The Tax Strategy Podcast with Fexingo: Tax Planning, Deductions, and Saving Money on Taxes

Episode 54 of The Tax Strategy Podcast breaks down the Roth IRA conversion ladder — a strategy for moving pre-tax retirement savings into a Roth account over multiple years to minimize taxes. Lucas and Luna explain the five-year rule, how to avoid the 10% early distribution penalty, and what the 2026 tax brackets mean for your conversion timing. They walk through a real example: a 45-year-old earn...

In this episode of Tax Strategy Podcast with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna dive into tax-loss harvesting — a technique that turns investment losses into real tax savings. They explain how it works with a concrete example: selling a losing stock to offset gains from a winning one, and how the IRS wash-sale rule can trip you up. Lucas breaks down the mechanics using a hypothetical portfolio, showing how a...

Episode 52 of The Tax Strategy Podcast breaks down the Dependent Day Care FSA — a tax-advantaged account that lets working parents set aside up to $5,000 pre-tax for child care expenses in 2026. Lucas and Luna walk through the eligibility requirements, the interplay with the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, and a real-world scenario showing how a family can save over $1,200 in taxes. They also...

In Episode 51 of The Tax Strategy Podcast, Lucas and Luna break down the donor-advised fund (DAF) — a tax strategy that lets you bunch charitable deductions into one year while spreading grants to nonprofits over time. They walk through a concrete example: a couple earning $200,000 who wants to give $15,000 annually but can itemize only every other year under the 2026 standard deduction. By fundin...

Episode 50 of The Tax Strategy Podcast breaks down the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC), a dollar-for-dollar tax credit worth up to $2,500 per student for qualified college expenses. Lucas and Luna walk through the eligibility rules, income phaseouts, and how the 40 percent refundable portion helps families with little or no tax liability. They compare it to the Lifetime Learning Credit and...

Episode 49 dives into the IRS self-rental rule, a trap that catches real estate professionals who rent their home office to their own business. Lucas and Luna break down Section 469, the material participation test, and a real-world example from a 2026 tax court case where a consultant lost $23,000 in deductions. Listeners learn how passive activity loss rules classify rental income and why owning...

Getting married or divorced doesn't just change your life — it rewrites your entire tax situation. In this episode of The Tax Strategy Podcast with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna walk through how filing status choices — Married Filing Jointly, Married Filing Separately, Head of Household, and Single — affect everything from your tax bracket width to deduction eligibility. They dive into the real numbers:...

Most people think trading services with a friend is tax-free. Not so fast. In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down how the IRS treats bartering transactions in 2026, using a concrete example: a graphic designer swaps $2,000 worth of branding work for a mechanic's car repairs. They explain the fair market value rule, how barter exchanges report to the IRS on Form 1099-B, and why even a neighborl...

In this episode of The Tax Strategy Podcast, Lucas and Luna break down how the IRS is auditing side hustles in 2026, focusing on Form 1099-K reporting thresholds, the Transactional Data Analysis program, and a real case study of a freelance graphic designer who triggered an audit by mismatching income across platforms. They explain what red flags the IRS looks for, how to document business expense...

Lucas and Luna break down the Section 199A qualified business income deduction for pass-through business owners. Using the example of a freelance graphic designer earning $180,000, they explain the 20 percent deduction, the taxable income threshold ($197,300 for single filers in 2026), the phase-in range, the wage and property limits, and how specified service trades or businesses like law, medici...

In this episode of The Tax Strategy Podcast, Lucas and Luna tackle the home office deduction for hybrid workers in 2026. With the rise of hybrid schedules, many employees and self-employed individuals are unsure if they qualify. Lucas breaks down the strict eligibility rules under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, focusing on the 'exclusive and regular use' test and the 'principal place of business' test...

Lucas and Luna break down the S corporation election strategy for self-employed professionals. Using the example of a freelance software developer earning $180,000 in 2026, they show how electing S corp status can save over $8,500 per year in self-employment taxes. They walk through the mechanics of paying yourself a reasonable salary versus distributions, the IRS thresholds for eligibility, and t...

In this episode of The Tax Strategy Podcast, Lucas and Luna break down the Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT) — a 3.8% surtax that catches many investors off guard. They use a concrete example: a married couple filing jointly with $300,000 in wage income and $80,000 in capital gains and rental income. Lucas explains how the NIIT applies to the lesser of net investment income or the excess modified a...

Episode 41 of The Tax Strategy Podcast with Fexingo digs into the kiddie tax—the IRS rule that taxes a child's unearned income at the parent's marginal rate. Lucas and Luna break down the 2026 thresholds, why a 16-year-old with a summer job and a brokerage account might face a surprise tax bill, and how to structure custodial accounts to stay under the radar. They walk through a real scenario: a f...

Episode 40 of The Tax Strategy Podcast. Lucas and Luna break down the tax-efficient order of withdrawals from retirement accounts—taxable brokerage, pre-tax 401(k), Roth IRA, and Health Savings Account. Using a concrete example for a married couple retiring in 2026 with $1.5 million in combined accounts, they walk through the logic of filling lower tax brackets with pre-tax money, tapping Roth acc...

In this episode of The Tax Strategy Podcast, Lucas and Luna unpack how inflation indexing for 2026 is reshaping tax brackets, standard deductions, and key thresholds. Using the IRS's recent revenue procedure, they explain why the 2026 adjustments are lower than the last two years due to cooling inflation. Lucas breaks down the specific numbers: the 2.8 percent inflation adjustment versus last year...

Lucas and Luna unpack the installment sale strategy for deferring capital gains tax when selling a business, property, or valuable asset. Using the example of a $2 million commercial building sale in Austin in June 2026, they walk through how spreading payments over five years keeps the tax bill manageable and avoids the net investment income tax surcharge. They also cover the tricky recapture rul...

Equity compensation is increasingly common outside of tech, but the tax rules are still confusing. In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down how Incentive Stock Options (ISOs), Non-Qualified Stock Options (NSOs), and Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) are taxed, when the AMT can sneak up on you, and what happens if you leave your job before shares vest. Lucas walks through a concrete example of an emp...

In this episode of The Tax Strategy Podcast, Lucas and Luna explain how a Spousal IRA lets a working spouse contribute to a retirement account for a non-working spouse, effectively doubling a couple's retirement savings. They walk through the income limits for 2026, the difference between traditional and Roth spousal IRAs, and a concrete example of how a family earning $150,000 can save an extra $...

Ever turned down a raise because you thought it would push you into a higher tax bracket and leave you with less money? Lucas and Luna bust that myth wide open. They explain how marginal tax brackets actually function in the US system, walk through the 2026 bracket thresholds, and show why only the money in the new bracket gets taxed at the higher rate — not your entire income. They use real numbe...

Lucas and Luna break down the Foreign Tax Credit (FTC), one of the most powerful tools for Americans with foreign investments or overseas income. Using a concrete example—a U.S. investor who holds shares of a German company and pays 15% German withholding tax on dividends—they walk through how Form 1116 works, the per-country and overall limitations, and the tricky interaction with the Qualified B...

Lucas and Luna break down the Backdoor Roth IRA strategy for 2026, using a concrete example: a high-income earner named Jen who earns $180,000 and is phased out of direct Roth IRA contributions. They walk through the two-step process—making a nondeductible traditional IRA contribution and converting it to Roth—and explain the pro-rata rule that can trigger unexpected taxes if you have existing pre...

Lucas and Luna break down the Health Savings Account (HSA) — the only tax vehicle that gives you a deduction on contributions, tax-free growth, and tax-free withdrawals for medical expenses. They walk through the 2026 contribution limits ($4,300 for individuals, $8,600 for families, plus $1,000 catch-up for 55+), explain who qualifies (must have a high-deductible health plan with minimum deductibl...

In this episode of The Tax Strategy Podcast, Lucas and Luna break down tax-loss harvesting—the strategy that lets investors use realized losses to offset capital gains and reduce their tax bill. Using a concrete example of an investor who sold a losing tech stock in June 2026, they explain how losses first offset gains of the same type, then any remaining losses can be deducted against ordinary in...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down donor-advised funds (DAFs) as a powerful tax strategy for charitable giving with appreciated assets. Using a concrete example with NVIDIA stock, they show how donating shares instead of cash can eliminate capital gains tax entirely, reduce your income tax bill, and simplify giving. They cover the mechanics, the deduction limits, and the potential pitfalls...