Taxes

Today’s Social Security column addresses questions about whether it’s necessary to tell Social Security you want to delay until 70 to start benefits, claiming on an ex’s record and whether to withdraw an application and repay benefits received. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic

It’s tax time again and taxpayers are being bombarded with commercials from large tax franchises and the corporate owners of do-it-yourself (DIY) software. But hiring a professional or paying for DIY software can be beyond the means of many low- to middle-income taxpayers. What follows is a list of resources available for taxpayers looking for

Tax professionals who prepare returns for pass-through entities (PTEs), Partnerships and Subchapter S Corporations (S-corps) know that for tax year 2021 two new information reporting forms (Forms K2 and K3) may be required for PTEs with foreign partners or shareholders. According to Bruce Friedland, IRS Media Relations, “The schedules K-2 and K-3 replace already required

The Internal Revenue Service reported today that it has issued more than 4 million tax refunds already for the 2022 tax season as of February 4. Average refunds were $2,201.  Total returns received: 16,685,000 Total returns processed: 12,992,000 Total refunds: 4,330,000  That’s ten days into a filing season that opened on January 24. The IRS

Local governments have been interested in cryptocurrency like Bitcoin and Ethereum for years, and some have begun accepting it as a form of payment for certain transactions. But come places are taking it a step further.   Last month, Berkeley, Calif., announced it was moving forward on a long anticipated project to sell “microbonds” in the municipal market. City

Competition for top employee talent among corporate rivals and tech startups, along with the stock market decline, is leading some big tech companies to make changes in their stock grants. The goal is to make their equity awards more effective for recruiting, retaining, and motivating employees. While grants at these tech giants are still more

In recent years, politicians on the far left have leaned on Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) to justify offering increasingly exorbitant spending proposals without plans to pay for them. Then roughly $6 trillion in deficit-financed stimulus approved by Congress in 2020 and 2021 provided policymakers a natural experiment to evaluate the claims proponents of MMT made.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax code is full of legal ways for high-income Americans to pay less in taxes. Taking a proactive tax-planning approach can help you minimize your taxes both today and in the future. During my nearly 20 years as a West Hollywood financial planner, I often am hired to help people

Internal Revenue Service computers keep spitting out perplexing letters and notices to taxpayers, and today the agency announced that it’s going to stop the machines, at least temporarily, in an effort to help taxpayers and tax pros. The 2022 tax season kicked off on January 24 for filing 2021 tax year returns, but millions of taxpayers

Don Lubick, who passed away yesterday at age 95, was an extraordinary public servant who was among the last living links to the beginnings of modern tax policy. I do not believe anyone served longer in senior Treasury tax policy positions than Don. Remarkably, he began his government career in the Kennedy Administration and concluded

Two years into the pandemic, states are flush with cash, a vastly different picture than the 20 percent revenue decline suffered by states in the early days of the pandemic. But today’s often double-digit revenue growth is not sustainable. Here are five reasons why state policymakers should proceed carefully despite the temptations of full coffers.

Tax Notes reporter Jonathan Curry reviews President Biden’s tax policy campaign promises after one year in office and where those proposals, including the Build Back Better Act, stand today. 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:

The Internal Revenue Service will have “extraordinarily high” delays again in processing returns, the agency’s National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins told Congress today. She cautioned there’s no magic bullet to get the IRS out of a “deep hole” in her appearance before the House Ways and Means Committee Oversight Subcommittee. The IRS is starting the

Although the stock market had a rough January, if you have been investing for any amount of time, you have likely accumulated some capital gains over the past few years. Many projections for the rest of 2022 point to some positive stock market returns. Earning money on your investments in the stock market is great,

ID.me, the facial recognition technology provider used by the IRS, has a public relations problem on its hands. The controversy stems from its facial recognition methods. In the world of facial recognition technology, the so-called 1:1 face match, in which a user’s face is matched against a self-provided picture like a selfie, is generally regarded as

The IRS announced today that it will transition away from using ID.me, a third-party service that uses facial scanning technology, as a requirement for taxpayers to set up IRS online accounts. “The transition will occur over the coming weeks in order to prevent larger disruptions to taxpayers during filing season,” the IRS announcement said. “The

Congress has been demanding action from the IRS and the IRS has been acting, albeit perhaps not in the way Congress would prefer. On the same day that almost 200 House members sent a bi-partisan letter requesting specific measures for taxpayer relief to the IRS, a mostly Democratic coalition of U.S. Senators did the same.

At this point it should not be news to taxpayers that the last two filing seasons have been hard on tax professionals and that this season is not showing any signs of improvement. Still, it’s tax season and taxpayers need to be able to communicate with their tax professionals to ensure that their returns are

Avoid wash sale losses and the $3,000 capital loss limitation and qualify for a 20% QBI deduction. The most significant problem for investors and traders occurs when they cannot deduct trading losses on tax returns, significantly increasing tax bills or missing opportunities for tax refunds. Investors are stuck with this problem, but business traders with

As he takes over as New York’s new mayor, Brooklyn Democrat Eric Adams faces both immediate and longer-term economic challenges.  How he copes with them will say a lot about the future of New York, and by extension America’s cities.  Adams is only the second Black mayor in the city’s history. He ran as a working-class candidate