Fotolia As you finish up your 2021 tax year Form 1040, make sure you don't miss your charitable deductions. No, this is not just for itemizers. This filing season, single taxpayers can claim up to $300 in cash donations made to Internal Revenue Service-authorized nonprofits. Married couples filing a joint return get a maximum $600 deduction. And you claim it directly on your Form 1040. New, but temporary, deduction for nonitemizers: Most taxpayers choose to take the standard deduction. Since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 nearly doubled the standard deduction amounts, IRS data indicate that close to... Read more →
February 2022
SoFiStadium.com It's a Sunday afternoon, so of course I'm channel surfing watching sports. Not only are the various athletic offerings great entertainment, they produce big bucks for teams and athletes. They also cost us taxpayers, regardless of whether we attend or watch the events, big time, especially when cities and states help build the sporting facilities. Since 2000, subsidies for financing professional sports stadiums have cost taxpayers $4.3 billion, according to three members of Congress. Since the owners of the sports teams that use the sites are raking in billions of dollars every year, the Democratic trio has introduced a... Read more →
Even before Russia invaded Ukraine, gasoline prices in the United States were going up due to that Econ 101 basic supply and demand. During the COVID-19 pandemic, more U.S. workers starting doing their jobs remotely. Working from home meant no commuting, so fewer vehicle fill-ups. Oil producers, notably the OPEC (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) cartel, responded by cutting production sharply in 2020. Since then, things have returned to, for lack of better words, more normal. Demand for oil and products like gasoline has surged since pandemic lows. But production has not kept up. More people wanting a scarce... Read more →
Some of my friends are done with COVID-19, and have taken to traveling again, both within the United States and abroad. I'm not quite there yet, but if it works for them and I'm not on their flight or cruise ship, good for them. Also good for those who are taking international trips. I get to see their social media photo travelogues, and I know they are being responsible taxpayers. If they owed a major debt to the Internal Revenue Service, which currently is deemed an unpaid tax bill of $55,000 or more, they likely would have had their passports... Read more →
Welcome to your first tax return filing. Yes, it can be frustrating, but these tips should help make your initiation into the taxpaying club a bit easier. (Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels ) Lucky you. You're filing your first tax return in 2022, a tax season that's still dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Even in more normal tax times, filing your very first Form 1040 can be scary. But it doesn't have to be if you follow these eight steps a novice taxpayer can take to successfully make it through their first filing season. 1. Get organized. This is... Read more →
Pixabay via Pexels We're well into the 2022 tax filing season, meaning most of us have received the documents we need to file our tax returns. The main ones, our W-2 forms from employers and 1099s reporting other types of compensation, were supposed to be sent by the end of January. But sometimes that doesn't happen. Or the tax form you got was wrong. When then? Here are four steps to take now, along with some other missing tax document issues to consider. 1. Check your email: More of our lives go electronic every day. That includes tax-related matters. Lots... Read more →
Photo by cottonbro from Pexels If you're not comfortable with facial identification being part of the Internal Revenue Service personal taxpayer account creation process, you've now got other options. The tax agency, which earlier this month said it would end the controversial validation system used by contractor ID.me, says you can prove you are you via a live, virtual interview. "No biometric data — including facial recognition — will be required if taxpayers choose to authenticate their identity through a virtual interview," the IRS said in its brief statement announcing the move. Other ID OK options: Or you can wait... Read more →
Today is the federal holiday celebrating George Washington's birthday. That's it. Just George. Not his Mount Rushmore colleagues Tom or Teddy or Abe. Not any other man who's been Commander in Chief. But most of us refer to this annual February celebration as Presidents Day. The unofficial public renaming actually happened somewhat organically. Evolution from one to all presidents: When Washington's Feb. 22nd birthday became the first federal holiday to honor an American president back in 1879 , it was celebrated on the actual date. But under the 1971 Uniform Monday Holiday Act, it was shifted to the third Monday... Read more →
Taxpayer Advocacy Panel members provide information on how to improve the IRS at the agency's annual Tax Forums. (Photo courtesy TAP News) That old saying about everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it applies to most things. If you substitute "complains" for "talks," then it definitely applies to taxes. But with taxes, unlike the weather, there is a possibility for change. Really. The Internal Revenue Service is looking for volunteers to serve on the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP). The TAP is a federal advisory committee whose members look for ways the IRS can improve services and... Read more →
via GIPHY Getting fired is never fun. Most of us have been there or have a family member or close friend who's lost a job. Sometimes people get let go when they're paying for services. It happens every year at accounting and tax preparation offices across the United States. The reasons tax professionals cut some taxpayers loose are many and varied, as I blogged about years ago in my posts Are you a good or bad tax client? and Bad tax clients, revisited. All types of troublesome taxpayers: Sometimes, famous customers get dumped, too. Recent case in point, Donald J.... Read more →
The U.S. Department of Education announced this week the cancelation of another $415 million in federal student loan debt. This batch of debt was owed by nearly 16,000 borrowers whose for-profit colleges violated law and educational standards. It brings to around $16 billion the total student debt that has been discharged for more than 680,000 individuals. Uncle Sam's action definitely is good news for those misled students. However, it also raises some questions in connection with another government agency, the Internal Revenue Service. Canceled debt income issues: Normally, any canceled or discharged debt amount counts as income. Officially, it's known... Read more →
Many taxpayers (and tax professionals) have felt frustrated in trying to get help from the IRS over the last few COVID-stricken years. It's not officially Kick the IRS While It's Down Day, but it seems like it. At a Senate Finance Committee hearing today on Internal Revenue Service customer service issues, the consensus, to put it as kindly as possible, is that it's not good. Critics of the IRS and those simply exploring ways to help the agency improve its operations didn't have to look far for problems. "By any measure, the 2022 tax filing season is shaping up to... Read more →
New phishing scam targets tax pros, but everyone needs to be on guard The Internal Revenue Service today warned tax professionals about a new spearphishing scam. I'm surprised we made it into February before the latest tax scam appeared. This email scam uses the IRS logo. It also tries to ramp up the already urgent tax season by using a variety of subject lines, such as "Action Required: Your account has now been put on hold." The IRS provided bogus text of this scam below. Your account has now been put on hold ALL preparers are required to apply security... Read more →
The 2022 tax filing season is off to a strong start. In its first two weeks, from Jan. 24 to Feb. 4, the Internal Revenue Service received almost 16.7 million returns, and processed almost 13 million of them. The most important statistic for these millions of early filers is the refund numbers. Drum roll, please. So far, the IRS distributed more than 4.3 million refunds. The average refund very early this tax season is $2,201. That's the early average. Yours might be more. Or it might be less. In fact, many folks this filing season might find their refunds are... Read more →
Every payer of $10 or more in interest earnings, even the Internal Revenue Service, should issue recipients a Form 1099-INT. Some taxpayers who had to wait extra long last year for their 2020 tax year refunds got a bit more than they expected. Where it took the Internal Revenue Service more than 45 days from the return's due date — which was May 17, 2021 — to issue the refund, the agency had to add interest to the amount it eventually delivered. This filing season, however, the IRS is looking to get some of those interest payments back. The agency... Read more →
@Beijing2022 As I type, athletes representing the United States at the winter Olympics in Beijing have won 12 medals. Six of the awards are gold, five are silver and one is bronze. In addition to receiving the medals themselves, along with a floral bouquet and a stuffed toy version of Bing Dwen Dwen, the immensely popular panda mascot of the games, the celebrated athletes get some cash. The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee pays $37,500 for each gold medal, $22,500 per silver, and $15,000 per bronze. In case you were wondering about your own tax bill, the Team USA... Read more →
The winter Olympics are still going on, and I'm particularly thrilled about the "old" man of 40, Nick Baumgartner, finally winning his first medal after tries in four of the global games. And a gold at that! It was the second gold for his mixed snowboard cross teammate Lindsey Jacobellis, who until Baumgartner's win, was the oldest winter games winner at age 36. Congrats, but sorry, Olympics athletes. Here in the United States, we'll be taking a break this weekend. The Super Bowl is Sunday. And you know what that means. Betting on the National Football League championship game. Prop... Read more →
Photo by Lamar Belina from Pexels After pressure from members of Congress, the National Taxpayer Advocate, and the Tax Professionals United for Taxpayer Relief Coalition, a group of organizations formed the to help make this third Covid-affected tax season a bit smoother, the Internal Revenue Service has decided to suspend sending of most taxpayer notices. This latest moratorium on taxpayer notices is the second in less than two weeks. It comes on the heels of the major taxpayer problems created by issuance of automated collection notices, or CP-80s. These alerts normally go out when a taxpayer owes tax, and the... Read more →
Despite last year's Great Resignation, the United States work scene seems to getting back on track. Today's Department of Labor weekly jobs report showed fewer first-time unemployment filings, continuing a recent downward trend. The latest national unemployment rate analysis in January showed a 4 percent unemployment rate, indicating the COVID-19 Omicron variant effects are subsiding. That's good news for those with new jobs, the companies hiring them, and the overall economy. But for the 223,000 individuals who most recently applied for unemployment, things are still challenging. Taxable unemployment: On top of learning to live on unemployment benefits, they'll face taxes... Read more →
Still trying to find out where your 2020 economic impact payment money is? Yes, from two years ago. The IRS has updated its frequently asked questions on how to trace this long-overdue amount. (Photo by Ann H from Pexels) This filing season is supposed to focus on 2021 tax returns, but some folks still are struggling with Internal Revenue Service issues from years ago. Specifically, some individuals are trying to track down COVID-19 economic impact payments (EIPs) the IRS says it issued two years ago. Yeah, it's been, and still is, that kind of tax crazy in pandemic time. First... Read more →