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...

The mid-year report from National Taxpayer Advocate Erin M. Collins contains an assessment of the 2021 filing season. It assesses the IRS response to 73 administrative recommendations that the Advoca...

If an employer has a leave-based donation program, employees may contribute their unused leave time (e.g., vacation, sick, and personal days) for the benefit of employees who need the time. Usually, e...

Gain on the sale of a principal residence is tax free up to $250,000 ($500,000 on a joint return) if certain conditions are met. The question put to a district court was whether the basis in the home ...

When an IRA owner died, the account passed to a Trust. Some months after the death, the trustee transferred the funds into a regular brokerage account to be able to trade stocks. But he soon learned t...

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...

With interest rates still very low, many homeowners have taken this opportunity to refinance their mortgages and obtain a lower interest rate. From a tax perspective, there are consequences to refinan...

In most cases, you have three years in which to submit an amended return to claim a refund of overpaid taxes. But there are situations in which you can recoup taxes paid without submitting an amended ...

It depends on the amount of the profits. Gain on the sale of a home is excludable from gross income up to $250,000 ($500,000 on a joint return). This full exclusion usually applies only if the home wa...

A gift of a present interest (e.g., cash) to each recipient up to the annual exclusion amount ($15,000 in 2021) is not subject to gift taxes and does not require the filing of a gift tax return (Form ...

Because you were married for some time in 2021, you may file a joint return for the year for you and your deceased spouse, provided you did not remarry before the end of 2021. If there is an executor ...

Even if your gross income is below the threshold that ordinarily requires you to file an income tax return, the IRS is encouraging you to do so in order to receive your Economic Impact Payments (EIPs)...

Nothing bars you from taking a distribution from your IRA and then giving the money to your granddaughter. However, if you’re withdrawing the funds from a traditional IRA (and you never made nondedu...