If a business has losses year after year, the IRS may disallow them on the grounds that the owner is engaged in a hobby activity and lacks a profit motive. A finding that an activity is a hobby becaus...

A self-employed individual may deduct various business expenses. However, as a recent Tax Court decision points out, you must actually function as a going concern (an active trade or business) to take...

The IRS announced the optional standard rates that can be used for certain driving costs in lieu of deducting actual costs (Notice 2022-3). For 2022, the rate for business driving is 58.5 cents per mi...

The CMS announced premiums and deductibles for Medicare in 2022 (CMS.gov, 11/15/21). The basic Part B monthly premium for 2022 is $170.10, or $21.60 more than in 2021. For those with modified adjusted...

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...

Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies are mainstream. Whether you call cryptocurrency by another name—virtual currency, digital assets—you can now use them to pay for various consumer prod...

As wages pick up and the Federal Reserve tapers down (it buys fewer Treasuries), the rate of inflation has climbed to levels not seen in many years. The consumer price index was up 5.4% for the 12 mon...

According to the Social Security Administration, as of June 2021, there were a total of nearly 70 million people receiving Social Security benefits. These include individuals receiving retirement bene...

The American Rescue Plan Act, which was signed into law on March 11, 2021, dramatically changed the child tax credit for 2021. The law made the credit fully refundable and extended it to dependents 17...

If you are an owner of an IRA or you inherited an IRA, you must take required minimum distributions (RMDs) according to tax rules. The failure to do so may result in a 50% penalty. Because of COVID-19...

If you itemize your personal deductions, the portion of closing costs representing real estate taxes may be deductible. And points paid to obtain a mortgage may be deductible in full or have to be spr...

Under a new 10-year rule applicable to beneficiaries who inherit IRAs from someone dying after 2019, the account must be distributed in full by the end of the 10th year after the year of the owner’s...

Unlike deductions for charitable contributions to IRS-recognized organizations, there is no income tax deduction for gifts you make to individuals. What’s more, if gifts of cash exceed the annual gi...

There are different tax reporting rules for professional gamblers versus those who gamble for fun. A professional gambler is someone who spends substantial time on a regular basis in gambling activiti...

Due to the stepped-up basis rule, the basis for inherited property usually is its value on the date of sale (special rules apply for property from estates using the alternate valuation date and for th...