Russia sanctions

President Biden has widened the circle of U.S. businesses prohibited from working in Russia or for Russian nationals to accounting, corporate formation and consulting services. (The newest sanctions don’t mention legal services.) In addition, sanctions have been extended to include industrial goods exported from Russia, limits on Russian state-controlled TV stations and visa restrictions on […]

National Wildfire Awareness Month

The month of May is National Wildfire Awareness Month. In fact, wildfires are currently raging in New Mexico. The IRS recently issued tips for individuals and businesses to prepare in case they become victims of a natural disaster of any kind. These tips include securing key documents, such as tax returns, birth certificates and insurance […]

Payroll Taxes

The IRS is reminding business owners of the option to electronically file their payroll tax returns and make tax payments. Also known as employment taxes, payroll taxes include federal (and possibly state) income tax withheld from employee wages, as well as the employer and employee portions of Social Security and Medicare taxes. Taxpayers can file […]

Work Opportunity Tax Credits

Even in a tight labor market, some job seekers have trouble finding employment due to such factors as long-term unemployment, veteran status, disability and former incarceration. But the Work Opportunity Tax Credit may help by giving employers who hire eligible individuals a tax credit generally equal to 40% of up to $6,000 in wages paid […]

Crypto-Assets

Some observers have noted that the digital asset reporting model proposed in President Biden’s fiscal 2023 budget is very similar to that put forward by the multinational Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). But, as a U.S. Treasury official has stated, the OECD model is narrower in scope and “focuses on transactions involving dispositions […]

Estimated Tax Payments

The IRS is reminding all businesses, including self-employed and gig workers, to make estimated tax payments quarterly. Individuals and businesses are required to pay taxes as income is earned or received throughout the year, either through withholding or estimated tax payments. That’s why those who are self-employed or in the gig economy usually need to […]

Syndicated conservations easements

IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig recently told a Senate hearing that despite his agency’s development of a comprehensive enforcement strategy to address abusive syndicated conservation easement transactions, the schemes persist. A U.S. House bill was introduced in 2021 to crack down on abuse of the charitable conservation-easement deduction, which is intended to help preserve public lands. […]

Tax Court Memo 2022-33

When taxpayers fail to timely file tax returns, the IRS may do it for them. One engineer had substantial income from various entities. For several years, he filed returns late or not at all and didn’t cooperate with the IRS. The IRS used third-party financial records to reconstruct his income and assess a tax liability. […]

An update to Small Business Week

National Small Business Week was last week and this year’s theme was “Building a Better America through Entrepreneurship.” With that in mind, the IRS is urging business owners to take advantage of certain tax benefits and resources while there’s still time. The enhanced 100% business meals deduction (up from 50%) for meals purchased from a […]

Filing the the nonprofit e-Postcard

Form 990-N (e-Postcard) is supposed to be filed with the IRS by tax-exempt organizations with annual gross receipts of $50,000 or less. If a nonprofit files its 990-N improperly, the IRS may consider the organization as having not filed. And nonprofits that don’t file for three consecutive years automatically lose their exempt status. The IRS […]