Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves lifted the statewide mask mandate this week. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. … [+] Solis, Pool, File photo June 30, 2020) ASSOCIATED PRESS As Congress gets closer to approving a new round of Covid relief, the proposed $1,400 stimulus checks are likely to make the biggest difference in the pocketbooks of taxpayers in

United States Tax Court building in Washington DC Getty Luke Chiarelli is the only child of an only child. So when his mother passed not long after his father, he ended up with a lot of stuff, not only from his parents, but indirectly from his grandparents. Nice stuff – vintage clothing, furniture, antiques and the

Ask Larry Economic Security Planning, Inc. Today’s column addresses questions about whether the 2015 changes in the Social Security law actually ended spousal benefits for everyone, suspending a retirement benefit after it converts from a disability benefit and whether delaying makes sense with significant assets. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University

The IRS Where’s My Refund tool is running behind. The average refund this tax season: $3,021. getty Given the number of days the Internal Revenue Service has been open for processing 2020 tax returns, the number of returns taxpayers have filed is up 14% compared to last year. That’s the rosy way to look at

The U.S. Senate passed an amended version of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 on Saturday, March 6, 2021, by a vote of 50 to 49 along political lines. One of the amendments adds tax-free student loan forgiveness to the House version of the bill. The House is expected to pass the Senate version

Damon Rowe, the Director of the Office of Fraud Enforcement at the Internal Revenue Service announced yesterday at a Federal Bar Association presentation on fraud enforcement priorities that the office has “added some crown jewels,” including a dedicated team of IRS Criminal Investigation professionals who are working on “Operation Hidden Treasure.” Operation Hidden Treasure is

American flag pair and 2020 on a chess board. Horizontal composition with copy space and selective … [+] focus. 2020 presidential elections concept. getty During the 2020 election campaign, President Biden made a number of promises involving changes to the tax code, including expanding the 12.4% Social Security Tax; increasing the top marginal income tax

New Tax Things To Know This Year by Nicole Lapin getty There have been a lot of personal changes the past year because of the pandemic. Some of us have moved states and taken on more freelance work. People have had gaps in employment. This all affects what happens with how you file your taxes.

The latest Covid relief bill just blew some minds. getty Congress just put another twist in the never-ending saga that is the 2021 filing season. Democrats are considering a deal to reduce the federal supplemental unemployment benefits in the next Covid relief bill from $400 to $300 per week in return for a slightly longer

Senator Elizabeth Warren, along with Senator Bernie Sanders, just unveiled her latest version of a wealth tax. The idea has superficial appeal—the rich can easily afford a tax of 2%-3% a year on their wealth! But, as this segment of What’s Ahead explains, the Warren wealth tax would end up harming just about everyone, except,

Connecticut passed a Covid-19-relief tax law to help commuters working from home during the … [+] pandemic, just in time for them to file their 2020 tax returns. getty Some 110,000 Connecticut telecommuters will be spared from double taxation on their wage income for 2020, thanks to a Covid-19-relief tax bill that Governor Ned Lamont

UNITED STATES – MARCH 01: From left, Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and … [+] Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., conduct a news conference in the Capitol to introduce the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act which would tax high net worth households on Monday, March 1, 2021. (Photo By Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty

After a dreadful year of deaths and lockdowns people will finally enjoy good times and some sense of preCovid normalcy. But this episode of What’s Ahead warns that we should be very worried about what happens once the bulk of the massive sums of pandemic emergency money gets spent by Washington. The Biden administration is

Chess, Globe – Man Made Object, Strategy, Earth, Global Business getty [Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the February 1, 2021, issue of Tax Notes International.] There are two ways to lose a chess match. Under the preferred approach, the player resigns with dignity upon realizing that defeat is inevitable. Checkmate is lurking a few moves

On its face, eligibility for claiming the Employee Retention Credit (“ERC”) seems straightforward – I had to shutdown my business due to a government order so I can claim an ERC. We have all learned over the last few weeks that the devil is in the detail. Essential businesses have an additional hurdle to jump through if

On March 2, the IRS updated the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Virtual Currency Transactions. The new FAQ provides that taxpayers whose only crypto transactions include the purchase of virtual currency with real currency need not answer yes to the question on the front page of the 2020 IRS Form 1040. This instruction is directly

Cryptocurrency purchases made in fiat currencies are not subject to any type of IRS tax reporting according to the IRS FAQs on cryptocurrency (Q5) updated as of March 2, 2021.  Updated Q5 on IRS FAQs on virtual currency IRS FAQs on virtual currency For example, say Sam purchased 1 bitcoin (BTC) in 2020 for $1,000

Ask Larry Economic Security Planning, Inc. Today’s column addresses questions about whether taking Social Security survivor’s benefits now would reduce retirement benefits taken as late as 70, whether and when Social Security recalculates benefits based on income and retirement benefits before divorced spousal benefits. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and

Frustrated shocked man having problems, feel confused looking at laptop screen at office getty It’s the beginning of every American’s favorite time of the year … to hate: tax season. Starting on Feb 12th, the IRS started accepting tax returns for the 2020 tax year. Here are three of the most common tax season mistakes

Time is running out to pass Covid-19 relief legislation to extend unemployment benefits and provide … [+] other needed aid. getty Even as they digest the bad news that a simple minimum wage increase can’t be included in President Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief package, Congressional Democrats are moving rapidly to pass the overall legislation.  They are doing the