Taxes

Today’s column addresses questions about whether moving to another state can exempt a person from the Windfall Elimination Provision, when to file for survivor’s benefits while still potentially earning income and when spousal benefits can still be available. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic

Despite the debacle in Afghanistan and what that’s done to make the world a more dangerous place, congressional Democrats are still obsessed with passing mammoth, economy-killing, tax-and-spend bills.  But this segment of What’s Ahead details the continuing good news that various states are going in the opposite direction of these Washington politicians. One example: The

The House Ways and Means Committee may release a draft of the $3.5 trillion social policy bill as early as next week, including the tax hikes needed to pay for it. That’s left wealthy taxpayers scrambling to do proactive planning, especially to avoid a possible doubling of the top capital gains tax rate to 39.6%,

Ronald Reagan made tax cuts the centerpiece of his 1980 campaign for the presidency. And after winning the election, he made good on his promise.  The Economic Recovery Tax Act (ERTA), enacted on August 13, 1981, was the biggest tax cut in American history. It was also remarkably durable, reshaping the federal tax system — and

Today’s column addresses questions about how even with the deeming rules, it can still be possible to receive only retirement benefits before later spousal benefits, survivor’s benefit rates is the record holder dies before claiming and how the WEP and the GPO work. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the

The Employee Retention Credit (“ERC”) is providing a meaningful (and immediate) tax benefit to tens of thousands of small and medium-sized businesses (as well as tax-exempt entities) across the country as business owners seek to keep their doors open and make new hires in the face of the pandemic. As business owners and charity leaders

West Virginia announced the first round of winners of its moving incentive program this week and more of them are coming from California than any other state. Of the 53 applicants who were selected to move to the Morgantown area, 11% are from the Golden State. This is sure to feed the narrative that “Californians

On the hunt for tax cheats, fraudsters, money launderers and dark web drug dealers, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has sent an undercover agent to work on a market for trading bitcoin, ether and other cryptocurrency. In a search warrant reviewed by Forbes, the undercover IRS agent went by the name of “Mr. Coins” on

When the Covid-19 recession hit hard in spring 2020, people feared that state budgets would collapse, driving cities and states to bankruptcy and crippling public services.  Although we still must keep investing in public goods, the feared budget disaster didn’t happen.  Why?  Prompt government action, including unprecedented steps by the Federal Reserve and massive federal spending. Remember the

The IRS Chief Counsel has signaled with CCA 202130014 that the Service will be continuing its hard line on conservation easements. The engine of every abusive syndicated conservation easement is a vastly inflated appraisal. Rather than focus on the appraisal issue, IRS has instead gone after technical flaws in the easement documents. What is disturbing about that approach

Tax Notes Capitol Hill reporters Doug Sword and Frederic Lee examine the record-breaking budget and infrastructure legislation advancing on Capitol Hill and preview potential tax policy proposals coming this fall. 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

A recent Tax Court case considered its jurisdiction when the IRS erroneously included a denied innocent-spouse relief claim for a prior year in a later determination for another year. As the case holds, that later determination can effectively revive the Tax Court’s jurisdiction over the denied claim for the prior year because of its inclusion

Receiving a grant of stock options or restricted stock units (RSUs) is a reason to celebrate. But now comes the tricky part: making the most of the equity comp opportunity, including financial and tax planning. Stock compensation is complex. It’s easy to make costly mistakes. In two myStockOptions “advanced bootcamp” webinars this summer, leading experts

For generations, it did not seem possible that college athletes could earn big before they went pro. Some star high school athletes skipped college for that reason. But now name image likeness deals—NIL for short—are OK, and some athletes will cash in big. Cash means taxes of course, and they can be a rude awakening.

The United States has a long history of tax imperialism, stretching back over a century and coincident with the nation’s geopolitical ascendancy. Indeed, the two are intertwined; fiscal imperialism has bolstered America’s national might while also serving as an expression of that power. Scholars in many disciplines have studied economic imperialism for decades, but as Diane

Today’s column addresses questions about the effect of no longer earning income on Social Security benefits, spousal benefit eligibility when a spouse’s disability benefit converts to a standard retirement benefit and the potential availability of divorced spousal benefits. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic

The King of Pop died unexpectedly in 2009. The huge Tax Court victory by his estate might have been his last legal battle, but he had others, most notably the criminal sex abuse charges he famously defeated. In that legal battle and others, he paid big legal fees, even by Hollywood standards. Some estimates put

Today’s column addresses questions about spousal benefits’ effects on the record holder’s retirement benefits, when the Windfall Elimination Provisions (WEP)’s effects can be lessened or removed and when survivor’s benefits may be available. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc. See more

Yes—although it’s not as bad as it used to be. Two elements of Social Security contribute to racial inequality. One is that the system rewards marriage. The other is that it rewards longevity. Blacks get shortchanged on both scores. It’s one more illustration of how a seemingly neutral system can have injustice built into it.

We know the pandemic and the policy response to it dramatically increased the number of households that did not pay federal individual income tax in 2020 and will do so again this year. The bump was transitory, caused by a troubled 2020 economy and enactment of massive but temporary tax cuts. But what would happen