Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Danny Werfel speaking to students, faculty, and IRS guests at the Kogod Tax Center at American University in Washington, D.C., in March 2024 about the tax agency's digital transformation plan. In addition to tax code changes expected this year, the federal agency charged with enforcing those laws also is getting a shakeup. Donald J. Trump announced in December he wants former Missouri congressman Billy Long to lead the Internal Revenue Service. While Long is expected to be approved given the Republican majority in the Senate, he has some issues that will be raised during his confirmation... Read more →
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UPDATE, Monday, Jan. 13, 2025: California officials also are offering taxpayers in Los Angeles County a postponement on filing 2024 state tax returns and making tax payments that would have been due between January 7 and October 15, 2025. The extent and ferocity of the wind-propelled Palisades fire is, in many cases, an insurmountable challenge for Los Angeles, California, firefighters. (Photo by CAL FIRE_Official - Palisades Fire, Public Domain) California firefighters, joined by their brethren from other states and Canada and Mexico, are still struggled to contain the catastrophic wildfires that have engulfed the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Since the... Read more →
That last Monday in January is when the Internal Revenue Service will start processing all 2024 tax year returns, including those filed earlier by taxpayers who qualified to use the already open Free File program. Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich It’s official. Tax season 2025 starts Monday, Jan. 27. The Internal Revenue Service says it expects more than 140 million individual 2024 tax year returns to be filed by the April 15 deadline. IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel, who could be overseeing his final filing season if incoming president Donald J. Trump follows through on his plans for the agency, says the... Read more →
If you used Free File last year to complete your federal taxes, then the 2025 version, which opened today, is mostly déjà vu. The same eight tax software companies are participating. One of them will offer software for Spanish speakers. The main difference this year is that the Internal Revenue Service/Free File Alliance partnership can be used by taxpayers whose adjusted gross income (AGI) is $84,000. That’s five grand more than last year’s AGI threshold, but it still applies to all filers, regardless of filing status. Same 8 software options: The eight returning private-sector tax software companies that are part... Read more →
The Internal Revenue Service this week officially announced Free File will open on Friday, Jan. 10, to eligible taxpayers (those with adjusted gross income of $84,000 or less). In that statement, the agency also indirectly told us the main tax filing season will begin on Monday, Jan. 27. But taxpayers in 24 states are still waiting to hear when in 2025 Direct File, the IRS’ own online tax preparation and e-filing software will be available. The tax agency was so pleased with Direct File’s pilot last year, it expanded not only the software offerings, but also doubled the number of... Read more →
Millions are getting ready to file federal tax returns so they can collect refunds. Crooks are among them. And things get even worse for the taxpayers whose identities were stolen and used to file false returns claiming fraudulent refunds. The average time it took the Internal Revenue Service to resolve identity theft cases and issue refunds to the affected victims in fiscal year 2024 was two years, according the National Taxpayer Advocate’s 2024 annual report to Congress, issued today. These delays impacted nearly half a million taxpayers, noted National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA) Erin M. Collins, and were even worse than... Read more →
Updated, Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025 Millions of taxpayers already are filling out their 2024 tax returns. Now they just need to know when the Internal Revenue Service will start processing them. On Friday, Jan. 10, Free File opens. The no-cost online tax preparation and e-filing option can be used by taxpayers whose adjusted gross income (AGI) is $84,000 or less. Business taxpayers will be able to electronically file their returns on Jan. 15. As for individual filers who make more than the Free File AGI threshold, they can start using Free File's Fillable Forms on Jan. 27. That date follows... Read more →
The first group of taxpayers in 14 states and two U.S. island territories hit by declared major disasters must get their forms to the IRS by Feb. 3. Residents in the other 10 states have until May 1. Photo by Analogue Kid at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 Much of the United States is facing the first weather catastrophe of the new year. A brutal winter storm is forecast to sweep through a 1,300-mile swath of the country, leaving an estimated 62 million people to deal with heavy snow, ice, rain, and severe thunderstorms. This early 2025 burst of anger... Read more →
It's ready, set, almost go for tax season 2025. The Internal Revenue Service has set Jan. 15 as the date it will start accepting electronically filed 2024 tax year business returns. (Photo by BOOM 💥) We have a start date for the Internal Revenue Service's 2025 tax filing season! But hold your celebrations, tax-filing early birds. It’s not for everyone. Wednesday, Jan. 15, is the day the IRS will begin accepting electronically filed business returns. That's a day earlier than it started processing business filings last year, but still about two weeks earlier than the agency is expected to start... Read more →
Life is tough for lots of people. Unfortunately, that’s true even during, or because of, the holiday season. But caring people still exist. They donate dollars and, more importantly in many cases, their time to help those in need. That’s true in the tax world, too. It’s no secret that Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) programs provide free help to many who need personal assistance, but can’t afford to pay a tax professional, to fill out and file their annual returns. Then there are those who offer similar free aid to those who... Read more →
A federal court this week granted the Internal Revenue Service a John Doe summons to get information on individuals who answered client questions via a digital platform. (Photo by Olha Ruskykh) Some individuals who worked for an online site providing answers as experts in various fields soon could be hearing from the Internal Revenue Service. On Monday, Dec. 23, a federal court in California authorized the IRS to serve a John Doe summons on JustAnswer LLC. The federal tax agency is seeking information about U.S. taxpayers who were paid for answering questions during the years 2017-2020 on the Covina, California-based... Read more →
Photo by Kaboompics.com The Internal Revenue Service is sending out holiday gifts this month to around a million people. The recipients are people who were eligible for, but did not claim, the 2021 Recovery Rebate Credit (RRC). By the end of next month, they should have the funds in hand, or directly deposited into their bank accounts. The maximum RRC amount is $1,400 per person, but the exact amount will depend on the individuals’ specific circumstances, such as income, filing status, and number of dependents. Overall, the IRS says it will be delivering about $2.4 billion to the eligible recipients.... Read more →
Photo by Tatyana Mazepova It’s the holiday season, so many of us have travel on our minds. That includes the Internal Revenue Service. AAA expects 2.5 million more people will be on the roads for the year-end holiday period, which is classifies as Saturday, Dec. 21 to Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2025. That comes to a total of 107 million people making a road trip of 50 miles or more, just shy of the record 108 million drivers in 2019. But Uncle Sam’s tax collector isn’t narrowly focused on who is hitting the highways over the next few days. The IRS,... Read more →
Prescription copays are a common way to spend flexible spending account (FSA) money, but there are lots of other options to use so you don't lose the tax-favored funds. Your most important list this time of year is the one detailing all the Christmas gifts you’ve got to find by Dec. 25. But you also need to make another for flexible spending account eligible items you need to buy by Dec. 31. A medical flexible spending account, or FSA as it’s usually referred to, is workplace benefit that allows you to set aside some pre-tax money from each paycheck. Then... Read more →
Photo by cottonbro studio Last week, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation unit released its fiscal year 2024 annual report that touted the success the agency’s law enforcement branch had in taking down tax criminals. Yes, Al Capone’s name was mentioned. This week it’s the overall IRS’ turn to brag. In its quarterly update on Dec. 12 to its Strategic Operating Plan, the IRS detailed accomplishments that have, among other things, allowed the IRS to recovered $4.7 billion in taxpayer dollars. More than $1.3 billion of that total comes from wealthy, high-income individuals who have not filed taxes or paid... Read more →
Donald J. Trump signed 220 executive orders (EOs) the last time he was president. Some GOP lawmakers want him to end the IRS Direct File program by signing another EO to that effect on the first day he's back in the Oval Office next year. (Photo by Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary via Twitter/Wikimedia Commons) Republicans who oppose the Internal Revenue Service’s online tax return preparation and e-filing program are hoping that it will end next month before the 2025 filing season starts. Direct File, the free online program expected to be available to qualifying taxpayers in 24 states... Read more →
You’re 73. You have a traditional IRA or other tax-deferred retirement account. You’ve yet to take your required minimum distribution (RMD). You better get to it. The deadline for most who are subject to this tax rule is Dec. 31. Here’s a quick RMD to-do list to help ensure you complete the task. As a bonus, there also are some suggestions on how to use the retirement money. Take out the mandated amount. Your traditional IRA or affected retirement account trustee should have been bugging you about this. It’s time to take the nagging seriously and withdraw your RMD. The... Read more →
If you sold more than $5,000 in products or services through only apps and marketplaces, get ready to receive a tax form next year alerting you, and the Internal Revenue Service, of the potentially taxable income. The amount will be reported on IRS Form 1099-K. Changing 1099-K amounts: The fluid nature of the amount of earnings that trigger issuance of the reporting form has been a hassle for both taxpayers and the IRS since changes were made in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021. Before ARPA’s enactment, third-party settlement organizations, or TPSOs, — think PayPal, Venmo, CashApp, eBay,... Read more →
What am I bid for the Internal Revenue Service top job? The IRS Commissioner seat isn’t actually on the auction block, but incoming president Donald J. Trump wants to oust the tax agency’s current leader and install an auctioneer. Billy Long, who also served from 2011 to 2023 as a Republican U.S. Representative for Missouri’s 7th district, never served on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee during his years in Congress. Long’s only apparent private sector tax background, per his X (formerly Twitter) @auctnr1 account biography, is as Certified Tax & Business Advisor in connection with the troubled COVID-era... Read more →
The holiday most associated with Al Capone is Valentine’s Day, but the Internal Revenue Service’s top law enforcement officer has invoked the legendary gangster in this most festive of seasons. “FY24 was one for the history books. For years, IRS-CI has been known as the agency that took down Al Capone, but this year, our cases hold their own place in U.S. history,” said IRS-CI Chief Guy Ficco in announcing the release of IRS Criminal Investigation’s (IRS CI’s) latest fiscal year (FY) report on Thursday, Dec. 5. “As with Al Capone, financial trails eventually lead to criminals’ downfall,” said Ficco.... Read more →