Jeffrey W. Little, CPA

04/15/2026

Another tax season has past. We will be closed April 16th and 17th. Will open again on Monday April 20th.

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04/02/2026

Typical tax season post. If the IRS is in chaos, what do you think is happening in all the private tax offices? It's easy to blame a single person, but know this kind of mess takes a collective effort of Congress, regulators, and courts.

With tax filing ending on April 15, the IRS acknowledged that "many employees may have already filed their returns," raising fears around federal compliance.

03/18/2026

If you are about to enroll in Social Security or Medicare, let me share something I recently learned the hard way. If your Social Security Card has a variation of your name that is not exactly as your name appears on your Birth Certificate, then you are better skipping the online application and schedule an appointment with the local Social Security Office. I tried the online approach and it wasted 49 days to find out that "Jeff" on my SS Card is not the same as "Jeffrey" on my birth certificate. I never thought to look, but this is a big issue. You will need to have an appointment and take your Certified Birth Certificate as well as another form of photo ID to the office.

How does this happen? For my generation, social security cards were not issued at birth as they are today. It appears that I applied for my card when I was age 15, in 1976. I vaguely remember doing this, but I don't recall why. Someone thought I was getting a job, but I started detasseling corn and doing other farm work when I was 12. I remember as I was the youngest person working on the crew. It could have been to get a Driver's License since there was a time that the SSN appeared on the Driver's License. Regardless of the reason, it was an application completed by a 15 year old and a 15 year old doesn't realize the importance of "Legal Names". I know, why didn't my parents do this for me? Well, my parents thought it was best that I learn these things on my own and I count those blessings everyday. You learn by doing and some lessons take 50 years to learn.

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01/30/2026

Taxpayers need to be aware, when tax returns are filed, the IRS wants a bank account. If that return has a refund and no bank account for direct deposit, we are told the procedure at the IRS is as follows: In approximately 30 days the IRS will mail a letter requesting bank information or a reason you can not provide one. You must respond to the letter. No response equates to no refund. Once you respond with a reason for no bank deposit, the process can take several more weeks, if not months, to receive a refund check. You want to make sure you have provided your accountant with up to date bank information. If you provide bad information or no information, there is little we can do. It could be worse if your address changed and you fail to provide the new address. Then you may not receive the letter. We have a questionnaire that covers all these details. Please don't skip over it. It is important.

01/14/2026

For those that have quarterly estimated tax payments, they are Due January 15th. In case you are unaware, the IRS is trying to eliminate the mailing of checks. It is not advisable to pay by mail, but to go online and pay the tax.

01/14/2026

For our clients, we have the Questionnaire and Upload Links working at www.littlecpa.com . If you have a Gmail account, this is very convenient. For those that have used our "Link" portal, it is still available and emails will be sent soon. For the rest of our clients, a client drop box is available outside our office and at the inside counter during office hours. Note the hours have changed to 9:00 am - 4:00 pm M-F. We must have the client questionnaire completed before beginning a return. If you are unable to complete online, tablets and assistance will be available in the lobby during office hours. Thank you.

www.littlecpa.com

Services - Income Tax Planning, Preparation, and Advisors - Currently we are not accepting new clients

11/24/2025

Thanksgiving week, hope everyone has a wonderful week. Our office hours will be limited. Monday 9-3, Tuesday 9-3, Wednesday - Friday closed due to family gatherings. There may be someone present part of the day Wednesday and part of the day Friday, but call (217-452-3260) ahead. It is Thanksgiving, so please give thanks for all you have, enjoy time with your family, and plan accordingly. We will be back in full force next week. Thank you.

11/21/2025

IF you are a holder of bank stock, particularly receiving a K-1 document from an S-Corp, we believe there will be a new item on that K-1 representing Qualified Ag Interest. I have not spent time studying this issue in depth, but be aware as it may result in tax benefits to the shareholder of S-Corp Bank Stock.

IR-2025-113, Nov. 20, 2025 — The Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service today issued guidance for a new tax benefit for certain lenders that make loans secured by rural or agricultural real property.

11/21/2025

IRS guidelines have been issued regarding No Tax On Tips and No Tax On Overtime. There are examples that begin on page 18 that provides guidance. If you think you will have this in 2025, please review the examples. Keep in mind, the W-2 will not reflect all the needed information. To take the deduction, we will need additional documentation or we may not be able to meet our due diligence requirement and will be unable to calculate the deduction. What documents? Possibly a pay stub showing overtime, daily tip logs for the self employed, company policy on OT pay rate (or a paystub from a pay period that contains OT). Note that reporting and logging tips is the only way to receive the deduction. If no support, no deduction and if non reporting is found during an audit, the non reported tips will be taxable. There is a required accountability to qualify for the deduction.

11/12/2025

A little bit of a warning for those that throttle their IRA distributions based on tax brackets and deductions. I just received a preliminary software for tax season. It is very early, so planning for some is probably not ready yet. However, I have already had discussions with over 65 clients regarding IRA withdraw, here is an example:

2024 - Lets take a Single filer over 65, in 2024 they want zero tax but want to maximize deductions so as not to leave any unused deductions. In 2024 they had $20,000 of SS Income and took $16,000 out of their IRA. Under 2024 tax law, their total income for tax purposes was $16,000 IRA and a taxable portion of SS Income of $500. Since the Standard Deduction was $16,500 in 2024, they have used every dollar of deduction and paid zero tax.

2025 - Same client wants to accomplish same thing again and knows there is a new $6,000 senior deduction and their standard deduction went up by $1,250. So they immediately think they can take $7,250 more out of their IRA. At tax time this is how the numbers would play out. SS Income is now $20,500 with COLA increase, IRA withdraw bumped to $23,200 ($16,000 plus the new $6,000 deduction and $1,250 increase in standard deduction). The tax return would now have $23,200 IRA plus $4,225 of taxable SS Income. The more the IRA goes up the more taxable SS goes on the return. Gross income is $27,425 and deductions are $23,750 (Std Deduction of $17,750 and senior deduction of $6,000). They have $3,675 of taxable income and $368 of tax due while expecting zero.

While not the end of the world, it did not meet the objective of zero tax due to the fact that increasing IRA distribution also increased the taxable portion of SS Income. It gets worse on a married filing joint return and also for those that might be trying to fill the 10% bracket.

There are never simple answers when it comes to tax law and don't try to apply logic to an illogical system. Planning is your only answer. Until working through the problem, you really won't know the answer.

10/06/2025

Nine days until extension due date for individual tax returns. You know the deal, we can't do them all at the same time and we have more than one client. ;-)