Happy New Year!

I hope you had a wonderful, relaxing holiday season with loved ones!

You'll notice this email is kind of long, so I've tried to break it into digestible bites. My clients, PLEASE find what applies to you and tweak in your payroll systems. There will be a test on our 1Q call ;-) or we can set it up then but it's definitely easier to do now.

At the very bottom of this email are step by step instructions to pay your 4Q estimated tax payment on January 15th. These payments only happen 4 times a year and every quarter I see a mistake with the categorization that is very hard to correct so if this applies to you take a second to review! The most common mistake is Step 3 and we've made it red and bold- hard to miss.

One last small reminder for business owners who own their real estate- if your lease agreement has annual inflation adjustments be sure to adjust rent payments accordingly!

It takes us a long time to put this information together- please feel free to share with friends, fellow business owners, anyone it might help.

Here's to a great 2026!

My retirement contribution tables keep getting larger each year with new rules as well as ifs ands and buts. Some best practices:

Employer Sponsored Plan Notes (401ks, Simples)

Make your company retirement plan deferrals in $s not %s if possible. For example, I plan to fully fund my 401k this year. My company pays us on the 1st and 15th (24 pay periods per year) and my max is $24,500, so I will put $1,020.83 as my bi-monthly contribution. Get paid every other week? Divide your allowed deferral by 26. My Guideline/Accrue clients- you should have the ability to defer by $s on the website (app has been iffy). If you have problems please let us know!

If you have to do it by %, take last year's pay and make a note on your calendar to check the beginning of November. You do not want to max out before the end of the year!- you most likely won't get the full employer match if you do.

Traditional and Roth IRAs

If lump sum funding this is tough for you, consider auto-funding each pay period using the same methodology above. For my clients who have family members on payroll below federal filing limits (most likely you but ask us if you're not sure!) please check the following:

• Double check your kids' withholdings. They should be exempt from federal and state taxes but withholding for social security and Medicare. Do not withhold from unemployment tax
• Gross pay salaried should be $8,121.28 if withholdings are correct. This will tax social security and Medicare and allow you to direct deposit the $7,500 limit into their accounts

Questions?

You can reply to this email and copy alexis@hayeswealthadvisors.com (he's the best at these things!)

• Go to Make a Payment with this link and select "Pay now with direct pay"

• In the Direct Pay with bank account page, please select the "Make a Payment"

• Have your account number and routing number ready to complete the payment

DO NOT MESS THIS PART UP! Unless you have a c-corp you MUST select Estimated Tax, Then 1040, then 2025. If you do not, plan on it taking a year to correct and the IRS penalizing/adding interest and not apologizing later if you don't choose to double pay.

• Have a prior tax return in hand to verify your identity. It does not have to be a current tax return; you will put the tax year in the first drop down box

• Provide the information exactly as seen on the tax return you have selected

• Enter the amount of the Estimated Tax payment and the date it will be withdrawn
• The withdraw date should be on or before the quarterly deadline

• Do not forget to select the check box to get an email confirmation notification and enter the email you would like to receive that email

• Save the confirmation of your payment so you are able to report it on your tax return

• This page is important to save because your email confirmation will not have the payment amount or date of payment