National Taxpayer Advocate Erin M. Collins recently issued to Congress her mid-year report assessing the current state of the IRS. In a nutshell, the report says that the tax filing season “generally ran smoothly” this year. However, it also flagged some challenges. They include delays in issuing refunds to identity theft victims, providing misleading information […]

Read More National Taxpayer Advocate Issues reports on filing season

Currently, the tax community is navigating great uncertainty primarily for two reasons: the outcome of the national election in November and the fact that most individual provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act are set to expire after Dec. 31, 2025. At that time, tax rates are scheduled to go up, and some provisions […]

Read More What is the future of taxation?

Tik Tok is wildly popular with many people, but the IRS isn’t a fan. On its 2024 “Dirty Dozen” list of tax scams, the IRS included “bad tax information” on social media sites, such as TikTok. Specific areas of concern include bad advice about the fuel tax credit, the sick and family leave credit and […]

Read More Do you get your tax information from Tik Tok?

If you or a family member is fortunate enough to have a student loan forgiven, will the amount forgiven be taxable? Generally speaking, forgiven debt constitutes taxable income. However, certain forgiven student debt is currently exempt from federal tax through 2025. In addition, most states exempt student debt relief from their income tax, but there […]

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The United States has formally notified the Russian Federation that it’s suspending elements of an income tax treaty. This is in response to an Aug. 8, 2023, notice by Russia that it wished to suspend parts of the treaty. The suspension is expected to affect the tax obligations and costs of U.S. companies operating in […]

Read More US suspends tax treaty with Russia

The IRS has released a draft of Form 6765, Credit for Increasing Research Activities (also known as the research credit). The agency revised the form to respond to external feedback received during a comment period. Now, the “business component information” section will be optional for qualified small business taxpayers and those with total qualified research […]

Read More Credit for research activities

A provision of the SECURE 2.0 Act allows for exceptions to the additional 10% tax when taking early permissible retirement plan distributions for emergency personal expenses and for victims of domestic abuse. These are distributions taken before age 59½. IRS Notice 2024-55 provides guidance on the provision that went into effect Jan. 1, 2024. It […]

Read More Pension early withdrawal penalty exceptions

The IRS recently announced plans to deny tens of thousands of improperly filed “high-risk” Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) claims. The tax agency will also begin a new round of processing lower-risk, legitimate claims, with initial payments to this group expected to be made later this summer. An IRS review revealed that 10% to 20% […]

Read More IRS announces plans to deny ERTC claims

Employers who seek to hire new workers may qualify for a tax benefit, but they shouldn’t wait too long. The Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) is a valuable federal tax credit that encourages employers to hire from certain groups that face employment barriers. The WOTC is set to expire after 2025, so to qualify, employees […]

Read More The WOTC benefit for employers set to expire