On June 21, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision against the North Carolina Department of Revenue in its claim to tax the undistributed income of a New York trust that is “for the benefit of” a North Carolina resident. In the matter of North Carolina Department of Revenue v. Kimberley Rice Kaestner 1992 […]
The U.S. tax laws have a long history of incentivizing taxpayers to invest in their domestic business operations and purchase equipment, machinery, vehicles and other capital assets that are essential to generating business income. With the enactment of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) effective for tax year 2018, the government has sweetened the […]
The March and April tax filing deadline have come and gone, and many individual and business taxpayers can happily bid farewell to their 2018 federal income tax-filing responsibilities. However, if you are one of the millions of taxpayers who applied for an automatic extension of time to file for 2018, don’t get too comfortable. The […]
If you are one of the millions of taxpayers who received a smaller-than-expected tax refund or a surprise tax bill after filing your federal income tax returns for 2018, you can take comfort in knowing you are not alone. If you do not want to end 2019 in a similarly disappointing financial position or worse, […]
Considering the amount of time and efforts taxpayers need to gather documents and prepare for the filing of their federal income tax returns, it’s no wonder that mistakes can occur. Luckily, the IRS offers taxpayers a few options for fixing their tax return filing errors. In general, you have three years from the date you […]
The IRS recently issued guidance to help taxpayers in high-tax states understand how the new tax law’s $10,000 annual limit on deductions for state and local taxes (SALT), and property and real estate taxes affects the tax treatment of SALT refunds they receive beginning in tax year 2019. In general, taxpayers may exclude from their […]
Many individuals filing their first federal income tax returns since the enactment of the new tax law are surprised to learn that they were not able to write off the donations they made to non-profit organizations in 2018. While few people give to charity solely for a tax break, much ink has been spilled over […]
By Edward N. Cooper, CPA The IRS has issued its annual list of the Dirty Dozen scams that taxpayers should look out for in 2019. Under U.S. laws, taxpayers are legally responsible for the information contained in their tax returns, even when those documents are prepared by someone else. Therefore, it is critical that you […]
In response to a chorus of concerned taxpayers and tax preparers, the IRS is providing additional penalty relief to taxpayers who have found that they did not pay enough in federal taxes in 2018 through W-2 withholding, quarterly estimated tax payments or a combination of the two. Effective immediately, individual taxpayers, trusts and estates that […]
Taxpayers who turned 70½-years-old during the 2018 calendar year have until April 1, 2019, to take their first required minimum distributions (RMDs) from their individual retirement accounts (IRAs) and workplace retirement plans. In general, retired individuals age 70½ and older have a deadline of December 1 to take their annual RMDs from retirement savings accounts […]