If you’re planning a trip this holiday week, don’t forget to figure in the cost of gasoline. Drivers in some states will feel a pinch in their wallets as gas taxes increase beginning today. The largest jump will be felt in Illinois where the state gas tax will double to 38 cents per gallon (up from 19…
Chances are that you filed your federal income tax return electronically this year: the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) estimates that nearly nine in ten individual taxpayers e-filed their tax returns in 2019. That was just one of the findings reported by the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee (ETAAC) in its 2019 Annual Report to Congress…
The second night of the Democratic debates marked a shift both in tone and topics. While the first night of the debates was short on tax policy, tax talk nearly doubled in the second debates. The candidates who were onstage during the second round of debates were Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), former Vice President Joe…
If you tuned in during the first night of the Democratic debates to hear what the candidates had to offer on tax policy, you were likely disappointed. With ten candidates vying for time and answers limited to 60 seconds, the debate was more like a series of mini-speeches on a variety of topics from immigration…
Presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has introduced a plan to cancel all U.S. student loan debt. The debt, which currently totals $1.6 trillion, affects nearly 45 million Americans. The proposal would be paid for by a new tax focused on investors. Sanders describes the tax as a “Wall Street speculation tax” and claims that it will…
The Supreme Court issued a decision in North Carolina Department of Revenue v. The Kimberley Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust—and it’s unanimous. The Court ruled that a trust beneficiary’s residence is not sufficient on its own for a state to tax a trust’s undistributed income. Here’s how the case arose. Joseph Lee Rice, III, created a…
“Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society.” That quote from Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., can be found over the main entrance of the Internal Revenue Service office in Washington, D.C., noted Judge Robin Rosenbaum, writing for the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. But, she added, “even Justice Holmes would likely…
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is reminding taxpayers with an expiring Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) to submit renewal applications. Failing to renew an ITIN by the end of the year may cause refund and processing delays in 2020. An ITIN is assigned to a taxpayer who is not eligible to obtain a Social Security Number (SSN)….
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued additional guidance on state or local tax (SALT) cap workarounds, and there are no real surprises. The guidance largely puts an end to the benefits of those workarounds aimed at mitigating the consequences of SALT caps following the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TJCA). Under the TCJA, the…
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has scheduled its 2019 Nationwide Tax Forum season. The first forum, planned for July 9-11, 2019, in National Harbor, Maryland, will focus on tax reform changes and cybersecurity tips for tax professionals. Tax lawyers, Enrolled Agents (EAs), Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), Certified Financial Planners (CFPs), Annual Filing Season Program participants,…