You remember Direct File, right? The Internal Revenue Service’s free online tax software preparation and electronic filing program that debuted in 2024 and was expanded this last filing season. Despite political efforts and rumors of its demise, it might not be dead. It is, however, on life support. DOGE + politics = ???: Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) posted on his social media site that he had “deleted” 18F, the government agency that worked on technology projects such as Direct File. And rumors continue to circulate in Washington, D.C., that the end of the program is nigh, despite... Read more →
Politics
Photo by Chandler Cruttenden on Unsplash People who endure major natural disasters generally are eligible for a variety of federal relief. That includes the filing and paying of taxes whose deadlines were during the disaster period. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has improved its turnaround in such cases. After that, the IRS then announces its tax relief, including the later due dates. A bill that would speed up that process is awaiting Donald J. Trump’s signature. When that happens, the Filing Relief for Natural Disasters Act (H.R. 517) would allow the IRS to postpone tax deadlines in disaster areas... Read more →
Get ready Alabama, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Tennessee shoppers. Your back-to-school tax holidays are this month, with the Magnolia State kicking things off on Friday, July 11. Thirteen more no-tax shopping events are on July’s heels, with many of the August sales set for that month’s first weekend. Backpacks, like these at my local H-E-B grocery (and more) store, are a necessity for today's students. They also are tax-free here in Texas if you buy them during the state's back-to-school tax holiday in August. (Photo by Kay Bell) Ah, summer. No school. Lots of vacation time. Just kicking back doing... Read more →
The latest comprehensive tax law also makes the seven ordinary income tax rates created by the 2017 tax reform law permanent. Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich The individual tax breaks created by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) were a prime focus of the massive tax and spending measure signed during a July 4 White House ceremony. Those provisions, notably the seven ordinary tax rates and the essentially doubled standard deduction amounts, were set to expire at the end of this year. Now, thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) Act, now officially Public Law 119-21, they are... Read more →
Photo by olia danilevich The senior bonus is one of the new tax breaks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that became law on July 4. It’s not tax-free Social Security benefits that Donald J. Trump promised. But the $6,000 maximum tax break, or $12,000 for married jointly filing couples where each spouse is age 65 or older, will provide some tax relief to the country’s senior citizens. The new tax break is available to taxpayers regardless of whether they itemize or claim the standard deduction. The tax bonus also is age-related, not tied to the federal retirement benefits.... Read more →
Donald J. Trump signs the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, with its many tax provisions, into law during a July 4th ceremony at the White House. (Credit: White House Facebook photo) America’s birthday party is over, but we taxpayers are still unwrapping the tax law gift that the Republican-controlled Congress and Trump administration gave us on July 3. While beauty is in the eye of the tax-advantaged beholder, there’s no disputing the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) Act, officially known as H.R. 1, is big. It’s almost 1,000 pages. Among them are beau coup tax provisions — old, tweaked, and... Read more →
Photo by Anna-Louise Happy 249th Birthday, America! As we celebrate tonight — or before sunset today, or for the last week as some of my neighbors have — we can thank a Founding Father for the pyrotechnic tradition. On July 3, 1776, a day after the Continental Congress in Philadelphia voted for independence (the declaration document itself was transposed on July 4, although it took weeks for all the delegates to sign it), John Adams reflected on the historic step he and his rebellious colleagues had done. The man who would become America's first vice president and its second president... Read more →
Update, Friday, July 4, 2025: Donald Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act into law at a White House ceremony on his preferred July 4 holiday date. Update, Thursday, July 3, 2025: House Republican leaders overcame nominal defiance by some of the party's members and pushed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act through this afternoon, meeting the July 4 deadline set by the White House. Will U.S. Representatives be able to celebrate July 4th at home? UPDATE, July 3, 2025: Yes. It depends on how quickly they can resolve the differences between the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) tax... Read more →
The one big tax and domestic policy bill continues its legislative ping pong, with the latest volley being from the Senate. That chamber's version has gone back to the House for approval. Or not. (Image by djimenezhdez from Pixabay) The Senate approved the Trump administration's massive tax and domestic agenda bill today. Now the House must vote on it again, this time to sign off on the Senate changes to the original One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) Act. There's a chance the House could reject the bill. After all, the agreed-to bill wasn't that popular in the Senate. It just... Read more →
Credit: Unsplash+ in collaboration with Diana Light The Senate is in the midst of its marathon to pass its version of the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) full of tax and other Trump administration domestic policies. The so-called vote-a-rama is expected to go into Monday (June 30) night on the 940-page bill, with Senators trying to revise or remove various provisions that could negatively affect their individual and business constituents, also known as voters. One area that bears close watching by both those voting blocs of particular are the clean energy tax breaks in the Biden Administration’s Inflation Reduction Act.... Read more →
Fall colors and reflection on a beaver pond in Lamoille Canyon, Ruby Mountains District, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, Nevada. (Forest Service photo by Susan Elliott) The cost of the One Big Beautiful Bill working its way through Congress has been problematic from the start. That’s why Republican lawmakers who've written, and rewritten, the measure are continually looking for, shall we say, creative ways to come up with money for its many, many provisions. Or to finagle the calculations. One proposal inserted in the bill would have required the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to sell... Read more →
U.S. Senators are working this weekend (really!) on their version of the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) of tax laws and assorted Trump administration domestic policy preferences. The weekend session is because Donald J. Trump wants the final bill — which must go back to the House after it clears the Senate — by July 4. The sweeping federal legislation will affect all Americans, for ill or good. But there’s another, earlier July date of tax significance. July 1 is the start of the fiscal year for most states, and that means plenty of state tax changes take effect at... Read more →
The National Taxpayer Advocate’s midyear report to Congress that was released on June 25 included, among other things, recommendations that the Internal Revenue Service continue its efforts to expand digital tax transactions and make them easier for taxpayers to use. Such technological tax advances are also are of keen interest to the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee (ETAAC). The federal advisory committee was established by Congress as part of 1998's IRS Restructuring and Reform Act. And on the same day this week that the Taxpayer Advocate’s report was issued, ETAAC released its annual report to Congress. ETAAC’s primary goal when... Read more →
Justice Department façade photo by JSquish/Wikimedia Commons It’s not a particularly good time to be a federal employee looking to ensure tax compliance. Already this year, the Internal Revenue Service has lost almost a third of its tax auditors thanks to Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, cuts. Now the Department of Justice’s (DoJ) special tax crimes unit is being eliminated. The DoJ personnel moves, however, aren’t as drastic as the IRS staff reductions. The jobs won’t be lost, just reallocated to other areas in the Justice Department. Tax division absorbed into other units: The end of the DoJ’s Tax... Read more →
As Congress continues to haggle over how best to prevent falling off a tax cliff when myriad Internal Revenue Code provisions expire at the end of 2025, two other critical deadlines involving popular U.S. social safety net programs were announced. The news is not good for those who currently rely on or one day hope to collect Social Security and Medicare benefits. The report by the trustees of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds, which annually assesses the state of and future outlook for these federal retirement and medical benefits, says both programs will face fiscal shortfall sooner than... Read more →
Photo by Mike van Schoonderwalt Leaders of the Republican-controlled Congress are finding that pushing through one comprehensive tax (and more) bill is not that easy, even with the support of the presidential bully pulpit. The House version, christened the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) in keeping with Donald J. Trump’s not-so-subtle suggestion, narrowly passed the House on May 22. Yesterday, June 16, Senate tax writers released their version, which makes substantial changes to several key House provisions. The differing bills already are sparking intra-party fighting. And depending on what’s in the final version, the Republican party also could have a... Read more →
Senate side of the U.S. Capitol (Scrumshus - Own work, Public Domain) Are you ready for more tax fighting on Capitol Hill? Apparently the Republican-led Senate Finance Committee is. The panel this afternoon released its changes to the House-passed One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB). As expected, tax writers in the upper chamber made lots of changes. Here’s a look at some key differences. Child Tax Credit: If Congress doesn’t act, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) provision that bumped the popular Child Tax Credit (CTC) from $1,000 to $2,000 per qualifying child will expire on Dec. 31, cutting the... Read more →
Delivery jobs are a popular summer gig for many looking to make extra money during this traditional time to take some time off from work. (Photo by Kampus Production) Summer is in full swing, meaning that most of us will be taking some time off work to enjoy the warmer weather. Some people, however, see this traditional vacation period as a way to add to their income. That’s true. But the added earnings also could have tax implications. Student jobs: Some young people spend their summers working. Whether the earnings go to pay for college classes or a purchase they... Read more →
If the White House goes through with its plan to phase out the current federal disaster relief program, states will have to cover more costs of storm damages, like those in Keaton Beach, Florida, when Hurricane Helene made landfall there on Sept. 25, 2024. (Photo: Florida National Guard) Forecasters from both the federally-funded National Hurricane Center and private weather services predicted the 2025 hurricane season would be active. That might well happen since the tropical season that started June 1 runs through Nov. 30. But so far, we’re off to a quiet start. Fewer than forecast storms always are welcome.... Read more →
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, or TIGTA, the independent Internal Revenue Service watchdog, issues a report to Congress twice a year. Its latest information download to lawmakers was released on June 2, on the heels of the tax agency’s own assessment. The IRS Data Book is, understandably, designed to highlight the agency’s successes. TIGTA’s Semiannual Report to Congress takes a broader view of IRS activities. Reading both can provide a more balanced evaluation of where the IRS is doing well, improving, or needs to step up its efforts. As you would expected, the TIGTA’s report also is full... Read more →