Taxes

There is no government shutdown—for now. On Sept. 30, 2023, with a few hours to go before midnight, the House passed a bipartisan bill to fund the government for 45 days. The bill then moved to the Senate, where it was approved. President Biden signed the bill into law on the same day. Here’s a

This article focuses on another tax governance obligation for large businesses in the UK; the requirement to publish their tax strategy. It is a follow-up to a previous article about Senior Accounting Officer (SAO) requirements. As well as businesses that fall within the SAO regime, it is a legal requirement for all qualifying groups, companies,

With a government shutdown on the way, federal agencies are taking steps to get ready—including the IRS. The IRS released its contingency plans on Thursday, Sept. 29 (you can read more about it here). Today, the National Taxpayer Advocate, Erin M. Collins, detailed the Taxpayer Advocate Service plans, noting, “today is the last workday I

An Internal Revenue Service consultant has been charged with disclosing a cache of tax return information without authorization. You can read about the charges here. The charges are not proven, but according to court documents, Charles Littlejohn, 38, of Washington, D.C., while working at the IRS as a government contractor, stole tax return information associated

With only days to go until a potential government shutdown, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced that it would furlough 60,000 of its employees if the government shuts down on Sunday. This drastic move has worrying implications for both the IRS and taxpayers. Not only will the IRS face a crippling reduction in staff,

The IRS has announced the availability of expanded chatbot technology on the official IRS website to help answer basic questions for people receiving notices. The announcement alone is pretty exciting for taxpayers and tax professionals who have found themselves sitting on speaker phone for what feels like an interminable wait to talk to an IRS

It looks as if a government shutdown is imminent—and federal agencies are taking steps to get ready, including the IRS. According to the Washington Post, the government started notifying federal workers on Thursday, Sept. 28, that a shutdown was likely. The Department of Treasury followed suit. I previously reported that Treasury’s Contingency Plan was noticeably

On Friday, September 22, 2023, a federal jury convicted Jack Fisher and James Sinnot of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aiding and assisting the filing of false tax returns, and subscribing to false tax returns. His original indictment brought increased scrutiny to the industry as a whole. His conviction

Remember that huge IRS backlog? It’s easy to think back and assume that the problems began with the pandemic, but they had started well before that. The last government shutdown started the IRS on its path to a massive paper logjam. Here’s a look at what happened. Could it happen again? 2018 Shutdown In 2018,

Recent tax acts don’t change trader tax status (TTS), Section 475 MTM accounting, wash-sale losses on securities, or the tax treatment on financial products, including futures (Section 1256 contracts) and cryptocurrencies (intangible property). It’s helpful to consider IRS inflation adjustments in income and capital gains tax brackets, various income thresholds and caps, retirement plan contribution

When Robert Merton, MIT finance professor and Economics Nobel laureate, speaks, we should listen. Fifty years ago, Merton, together with Fisher Black and Myron Scholes, developed the Black-Scholes-Merton option pricing formula. When these three finance geniuses derived their remarkable equation, there was no formal option market. These days, 39 million option contracts are bought and

Garrett Brodeur, a tax attorney based in Washington, D.C., discusses the recently released proposed regulations for the cryptocurrency industry and their potential effect on digital asset transactions. 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 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the consumer price index (CPI) increased by 0.6% in August after rising 0.2% in July. You won’t just feel the impact of those boosts in your wallet—you’ll also see them on your tax forms. Those higher numbers push out deduction limitations and will result in upward adjustments

The IRS announced tax relief for individuals and businesses affected by Hurricane Lee anywhere in Maine and Massachusetts. These taxpayers now have until Feb. 15, 2024, to file various federal individual and business tax returns and make tax payments. The IRS is offering relief to any area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Two individuals have been charged with allegedly promoting and selling abusive trust tax shelters to clients across the country. The Department of Justice announced that a federal grand jury in Denver returned an indictment charging Timothy McPhee of Estes Park, Colorado, and Larry Conner of Frisco, Texas, with conspiring to defraud the United States and

What’s the return on new money spent for tax enforcement? Over the years, the IRS has answered that question with a range of estimates: 7 to 1, 9 to 1, 11 to 1. During a particularly bitter 1947 debate, the Truman administration insisted on a 20-1 ratio. But Congress was having none of it. After

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently announced a major policy shift that could have a huge impact on the wealthiest individuals in the US. On September 20, 2023, the IRS announced the creation of a new pass-through group with the sole purpose of targeting the top 1% of income earners. This new move could represent

The IRS announced on September 14, 2023 a processing moratorium on new employee retention credit (ERC) claims. This means that it will not process any newly filed ERC claims until it works through its backlog of more than 600,000 claims, which it estimates will not occur until next year. The moratorium does not mean that

Ayodele Arasokun was sentenced to 34 years in federal prison for orchestrating an international tax scheme. According to the court documents, from January 2016 to November 2017, Arasokun devised a scheme to unlawfully obtain tax refund money by filing fraudulent federal income tax returns. Arasokun collected the names, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers

Congressional commissions generally serve one of two purposes. They either 1) provide political cover for lawmakers who want to achieve a goal but are afraid to act without an external push. Or 2) they are exactly the opposite—an excuse for politicians to duck crucial policy decisions. This week, we saw one of each. First, a