The construction sector is one of the areas in which veteran-owned companies play a major role. Veterans Day is tomorrow, Nov. 11. This solemn day is one of the few federal holidays that isn't shifted to Monday. It is always commemorated on Nov. 11 because the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 was the specific moment marking the armistice between World War I's Allied forces and Germany, ending the fighting on the Western Front. The Veterans Day date has held firm, but its focus was expanded in 1954. That year, at the urging of... Read more →
Credits
Photo by Marcus Aurelius Business success, especially in the retail sector, depends a lot on prioritizing customers and their needs. Sometimes that means making physical changes to an establishment. Uncle Sam might be able to help. The federal tax code has a couple of incentives for businesses that make structural adaptations or other accommodations for employees or customers with disabilities. One tax break is the Disabled Access Credit. As a credit, it provides a dollar-for-dollar offset of tax due. The other is a tax deduction for costs to remove mobility barriers. A deduction reduces a business’ gross income so that... Read more →
Whether your dream retirement is traveling the world or enjoying your own backyard, you need to save now so you can enjoy it. One way to ensure your post-work years are golden is to take full advantage of tax-favored retirement plans. Regardless of who wins the White House, the Social Security system is going to get a lot of attention in the coming years. The aging population, combined with the much ballyhooed birth dearth, is going to put more pressure on Uncle Sam’s retirement program. Even if the new president and Congress can agree on ways to bolster Social Security,... Read more →
Photo by Brett Jordan Here’s a subject line you never want to see in your email box: There’s a problem with your tax return. But that is what’s happening to some taxpayers. No, it wasn’t from the Internal Revenue Service. Uncle Sam snail mails you a tax notice with questions about your filing. Rather, it was an email from TurboTax to its users with the subject line — CRITICAL NOTICE: Regarding your 2023 TurboTax return And here’s the message — Hi there, We’re contacting you because there might be an issue with the accuracy of your 2023 tax return. Due... Read more →
Taking advantage of these inflation-adjusted tax breaks could put more money in your hands instead of Uncle Sam's bank account. (Photo by Osarugue Igbinoba on Unsplash) Many taxpayers look forward to tax filing season because they are getting a refund. Others just want to pay the smallest possible tax bill. Some Internal Revenue Code provisions, ranging from tax deductions to tax credits to income exclusions, can help in both cases. Deductions, like the standard amounts discussed in Part 2 of the ol' blogs annual tax inflation series, are a relatively easy, and popular, way to reduce a tax bill. Deductions... Read more →
Photo by Ketut Subiyanto There’s good news for businesses that filed accurate Employee Retention Credit (ERC) claims. The Internal Revenue Service says it has accelerated work on claims of COVID-19 pandemic tax break and is now processing around 400,000 claims. The eligible filings in that group are worth a total of nearly $10 billion. The tax agency was swamped by ERC claims submitted after aggressive, and some potentially predatory, promoters convinced some companies to improperly file ineligible claims well after the pandemic ended. Some promoters called the credit by another name, such as a grant, business stimulus payment, government relief,... Read more →
Updated, Jan. 10, 2025: In announcing the start of the 2025 tax filing season today, the Internal Revenue Service also noted that another state, Illinois, has joined Direct File. This brings to 25 the number of participating jurisdictions, more than double those during the 2024 pilot program. Four more states — Alaska, Idaho, Illinois, and Kansas — will join the Internal Revenue Service’s Direct File next tax season. They join Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, who earlier this year joined the IRS-created-and-operated free online tax preparation and e-filing program. These 13 new... Read more →
Even the Internal Revenue Service has acknowledged the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) claim process has been beleaguered by fraud and abuse. That’s why the tax agency stopped accepting new ERC filings last year, and has focused on working through existing claims. While some ERC claimants have received tax credit money for keeping staff on payroll during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, others are getting bad news from the IRS. Their ERC claims have been denied. The unwelcome word is arriving as IRS Letter 105-C. The mailed correspondence means the IRS has found the claim ineligible, and has disallowed, or... Read more →
Photo by RDNE Stock project A home of one’s own has long been part of the traditional American Dream. Nowadays, though, some say it’s a nightmare trying to join the homeownership ranks. So, of course, as we head into the last few weeks of the 2024 election, candidates at all levels also are focusing on housing. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, has proposed tax breaks she says will increase the housing supply, which should lead to lower prices. She’s also promoting a first-time buyer tax to help buyers get into those homes. Using the tax code to... Read more →
Any kind of saving is good, but for your retirement, a better option is a workplace retirement plan or IRA. A new Saver’s Match will help some when it takes effect in a couple of years. (Photo by Diane Helentjaris on Unsplash) The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act, enacted at the end of 2022, includes a notable change in how eligible individuals can collect the Saver’s Credit. This tax credit turns contributions to popular retirement plans, which already are tax-favored, into addition funds. Qualifying lower- and middle-income savers who put $2,000 into an Internal Revenue Service-authorized... Read more →
The Child Tax Credit (CTC) has been one of the most popular since its creation as part of the 1997 Taxpayer Relief Act. Since its $400 per child origin, the credit has increased notably. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Rescue Act bumped up the CTC in 2021 to a potential maximum of $3,600 per each child younger than age 6, and $3,000 per child up to age 17. The Internal Revenue Service also sent the credit amounts to qualifying amounts directly to eligible families so they didn’t have to wait until tax filing season to claim the funds. The... Read more →
Election results, however, could change that. Here's how to claim the alternative fuel vehicle tax credit now, just in case things change after the Nov. 5 results. Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump has softened his stance on electric vehicles, likely because of his burgeoning personal relationship with Tesla CEO Elon Musk. But even though Trump says he’s now “totally for” EVs, he also says he would consider eliminating a $7,500 tax credit for some of the vehicles. “Tax credits and tax incentives are not generally a very good thing,” Trump told Reuters after a campaign event Monday, Aug. 19,... Read more →
Vice President Kamala Harris, Democratic presidential nominee, revealed some of her economic plans in a speech Friday, Aug. 16, in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Screenshot of X-Twitter video) Vice President Kamala Harris rolled out her presidential campaign’s economic proposals Friday in a roughly half-hour speech in Raleigh, North Carolina. They included a federal ban on alleged corporate price gouging on food products, ways to help people buy their first home, and financial help for families. Much of Harris’ assistance would come from tax breaks, some of them familiar fiscal tools, both enacted or previously proposed by the Biden Administration. New tax... Read more →
The Internal Revenue Service is giving businesses that discover they’ve benefited from an incorrect Employee Retention Credit (ERC) claim a chance to correct that error. The tax agency announced today that a it is reopening for a limited time its ERC Voluntary Disclosure Program (VDP). This second ERC disclosure period, which will be open through Nov. 22, will be similar to the original one that ended this spring. In addition to relying on taxpayers to voluntarily correct their wrong ERC claims, the IRS says it also will mail up to 30,000 new letters to reverse or recapture potentially more than... Read more →
In addition to moving more valid Employee Retention Credit (ERC) payments through the system, the Internal Revenue Service says it has stopped $5 billion invalid claims of the business tax credit. The Employee Retention Credit (ERC) saga continues, this time with some good news for businesses awaiting the benefits of the tax credit. The ERC was created in 2020 to help businesses and their staff stay afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic. But a rash of recent claims, many of them questionable filings encouraged by aggressive ERC promoters, created problems for the Internal Revenue Service and legitimate claimants. The IRS instituted... Read more →
The Senate recessed last week after failing to pass a bipartisan tax bill that the House approved back in January. On Jan. 31, after more than a year of negotiations, the House overwhelmingly approved a tax bill that included some popular business tax breaks and Child Tax Credit (CTC) enhancements. The House's 357-to-70 support of the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, plus its bipartisan origin — it was a compromise worked out by Democratic Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden of Oregon and Republican House Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith of Missouri — seemed to indicate... Read more →
August is the month that brings us the sunsetting of summer. But amid the season's waning days, find some time to take care of some tax tasks. (Photo by Kay Bell) It’s August. Already! How did this final summer month sneak up on us, or at least on me? Maybe it was all the other distractions. The presidential campaign has been unusual, to say the least. The Paris Olympics kicked off with a controversial opening ceremony (I loved it!), and still have more than a week to go. Then there’s the unrelenting heat wave across the United States. And, of... Read more →
When the COVID-19 pandemic was at its worst in 2020 and 2021, Uncle Sam offered help to businesses who kept workers on payroll. But the Employee Retention Credit (ERC), like many tax benefits, was complicated. That's led to wrong claims, so the IRS is asking companies to review their claims, both filed or about to be submitted. The Internal Revenue Service says another major announcement about the Employee Retention Credit (ERC), the tax break created to help companies weather the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic challenges, is on the way. But until then, the agency is urging businesses to re-evaluate their filings.... Read more →
Photo by Helena Lopes Is college worth the cost? It depends. That’s not a cop out. That’s the finding of a new Pew Research Center survey. “The public has mixed views on the importance of having a college degree, and many have doubts about whether the cost is worth it,” reports the Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan organization that follows issues, attitudes, and trends shaping policy. College survey findings: About a fifth of U.S. adults (22 percent) say the cost of college today is worth it even if someone has to take out loans. Nearly half (47 percent) say it’s worth it... Read more →
IRS urges social media users to give a thumbs down to bad online tax advice, like the non-existent Self Employment Tax Credit. How do you use social media? I get suggestions from neighbors for home repair services and local restaurants. I also check out cat videos. Way too many cat videos. I also interact with reputable tax pros I know, leading to innumerable interesting and informative online tax discussions. Again, this is with trained tax professionals, whom I’ve known online (and some in real life) for years. I do not, however, use social media to get tax tips from strangers... Read more →