Tax News

An individual received distributions from several retirement plans, reported their existence on his self-prepared 2017 income tax return, but only included a portion of the distributions in income. He...

Each year, the IRS can adjust various amounts used to figure contributions, benefits, deductions, and credits related to qualified retirement plans and IRAs. The IRS has now done so for 2022 amounts (...

No longer are communications restricted to written notices. You may now request to receive communications from the IRS in large print, Braille, audio (MP3), plain text files, or Braille ready file. Yo...

A couple whose household income exceeded 400% of the federal poverty level had to repay the premium tax credit for 2018 (Amburgey, TC Memo 2021-124). They applied for medical insurance through the gov...

Victims of disasters may receive goods and financial help from organizations, such as the Red Cross. IRS Commissioner Rettig confirmed that such payments are not taxable to recipients. Gifts from orga...

The IRS adjusts more than five dozen items annually for inflation. Due to significant inflation over the past year, the tax brackets and many items have been increased for 2022 (Rev. Proc. 2021-45). T...

Married persons with a divorce or agreement finalized before 2019 may continue to handle alimony under old rules: payments that meet the definition of alimony are deductible by the payor-spouse and ta...

The approximately 70 million Social Security beneficiaries will receive a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) of 5.9% starting with the December 2021 benefits, which are payable in January 2022. This is ...

Despite indications of increased inflation, the interest rates on overpayments and underpayments are unchanged from the second quarter of 2021 (Rev Rul. 2021-17). The rates for the fourth quarter of 2...

In order to claim losses from real estate activities, other than a $25,000 loss allowance for active participants with adjusted gross income below a set amount, a taxpayer must be a “real estate pro...

A qualifying child many entitle a taxpayer to a variety of breaks, including head of household status, the earned income credit, the child tax credit, and Economic Impact Payments (EIPs). Before 2018,...

Individuals with investment income may be subject to an additional Medicare tax called the net investment income (NII) tax. One couple living in France wanted to use their foreign tax credit carryover...

Vehicles acquired for business can result in tax write-offs. For vehicles that are purchased, there’s depreciation as long as you opt to deduct your actual costs and don’t use the IRS standard mil...

A best-selling crime fiction writer earned considerable income each year from her publisher. She reported all the income, but only treated a portion of it as trade or business income subject to self-e...

When property is sold due to an involuntary conversion, gain is deferred if qualified replacement property is purchased within a replacement period. When livestock (other than poultry) is sold because...

Employers that want to use a per diem rate to reimburse employees’ lodging, meals, and incidental expenses on business trips within the continental U.S. (CONUS) can use either the IRS’s high-low m...

A surviving spouse who inherits an IRA, including a Roth IRA, may roll over the funds to his/her own IRA. Doing so allows the surviving spouse to name his/her own beneficiaries and postpone IRA distri...

If you buy a home testing kid, you may treat it as a deductible medical expense if you itemize deductions (IR-2021-181). It is an expense for the diagnosis of a medical condition. The cost may also be...

Planning ahead for health insurance for 2022? If you have affordable minimum essential health coverage from an employer or are covered by Medicare, you may not use the premium tax credit to help pay f...

A state correctional officer won a $500,000 award for back pay from a discrimination lawsuit.  This consisted of $144,304 for compensatory damages, $355,696 for back pay, and $31,864 for interest; he...