The IRS has released its annual list of the top 12 tax scams that taxpayers should avoid (IR-2018-66). These tax scams are:Phishing: Taxpayers should be alert to potential fake emails or website...

Individuals with foreign financial accounts over certain thresholds must include the earnings as income on their tax returns and report the accounts annually or face serious tax penalties. In 2009, th...

That’s what one taxpayer learned from the Tax Court (Toni Harris, TC Summary Opinion 2018-12). The taxpayer was a Walmart employee enrolled as an undergraduate student at a state college. She regist...

Time is running out for taxpayers who are owed refunds for 2014 to claim them. They must file a 2014 income tax return no later than April 17, 2018, in order to obtain a refund. The IRS points out tha...

A divorce decree required a spouse to continuing paying the expenses on a home in which his ex-spouse lived. And when the home was sold, he was required to pay her half the net proceeds, which he did....

You may be entitled to claim various deductions and credits, but unless you follow the rules you’ll lose out. Here are a number of recent cases that highlight what you should or shouldn’t do if yo...

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 made a number of significant changes to various write-offs that can be claimed without itemizing. Most of the changes in deductions from gross income affect 2018 retu...

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 made a number of significant changes to various itemized deductions. Most of these changes affect 2018 returns (and in many cases, returns through 2025), but a few as...

The child tax credit first appeared on tax returns for 1998 as a $400 nonrefundable credit. Over the years, the credit amount has increased and part of it has become refundable (i.e., payable even if ...

Attorney’s fees you pay to help you right a wrong can be very costly. Whether the fees are charged hourly or a flat amount, you may or may not be able to deduct them. Here’s a roundup of the situa...

In order to add the cost of capital improvements (an addition on the home, a new furnace or roof) to your basis, you need documentation. If you don’t have receipts for your expenditures, try getting...

You can claim your child as a dependent, regardless of age, as long as you meet all of the requirements. For example, you child can’t have gross income in 2017 of more than $4,050 and you must furni...

The IRS ruled that bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies are property, not currency. As such, you determine gain or loss in the same was as any other type of property. Compare what you paid for the bitc...

A taxpayer who converted an IRA funded by deductible contributions to a Roth IRA in 2017 has until October 15, 2018, to undo it. This means recharacterizing the new account as a traditional IRA. Howev...

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 repealed the shared responsibility payment, which is a penalty for not having minimum essential health coverage (and not being exempt from this requirement). But the ...