If you want to pay your income taxes with a credit card, know the limitations

If you owe federal tax, you can typically use credit and debit cards to pay directly or through certain third-party apps. However, the number of cards you can use when submitting individual tax forms is limited: generally two per year or two per month (for details: https://bit.ly/40tUTMM). And there are processing fees involved. The cost […]

Trump imposes additional tariff on Chinese imports

President Trump announced he plans to impose an additional 10% tariff on Chinese imports. This follows a pledge to impose 25% tariffs on goods coming from Canada and Mexico, which Trump says is punishment for allowing drugs and illegal immigrants to enter the United States. All three tariffs may become effective Feb. 1, 2025. Foreign […]

Changes made to combat Tax Scams

The IRS and partners in the Coalition Against Scam and Scheme Threats (CASST) have issued several changes for the 2025 filing season designed to help protect taxpayers against scams. One change is stepping up reviews on a variety of “other withholding” claims on Form 1040. Specifically, this refers to “Other forms” of withholding on Line […]

US pulls out of global corporate minimum tax plan

In an executive order, President Donald Trump declared that a global corporate minimum tax plan “has no force or effect” in the United States. This effectively pulls the U.S. out of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) global tax proposal negotiated with nearly 140 countries by the Biden administration in 2021. Republicans on […]

Tax Season has started

The 2025 tax season kicked off on Jan. 27, which is the first day the IRS will accept income tax returns. If your address changed in 2024, you can navigate tax filing more smoothly by notifying the IRS of the correct address for your home or business. How? File Form 8822 (Change of Address) or […]

President Trump continues to issue Executive Orders

With a new administration comes an abundance of change. Among the changes, President Donald Trump issued an executive order (EO) placing “a freeze on hiring federal civilian employees” for vacant positions across the executive branch. Exceptions exist for military personnel and specific enforcement, security and public safety roles. The ban will expire when a new […]

Executive Order Issued

President Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 20 titled “Unleashing American Energy.” It calls for an immediate pause on disbursing funds under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 until agency heads submit reports on the funds. It also calls for eliminating “the electric vehicle (EV) mandate.” (The federal government doesn’t mandate that consumers buy […]

Update from the IRS

Danny Werfel has stepped down from his post as IRS Commissioner. He was scheduled to leave the job in Nov. 2027. However, President Trump has nominated former Republican Congressman Billy Long for the position. During his tenure, Werfel oversaw the Inflation Reduction Act infusion of funds to, among other things, upgrade IRS technology and boost […]

Deductions versus Credits

Two commonly misunderstood tax terms are deductions and credits. What’s the difference? Deductions reduce the amount of a taxpayer’s income before tax is calculated. For example, on your individual return, you can take the standard deduction or itemize deductions depending on which strategy will most reduce your taxable income. Credits, on the other hand, reduce […]

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions discussed

President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of the Dept. of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, said that making permanent the expiring provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is “the single most important economic issue of the day.” During confirmation hearings, Bessent added that “if we do not fix these tax cuts, if we do not […]