On August 8, 2020, President Trump directed the Department of the Treasury to allow deferral of payroll taxes for the period September 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020. Details were scarce, but a few days later, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin suggested to Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo that the deferral would be voluntary. Today, the Department of…
(Updated to add the letter from the Chamber.) Last week, President Trump took Presidential action to act on payroll tax collections. Specifically, he ordered that the employee’s share of Social Security taxes be deferred beginning September 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020, for workers earning up to $104,000 per year. While it has been touted…
On August 6, 2020, the Senate adjourned without passing a stimulus package. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) wasn’t involved in the talks, leaving Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to work directly with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. As of Friday…
As Congress gets to work on a second stimulus package, there have been a number of suggestions for how to kick start the economy. Some ideas that have been made public include extending unemployment benefits, adding a second stimulus check, payroll tax cuts, expanding business loans (like the PPP), and a vacation tax credit to…
When I was younger, a family friend gave us a pile of old dresses. Hand-me-downs weren’t new to us, and my mom was an amazing seamstress who could make almost anything look terrific (she handmade both of my prom dresses and most of my church dresses). But I didn’t have my mom’s talent. I was,…
Stocks are expected to rally today after a historic drop on Monday. Concerns over the price of oil (thanks to a price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia) and how the coronavirus will further affect the global economy sent shares tumbling by 2,013 points: the most significant point drop since Dow began recording stock averages…
So as the dust settles in the Congressional tax bill, you knew it would only be a matter of time before the hyperbole started. And there it was. Just a day after the tax deal was passed, the headlines were all over the place: TAXES ARE GOING UP! Taxes will rise for most Americans! Higher…
Each year, I try to do a wrap-up of the year in tax. With so much going on this weekend in Congress, I almost didn’t get it done in time. But here, just under the wire, are the top posts of 2012. Quick warning: there are a lot of links. It’s kind of the nature…
It may make good drama to play with the tax laws all the way up to the year-end but uncertainty as Congress fiddles means that millions of taxpayers don’t know how to plan for next year. Even worse? Their employers don’t know what to do either. Payroll withholding for 2013 is already a mess and…
We’re down to the wire! Tax season is nearly over for the 2011 tax year: just 15 days remain until Tax Day (remember that you have until April 17, 2012, to file your 2011 individual federal income tax return). If you haven’t yet filed, here’s your chance to get caught up on what was new…