Taxes

The U.S. Supreme Court said this week it won’t hear a case that could have changed how remote workers’ income is taxed around the country. But with the increase in work-from-home employees thanks in large part to habits formed during the pandemic, the issue of which state gets to tax the incomes of these workers

Today’s column addresses questions about the timing of spousal benefits and how restricted application differ from filing and suspending, when divorced spousal benefits can be available and options when disability benefits are discontinued. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc, which markets

RMDs are a simple concept that became complicated after Congress and the IRS were done making their rules. But those rules also create opportunities. Required minimum distributions (RMDs) from traditional IRAs and other qualified retirement plans aren’t suspended in 2021 as they were in 2020. If you have to take RMDs, you might as well

by Tax Notes State Commentary Editor Doug Sheppard Growing up in a rural area of eastern Jamaica in the 1980s, the culinarily inclined Denvil Duncan dreamed of becoming an executive chef on a cruise ship. ADVERTISEMENT Inspired by a cousin who worked in that capacity on the luxurious barges that pulled into Jamaican ports, Duncan saw a future in the

Legal disputes come in all shapes and sizes, and there are almost always tax issues that face plaintiffs, defendants, or both. Plaintiffs receiving money worry if and how it is taxable, and whether they can deduct their attorney fees. Even without the complex rules governing qualified pension and retirement plans, the tax treatment of a

Today’s column addresses questions about how Social Security determines survivor benefit rates, how having a younger ex can affect filing options and benefit amounts and whether to claim retirement or widow’s benefits first. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc, which markets

John Sheeley couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He was listening to brand new IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig deliver a keynote address at a tax conference in the summer of 2019. Commissioner Rettig told the group of tax professionals that, in addition to the obvious staff shortages and budget cuts, another reason calls to the

While recent reporting may make it seem that all “rich” people are able to avoid paying taxes, I assure you there are plenty of high-income and high-net-worth people who feel like they are getting kicked in the nuts with substantial tax bills. There is a reason my phone blows up every year around tax season

Profitable traders are keen on maximizing retirement plan contributions in trading activities and also in their full-time jobs. Traders are pros at investing, and they understand the power of tax-free compounding while saving for retirement. However, wages are required to make contributions to a retirement plan. Active traders eligible for trader tax status (TTS) can use an S-Corp

Thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enacted in 2017, use of donor-advised funds (DAFs) is soaring. They remain one of the best ways for many people to maximize the tax benefits of charitable giving. Contributions to DAFS increased by 80% from 2015 to 2019, according to the National Philanthropic Trust (NPT). Grantmaking from

The Eleventh Circuit has dealt a blow to the beleaguered syndicated conservation easement (SCE) industry in its decision upholding the Tax Court in TOT Property Holdings LLC v IRS. As I have noted elsewhere SCE is an industry based on nonsense. Investors buy into a partnership that has recently acquired a property. They then vote to donate an

Beginning in July, most families with children will receive up to $250 a month per child ($300 for children under 6). Those payments are advances of the Child Tax Credit (CTC), which was temporarily expanded in the American Rescue Plan (ARP). The CTC expansion and monthly advance payments should be extended past their scheduled expiration in 2021. But that’s

Another month, another explosive rise in home prices.  May’s median annual housing price rose 23.6%, a new monthly record.   Buyers are still buying, helped by low interest and mortgage rates.  But since housing construction hasn’t kept pace with demand and economic growth, it will take more housing production to reduce long-term pressure on prices. The buying pressure in housing

States received billions of dollars from the federal government to help them manage the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 but one-quarter of them still had to cut spending over the last year to get by. A total of 12 states had to cut a combined $4.1 billion from their budgets in order to balance out projected

“If you think the Bahamas has ruined your global tax system, you have a pretty terrible global tax system.” That’s what Steven Dean, a professor at Brooklyn Law School, told Tax Notes contributing editor Robert Goulder last summer during a broader discussion about international tax policy. They were specifically discussing tax haven blacklists and the ways those lists have been racialized

A corporate minimum tax seems all but certain. The G-7 has agreed to support new rules for a global minimum tax rate on company profits and a new way of sharing the revenues from taxing the world’s largest and most profitable companies. ADVERTISEMENT The deal would impose a minimum tax of at least 15% and

Joseph Bishop-Henchman of the National Taxpayers Union Foundation discusses the litigation of a provision in the American Rescue Plan Act restricting states from using federal funds provided by the law to offset reductions in net tax revenue.  This transcript has been edited for length and clarity. David D. Stewart: Welcome to the podcast. I’m David Stewart, editor

The IRS says exchanges of one type of crypto for another are taxable, even if no cash changes hands. However, what about before January 1, 2018, was it tax free? You didn’t get cash, so there shouldn’t be any income or gain for the IRS to tax, right? If the IRS mines all the crypto

Higher taxes on long-term capital gains now occupy a prime position on the agenda in Washington. There are proposals to increase the top tax rate on investment gains to as high as 39.6% from the current 20%. Taxpayers subject to the net investment income tax pay another 3.8% currently and would continue to pay that

The American Rescue Plan expanded the Child Tax Credit from up to $2000 to up to $3600 per child for qualifying children. The entire amount of the credit is now fully refundable. That is, even low-income taxpayers who owe no federal income tax are eligible for the full amount of the credit. The portal for