemption are not available: RSMo 143.151 and 143.161 tie them to the federal §151 amount, which is zero, and the return has no line for them. The only exemption is the $1,400 head-of-household / qualifying surviving spouse amount (line 15).
update New York 2026 — Ch. 59 of the Laws of 2025 (Part A) cuts the five lowest rates by 0.1 point for 2026 (4% → 3.9%, 4.5% → 4.4%, 5.25% → 5.15%, 5.5% → 5.4%, 6% → 5.9%) and by a further 0.1 point for 2027 and later. Bracket thresholds, the 6.85% and higher rates, the $107,650 recapture start and the $50,000 window are unchanged.
update North Carolina 2026 — the only change from 2025 is the rate, 4.25% → 3.99%, the last scheduled step in S.L. 2023-134. Rate cuts for 2027 and later depend on General Fund revenue triggers and are not assumed.
update Ohio 2026 — H.B. 96 completes the flattening. For taxable years beginning in 2026 the nonbusiness schedule is a single line — '$332.00 plus 2.75% of the amount in excess of $26,050' — so the engine keeps a $332 step at $26,050 and no second step; the 2025 file's $18.695 step at $100,000 disappears with the 3.125% bracket.
audit South Carolina 2025 — the starting point, the QBI addback, the dependent exemption, the 2025 schedule and the I-335 mechanics confirmed by both readers.
correction South Carolina 2026 — Act 110 is a structural break. From 2026 South Carolina starts from FEDERAL AGI instead of federal taxable income and disallows the federal standard, itemized and QBI deductions; in their place comes the South Carolina individual adjustment deduction, a sliding-scale standard deduction of $15,000 single / $22,500 head of household / $30,000 joint that phases out over the AGI windows above (the reduction is the maximum times the excess over the window's start divided by the window's width, rounded down to $10). The brackets collapse to 1.99% on the first $30,000 and 5.21% above, for every filing status.
update US federal 2025 — estimated-tax safe-harbor parameters added (§6654; unchanged for years) for the quarterly-payment calculator. Two reads: the statute text and the Form 1040-ES instructions. The $150,000 / $75,000 AGI thresholds are not indexed.
update US federal 2026 — estimated-tax safe-harbor parameters added (§6654; unchanged for years) for the quarterly-payment calculator. Two reads: the statute text and the Form 1040-ES instructions. The $150,000 / $75,000 AGI thresholds are not indexed.
audit Wisconsin 2025 — brackets (post-Act 15), the standard deduction formulas and the exemptions confirmed by both readers; the early-2025 printing of the 2025 Form 1-ES still showed the old second-bracket tops; the post-Act reissue carries the same 'R. 1-25' code, so the schedule, not the code, identifies the current one.
audit Wisconsin 2026 — the 2026 indexed brackets and deduction schedules confirmed from the 2026 Form 1-ES; rates and exemptions unchanged.

2026-09-06

update New York 2025 — tax benefit recapture implemented from the IT-201 tax computation worksheets. Above $107,650 of New York AGI the benefit of the lower brackets is phased out over $50,000 of AGI, first to the rate of the bracket containing the first recapture threshold (5.5% joint, 6% others), then tier by tier with the published recapture base and incremental benefit amounts; above $25,000,000 all taxable income is taxed at 10.9%. Worksheet factors are rounded to four decimals as instructed.
update Ohio 2025 — the nonbusiness schedule's apparent inconsistency is in the statute itself. R.C. 5747.02(A)(3)(b) for 2025 reads '$342.00 plus 2.75% of the amount in excess of $26,050' up to $100,000 and '$2,394.32 plus 3.125% of the amount in excess of $100,000' above it; $342 + 2.75% × $73,950 = $2,375.63, so the schedule steps up by $18.695 at $100,000 (the $2,394.32 base is the unchanged 2024 figure). The booklet (p.18) prints the same lines, and its worked example ($68,050 → $1,497) confirms the $342 step. The engine reproduces the statute as written: a $342 step above $26,050 and an $18.695 step above $100,000. Only filers with nonbusiness income above $100,000 are affected.

2026-09-05

audit Arizona 2025 — 2.5% rate, standard deduction and dependent credit confirmed against the 2025 Form 140 instructions and A.R.S. §43-1073.01. The 2025 standard deduction equals the OBBBA-amended federal amounts by virtue of H.B. 4168 (Laws 2026, signed 2026-06-13), which set $15,750/$23,625/$31,500 retroactively for 2025. Added the credit phase-out: 5% for each $1,000 or fraction of federal AGI over $200,000 ($400,000 joint), gone once the excess exceeds $19,000.
correction California 2025 — all 24 bracket thresholds replaced. The draft had scaled the prior-year schedule by the wrong inflation factor (~2.3% instead of the FTB's 3.0%); single/MFS, joint and head-of-household schedules now match FTB Schedules X, Y and Z exactly. Standard deduction and exemption credits were already correct.
audit Georgia 2025 — 5.19% rate (H.B. 111 §1), $12,000/$24,000 standard deduction and $4,000 dependent exemption confirmed against the 2025 IT-511 booklet (Form 500 lines 11, 14, 16). No personal exemption for the filer exists. No figures changed.
audit Illinois 2025 — rate and $2,850 exemption confirmed. Added the exemption cliff: the entire exemption allowance (filer and dependents) is $0 when federal AGI exceeds $250,000 (single/HoH/MFS) or $500,000 (joint). It is a cliff, not a phase-out.
correction Michigan 2025 — rate and $5,800 exemption confirmed. Corrected: Michigan requires the federal deduction for half of self-employment tax to be added back (Schedule 1, line 2), so allowsHalfSeDeduction is false. Other federal adjustments such as self-employed health insurance are not added back; when those inputs are added to the engine, Michigan must apply them.
audit New Jersey 2025 — brackets, exemptions and the no-half-SE rule confirmed against the 2025 NJ-1040 instructions (Schedule NJ-BUS-1 Part I allows no adjustment for self-employment tax). Added the filing threshold: no tax when gross income is $10,000 or less ($20,000 joint or head of household) — a cliff measured on gross income before exemptions.
audit New Jersey 2026 — brackets, exemptions and the no-half-SE rule confirmed against the 2025 NJ-1040 instructions (Schedule NJ-BUS-1 Part I allows no adjustment for self-employment tax). Added the filing threshold: no tax when gross income is $10,000 or less ($20,000 joint or head of household) — a cliff measured on gross income before exemptions.
audit New York 2025 — brackets, standard deduction and $1,000 dependent exemption confirmed; 2025 rates are unchanged by the FY2026 budget (the 0.1-point cuts to the five lowest rates start in tax year 2026, with a further 0.1 in 2027).
correction North Carolina 2025 — rate, standard deductions and child-deduction amounts confirmed; every AGI tier boundary in the draft was exactly double the statutory figure and has been corrected (steps of $10,000 single/MFS, $15,000 HoH, $20,000 joint). The deduction applies only to children who qualify for the federal child tax credit; other dependents get nothing.
audit Ohio 2025 — brackets, exemption tiers, business income deduction amounts and the flat 3% rate all match the 2025 booklet and statute. A fourth exemption tier (MAGI $750,000 and above → $0) was added, and the business income mechanics follow the IT BUS schedule: the deduction is the lesser of business income, federal AGI and $250,000; business income taxed at 3% is capped at Ohio taxable income after exemptions; only what remains goes through the brackets. Exemption tiers key off MAGI (Ohio AGI before the deduction), which for a sole proprietor equals federal AGI.
audit Pennsylvania 2025 — 3.07% rate, absence of a standard deduction and exemptions, and the disallowance of the federal ½-SE-tax deduction confirmed against the 2025 PA-40 instructions and the PA Personal Income Tax Guide (net profits class; 'one-half of self-employment taxes — no provision'). No figures changed.
correction US federal 2025 — HoH 32% bracket ceiling corrected from 250,525 (single figure) to 250,500 per Rev. Proc. 2024-40 Table 2. HoH upper brackets are indexed separately from single and must never be copied from it.
correction US federal 2026 — HoH 24%/32% ceilings corrected to 201,750/256,200 (Rev. Proc. 2025-32 Table 2); QBI MFS threshold corrected to 201,775 (§4.26 lists MFS separately from all other returns); ACTC limit corrected from 1,800 to 1,700 (§4.05(2) — the indexed $1,400 base did not reach the next $100 step).
audit Virginia 2025 — brackets, $8,750/$17,500 standard deduction (2025 Form 760 instructions, line 11; Va. Code §58.1-322.03 as amended for 2025–2026) and the $930 exemption confirmed. Head of household is not a separate Virginia filing status; it uses the single amount. Added the filing threshold: no tax when Virginia AGI is below $11,950 ($23,900 joint).