Taxes

You might not think about taxes until tax return time, but you should plan ahead. Many of us mess up tax issues every day. These tax mistakes aren’t felonies, but you don’t want to end up next April 15 having logged 365 days of tax mistakes. Here are three tax rules that many people break

Reuven Avi-Yonah of the University of Michigan Law School discusses the new corporate alternative minimum tax and how it intersects with international taxation. 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: back to the

President Biden and congressional Democrats won a big policy battle when Congress enacted the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), despite unanimous Republican opposition. But who will win the political battle? That will depend on who best can frame this complex piece of legislation. Will Democrats convince voters that the law is all about lowering inflation, reducing

While many businesses were excited to see the extension of the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (“IRA”) that President Biden recently signed, I wouldn’t jump to install a recharging station just yet. The ability to claim the credit has narrowed and could surprise the unwary businessperson. While

In their priority guidance suggestions, both the Tax Law Center at New York University and the American Bar Association Section of Taxation assigned a high priority to the tax treatment of digital assets. The Tax Law Center asked for guidance under section 6038D, while the ABA tax section called for guidance under sections 6045, 6045A,

Today’s Social Security column addresses questions about figuring benefit rates, taking retirement benefits before later divorced spousal benefits and whether the 5.9% COLA applies to all benefits. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc. See more Ask Larry answers here. Have Social

Actor Charlie Sheen has owed the IRS millions for years and has long been trying to hold them at bay. Convincing the IRS they are wrong is not easy, especially where the IRS has discretion, and where you admit you owe the taxes—filing returns and calculating yourself how much you owe. Trying to strike a

Up until 2019, IRA holders did not have to take money out of their IRAs – and pay taxes on those distributions – until they turned a certain age (which is currently 72 for those born after 1949) regardless of whether their IRAs were their own or inherited. Because of this, someone could name a

As part of the new Inflation Reduction Act that President Biden signed this week is a new 1% tax on corporate share buybacks. While this new tax is beneficial to the U.S. Treasury, it will reduce economic value to companies and their shareholders because it will force companies to change how they return profits to

Charlie Sheen’s tax woes seem to be at an end. I mainly remember Sheen as the star of Two and a Half Men, but there is a lot more to his career and fame than that. As I related back in January, the Internal Revenue Service has been trying to collect the balances due on

The COVID-19 pandemic has made financial estimates, which involve assumptions that rely on experience and trends, more difficult to calculate. Because the last pandemic occurred over 100 years ago, organizations are lacking the history necessary to calculate reliable financial estimates, conditions that affect the tax provision — itself an estimate. Auditing Standard 2501.02 describes an

For tax whistleblowers, deciding whether to go to Tax Court is a major decision. As I’ve written previously there are a number of factors that go into deciding whether it makes sense to go to Tax Court for a whistleblower case. Moreover, two recent court decisions have provided clarity on that decision – and have

Whether the FBI took former President Trump’s passports—and if so why—is a story inside a bigger story that just won’t quit. There was a dispute about whether the FBI took the passports, and if so, by mistake or on purpose. Public opinion was, as with so many things, divided, with some people saying that Trump

Kyle Pomerleau of the American Enterprise Institute discusses the key tax provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act and what they mean for the future of tax policy. 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

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) approved by Congress last week included a new 1 percent stock buyback excise tax on US publicly traded corporations. Many of these companies now spend their excess cash to repurchase stock from their shareholders, rather than pay dividends or invest more in their firms. The new tax will discourage repurchases

Here’s a description from Emily (not her real name) of Social Security’s misestimate of her widows benefit and its failure to pay her the spousal benefit she was owed when her husband was alive. With my personal financial planning software company’s help, a brilliant staffer finally got it 100 percent right! Here’s a description from

With the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (H.R. 5376), Congress created a credit for clean vehicle technology for which few, if any, vehicles on the market qualify. That has troubled the industry, but if a credit is intended to encourage the development and adoption of a new technology so that it can

In May of 2021 I wrote about, New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is best known for being a thorn in the side of Donald Trump, weighing in on a dispute about affordable housing in Brooklyn. It is part of a larger issue that I have been covering since early 2021. The dispute is

Today’s Social Security column addresses questions about whether spousal benefits can affect later retirement benefits, filing for both retirement and survivor’s benefits and whether Social Security is moving payment days. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc. See more Ask Larry answers

As Congress is about to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, Washington is once again having a breathless debate over very little. This one is about whether Democrats are violating President Biden’s pledge to not raise taxes on households making $400,000 or less annually. But here’s the secret: This is yet another hyperbolic political argument. The