Taxes

President Biden’s campaign promise never to raise taxes on those making $400,000 or less annually will inevitably conflict with his proposal to tax unrealized capital gains at death. My TPC colleague Rob McClelland and I estimate Biden’s new capital gains tax could exempt about 98 percent of decedents who made $400,000 or less, but about

The American Rescue Plan’s $350 billion in direct funding for state and local governments came with a caveat: Governments are not allowed to use that free money to pay for tax cuts. That had a lot of Republicans up in arms, claiming that President Biden had banned states outright from passing tax cuts. That’s not

All the evidence isn’t in, but it’s clear that many Americans accelerated their retirement plans during the pandemic and the rush to retire probably isn’t over. In September 2020, about 3.2 million more baby boomers were retired than a year earlier, according to a Pew Research Center report. In each of the previous four years,

Tax bills almost always force Congress to think about how to define income, but President Biden’s campaign promise to never raise taxes for those making $400,000 or less puts the question front-and-center. If you are not a tax geek, you might be surprised to know there are many definitions of income. Some  are used to

May 29 is National 529 College Savings Plan Day! Do you know what a 529 plan is? Do you know how to use it? Let me explain. What is it? 529 College Plans were initially created to help families save money for higher education expenses for children, grandchildren, or others. They are named after Section

Starting on July 15, the IRS will begin distributing a monthly Child Tax Credit payment to at least 39 million families, or almost 90 percent of families with children. The agency has created a new online portal to help families claim the correct amount. But the portal may have no way for claimants to add

In the latest episode of Tax Notes Talk, Tax Notes legal reporters Ryan Finley and Kiarra M. Strocko discuss the EU General Court’s judgments in Amazon and Engie and their effect on state aid rules.  David Stewart: Welcome to the podcast. I’m David Stewart, editor in chief of Tax Notes Today International. This week: the state of state

A new rankings index is the first ever to rate states’ performance on fines and fees, and the results aren’t flattering. Every state received a failing score with the highest-ranking state — Washington — earning a 54 out of 100. Rounding out the top three are Oklahoma and Rhode Island, which shows that neither political

by Tax Notes State Commentary Editor Doug Sheppard In one of the most famous scenes from The Blues Brothers, Sister Mary Stigmata doles out rapid-fire corporal punishment with a ruler on Jake and Elwood Blues, then breaks it on Elwood’s head before Jake crashes down an adjacent flight of stairs in the ensuing chaos. “Get out! And don’t come back until you’ve redeemed yourselves,”

According to the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, there is no clear rule to the effect that living in the land of the free and the home of the brave gives one a right to housing. Nonetheless, the Federal Government has supported affordable housing, in one way or another since the Great Depression. I haven’t found

This year and perhaps next could turn out to be the best time to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. Income tax rates are likely to increase in the coming years. This year’s tax rates could be the lowest for the rest of our lifetimes. Lifetime income taxes could be substantially lower if

Today’s column addresses questions about retirement benefits after spousal benefits and possibly filing for and suspending retirement benefits, whether pensions count as income under the earnings test and when to apply for survivor’s benefits. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president of Economic Security Planning, Inc, which

There’s a lot of talk in Washington about a compromise infrastructure bill that would include a hike in the federal tax on gasoline and diesel fuel. Bad idea! This segment of What’s Ahead lays out why. Proponents say this tax hasn’t risen in years, and is thereby lagging inflation. And they also point to the

The Biden Administration and Congress have proposed sweeping changes to the way long term capital gains are taxed both during your lifetime and after your death. Although none of these proposals are final, and may never become final, they do raise the question of what tactics are available to reduce or defer the taxes on appreciated

The promoters of Monetized Installment Sales got some bad news from the IRS earlier this month. The IRS released an analysis done by the Office of Chief Counsel outlining six, count them six, ways in which the transaction does not work as the promoters claim. The release will not stop the industry in its tracks, but it

A self-directed IRA lets you invest your retirement account in nontraditional investments. But a recent Tax Court decision shows the dangers of taking shortcuts and not setting up and operating a self-directed IRA the right way. In the case, the taxpayer had a SEP-IRA. The custodian was a national bank. The taxpayer set up a

Yesterday, May 20, 2021, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced S. 994, the “For the 99.5 Percent Act,” to “reinstate estate and generation-skipping taxes, and for other purposes.”. This Act amends the Internal Revenue Code by increasing the gift and estate tax rates from 40% to a high of 65% and decreasing over the basic exclusion

When Joe Biden ran for president, his campaign platform included dozens of relatively specific tax proposals. They ranged from expanding refundable tax credits for low- and moderate-income households to increasing payroll taxes for high-income workers to major changes in the way the US would tax multinational corporations. And, with a few notable exceptions, President Biden’s

On May 19, Colonial acknowledged that it paid $4.4 million worth of bitcoin to the hackers. Well, with bitcoin’s drop, the value might be less now, but the key to taxes is what the value was at the time of payment. In the case of some hacks, the cost of being frozen out is just

Expanding the child tax credit in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 marked an inflection point for social welfare programs in the tax code. The increase in the credit’s value and eligibility changes for households with very low incomes also marked an increase in the progressivity of the tax system. Although the extension of