Improper payments

Is the IRS successfully preventing the issuance of improper payments by adhering to the 2019 Payments Integrity Act? The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) recently took a look and found the IRS to be “generally compliant” with the law. However, TIGTA identified four programs as susceptible to improper payments because risk assessment reports […]

Calculating corporate estimated tax

The next quarterly estimated tax payment deadline is June 15 for individuals and businesses so it’s a good time to review the rules for computing corporate federal estimated payments. You want your business to pay the minimum amount of estimated taxes without triggering the penalty for underpayment of estimated tax. Four methods The required installment of […]

Social Security wage base projected to increase

The Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Office of the Chief Actuary is projecting that the Social Security wage base will increase from $147,000 to $155,100 in 2023. The SSA provides three forecasts for the wage base (intermediate, low and high cost). All forecasts predict an increase from $147,000 to $155,100 in 2023. Future intermediate forecasts are: […]

Military Spouse Hiring Act

The “Military Spouse Hiring Act,” was introduced in the U.S. Senate and is currently under review. The proposed legislation is mirrored by a bill in the U.S. House. The bill seeks to expand the Work Opportunity Tax Credit to include qualified military spouses as a targeted group that qualifies for the credit. A “qualified military […]

Is it a good time for a Roth conversion?

The downturn in the stock market may have caused the value of your retirement account to decrease. But if you have a traditional IRA, this decline may provide a valuable opportunity: It may allow you to convert your traditional IRA to a Roth IRA at a lower tax cost. Traditional vs. Roth Here’s what makes […]

Filing Deadline approaches

Americans living and working abroad: You have less than two weeks to file your federal income tax return. The due date is June 15 if your tax home and residence are outside the U.S. and Puerto Rico, or you’re serving in the military outside the U.S. and Puerto Rico on the regular tax filing date. […]

Deducting research costs

Many people dislike how the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act amended Code Sec. 174, particularly manufacturers. Before Jan. 1, 2022, businesses could amortize or expense research and experimentation costs in the year they were incurred. Typically, they expensed them immediately to optimize their deduction. Now, they must either capitalize or amortize these costs for periods […]

Scam Alert on Employee Retention Tax Credits!

We have become aware of an increasing volume of tax credit “consultants” in the marketplace targeting our clients to sell them on the process of claiming huge payroll tax refunds using the Employee Retention Tax Credit provisions of the CARES Act. Some situations we are aware of have, in our view, the potential to subject […]

Secure Act 2.0 update

The Secure Act 2.0 is inching closer to the finish line. The Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee recently released a legislative draft ingeniously titled “Retirement Improvement and Savings Enhancement to Supplement Healthy Investments for the Nest Egg Act” (RISE and SHINE Act). This is the Senate’s version of the U.S. House’s Secure […]

IRS update

The IRS is pushing back against a Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) audit (https://bit.ly/3933UFN ) that addressed the processing of Recovery Rebate Credit (RRC) claims. The audit found, among other things, that the IRS improperly issued RRC payments totaling $898 million. In addition, “the IRS declined to review nearly $598 million of the […]