Tax News

A couple owned commercial rental properties and claimed deductions for repairs on their 2013 federal income tax return. The IRS recharacterized the expenditures as capital improvements that must be de...

A doctor who incorporated his practice worked as a contractor in a hospital emergency department. He used the second story of his residence to access patient records remotely and to do continuing educ...

As part of a budget deal passed on February 9, 2018, Congress has retroactively extended the tax provisions that expired at the end of 2016. The extensions are only for 2017 (with one exception noted ...

The wildfires, flooding, mudflows, and debris flows that started on December 4, 2017, in California resulted in a disaster declaration from FEMA (https://www.fema.gov/disaster/4353). The IRS has provi...

Under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, the federal government has the authority to revoke or refuse to issue or renew a passport to an individual with seriously delinquent tax...

It may be possible for an individual to escape credit card debt by settling up with the bank or other issuer. While the debt is off the person’s back, it does not relieve the debtor of income taxes ...

The IRS announced that the filing season for 2017 income tax returns begins on January 29, 2018. If you file earlier, with a professional or through tax preparation software, the return won’t be sub...

If you drive your personal vehicle for business or certain other purposes, you can deduct your actual costs or rely on an IRS-set mileage rate. The IRS announced the rates for 2018; the rates for busi...

If you own property that you rent to your adult child and do not charge a fair rental amount (what a third party would pay), you must report all of the rental income but deductions are limited. Take t...

The interest rates on overpayments and underpayments are unchanged for the first quarter of 2018, which runs through March 31, 2018 (Rev Rul. 2017-25). The rates are: Noncorporate overpayments and...

As a result of the Equifax identity breach, the IRS barred the creation of new accounts for accessing online tools through Secure Access. These tools include Get Transcript. The IRS has switched to Ex...

A U.S. District court has enjoined the IRS from allowing “ministers of the gospel” and other clergy to exclude any rental allowance from gross income (Gaylor v. Mnuchin, DC Wis., 12/13/17). The co...

Many, but not all, individuals will see their tax bills decline starting in 2018. Tax rates are reduced and the standard deduction is nearly doubled. It is expected that taxpayers will begin to see th...

Reminder to tax return preparers: obtain or renew your PTIN for the 2018 filing season (IR-2017-180, 10/26/17). PTINs obtained for 2017 expire on December 31, 2017. There is no annual fee for the PTIN...

During the year, but particularly at holiday time, many individuals donate unused clothing and household items to Goodwill, the Salvation Army, and other organizations running thrift shops or helping ...

Generally, income and gains from investments held in an IRA are tax deferred; no annual reporting is required. However, if an investment generates unrelated business taxable income (UBTI) of $1,000 or...

The IRS has said  (https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/aca-information-center-for-tax-professionals) that it will not accept electronically filed returns for processing during the 2018 filing seaso...

The Tax Code (Code Sec. 107) allows a minister of the gospel, as well as religious leaders of other faiths, to exclude from gross income the value of housing that’s covered by their religious organi...

Individuals who provide information to the IRS may be eligible for a monetary award under Code Sec. 7623. There are two types of awards: discretionary and nondiscretionary. The award in the discretion...

Social Security beneficiaries will receive a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) of 2% starting with the December 2017 benefits, which are payable in January 2018. For 2017, the COLA was only 0.3%. The 2...