SS Benefits increases 8.7% in 2023

Due to current high inflation rates, Social Security benefits will increase by 8.7% for 2023. The increase marks the largest annual increase in roughly four decades. This year’s increase tops last year’s 5.9% increase, which at the time was the largest increase in nearly 40 years. According to AARP, the so called “cost-of-living adjustment” will […]

Cybersecurity Awareness Month

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month. The IRS recently warned the public of scams called “smishing” that use texts to steal personal information or download malicious code to a phone. The IRS states it will never contact you by text. Therefore, any text claiming to be from the IRS is a scam. You can help IRS […]

low income housing rules

The IRS issued guidance on Oct. 7 that makes several changes to the low-income housing tax credit rules. The changes include extended housing credit program deadlines and finalization of a rule that will make more-affordable housing developments financially viable. The new guidance “will have an immediate impact, allowing stalled housing developments to move forward at […]

RMD relief

The IRS is providing relief for taxpayers who didn’t take certain required minimum distributions (RMDs) from inherited IRAs and other plans. The relief under Notice 2022-53 is for taxpayers subject to the “10-year rule” who didn’t take RMDs in 2021 or 2022 but were required to do so. The SECURE Act requires that inherited plans […]

Conservation Easement Deduction in the News

When a partnership claimed a $9.5 million tax deduction after donating 106 acres to a Tennessee land conservancy, the IRS challenged it. Both the U.S. Tax Court and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals found in favor of the IRS, but the latter decision was split. This prompted the partnership to appeal to the U.S. […]

Backlog of Unprocessed tax returns update

The IRS has set a year-end deadline to clear its backlog of unprocessed tax returns. How’s it going? As of Sept. 30, there were 5.8 million individual returns outstanding (down from 8.7 million in August). Despite making progress, the IRS still faces challenges. The agency has hired 5,000 new workers at processing centers and the […]

Extension Deadline is at hand

File Now Extension Deadline October 17 https://bit.ly/3MNEBY5

The Athlete Opportunity and Taxpayer Integrity Act

More than a year ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that student athletes can be compensated for the use of their names, images or likenesses (NIL). Now, a new bipartisan bill would eliminate a tax incentive for contributions to tax-exempt affiliates of colleges and universities. Since the ruling, groups of college boosters (third-party entities that […]

Legislation on tax provisions introduced

Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) has introduced legislation to make permanent certain individual-related and small-business-related provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). Without congressional action, 23 provisions of the five-year-old tax law are set to expire after 2025. According to the Tax Foundation, most taxpayers will see a tax increase unless some or all […]

Child Tax Credit reviewed

The Child Tax Credit (CTC) was increased for 2021 and the IRS was tasked with quickly making direct periodic payments to eligible families for part of the year. How did the IRS do? The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) took a look at the accuracy of the payments. Overall, the IRS hit 98% […]