Can a blog affect your taxes?

If you blog, beware: It could affect your taxes. Recently, the U.S. Tax Court allowed the IRS to introduce a taxpayer’s personal blog posts into evidence in a tax dispute. The taxpayer and her husband allegedly underpaid federal tax for multiple years. After the husband died, the wife sought “innocent spouse” relief, which the IRS […]

IRS highlights recent achievements

The IRS highlights recent achievements in its “Internal Revenue Service Progress Update for Fiscal Year 2022.” The agency’s 2022 accomplishments include processing 260 million federal tax returns and forms, collecting $4.9 trillion in tax and $72.4 billion in enforcement revenue, and delivering individual refunds averaging $3,176. The publication also discusses the agency’s five-year strategic plan, […]

Guidance on energy projects for low-income communities provided

The U.S. Dept. of the Treasury and the IRS have established the Low-Income Communities Bonus Credit Program to provide solar and wind power to certain low-income areas. The program, initiated under the Inflation Reduction Act, provides a boost of up to 20 percentage points to the Section 48 investment tax credit for solar and wind […]

Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act reintroduced

A bipartisan group of lawmakers recently reintroduced a bill that would shield certain federal grants for broadband internet deployment projects from taxation. The Broadband Grant Tax Treatment Act (BGTTA) would exempt funding provided by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the American Rescue Plan Act. Those laws allocated $65 billion and $7 billion, […]

Happy Presidents Day

My Fellow Americans, Happy Presidents Day! If wrinkles must be written on our brow, let them not be written on our heart. The spirit should never grow old. —James Garfield

Presidential Tax Transparency Act introduced

A bill in Congress may mandate transparency in the White House. Members of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ) and Anna G. Eshoo (D-CA) reintroduced the Presidential Tax Transparency Act on Feb. 9. If passed, this bill would require sitting presidents, vice presidents and major party candidates for those positions […]

State relief payments may excape taxation

State relief payments may be excludable from income for most taxpayers, the IRS announced. On Feb. 10, the tax agency said that taxpayers in 21 states can exclude from income certain special relief payments they received from their states, though the rules vary. In the following states, payments made for general welfare or for disaster […]

Global Minimum Tax criticized by House Ways and Means Committee

In a Feb. 10 letter to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), U.S. House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith (R-MO) criticized the OECD’s global minimum tax framework. He asserted that the Paris-based group had conducted backroom deals to “attack the United States,” and that the minimum tax would hurt U.S. jobs […]

Direct Deposit now available on Amended Tax returns

If you file an amended tax return electronically, you can now get a direct deposit refund. The IRS announced that taxpayers e-filing Form 1040-X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, have this option. Previously, taxpayers who filed Form 1040-X had to wait for a paper check refund. Taxpayers may still submit a paper Form 1040-X […]

Fair Tax Act Proposed

A Republican-sponsored bill, the Fair Tax Act, was recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. It calls for eliminating most federal taxes (including individual and corporate income, capital gains, payroll, and estate taxes) as well as getting rid of the IRS. The taxes would be replaced with a 23% federal sales tax on goods […]