Taxes

Some 36 million families are eligible for advance payments of enhanced child tax credits for 2021, and the Internal Revenue Service has launched two new online tools to help taxpayers navigate this tax law change. There’s a Child Tax Credit Eligibility Assistant tool, and a child Tax Credit Update Portal. These two tools follow the

Looking to buy a house, but think house prices are going crazy?  You’re not wrong. Housing prices are rocketing upwards across the country, showing their biggest annual gain since 2005.  Existing homeowners are adding to their housing wealth, while younger, less affluent, and nonwhite buyers are facing little supply and rising costs. Housing price pressures are found across

Taxpayers filing late international information returns continue to encounter difficulties with the IRS’s recent practice of apparently disregarding reasonable cause statements initially and automatically assessing penalties. In particular, late filers of Form 3520, “Annual Return to Report Transactions With Foreign Trusts and Receipt of Certain Foreign Gifts,” have found it challenging to persuade the IRS to even look

Most income is ordinary, including pay for services, interest, business profits, dividends, money for winning the lottery, and most other payments. But for generations, there’s been a big tax break for long-term capital gains, those held over a year. Assuming you get past one year, if you sell your house, car, crypto stockpile, Amazon AMZN

As the partisan battle heats up over President Biden’s ambitious infrastructure plan—and the tax increases to pay for it—the fate of the package will largely be decided by who can best frame its tax hikes. Biden wants to raise taxes on corporations by about $2 trillion, excluding its “green energy” tax credits. The president and

My column in Tax Notes often defends the actions of the IRS. Being tasked with administration of the IRC is no small chore, particularly when Congress leaves the agency deprived of adequate funding. That being said, this week’s topic offers a critical observation on the IRS’s litigation position on the applicability of foreign and religious law for federal estate tax

In this installment of Willis Weighs In, Tax Notes contributing editor Benjamin M. Willis talks with Mark Oberstaedt and Ken Ahl, partners at Archer, about their help with a major taxpayer victory regarding foreign bank account report penalties. Here are a few highlights from their discussion, edited for length and clarity. Benjamin M. Willis: Today we’ll be discussing [foreign bank account

              The Biden administration has released the Green Book, which details what they wish for as changes to the way income, and specifically capital gains are taxed.  Here is a quick summary of the proposed changes: The top marginal individual income tax rate rises from 37% to 39.6%. The top individual income tax bracket begins at $452,700,

If you do not learn from your mistakes you are doomed to repeat them. In Estate Planning, if you do not learn from other’s mistakes, you are likely to repeat them. Mistakes in the Estate Planning of high profile celebrities is one very good way to learn the lesson of what not to do. Here are eight celebrity

DOJ is sending a message to tax professionals – particularly CPAs – who are involved in the syndicated conservation easement (SCE) industry. The message is “Be afraid. Be very afraid.” That is my reading of a recent press release about Georgia CPA Herbert E. Lewis indicted for SCE schemes involving fraudulent charitable contributions. DOJ releases like to lay

Tax law prior to January 1, 2018 allowed you to defer capital gains taxes when you exchange one property with another similar property (also known as a Like-Kind exchange). Relying on this tax law and the murky crypto tax guidance that existed before 2018, some cryptocurrency holders applied like-kind exchange treatment to crypto-to-crypto trades and

The ability of holding companies to recover VAT on costs incurred continues to be hotly contested by HM Revenue & Customs. As such, companies must plan in a careful and timely manner to protect their VAT recovery regarding refinancing, restructuring deal transactions, and ongoing operating costs. There have been several recent developments in UK and

Still haven’t received your tax refund for tax year 2020? There were nearly 12 million returns in processing, according to the latest Internal Revenue Service filing season statistics, as of June 11—20 business days after the May 17, 2021 filing deadline and. That’s double the amount of returns in processing eight business days after the

Equity compensation for employees is booming. As stock markets surge, companies find rejuvenated value in granting equity to employees, not just to executives. Those employees, in turn, are getting ever more comfortable with stock investing via online trading apps. All of this means that the need for financial-planning advice is also booming, especially for employees

The American Rescue Plan expanded the Child Tax Credit (or CTC) to $3,000 per qualifying child between the ages of 6 and 17 or under (thus expanding eligibility for an additional year) and further increased the credit to $3,600 per qualifying child under age 6 for tax year 2021 only (and income thresholds apply). The

Today’s column addresses questions about spousal benefit amounts when both spouses file at 62, taking retroactive retirement benefits before larger spousal benefits and when divorced spousal benefits might be available. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc, which markets Maximize My Social

As recent letters to taxpayers who might be eligible for the advance child tax credit indicated would happen, the IRS is in the midst of launching online portals to help families navigate the advance credit for 2021. This is the next big step in implementing the expanded benefit before monthly distributions of the advance credit begin in

The leaders of the world’s seven richest democracies ended their meeting in Britain on Sunday. This episode of What’s Ahead explains why other than pledging to get more Covid-19 vaccines to poorer nations, this ballyhooed confab was a big-time disappointment. Regarding President Biden’s promise of tough and united action against China, especially on its human

The Internal Revenue Service today updated its Child Tax Credit information page with FAQs and a new online tool to reach low-income people who don’t normally file tax returns. The American Rescue Act’s enhanced child tax credit basically means that 36 million families with kids get more money in their pockets earlier this year—instead of

In this episode of Tax Notes Talk, Professor Patricia A. Cain of the Santa Clara University School of Law discusses the unique tax challenges faced by members of the LGBTQ community in the past and 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