Estimate payments due

Mark your calendars for this important date, Sept. 15, if you must make quarterly estimated tax payments. That’s the due date for the third estimated tax payment for 2023. Who must pay estimated tax? Generally, those who have taxable income that isn’t subject to withholding must make payments if they expect to owe tax of […]

Enhanced Tax credits can be claimed by certain clean energy companies

As part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), clean energy companies that satisfy certain prevailing wage and registered apprenticeship (PWA) requirements can claim enhanced tax credits and deductions. The IRS and U.S. Treasury Dept. have announced proposed guidance to help qualified businesses claim the tax benefits, including taxpayers that initially failed to satisfy the PWA […]

Florida Tax relief granted

The IRS is granting tax relief to Florida taxpayers affected by Hurricane Idalia. After President Biden declared 46 Florida counties disaster areas, the IRS extended filing and payment deadlines for impacted individuals and businesses. For deadlines on or after Aug. 27, 2023, and before Feb. 15, 2024, taxpayers must now file or pay by Feb. […]

Cash payment transaction reporting goes electronic

Businesses that receive more than $10,000 in cash must report the transactions to the IRS. This is done on Form 8300, Report of Cash Payments Over $10,000. Although many cash transactions are legitimate, information reported on Form 8300 can help combat those who evade tax, profit from the drug trade or engage in terrorist financing. […]

State relief payments can be excluded

Earlier this year, the IRS provided clarification on the federal tax status of special payments made by 21 states in 2022 that were mainly related to the pandemic. In a nutshell, qualified taxpayers in these 21 states aren’t required to include in income their state or local relief payments because the payments were made for […]

Debt forgiveness may cause taxation

Debt forgiveness may result in taxes owed. Under federal tax law, gross income generally includes cancellation of debt (COD) income when a lender forgives all or part of a debt. One taxpayer was the sole member of a limited liability company (LLC) that defaulted on a bank line of credit. The bank filed a Form […]

Lose documents in a disaster?

How do you replace important documents after a natural disaster? If your personal and financial records have been destroyed, you may need to replace them quickly to receive federal assistance, file insurance claims and for tax purposes. Transcripts of filed tax returns can be obtained for free using “Get Transcript” on IRS.gov or by calling […]

IRS issues fraud alert

Some victims of recent natural disasters have lost their homes, vehicles and even their loved ones. But that doesn’t seem to stop fraudsters from kicking them while they’re down. The IRS warns disaster survivors to be wary of bad actors claiming to work for the government, particularly if they offer to help obtain tax refunds […]

Proposed regulations cover digital assets

The IRS and U.S. Treasury Dept. have proposed regulations “to help end confusion involving digital assets and provide clear information and reporting certainty for taxpayers [and] tax professionals,” in the words of IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. To prevent digital assets from being used to hide taxable income, the regulations would require brokers, cryptocurrency platforms and […]

IRS addresses technical error in Secure 2.0 Act

In Notice 2023-62, the IRS addressed a technical error in the SECURE 2.0 Act that wouldn’t have allowed catch-up contributions to 401(k)s and similar plans after 2023. Generally, taxpayers age 50 or older can make these additional contributions. When Congress included a requirement in SECURE 2.0 that certain higher-income taxpayers make catch-up contributions only to […]