Tax News

Are your personal and business emails private? Last week the IRS indicated to members of Congress that it had the authority to read them. In a statement issued on April 22, 2013, the IRS clarified the...

Taxpayers who adopt children may qualify for a federal tax credit to cover their adoption expenses. The adoption credit in 2013 is up to $12,970. The full credit amount can be claimed for special need...

The bomb blasts in Boston went off on April 15, the deadline for filing 2012 returns. However, in view of this event, the IRS has given affected taxpayers 3 additional months to timely file 2012 retur...

The IRS has noted that tax refunds are down from last year. As of March 22, the average refund was $2,985; it was $3,030 as of March 23, 2012. The IRS paid $187.7 billion in refunds as of March 22, 20...

The IRS’s annual list of the Dirty Dozen Tax Scams has been released. Taxpayers who use or fall victim to these scams expose themselves to additional taxes, penalties, and in some cases, criminal pr...

The IRS’s 2012 Data Book, released on March 25, 2013, reveals that audit rates on individuals declined somewhat in the government’s fiscal year ending September 30, 2012. The overall audit rate fo...

Taxpayers who are owed refunds but have not yet filed 2009 returns have until April 15, 2013, to do so. If they don’t file by this date, they lose the refund forever. The IRS estimates that nearly 9...

The IRS has released facts and figures on 2011 income tax returns for individuals. The number of returns filed for 2011 was 145.6 million (a 1.9% increase from the 142.9 million returns filed for 2010...

If you purchased a home in 2008, 2009, or 2010 and claimed a first-time homebuyer credit, you may have to “repay” some or all of it on your 2012 return. Repayment effectively means including the r...

Income tax returns for 2012 that included any of 29 forms and schedules (www.irs.gov/uac/Newsroom/List-of-IRS-forms-that-1040-filers-can-begin-filing-in-late-February-or-into-March-2013) impacted by t...

The interest rate that individuals will pay on underpayments remains at 3% for the second quarter of 2013. The interest rate that the IRS will pay on overpayments (tax refunds) will also be 3%. These ...

The IRS has a Valentine’s Day present for taxpayers claiming an education credit. It will begin to process 2012 individual income tax returns with an American opportunity credit or a lifetime learni...

Twitter. YouTube. Now you can add Tumblr to the list of social media sites where you can find the IRS. Here you can view videos, podcasts, and more about taxes from the IRS.The IRS expects to shar...

According to the National Taxpayer Advocate’s Annual Report released on January 9, 2013, the number one problem with taxes is complexity. The report recommended that the current Tax Code be scrapped...

The IRS announced that it will begin to process 2012 income tax returns on January 30, 2013. Why not January 1? Numerous tax breaks had expired at the end of 2011, so the IRS could not properly prepar...

Most of the talk about the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, the fiscal cliff legislation just signed into law, has been about how it extends the Bush-era tax cuts to 2013 and beyond for most tax...

It took until January 1, but both the House and Senate finally approved and sent to the President a fiscal cliff agreement that extends the Bush-era tax cuts beyond 2012 for the vast majority of taxpa...

The Social Security Administration announced changes for 2013. While Social Security beneficiaries will receive only 1.7% more in benefits in 2013, the wage base for purposes of the Social Security po...

Bradley Birkenfeld is now a very wealthy man, having just received $104 million from the IRS as a whistleblower award. He provided key information about tax fraud by the Swiss bank UBS AG. The IRS exp...

It comes as no surprise following the devastating rains and flooding that resulted in the Gulf Coast from Hurricane Isaac that the IRS has granted tax relief. The relief is in the form of extensions f...