Taxes

Senator Joe Manchin may have effectively doomed President Biden’s tax agenda for at least another three years, when he said he opposed any tax increases, new social spending, or climate change initiatives. The West Virginia Democrat’s thumbs-down, and the unified opposition of Senate Republicans, leaves behind a long list a policy casualties including: Biden’s major

Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The deadly combination of inflation and food shortages is putting numerous nations on the brink of disaster. Making the situation worse is that countless countries have also taken on enormous amounts of debt since the financial crisis of 2008–09. This segment of What’s Ahead warns that

It’s summertime and the livin’s easy. Easy in the sense of carefree and casual. Easy in the comfort of knowing your actions will have global repercussions, but you’re immune from the fallout. On July 15 Sen. Joe Manchin III, D-W.Va., dealt a heavy blow to the OECD tax reform project. That’s the ambitious two-pillar solution

Stock-price volatility and market declines can rattle anyone—especially this time. Between the market lows of 2008–2009 and the recent market shocks caused by the pandemic and inflation, many employees with stock options and restricted stock units (RSUs) saw only rising stock prices. For many of you, the recent market drop may be your first time

It has been a wild ride, and it’s not over yet. First there was the offer by Elon Musk to buy the social media giant, the outrage, the pushback and more. Eventually, there was the deal struck for the Tesla TSLA tycoon to pay $44 billion for the platform. Famously feisty Musk complained about bots

Tax Notes contributing editors Robert Goulder and Joseph J. Thorndike discuss why a federal gas tax holiday is unnecessary, all in five minutes. This transcript has been edited for length and clarity. Robert Goulder: You’ve probably heard the news by now. President Biden is asking Congress to suspend the federal gasoline tax for three months.

Today’s Social Security column addresses questions about whether Social Security is changing when people will receive their benefit payments, moving a childhood disability benefit from one parent’s record to another and when the earnings test ends for survivor’s benefits. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of

Tax Notes reporter Jonathan Curry discusses the IRS audits of former FBI Director James Comey and his deputy, Andrew McCabe, and why they’ve drawn attention from the tax community. 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

529 Plans, tax-free investment programs for college savers, have been augmented by over a dozen articles of federal legislation since their introduction in 1996, improving tax benefits, qualified expenses, payment of student loans, and more. They’re not perfect, however. A common complaint is what families might do with money leftover should the beneficiary get a

There’s nothing like watching an actual expert school a snarky columnist on Twitter. It happened last week when Samuel D. Brunson, a law professor at Loyola University Chicago, explained some basic income tax to Matthew Yglesias, a smart, policy-forward writer with a long-standing interest in tax — but a weakness for half-baked proposals and snide

Clint Eastwood may be 92, but he is still feisty, having won his second lawsuit against online marketers who used his likeness without his permission. His fellow plaintiff was Garrapata, an agency that owns the rights to Eastwood’s name and image outside of movies. The latest verdict awarded Eastwood and Garrapata $2 million in damages.

Stocks are down this year, pretty much across the board. Unfortunately, there are some companies that won’t survive the downturn. Even for the ones that do, getting back to Covid-era all-time highs is far from assured. For employees with stock options or owned shares, it may be time to reassess your sale strategy and expectations.

Today’s Social Security column addresses questions about why spousal benefits may not be payable in some cases, potential options when SSA withholds benefits due to an alleged overpayment and when survivor’s benefits can become available. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc.

The rules for substantiation of charitable deductions are very strict with extra layers when a donor advised fund or property donations are involved. You can get a pretty good feel for how things can go badly wrong from a recent opinion by Judge Jane Boyle of the United States District Court Northern District of Texas

Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, died in 2018 without a will. She was one more in a long line of celebrities that are very successful but that neglect how important estate planning can be. Her heirs had to endure public court battles, just one of the unfortunate aspects of a lack of binding documents

The run-up in stock prices paired with relatively low-interest rates has delivered an excellent way for rich Americans to avoid paying taxes on their investment gains. This strategy has been dubbed “Buy, Borrow, Die” and has become a way for the uber-wealthy, with tax planning experts by their sides, to fund their lifestyles while minimizing

Robert Goulder and Roxanne Bland of Tax Notes discuss non-fungible tokens, their ownership rights, and how the IRS plans to tax them. This transcript has been edited for length and clarity. Robert Goulder: Hello everyone. I’m Bob Goulder, a contributing editor with Tax Notes. Welcome to the latest edition of In the Pages. Our featured

New York is pushing a major project to repair the antiquated Penn Station, using tax-subsidized private real estate development to finance public infrastructure repair. But a new report from my colleagues at the New School’s Schwartz Center shows not only a potential $3 billion gap in project financing, but also a lack of transparency which

Today’s Social Security column addresses questions about how early retirement benefits can affect later spousal benefits, whether both working and delaying can increase retirement benefits and survivor benefits after early retirement benefits. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc. See more Ask

In Green, or Greed? A Fresh Perspective on the Valuation of Conservation Easements, three Boston University Law professors, Alan Feld, Theodore Sims and Jacob Nielsen give us a fresh perspective on one of the IRS Dirty Dozen. That would be Abusive Syndicated Conservation Easement, which the IRS Dirty Dozen scam list describes like this: In