Taxes

When charitable appeals arrive for Giving Tuesday, most people turn to their checkbooks or payment cards. Some people, and the objects of their giving, would be better off making the contributions from traditional IRAs. The best way for some people to make charitable gifts is the qualified charitable distribution (QCD), also known as the charitable

Today’s Social Security column addresses questions about how deductions due to the earnings test can affect future benefit rates, whether to take spousal benefits at 62 and whether high earners should wait until 70. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc. See

At the holidays, many people give gifts or donations, but telling them apart can be important for tax purposes. The holiday season starts with Thanksgiving. The classic O. Henry story Two Thanksgiving Gentlemen illustrates the giving spirit. Each year, a homeless man receives a grand dinner hosted by a successful businessman. Ironically, the businessman is

Tax Notes contributing editors Robert Goulder and Joseph J. Thorndike break down the 2022 congressional midterm election results and their potential effects on tax policy. This transcript has been edited for length and clarity. Robert Goulder: Hello, everyone. I’m Bob Goulder with Tax Notes. Together with my colleague Joe Thorndike, we’re going to review the

Over half the states that levy a corporate income tax employ the single-factor receipts formula to apportion corporate income for sales other than tangible personal property. Market-based sourcing is the predominant approach to assigning service receipts to the appropriate state, but three states — Delaware, Mississippi, and Texas — use the service performance method, and

Stephanie Hunter McMahon of the University of Cincinnati College of Law discusses why labor performed by incarcerated workers should be subject to tax. This transcript has been edited for length and clarity. David D. Stewart: Welcome to the podcast. I’m David Stewart, editor in chief of Tax Notes Today International. This week: prisoners’ dilemma. On

Businesses making investments in research are baffled that the current federal tax code severely limits tax incentives for innovation. The background is this: The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“TCJA”) passed in 2017 required the capitalization of research and experimental (“R&E”) expenditures over a 5-year period (a 15-year period for foreign research) starting for taxable

IRS Forms 1099 arrived around the end of January 2023 for 2022 payments. The IRS likes these forms, which allow computer matching of your Social Security Number against your tax return. Businesses issue the forms to anyone who receives $600 or more for services during the year. There are many types of 1099. For example,

The full Tax Court in one of its regular decisions (Green Valley Investors LLC) has dealt a blow against the IRS in its struggle with abusive syndicated conservation easements. A key IRS move in the fight was Notice 2017-10 which made certain syndicated conservation easement transactions “listed transactions”. The reporting regime that listed transactions are

Are you bullish about the stock markets in 2023? If so, you may be looking at year-end strategies to prepare for brighter investing horizons. For example, after the stock market declines of 2022, you may now hold securities—whether stocks, ETFs, or mutual funds—that would generate capital losses if sold. Those losses could then be used

As Washington digests the midterm elections, one thing is clear—America’s cities shouldn’t expect new help from a divided and likely deadlocked Congress. With cities facing difficult economic circumstances and tight budgets, federal help in the next two years can only come from the executive branch, and from the impacts of programs President Biden passed in

Trying to keep the lid on federal borrowing with a statutory debt limit is like trying to manage your weight by refusing to buy bigger pants. Neither actually works because both are forms of performative discipline. Each involves an expression of hard-nosed determination, but neither involves any actual hard work. Ultimately, if you want to

Another twist in the never-ending saga that is the United States’ pursuit of a corporate minimum tax. For the past year, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen expressed optimism that the U.S. would help the OECD’s push for a global minimum tax get across the finish line. That optimism hasn’t waned, even when the Biden administration encountered

Many taxpayers and tax advisers have trouble saying exactly why one should get a tax opinion or how to use it. A tax opinion can be about almost any tax issue. A good tax opinion discusses the facts, legal arguments, and pertinent authorities. One portion of the opinion says, “it is our opinion that….” But

With Democrats retaining narrow control of the Senate and Republicans on the cusp of winning the barest of majorities in the House, it will be difficult if not impossible for Congress to enact major tax bills in 2023. A divided Congress combined with continued Democratic control of the White House put a halt to big

As we digest the results of the midterm elections, some analysts are hoping President Biden’s powerful new economic programs can help heal our deep regional economic divisions. But without attention to worker and political power through unionization, those programs may help red states more than blue ones while not creating lasting prosperity and good jobs.

In the second of a two-episode series, Orly Mazur of SMU Dedman School of Law discusses her views on the tax implications of increasing automation and the alternatives to a robot tax. This transcript has been edited for length and clarity. David D. Stewart: Welcome to the podcast. I’m David Stewart, editor in chief of

The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) was billed as a giant tax cut for everyone, and for many, it has been. For others, the savings were mere pennies each year. However, for many high-income earners in (mostly) blue states, some of the fine print has meant larger-than-expected tax bills. The $10,000 cap on

Resolving lawsuits involves taxes. Defendants write off most settlements, and plaintiffs hope to minimize any taxes they face. Plaintiffs also hope to minimize the tax impact of their attorney fees, something that isn’t always easy. Depending on the type of case and whether legal fees are paid over time or on contingency at settlement, even

The comparable profits method is still often cast as uniquely conceptually flawed among transfer pricing methods and only suitable for use as a last resort, but this characterization often draws heavily on far-fetched statutory interpretations. Despite the IRS’s victory in securing judicial acceptance of the CPM in Coca-Cola Co. v. Commissioner, 155 T.C. 145 (2020),