Taxes

Mega-IRAs are hot this summer, following a June 2021 report by the nonprofit news service ProPublica that revealed—based on leaked IRS files—that a handful of high-net-worth individuals have accumulated massive individual retirement account (IRA) balances. The congressional Joint Committee on Taxation also reported that in 2019 more than 28,000 taxpayers owned IRAs worth more than

In the first of a two-episode series, Tax Notes contributing editor Marie Sapirie interviews David Kreutzer, an economist at the Institute for Energy Research, about his views on a carbon tax. 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

If you didn’t get your August advance child tax credit in your bank account today, you’re not alone. Due to “an issue” a percentage — less than 15% — of folks who got their payment by direct deposit in July will be mailed paper checks for the August payment, according to an Internal Revenue Service

Inflation: It’s the economic condition that keeps politicians up at night, and helps all the talking heads on cable news stay in orbit. But the rising cost of goods and services is also capable of creating a breeding ground for corporate volatility. And unless a CFO has hired The West Wing’s Josh Lyman to drum

Topline The Senate on Wednesday set the stage for the biggest expansion of the federal social safety net since the advent of modern-day food stamps, Medicare and Medicaid in the 1960s, approving a blueprint for a massive $3.5 trillion budget bill aimed at “restoring the middle class” through a slew of government initiatives—including universal preschool,

Today’s column addresses questions about whether it would be worth it for a spouse to continue working so that could draw their own Social Security retirement benefit, whether working more can increase an existing benefit and survivor’s benefits after remarriage at 60. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder

Several U.S. Democrats want to tax the country’s largest polluters over the next 10 years and collect up to $500 billion in the process. But is their proposal tough enough? That question is important because pollution taxes, which have risen in popularity over the past few years, are not always as effective as one might

The $3.5 trillion Senate budget framework approved today calls for higher taxes for high-income folks, but it also calls for what could be a big tax break for the same group: “SALT cap relief” or relief from the current $10,000 cap on the state and local tax deduction. This has important implications for third quarter

On August 10th, the Senate approved 69-30 the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R. 3684), a bipartisan infrastructure package that makes investments in roads, bridges, broadband, water, and power, IRS cryptocurrency reporting and other provisions. The Senate has proposed that the bill will be partially paid for with unused COVID funds. The misnomer in that statement is

Sales and trading in nonfungible tokens (or NFTs) have gone from increasing to skyrocketing. They’re new. Their values can be volatile. But for those with U.S. tax obligations they can also be a goldmine for the IRS. Why? Because unlike most other forms of income and assets, NFTs can create multiple taxation events for both

Families began receiving monthly Child Tax Credit (CTC) payments on July 15. For many, those regular payments—currently permitted through the end of the year—will combat poverty and help families keep current on monthly bills without having to borrow. But because the CTC depends on income, number of children, and marital status, some changes in family or financial

In what has become common practice, a handful of senators and Administration staffers tried over a few days to draft a highly complex bit of tax legislation in a (at least a metaphorical) backroom in the dark of night. The piece of the massive infrastructure bill just approved by the Senate would require some in

This episode of What’s Ahead warns that money-hungry congressional Democrats are looking for ways to loot personal retirement accounts. They claim they’re appalled that some 30,000 IRAs have more than $5 million in assets, so they’re conjuring up ways to help themselves to it. Don’t be lulled. It’s not only “the rich” they’re gunning for.

Does the IRS like to impose penalties? It must, since IRS penalties have a way of creeping into many tax notices, even for innocent mistakes. You might think that if you weren’t trying to cheat on your taxes and just made a mistake, it would be OK. Taxes are complex, and mistakes happen, but the burden

Topline Following days of negotiations, the Senate on Monday struck down a bipartisan amendment to overhaul and clarify newly proposed cryptocurrency tax-reporting requirements included in the Senate’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, dealing a potentially massive blow to a slew of companies concerned they could be forced to hand over transaction information to the Internal Revenue

Today’s column addresses questions about whether investment withdrawals can make Social Security benefits subject to income taxes, potential options for filing when you have more than one ex and suspending a retirement benefit after it converted from a disability benefit. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president

Karin Slaughter’s recently released latest novel False Witness focuses on a lawyer in a prestigious Atlanta firm gearing up for a criminal trial. Coincidentally we have this week the outcome of her own legal drama, which likely only excites the tax blogosphere. Her appeal to the Eleventh Circuit of a 2019 Tax Court decision confirming that

Employers, accountants and financial advisors recently received new guidance from the IRS on the extremely important and somewhat complicated Employee Retention Credit (”ERC”) which was passed as part of the Cares Act in February of 2020, and became available retroactively and going forward in 2021 to PPP Borrowers. Brandon Ketron, JD, CPA and I presented

Several U.S. Senators have been negotiating over the amendment language in a cryptocurrency tax reporting provision of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which is one of many offsets designed to pay for the costs of the bill. These lawmakers are facing tremendous time pressure from the White House as well as the Senate Majority

Tax Notes reporters Amanda Athanasiou and Lauren Loricchio share what they learned reporting on their recent piece, “How the Pandemic Upended Life and Work for Women in Tax,” and their personal experiences. 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