Business tax planning • October 16, 2026
By Michael J. Fusco, Legacy Wise Advisors
Every April, someone sits across from a tax preparer and hears the same sentence: "If you’d come to me in October, we could have done something about this." October is here. This is the checklist that sentence is about.
1. Check your estimated payments. If the business had a better year than expected, your quarterly estimates may be light — and underpayment penalties are just expensive, avoidable interest. A Q4 projection tells you whether to true-up the January payment.
2. Time your big purchases. Equipment, vehicles, and software placed in service before December 31 generally count for this year; the same purchase on January 2 counts for next year. If you’re buying anyway, the calendar is worth money.
3. Fund retirement before the deadlines pass. SEP and Solo 401(k) contributions are among the largest legal deductions available to owners — but plan setup deadlines differ from funding deadlines, and some plans must exist before year-end. If you want a plan live for January 1, the paperwork season is now, not December.
4. Decide entity questions in Q4, not tax season. Forming an entity, electing S-corp status, or restructuring has effective-date consequences. A change you want reflected for the new year gets decided while the old year is still open.
5. Clean books beat heroic bookkeeping. Catching up a year of bookkeeping in March costs more and produces worse information than closing each month. If your books are behind, Q4 is the cheapest moment to fix them — and it makes every other item on this list easier.
6. Spend the "use it or lose it" money on purpose. Remaining budget for training, marketing, or bonuses is a decision either way. Make it actively.
The pattern underneath all six: none of these moves require genius. They require a calendar. Tax outcomes are mostly decided by which month you had the conversation in.
General education only — not advice for any specific situation.
Prestige Tax Group provides virtual tax preparation, bookkeeping, and business formation services nationwide, and is booking Q4 reviews now. To book: (929) 244-0744 or michael@legacywiseadvisors.com.