IRS Voice Bots now at 100% capacity

The next time you contact the IRS by phone, it’s likely that you’ll end up speaking to a voice bot. The IRS launched “authenticated” voice bots this year, and they’re now operating at 100% capacity. The bots, which are powered by artificial intelligence and currently available in English and Spanish, are an advance from previous, […]

State Tax Changes Taking Effect July 1, 2022

State Tax Changes Taking Effect July 1, 2022 https://bit.ly/3yp9hbl

Asset Seizures

The IRS generally, but not always, complies with legal guidelines when conducting seizures of taxpayers’ property. So found a Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) audit. The audit reviewed 74 of the 97 seizures the IRS conducted between July 1, 2020, and June 30, 2021. Before the IRS can seize an asset, an advisor […]

Summertime activities may impact your taxes

Summer is officially here, and for some taxpayers, that might bring new tax implications. Newlyweds should contact several agencies to update their information. Parents who send their dependent kids (under age 13) to summer day camp may be able to deduct it as a work-related expense. Taxpayers who work summer or part-time jobs may not […]

Five tax implications of divorce

Are you in the early stages of divorce? In addition to the tough personal issues that you’re dealing with, several tax concerns need to be addressed to ensure that taxes are kept to a minimum and that important tax-related decisions are properly made. Here are five issues to consider if you’re in the process of […]

IRS Improvements Needed

Improvement is still needed in many areas at the IRS, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). The GAO provides Congress and federal agencies with non-partisan information that can be used to improve government and save taxpayers money. In a letter to the IRS Commissioner, the GAO noted that since June 2021, only four […]

Backup Withholding

Businesses take note: You may be required to withhold 24% of certain payments to individuals if they don’t provide you with their legal names and taxpayer identification numbers (TINs) or the IRS notifies you that a payee’s TIN doesn’t match its records. Types of payments subject to backup withholding include interest, dividends, rents, profits, commissions, […]

Businesses will soon be able to deduct more under the standard mileage rate

Business owners are aware that the price of gas is historically high, which has made their vehicle costs soar. The average nationwide price of a gallon of unleaded regular gas on June 17 was $5, compared with $3.08 a year earlier, according to the AAA Gas Prices website. A gallon of diesel averaged $5.78 a […]

Tax avoidance

Not all tax avoidance is intentional, according to a new interdepartmental Joint Strategic Emerging Issues Team (JSEIT) at the IRS. JSEIT’s objective is to use compliance-risk assessments to pinpoint possible promoters of abusive tax schemes. It also will decide how to deploy resources. Some issues may require education, while others may warrant investigations. Analytics will […]

Secure Act 2.0 update

The SECURE Act 2.0 bill has taken another step closer to becoming law. On June 22, the Senate Finance Committee unanimously approved its version of the bill, now dubbed the Enhancing American Retirement Now (EARN) Act. That bill must be merged with another Senate bill, the Rise and Shine Act. Once that’s been completed, the […]