Taxes

Most people these days are still reeling from the pandemic. The IRS and state governments are feeling the revenue pain too. California proposed to increase it’s already stratospheric top 13.3% tax rate, raising it to 16.8%. Not shocked yet? The newest tax some golden state legislators want to collect is a .4% wealth tax. The

getty After weeks of waiting, tax professionals and taxpayers finally got the word from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS): amended returns can now be electronically filed. In May, the IRS had given notice that later this summer, taxpayers would be able to file Form 1040-X, Amended U.S Individual Income Tax Return electronically. Before this year, you could only amend

getty The Fed is printing vast sums of money to lend to borrowers who may not be able to repay. This may lead to very high inflation, which would wipe out the real values of retirees’ fixed nominal pension or annuity payments. Taking out a larger mortgage can hedge this risk since inflation will water

getty Still missing your $500 per child stimulus check? You’re not the only one. In response to complaints that check recipients are still missing out, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is reopening the registration period for some folks who didn’t receive those $500 per child payments earlier this year.  In March of this year, the CARES Act was signed

Office vacancies are on the rise and hit nearly 16% this summer. In downtown Chicago, its 13.7%, … [+] while while the rate in the suburbs has topped 24%. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) Getty Images Cities and counties are predicting a drop in their property tax revenues over the next year, a phenomenon that’s

Economic Security Planning, Inc. Today’s column addresses questions about when earned delayed retirement credits (DRCs) are applied to retirement benefits, effects on benefits of selling a home, spousal benefits’ effects on retroactive retirement benefits and options after working while on disability. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and

2020 has already seen a big uptick in the number of Americans giving up their citizenship. So says the U.S. government’s 2020 second quarter list of published expatriates, the second highest number ever. Every three months, the U.S. Treasury Department publishes the names of individuals who renounced their U.S. citizenship or handed in a long-term green card. For

getty Some TurboTax users are reporting that they have yet to receive a stimulus check due to a single checked box in the popular tax preparation software. The checked box asks if the taxpayer’s spouse can be claimed as a dependent by someone else. The issue first surfaced in a TurboTax support forum on April 24th. The

getty Close study of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act appeared to give a fantastic break to businesses with less than $25 million in gross receipts. It appeared that they could change accounting methods and write off their inventories. Lucien Gauthier of the Boston Tax Institute promoted the concept, as I explained in Tax Cut

Rows of coin stacks with toy blocks among the receipts symbolizing value added tax getty This article is based on a reader’s suggestion: Design a VAT regime to help the U.S. fisc recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Challenge accepted. The concept isn’t as outlandish as it first sounds. A review of U.S. history shows that

Congress spending and wasting your money. getty The coronavirus pandemic pushed the government into the proverbial corner, prompting it to borrow heavily from the future to ward off a serious threat today. Without this intervention, the U.S. economy would be in a much worse recession or possibly even a depression. Even though borrowing excessively may

getty If you have an uncashed tax check at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), you’re not alone. Scores of taxpayers and tax professionals have been reaching out about uncashed checks. Making matters worse, the IRS has been sending out underpayment or failure-to-pay notices for those payments. First, you should know that this is clearly a

Forbes compared more than 750 locales in America, measuring everything from housing costs and taxes to healthcare and air quality. These are the top 25 cities for retirees. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Timur and Pamela Lacey had flown from their Los Angeles-area home to Austin and Atlanta and were planning trips to Dallas, Savannah, Ga.,

Palestinian fighters with Ezz-Al Din Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, rest … [+] on a sidewalk during a patrol in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on January 26, 2020. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP) (Photo by SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images The Justice Department has

Economic Security Planning, Inc. Today’s column addresses questions about when and how spousal benefits can become available, when survivor benefits are available and how the WEP and GPO can affect their availability and potential effects of remarriage on benefits based on an ex’s record. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and

A judge granted a preliminary injunction and ordered Uber UBER and Lyft LYFT to start treating their California drivers as employees. It is a sweeping court order for both companies to consider all their drivers as employees. The companies will appeal, of course, but it’s a big victory for California’s tough new law, Assembly Bill

WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 10: U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin speaks as White House Budget … [+] Director Russell Vought looks on during a news conference at the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House August 10, 2020 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Donald Trump was briefly evacuated from the room due to

Millions of employees could be in for a rude surprise next April when they find out their home office isn’t deductible and the states can’t agree on who gets their money. Time to put a tax pro on speed dial?  It’s very likely that you’re reading this from your home—even if you’re working. As the

Donald Trump’s book ‘The Art Of The Deal’, on sale in a gadget and souvenir shop in Los Angeles, … [+] USA, January 2017. Trump merchandise is heavily in demand in the days ahead of his inauguration as 45th President of the United States. (Photo by Wojtek Laski/Getty Images) Getty Images Jerry Curnutt has a

Angel Gurria, General Secretary of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development … [+] (OECD), gestures as he presents the OECD Economic Outlook at the OECD headquarters in Paris on May 21, 2019. – Global trade tensions and political uncertainty are weighing on the world’s economy, the OECD warned on May 21, 2019, cutting its