Blog - Linkenheimer LLP CPAs & Advisors

Your Post-Tax-Filing Checklist

After you’ve filed your 2025 tax return, what’s next? It’s easy to move on to other things, but taking a little time to address some tax-related items now can help you stay organized and avoid issues later. Here are a few to-dos.

Check your refund status

If you’re getting a tax refund and haven’t received it yet, the IRS offers a couple of ways to check the status. Begin by visiting irs.gov and going to “Where’s my refund?” If you’ve already set up an IRS account, you can sign in to check your refund. You also can request email notifications for status updates.

Alternatively, you can use the refund tracker. You’ll need your Social Security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, filing status, and the exact refund amount on your return.

File an amended return if needed

Let’s say you find receipts for some deductible 2025 expenses you didn’t report on your return. You can file an amended return to claim those deductions and potentially increase your refund.

But there’s more to consider than just reporting the additional deductions. The change could affect other aspects of your return as well as your state return, […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2026-04-14T16:57:01+00:00April 14th, 2026|tax planning|0 Comments

FAQs About the Research Credit

Companies that engage in research and development activities may qualify for a federal tax credit for some of those expenses. The credit is complicated to calculate, and not all research activities are eligible — but the tax savings can be significant. Here are answers to questions you might have about this potentially lucrative tax break.

What’s it worth?

The federal research credit — sometimes referred to as the research and development (R&D) credit — is for increasing research activities. Generally, it’s equal to 20% of the amount by which qualified research expenditures (QREs) in a tax year exceed a base amount derived from your company’s historical research expenditures. (There are alternative computation methods for start-ups and other companies without sufficient historical data.) QREs include wages, supplies, and certain consulting and contract research fees related to qualified research activities.

The credit is nonrefundable — that is, it can’t be used to generate a loss — but unused credits may be carried back one year or forward up to 20 years. Limits on general business credits also prevent companies from using tax credits to erase their tax liability entirely.

In addition, start-ups may elect to offset research credits […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2026-04-09T18:17:26+00:00April 9th, 2026|credit, research credit|0 Comments

It’s Your Last Chance to Claim These Clean Energy Tax Breaks

Last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) terminated several clean energy tax incentives earlier than previously scheduled. But if you bought an electric vehicle or made certain green home improvements last year, you might be eligible for a tax credit on your 2025 individual income tax return.

Remember, tax credits reduce your tax liability dollar-for-dollar (unlike deductions, which reduce the amount of income subject to tax). So tax credits are especially valuable.

Did you buy an electric vehicle?

If you bought an eligible clean vehicle by September 30, 2025, you may be able to claim one of these tax credits on your 2025 return:

New clean vehicle credit. Buyers of new electric and fuel cell vehicles may be able to claim a credit up to $7,500, depending on how the battery components and critical minerals were sourced. Vehicles that meet only one of the sourcing criteria may be eligible for a $3,750 credit. This credit was originally set to expire after 2032. But, under the OBBBA, it expired on September 30, 2025.

The maximum manufacturer’s suggested retail price for a vehicle to be eligible for the credit is $55,000 for cars and $80,000 for […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2026-03-25T16:09:39+00:00March 25th, 2026|energy, tax credit|0 Comments

Don’t Miss Your Opportunity to Make a 2025 IRA Contribution — Whether You Can Deduct It or Not

Generally, each year you can contribute up to the annual limit to a traditional or Roth IRA (or a combination of the two). But once the contribution deadline has passed, the opportunity to contribute for that year is lost forever. The deadline for 2025 IRA contributions is April 15, 2026. You may be eligible to deduct all or part of your IRA contribution and save taxes on your 2025 return. But even if you can’t claim a deduction, contributing can still be beneficial.

How much can you contribute?

For 2025, the IRA contribution limit is $7,000. If you’re age 50 or older, you can make an additional $1,000 catch-up contribution.

Generally, contributions can’t exceed the IRA owner’s earned income. However, spousal IRAs allow contributions to be made to an IRA in a nonworking spouse’s name based on the working spouse’s earned income.

The contribution limit applies to traditional and Roth IRAs on a combined basis. So, assuming you’re eligible, you can contribute $7,000 to a traditional IRA or $7,000 to a Roth IRA — or you can split the limit and, say, contribute $5,000 to a traditional IRA and $2,000 to a Roth (or whatever split you […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2026-03-24T20:09:33+00:00March 24th, 2026|ira|0 Comments

AI in Wine Country: The Robots Aren’t Taking Your Job (But They Might Change It)

Quick question: When’s the last time you thought about artificial intelligence while sipping a nice Sonoma Pinot? Probably never—and that’s exactly how the wine industry liked it. Winemaking is tradition. It’s terroir. It’s a third-generation vintner walking the rows at dawn, checking the vines by feel and instinct.

But here’s the thing: that same vintner might now be getting a text alert from an AI system telling her that row 45 needs irrigation—eight hours before she’d have noticed with her own eyes.

Welcome to 2026, where the tasting room has a digital twin.

The wine industry is going through its most significant technological shift since mechanical harvesters arrived decades ago. And this time, it’s not just about the vineyard—it’s touching sales, marketing, customer experience, and yes, the bottom line. For our clients across Wine Country, agriculture, and construction, the question isn’t whether AI will affect your business. It’s how fast, how much, and what you should be doing about it right now.

The Numbers Are Hard to Ignore

Small business AI adoption jumped 41% in 2025, with 68% of businesses with 10-100 employees now using AI tools regularly—up from 47% just a year earlier. In agriculture […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2026-03-23T19:07:42+00:00March 23rd, 2026|AI, Tech, winery|0 Comments