Taxes

As the details of the $900 billion Covid-19 relief bill emerge, city and other local leaders are slamming Congress for not including direct financial aid to state and local governments. Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer on Election Day, 2020. Fischer is calling upon Congress to include … [+] direct fiscal aid to cities who are on

Economic Security Planning, Inc. Today’s column addresses questions about how income earned after filing can increase benefit rates, working and the earnings test while collecting a widow’s benefit and whether and how benefits can increase at FRA after withholdings due to the earnings test. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and

Words TAX COURT composed of wooden letters. Statue Themis and judge’s gavel in the background. getty Lew Taishoff’s nomination for best Tax Court decision of 2020 is Oakbrook Land Holdings 154 TC 10. We need to take Mr. Taishoff’s opinion very seriously. He covers the Tax Court with incredible intensity. He may have a break this holiday season

A string of taxpayer victories in Conservation Easement cases has many taxpayers who have sponsored or invested in these transactions re-thinking whether settling pending tax court litigation is a good idea, after all. The Eleventh Circuit’s decision in Pine Mountain Preserve, LLLP v. Commissioner, coupled with recent Tax Court decisions in Kissling v. Commissioner and Rajagopalan

MT PLEASANT, WI – JUNE 28: U.S. President Donald Trump (C) breaks ground along with Wisconsin Gov. … [+] Scott Walker (L) and Foxconn CEO Terry Gou (R) at the 2018 groundbreaking for the highly subsidized Foxconn plant in Wisconsin. The project failed to meet job and development goals even with almost $4 billion in

close up employee man hand put number 1 of cube shape wood to make calendar date December 31 at … [+] office desk for the last day of the last year countdown concept getty No one likes to overpay in taxes, but one of the biggest mistakes people make is waiting until April 15th to

PALM BAY, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES – 2020/12/08: People line up to receive food at the Share Your … [+] Christmas food distribution event. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images One of the major skirmishes in the months-long battle over the fate of a new pandemic relief bill is

No matter how much time and energy you invest into politics, you probably know student loan debt has become just as much a political issue as a financial one. Both sides of the aisle have suggested some relief for student loan debt, including the Trump Administration’s current halt on payments and interest for most federal

Two railways tracks merge close up. getty For a taxpayer, it must be disappointing when the courts uphold your challenge to a state revenue agency auditor’s application of a regulation that resulted in an assessment for additional tax. Yet substantive challenges — including a taxpayer’s assertion that the auditor included transactions that are not taxable

Economic Security Planning, Inc. Today’s column addresses questions about how income after 60 can affect benefit amounts, how survivor’s benefit are calculated when the record holder dies before 70 and when delayed retirement credits are applied when filing at 70. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president

Work-from-home is a crowd pleaser. That may sound like an obvious finding, but – given the dire circumstances under which the world entered the virtual workforce this year – it’s a significant one. A woman working from home as a preventive measures against the spread of covid 19 disease. (Photo by … [+] Robin Utrecht/SOPA

Reading a few books on the floor getty If you graduated from law school within the past five decades, you probably saw on the menu of courses offered during your second or third year a curious seminar with a title like “Law and Literature” or, most likely, exactly that. The version at my school —

Advisors help in filling 1040 form, teamwork in office getty As this unprecedented and strange year draws to a close, it is time for businesses and individuals to start planning to reduce next year’s tax obligations wherever possible. So far, we have survived COVID-19 and an adversarial presidential election process. We are approaching 2021 with

Economic Security Planning, Inc. Today’s column addresses questions about whether stopping work years before filing will reduce retirement benefits, effects of an ex filing on a spouse’s record, disability benefits converting to retirement benefit and the Government Pension Offset. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of

Hand holds documents Captive insurance about insurance. getty The Supreme Court rarely hears tax cases which makes the recent oral arguments in CIC Services v IRS exciting. That is about all that makes them exciting to ordinary mortals as what was going on at the Supreme Court was an argument about whether they could have

Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) chairman Robert Chote at a press conference at the Institute … [+] for Government, London, as the organisation publishes its first Fiscal Sustainability report.Picture date: Wednesday July 13, 2011. Britain will effectively go bust if the Government does not offset the impact of an ageing population with increased taxes and

TOPSHOT – EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / Bodies wrapped in plastic line the walls inside a … [+] refrigerated trailer used as a mobile morgue by the El Paso County Medical Examiner’s office in El Paso, Texas on November 13, 2020. – Due to a recent spike in coronavirus deaths, El Paso County officials have

getty The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has released the very-probably-unless-Congress-does-something-soon final version of Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return for 2020 (downloads as a PDF). There are several notable changes to the form proposed for the tax year 2020 – the tax return that you’ll file in 2021. Page One Form 1040 (2020) IRS/KPE Identifying information.

The Covid-19 pandemic and protests against racial injustice drove spikes in donations via corporate … [+] virtual giving programs. getty More people are donating to charity via new workplace online giving platforms than ever, and they’re donating more than ever. It seems they’ve been spurred on in part by the issues of 2020—the Covid-19 pandemic

Despite the demands of Covid, the IRS is on the hunt for high income non-filers. Getty Images Eric Hylton, the commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service Small Business/Self-Employed Division, threw down the gauntlet December 3, 2020 with an article the IRS pushed out on its newswire on how the IRS views high-income non-filers. If there