Fraud penalty

If the IRS finds a taxpayer has committed fraud, the penalty is up to 75% of the unreported tax. In one case, a taxpayer was a managing member and employee of an engineering business. He didn’t report wage income he received from the company. The IRS used the “bank deposits method” to compare his bank […]

Year-end tax planning ideas for individuals

Now that fall is officially here, it’s a good time to start taking steps that may lower your tax bill for this year and next. One of the first planning steps is to ascertain whether you’ll take the standard deduction or itemize deductions for 2022. Many taxpayers won’t itemize because of the high 2022 standard […]

Revised per diem rates

The IRS has announced special 2022-2023 per diem rates that went into effect Oct. 1, 2022. Employees may use the rates to substantiate expenses for lodging, meals and incidental expenses when traveling away from home for business. To account for cost-of-living differences in the U.S., the daily rates are higher for localities that the IRS […]

Guidance issued on R&D credit for contractors

The IRS recently issued guidance regarding what research activities conducted by a contractor are “unfunded activities” eligible for the research and development (R&D) tax credit. Section 41 research expenses above a certain base amount qualify for the credit. They can be incurred for in-house or contracted research. Research performed for a client under a contract […]

How auditors use Benford’s Law to assess transactions

An interesting tool called Benford’s Law can be effective in detecting fraud. But it also can be used during external auditing procedures to test journal entries for unusual numeric patterns. Here’s what you should know about this statistical technique, including its potential limitations. Random data sets According to Benford’s Law, in sets of random data, […]

Inquiry on IRS spending plans

Senate Finance Committee Republicans are asking for specifics on how the IRS plans to spend the additional $80 billion the Inflation Reduction Act earmarked for the agency. In a recent letter to IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig, the Republican senators requested information on how the IRS will prioritize taxpayer services, guard against partisan targeting, protect taxpayer […]

Cost of Missouri tax cut swells

Cost of tax cut swells as Missouri House committee seeks to eliminate corporate tax – mycouriertribune.com https://bit.ly/3ChjWYE

What’s the National Green Bank?

Improperly forgiven PPP Loans are taxable

The IRS Chief Counsel’s Office has issued guidance confirming that improperly forgiven Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans are considered taxable income. The IRS urges PPP borrowers whose loans were improperly forgiven to file original (or amended) tax returns. The portion of the forgiven loan that doesn’t meet the requirements for forgiveness must be included in […]

Higher Education Accountability Act

Three U.S. House Republicans say that President Biden’s plan to forgive as much as $20,000 per borrower of student loan debt is a “giveaway” to highly profitable universities. With the Higher Education Accountability Act, the lawmakers propose to raise the excise tax on investment income of private institutions from 1.7% to 10%. Universities that increased […]