Archive for Taxes

How Biden’s Rescue Plan Might Impact Your Taxes

President Biden released his “American Rescue Plan” on January 14. It is a wish list of proposals he wants Congress to enact to address the COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic crisis.

Obscure and Overlooked Tax Deductions, Credits, and Benefits

Article Highlights: State Income Tax Refund Social Security Taxes Deduction NOL Carryback Charitable Contribution Deduction for Non-Itemizers PPP Loan Expenses Military Reservist Travel Expenses Child’s Private School Expenses Student-Loan Interest Extended Tax Benefits Gambling Losses Live in a State without a State Income Tax? Spousal IRA Economic Impact Payment Economic Impact Payment Document Reinvested Dividends […]

Congress Has Authorized a Second Round of PPP Loans

Congress passed, and President Trump signed, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. Included in its approximately 5,600 pages is a second draw of forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. The first round allowed loans to businesses with 500 or fewer employees and to certain businesses with multiple locations, for which each location could not have more […]

Charitable Contributions Deduction Liberalized for 2021

Article Highlights: Charitable Contributions for Non-Itemizers  Penalties for Contribution Overstatement  Cash Contributions for Itemizers  Substantiation Requirements  As a means to stimulate charitable contributions during the COVID crisis, Congress made two notable changes for 2020—one allowing taxpayers that don’t itemize their deductions an above-the-line deduction for cash contributions of up to $300 and another for those […]

Beware: These Tax Return Red Flags Could Catch the Eye of the IRS

Tax time can be one of the most hated times of the year. Just preparing the forms is enough to be an irritant, and if you owe the government money there’s a good chance that you’re downright annoyed. But neither of those things compare to the feeling that accompanies an envelope bearing an IRS return […]

2021 Standard Mileage Rates Announced

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), each year, computes standard mileage rates for the use of a vehicle for business, medical and moving purposes based on a number of factors, to determine the standard mileage rates for the following year. As it does annually around the end of the year, the IRS has announced the 2021 […]

Increased Business Meal Deductions for 2021 and 2022

If you recall, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), effective beginning in 2018, eliminated the business-related deduction for entertainment, amusement or recreation expenses. However, it did retain a deduction for business meals when the expense is ordinary and necessary for carrying on the trade or business and is not lavish or extravagant, along with […]

Didn’t Get Your Economic Impact Payment? You Can Claim It on Your 2020 Return.

One of the more tax-troubling issues this year has been the distribution of what Congress referred to as the recovery rebates. You may know these payments as the Economic Impact Payments (EIPs) or stimulus payments, names that the IRS took the liberty of creating. These payments were meant to provide financial assistance to individuals and families struggling during the initial outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sold or Thinking of Selling Your Home?

In spite of (or in some cases, because of) the COVID-19 pandemic, and with near-record-low home mortgage interest rates, the housing market has been booming. September 2020 existing home sales were up 9.4% from August 2020 and 20.9% from 2019, according to the National Association of Realtors. If you sold your home this year or are thinking about selling it, there are many tax-related issues that could apply to that sale. To help you prepare for reporting the sale you may have already made or make you aware of what issues you may face if you are in the “thinking about” stage, this article covers the tax basics and some special situations related to home sales and the home-sale gain exclusion.

Is That Inheritance Taxable?

Are inheritances taxable? This is a frequently misunderstood taxation issue, and the answer can be complicated. When someone passes away, all of their assets (their estate) will be subject to estate taxation, and whatever is left after paying the estate tax passes to the decedent’s beneficiaries.