Tax education
Plain-English guides on bookkeeping, payroll, and what to expect if a tax agency reviews your business—so your records stay audit-ready.
WorkMinty publishes general educational information for small business owners. It is not tax, legal, or accounting advice. Tax rules change and vary by state and situation. Consult a qualified CPA, enrolled agent, or attorney before making decisions or responding to a government audit.
Most returns are not audited, but certain patterns increase exam risk—from document matching (1099-K, 1099-NEC) to large deductions and statistical scoring.
Read article →The Employment Development Department audits employers for UI, SDI, ETT, and worker classification. It is separate from the IRS and can reach back several years.
Read article →The label on your agreement does not decide tax treatment—facts and law do. Understand the differences federal and state agencies consider.
Read article →Monthly labeling, reconciliations, and consistent categories beat a last-minute scramble. Ten habits owners can adopt with basic tools.
Read article →Sign in, create or select a company, tour the main screens, and follow the recommended order before your first pay run on payroll.workminty.com.
Read article →Daily habits and records that hold up under review.
2 articles
What the IRS examines and how to prepare.
4 articles
California payroll tax audits and employer obligations.
4 articles
Employees, contractors, and misclassification risk.
3 articles
Deposits, quarterly forms, and payroll registers.
1 article
Step-by-step guides for payroll.workminty.com.
7 articles
Schedule C, entities, and owner-specific rules.
3 articles
Closing the year and handing off to your accountant.
0 articles
Most returns are not audited, but certain patterns increase exam risk—from document matching (1099-K, 1099-NEC) to large deductions and statistical scoring.
Read article →A Schedule C exam usually focuses on income completeness, expense substantiation, and categories with high abuse rates (meals, travel, auto, home office).
Read article →Preparation is mostly organization: reconstruct income, tie bank statements to books, and gather substantiation for major deductions.
Read article →Audits proceed through Information Document Requests (IDRs) and possibly interviews. Understand the process and when to involve a CPA or tax attorney.
Read article →The Employment Development Department audits employers for UI, SDI, ETT, and worker classification. It is separate from the IRS and can reach back several years.
Read article →Examiners verify wages were reported correctly, contributions paid, and workers classified properly. Officer compensation and cash wages are common issues.
Read article →Consistent quarterly filing, timely deposits, written contractor agreements, and clean payroll registers make EDD audits manageable.
Read article →A clean IRS year does not mean EDD will not audit—and vice versa. Compare what each agency cares about and how to prepare for both.
Read article →The label on your agreement does not decide tax treatment—facts and law do. Understand the differences federal and state agencies consider.
Read article →Practical scenarios and questions to ask before you choose—control, schedule, tools, and whether the work is part of your core business.
Read article →Contracts, scope of work, invoices, proof of payment, and Form W-9 protect you in IRS and EDD reviews.
Read article →Monthly labeling, reconciliations, and consistent categories beat a last-minute scramble. Ten habits owners can adopt with basic tools.
Read article →California lets qualifying partnerships and S corporations elect to pay state tax at the entity level. Owners claim a credit on personal returns—the federal benefit depends on your bracket, cash flow, and whether you already benefit from a higher SALT deduction.
Read article →Trump Accounts are tax-deferred savings for children under 18, created under federal law. Families and employers can contribute within annual limits; funds are restricted before age 18, then general traditional IRA rules apply.
Read article →Employers may adopt a qualified contribution program to fund employees' or dependents' Trump Accounts—up to $2,500 per employee per year when rules are met, with potential business deduction and wage exclusion.
Read article →Owners often weigh 529 college savings, Roth IRAs for working teens, and new Trump Accounts. Each has different tax treatment, flexibility, and ties to business vs personal taxes.
Read article →CPA-facing guide for shareholders who pay a seller personally, contribute the business to a new C-corp, fund working capital through checking, then receive matching corporate repayments—how to label each flow without hitting P&L.
Read article →Sign in, create or select a company, tour the main screens, and follow the recommended order before your first pay run on payroll.workminty.com.
Read article →Configure EIN, federal deposit schedule, California PIT/SDI/UI/ETT, or Washington PFML/Cares/UI before the first pay run.
Read article →Create W-2 employees with pay frequency and withholding; track 1099 contractors on the roster without including them in pay runs.
Read article →Choose a pay period, select W-2 employees, apply overrides, review tax and net pay, then pay employees outside the app.
Read article →Find past runs, edit amounts with automatic tax recalculation, export CSV or payslip PDFs, and recalculate the year after rate changes.
Read article →Use Reports for Form 941 totals, Schedule B worksheet, California DE-88, W-2 box summaries, and optional Form 941 PDF via PDFusion—preparation, not e-file.
Read article →Supported states, license limits, estimated withholding, and features that still require a CPA, agency portal, ClearLedger, or another payroll provider.
Read article →