Taxes

Joe Biden AFP via Getty Images Joe Biden’s ambitions seem to be rising with his poll numbers. Victory is anything but certain in far-off November, but Biden isn’t waiting until the game is in the bag. “Biden’s camp is in the disorienting position of scaling up its laundry list of proposals to match the ambition, and the

TOPLINE Although House Democrats passed a massive $1.5 trillion infrastructure proposal earlier this week, the Senate didn’t take it up before the weekend—and the bill is now facing near certain death as both top Republicans and the White House have said they will oppose the legislation. Republicans ridiculed the bill and vowed it would die

Getty The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) may have your money. The tax agency has announced that more than $1.5 billion in outstanding refunds remain unclaimed from 2016. Yes, billion. That represents well over one million taxpayers who might have qualified for a refund but did not file a federal income tax return for 2016. If you are

Getty As we head into the July Fourth weekend, the Paycheck Protection Program Extension Act is on its way to President Trump’s desk for signature. This Act will extend the time small businesses and self-employed individuals have to file an application for a PPP loan to August 8, 2020.  However, while Congress congratulates itself on this

Economic Security Planning, Inc. Today’s column addresses questions about when to file for spousal benefits, marrying a working spouse, when the earnings test will no longer reduce benefits and whether filing and suspending might be a good strategy for a particular case. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder

TOPLINE In a Wednesday interview with Fox Business, President Trump said he supports a second round of direct payments to individuals—it’s the first time he has publicly declared his support for the idea, which has been the subject of vehement debate among lawmakers in Washington in recent weeks. US President Donald Trump speaks following a

NIXVILLE, SC – APRIL 13: A man walks in front of a home destroyed by a tornado on April 13, 2020 … [+] near Nixville, South Carolina. A string of storms across the southern United States that began Easter Sunday and continued into today produced multiple tornados resulting in more than 30 deaths and dozens

The President’s disaster declaration opens a window to unusual tax claims Eyeing losses Getty Are you reporting net capital gains on the 2019 tax return you’re about to file? Have you already taken, or could you take, losses this year on bad stocks? Then you should visit your accountant for another look at Section 165(i)

Getty The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) continues to resume operations. According to the IRS Commissioner, as of mid-month, thousands of employees had returned to facilities in seven states (Kentucky, Texas, Utah, Georgia, Minnesota, Tennessee, and Missouri) with employees in four more states and Puerto Rico returning on June 29. The IRS will reopen facilities in

In March 2020, The Australian Taxation Office (ATO), the entity responsible for tax administration in Australia similar to the IRS in the US, was in the process of initiating the largest crypto tax crackdown. As news.com.au reported, the ATO was planning to send out crypto tax warning letters to 350,000 Australians. We are now seeing

The recession is hitting state and city budgets hard in the new fiscal year that starts on July 1. They are responding by firing workers, reducing services, and even increasing taxes. Massive federal aid is the only real solution. City workers and their allies rallied in front of City Hall to protest cut to the

Getty Winston Churchill once said in a speech, “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” While Churchill was referring the Allied defeat of Rommel in November of 1942, he could just as easily have been talking about the Covid-19 crisis. While lockdown restrictions have been

A person holding a remote control pointing at the TV. Getty Lawrence A. Zelenak, the Pamela B. Gann Professor of Law at Duke University School of Law, shares his findings from watching dozens of hours of tax-related sitcom episodes. This post has been edited for length and clarity. David Stewart: Larry, welcome to the podcast. Lawrence

The Internal Revenue Service is working through a huge backlog of returns and correspondence. Getty Tax refund delays, collection notices with past due dates, and missing stimulus payments are some of the issues taxpayers are facing due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on IRS operations, according to The National Taxpayer Advocate’s mid-year report

Road work during highway repaving and widening project slows traffic. (Photo by: Education … [+] Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) Universal Images Group via Getty Images House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has rolled up many different committee bills into a single, massive 2,300-page, $1.5 trillion infrastructure package that the Democratic-controlled House likely will pass

Economic Security Planning, Inc. Today’s column addresses questions about whether delaying filing is always merited, paying back taxes, whether filing early to avoid potential cuts to Social Security makes sense, disability and survivor benefits and filing options during the pandemic. Larry Kotlikoff is a Professor of Economics at Boston University and the founder and president

Ice Cube: Why are we paying taxes right now? (Photo by Stephen J. Cohen/Getty Images) Getty Images Rapper-turned-Hollywood celeb Ice Cube has some advice for Washington’s coronavirus relief efforts that Wall Street will absolutely love: read his lips, don’t pay taxes. The Compton rapper was responding to a Time magazine report that highlighted how a

null Getty The way my mind works stimulus checks going to dead people had me first thinking about zombie movies. My second thought was about a fellow I knew who said his estate plan would be to bounce his last check. He would have had to come back. But with the Wall Street Journal, the

TOPLINE  With Joe Biden surging in the polls, Wall Street executives are preparing for a potential scenario where he becomes president—with some firms warning clients the stock market could take a hit. As Biden surges in the polls, Wall Street grows more concerned about a likely corporate tax hike. Joshua Roberts/Getty Images KEY FACTS The

TOPLINE Chinese officials recently expressed “strong dissatisfaction” with U.S. sanctions that came in response to a new national security bill on Hong Kong, warning that crossing “red lines” and meddling in what China considers its own internal affairs could put the trade deal at risk, The Wall Street Journal first reported on Friday. U.S. President