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Tax data extraction and memo drafting eat up more professional hours than almost any other part of an engagement. The workflow is always the same: pulling numbers from client documents, cross-referencing against prior-year returns, researching each issue separately, verifying citations, and writing the whole thing up from scratch. For a moderately complex client, that process takes anywhere from four to ten hours. Multiply that across your entire roster during busy season, an

As digital assets such as cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens continue to move into the financial mainstream, the Internal Revenue Service has introduced a major reporting change. Beginning with transactions occurring January 1, 2025, taxpayers will start receiving Form 1099-DA, Digital Asset Proceeds From Broker Transactions , during the 2026 filing season. This marks the first standardized federal tax reporting form specifically designed for crypto and NFT transactions .

The way tax professionals interact with the Internal Revenue Service continues to evolve as the agency accelerates its digital modernization efforts. In February 2026, the IRS announced an important expansion to its Tax Pro Account platform that directly affects accounting firms, tax preparation companies, and other organizations representing multiple taxpayers. For years, tax professionals have managed client authorizations through a combination of digital portals, mailed f

With the 2026 tax filing season underway, refund timing is once again a major concern for taxpayers, business owners, and tax professionals across the United States. Each year, millions of Americans rely on their federal tax refunds to manage cash flow, pay down debt, or build savings early in the year. The Internal Revenue Service  has stated that most taxpayers who file electronically and choose direct deposit should receive their refunds within about 21 days. This benchma

Biofuels sit at the crossroads of farming, fuel production, and tax. When tax rules change, the impact does not stay on paper. It shows up in investment decisions, supply contracts, and how much risk producers and lenders are willing to take. That is the context behind the latest update from the IRS and Treasury. This week, both agencies released proposed regulations for the Section 45Z clean fuel production credit. The credit applies to transportation fuels produced in the

A client calls with a multi-state nexus question. You know the answer involves Section 199A, a recent revenue ruling, and at least two state-level guidance documents. Now you need to put that in a memo your client can hand to their board and your firm can defend in case of audit. That’s exactly where AI tax tools for drafting tax memos either earn their keep or fall short. Getting a quick answer from an AI tax research assistant is one thing. Getting a structured, citation-ba

Each tax filing season brings a predictable rise in fraud, but the current filing period shows how much tax scams have evolved. As taxpayers rely more on digital filing, text notifications, and rapid refund processing, scammers are embedding themselves into what looks like normal tax activity. Today’s scams rarely rely on extreme threats or obvious red flags. Instead, they imitate routine filing season interactions. Refund updates, verification requests, payroll changes. The

The Taxpayer Advocate Service has released the National Taxpayer Advocate’s 2025 Annual Report to Congress , one of the most important documents tax professionals rely on to understand how the IRS is really functioning. The report is designed to be fully independent. It is delivered directly to Congress without prior review by the IRS or the Treasury Department. While it notes that taxpayer service improved in 2025, the central message is forward-looking. The 2026 filing seas

The standard vs. itemized decision matters again. Before the One Big Beautiful Bill Act was passed in July 2025, you probably had a quick answer. The $10,000 SALT cap made itemizing a losing proposition for most filers. But the rules shifted dramatically this year. The SALT cap quadrupled to $40,000, new senior deductions appeared, and the standard deduction amounts increased again. For the 2025 tax year (returns filed in 2026), every client conversation about deductions req

Starting January 1, 2026 , many types of federal student loan forgiveness previously excluded from taxable income under pandemic-era tax law are once again treated as taxable income by the IRS . For borrowers in Illinois and other states that conform to federal tax rules, this means the forgiven debt may be taxable at both the federal and state levels, a situation often referred to as a student loan tax bomb . This change has major implications for borrowers planning their fi

The average CPA works 50 to 80 hours per week during tax season , with partners hitting 100+ hours. Yet most firms can’t tell you where those hours actually go. These time management tips for tax season target the specific bottlenecks that matter: when you track it, 15 to 20 hours per week disappear into inefficiencies that have nothing to do with preparing actual tax returns. The data confirms it. Tax managers spend 8–15% of their time on complex research alone, and even dec

The Internal Revenue Service has officially opened the 2026 federal tax filing season , marking the start of the annual process for individuals and businesses to file 2025 tax year returns . For taxpayers and advisors, the opening of filing season signals more than just a deadline on the calendar. It sets the tone for compliance, planning, and cash flow decisions in the months ahead. This year’s tax season is particularly important due to recent federal tax law changes , new

January marks an important step forward for Bizora users. This release focuses on improving how you work with documents, increasing research accuracy for complex tax questions, and making it easier to verify every answer with trusted source material. From deeper file integration inside the AI Assistant to a new Xero connection, these updates are designed to reduce friction in daily tax research workflows and help users move faster with confidence. Here is a complete breakdow

Indiana lawmakers are advancing a targeted tax relief proposal aimed at hourly and service-industry workers. A state Senate committee has approved legislation that would temporarily exempt overtime pay and tip income from Indiana state income tax for one year . While narrow in scope, the proposal carries meaningful implications for employers, payroll compliance, and individual tax planning across the state. For CPAs , tax attorneys, and business owners, this development deser

The best tax research software for small firms combines three things: citation-backed answers from authoritative sources, transparent reasoning you can verify, and pricing that makes sense when you’re the only one using it. For solo practitioners specifically, the tool also needs to handle the full range of questions you face (federal, state, entity-level, individual) without requiring separate subscriptions or modules for each. This guide covers how to evaluate tax research

Tax research eats hours. A single complex question can spiral into 45 minutes of digging through results, and you still end up not feeling confident enough to send the answer. During the busy season , that time adds up fast. Partners lose billable hours, junior staff create review bottlenecks, and the fear of AI hallucinations means you end up double-checking everything anyway. AI tax research assistants are built to fix this. This guide covers the five best AI tax research a

It's January, tax season  is weeks away, and you're staring at a client question that should take five minutes to answer. Instead, you've been hunting for one reliable citation for the past 45 minutes. Your deadline is tomorrow, your client is waiting, and your research tool is serving up everything except what you actually need. Sound familiar? You're reading this because at least one of these is true: Your current research tool feels like it was built in 2010 You've heard a

Tax season document collection often becomes a bottleneck before tax preparation begins. Clients upload documents inconsistently, staff lack visibility into what is missing, and follow-ups increase without improving turnaround time.

Quick Summary: Client intake automation turns onboarding from manual collection into insight-driven action. This guide shows 5 practical workflows using Bizora to: Spot tax issues earlier with citation-backed research Analyze uploaded documents instantly Flag risks before they affect scope Keep context from intake to delivery Generate client-ready explanations with less rework These are the 5 key stages of a Bizora-powered client intake automation workflow. Client intake is t

Tax professionals hear it constantly that 2026 tax law changes are coming, often framed as a looming TCJA “cliff.” After the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) and IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32, that framing no longer reflects how the law actually stands. In 2026, federal tax law will continue the TCJA-era structure, now locked in under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) , with inflation-indexed updates under Rev. Proc. 2025-32. The 37% bracket remains, the standard deduction ri

December is often the last real opportunity to get organised before tax season begins. For solo CPAs, year-end work goes beyond closing the books. This is when gaps in documentation, missing client information, or unclear assumptions tend to show up later as delays once filings start. That’s why many practitioners look for a year end accounting checklist to guide the final weeks of the year. This guide brings those tasks together in one place. It acts as a practical year-end

Bizora V1.6.1 is now live. This release introduces improvements to state-level accuracy, expands support for federal tax questions across multiple tax years, and adds web search as a supporting capability when additional context is relevant. The updates in V1.6.1 reflect patterns we see repeatedly in real tax research. Users are working across years, navigating state and federal differences, and looking for reliable context without disrupting their workflow. This release add

The IRS has released the Applicable Federal Rates for December 2025, and tax professionals are already reviewing how these numbers affect year-end planning and early 2026 strategies. AFRs influence everything from intra-family loans to installment sales, estate and trust valuations, and corporate financing structures. Because the rates update every month, staying current is essential for compliance and for capturing planning opportunities. This month’s update reflects shifts

Throughout 2025, tax professionals managed rising workloads, tighter deadlines, and increasingly complex rules across federal, state, and global jurisdictions. Staffing shortages heightened the pressure on accuracy and documentation, making dependable technology a daily requirement rather than a long-term investment. As firms sought the top tax software for CPAs in 2025, research, preparation, reviews, and client communication relied more heavily on tools that kept teams orga