Taxes

In the early days of blockchain technology, there was a lot of excitement about its potential to transform the tax system and the way tax is collected. In a 2015 survey by the World Economic Forum, 73% of respondents (over 800 business leaders) predicted governments would be collecting taxes via blockchain by 2023. Well, that

The recent rising 7520/AFR interest rate impacts the present value of a fixed annuity, and what this has implied as yields on mid-term Treasuries rose rapidly in recent months for tax planning involving charitable gift annuities and charitable lead or remainder annuity trusts. But, of course, not every planned gift involves a fixed annuity. We

Update: This story has been updated to correct the requirements for becoming a CPA. 150 hours total are required. Typically that includes the hours required to obtain a bachelor’s degree in accounting plus an additional 30 hours. It’s no secret that people are leaving the tax and accounting industry. They are either retiring or simply

President Joe Biden will deliver the 2023 State of the Union Address tonight, on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023, at 9:00 p.m. EST. The President is expected to stress what he deems to be the successes of his administration during challenging times. History and Authority The State of the Union Address—sometimes referred to as SOTU—is delivered

The Readers Digest version of the Fair Tax Act of 2023 is that it replaces the income tax, payroll taxes that fund Social Security and Medicare and transfer (estate and gift) taxes with a very broad sales tax. For 2025 the tax inclusive rate is 23% which translates to an add on rate, as sales

It’s that time of year again. IRS Forms 1099 remind you that you earned interest, received a consulting fee, or were paid some other kind of income. Most Forms 1099 arrive in late January or early February, but some companies issue forms throughout the year when they issue checks. Whenever Forms 1099 arrive, don’t ignore

One of the confusing things about tax season for many taxpayers is that the rules and brackets may be very different from year to year. For example, more than 60 tax provisions posted in Revenue Procedure 2021-45—made public about a year and a half ago—apply to the current filing season’s tax return. As you pull

Final regs generally don’t require taxpayers to recognize gain or loss when modifying contracts to replace discontinued interbank offered rates. However, to qualify for this favorable treatment, the contract modifications must meet specific conditions related to replacement interest rates and cash payments between borrowers and lenders. Published on January 4, 2022, T.D. 9961 contains final

Federal taxability of state-issued stimulus payments is causing frustration for taxpayers and tax professionals. Indeed, whether or not state-issued stimulus payments are federally taxable may be the most asked question of this filing season. For California’s taxpayers the frustration and confusion boiled over into the Procedurally Taxing blog where guest blogger Bob Kamman, a Phoenix-area

Today’s Social Security column addresses questions about whether it may or may not be worth delaying filing until full retirement age (FRA), effects on other benefits when the higher earning spouse files and how spousal benefits are calculated. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic

I have been having silly arguments with Fair Tax enthusiasts. The Fair Tax Act of 2023 would be a tremendous simplification of federal taxation. It does not, however, reduce 70,000 pages to 131 and it does not entirely eliminate the Internal Revenue Code. Also it does not abolish the IRS. It renames parts of it

For various reasons, the charitable remainder annuity trust has long been underutilized as a gift planning vehicle. At any given moment there may be somewhat over a hundred thousand split interest trusts in existence, but only about one in eight of these is a CRAT. But with interest rates rapidly rising over the past year,

As the COVID-19 pandemic recedes many medical testing services businesses have been diversifying and bringing to market new products aimed at the growing health and wellbeing market. For example, blood and DNA testing and screening services. The VAT status of these new offerings is not always clear and recent VAT case-law, and commentary issued by

Tax season opened on January 23, 2023. With fewer pandemic restrictions in place and more tax authorities back to work—including new hires at the IRS—many are hopeful that means that tax season will be a little less stressful than in the last few years. So far, that feels like it might be the case. Tax

Today’s Social Security column addresses questions about the effect of rolling a public pension over into an IRA, survivor’s benefits and the earnings test and how military credits can be applied to benefit amounts. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc. See

It won’t be long before the IRS releases its proposal for how to use the almost $80 billion in supplemental funding that Congress granted it over the next 10 years in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA, P.L. 117-169). The plan is supposed to be out in mid-February. Although more than half of the $80 billion

The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee—or PRAC—has identified billions of dollars in potential fraud and identity theft related to pandemic relief loan programs. The PRAC report, issued this week, identified 69,323 questionable Social Security Numbers used to obtain $5.4 billion from the Small Business Administration’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program and the Paycheck Protection Program. Together,

Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of Elvis Presley, died unexpectedly on January 12, 2023, at age 54. Weeks later, questions have emerged about what will happen to her fortune following a legal challenge by her mother, Priscilla Presley. Elvis Presley’s Estate When Elvis Presley died in 1977, he left a will that created a

As of January 2023, the annual gift tax exclusion amount has increased to $17,000. That is the amount you can gift to any one person each year free of any tax implications. For years the amount was set at $10,000, but since 2002 it has been slowly increasing. Making annual exclusion gifts allows you to

Recent rising interest rates and longer table life expectancies will shift values as between “income” and remainder interests in split interest trusts and charitable gift annuities, altering the tax incentives for these “planned” charitable gift vehicles. This article focuses specifically on the most commonly used “planned” giving vehicle, the charitable gift annuity. And for purposes