National Preparedness Month

September is National Preparedness Month. The height of hurricane season is fast approaching and there’s an ongoing threat of wildfires and flooding in many areas of the country. Therefore, the IRS is urging you to develop an emergency preparedness plan, or if you already have one, update it for 2022. Specifically, it’s critical to secure […]

Tax Return Backlog

How is the IRS progressing through its tax return processing backlog? As of Aug. 19, the IRS reports that it had 8.7 million unprocessed individual tax returns received in calendar year 2022. Among the returns are 1.7 million that contain errors or require special handling, while 7 million are paper returns that still must be […]

Inflation Reduction Act provisions of interest to small businesses

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed into law by President Biden on August 16, contains many provisions related to climate, energy and taxes. There has been a lot of media coverage about the law’s impact on large corporations. For example, the IRA contains a new 15% alternative minimum tax on large, profitable corporations. And the […]

Education Credits

It’s that time of year when students are starting or returning to college or trade school. Higher education is expensive, but taxpayers who take post-high school coursework in 2022 (or who have dependents taking such coursework) may qualify for one of two tax credits that can reduce their tax bills. The American Opportunity Tax Credit […]

Update requested on IRS reviews

Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) has requested that updates be conducted of two previous Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) audits dealing with IRS employees. Specifically, Ernst requested that TIGTA “conduct updated reviews of the IRS’s employment practices to determine how many agency employees are not currently fully compliant on their tax debts and how […]

The Inflation Reduction Act: what’s in it for you?

You may have heard that the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was signed into law recently. While experts have varying opinions about whether it will reduce inflation in the near future, it contains, extends and modifies many climate and energy-related tax credits that may be of interest to individuals. Nonbusiness energy property Before the IRA was […]

Employee or Independent Contractor?

Employers often struggle with what seems a simple question: Are workers employees or independent contractors? It’s not uncommon for businesses to misclassify workers only to later realize their mistake. If you’re facing this situation, the IRS’s voluntary classification settlement program (VCSP) may help. The VCSP allows employers to reclassify workers as employees for future employment […]

Stock Buyback Programs

Does your public company have (or plan to establish) a stock buyback program? The new Inflation Reduction Act imposes a 1% excise tax on stock repurchases. But only some buyback programs will be affected. Buybacks treated as redemptions for tax purposes and made by domestic corporations whose stock is traded on an established securities market […]

New law puts “book income” in the crosshairs

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) could have congressional lobbyists nipping at its heels over a “book minimum tax” rule in the newly enacted Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). This would be the first corporate alternative minimum tax based on financial statement book income since the 1980s. And many in the accounting profession are […]

IRA has many new or revised tax credits

The Clean Vehicle Credit is getting some of the attention, but the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) also includes many new or revised home energy improvement related tax credits. For example, the credit previously known as the Residential Energy Efficient Property (REEP) Credit is now the Residential Clean Energy Credit. Individuals are allowed a personal tax […]