Extended Tax Returns

If you’ve requested for a tax filing extension, the IRS is encouraging you to e-file your 2021 return as early as possible. There’s no need to wait until the October deadline. Taxpayers who requested an extension have until October 17 to file their tax returns. However, if you have all the necessary information to file […]

2022 IRS Dirty Dozen

Taxpayers beware, warned the IRS, as it issued the 2022 “Dirty Dozen” scams list. The list starts with four potentially abusive arrangements to avoid, including: charitable remainder annuity trusts, Maltese individual retirement arrangements, foreign captive insurance and monetized installment sales. If these schemes appear on a tax return, they will likely draw unwanted IRS focus. […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Summer work

School is out for the summer and many teenagers will be looking for ways to earn money. That’s why the IRS is reminding young workers of their tax responsibilities. New employees must provide employers with a Form W-4 (Withholding Allowance Certificate). If they need help with the form, they can log onto the IRS website, […]